Ex-U of L players: UK rivalry intense, heated

Mario Urrutia couldn't help but laugh – a hearty, full-throated laugh.

"Yes, most definitely: He's being completely truthful and is definitely correct," the former University of Louisville receiver said.

Urrutia had just heard current U of L linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin's quote from Saturday, when the senior told reporters that "we all know" how much Louisville coach Bobby Petrino doesn't like the University of Kentucky.

That distaste for U of L's archrival becomes abundantly clear in the days leading up to the annual Governor's Cup game, Urrutia and other former U of L players say. And it'll be on full display this week, at least to the players, as Petrino and the Cardinals ready for their season finale against UK.

"It rubbed off on me that much more, even being from here," said Urrutia, a Louisville native who attended Fern Creek High before U of L.

"It made it much more heated and exciting. The preparation was about perfection. We wanted to be prepared for everything."

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A Petrino-coached U of L team has never lost to Kentucky. In fact, the Cardinals' longest winning streak against UK came during Petrino's first tenure at Louisville, winning four consecutive games from 2003-06.

Almost a decade later, Louisville needs a win on Saturday to match that winning streak and cut UK's series lead to 14-13. The Cards topped the Cats in each of the last three years of Charlie Strong's time at U of L.

The intensity of the rivalry under Strong, though, came from a different place.

Former U of L offensive lineman Mario Benavides, now an analyst for ESPN680 in Louisville, said Strong and his staff "didn't really harp" on the UK game. Strong's focus, Benavides added, was on the task at hand, and not necessarily the rivalry.

Instead, the buzz came from around campus, where students meet football players for the first time and immediately tell them to beat UK.

"When it's so important to your fan base, it carries over," Benavides said. "You feel that energy. It forces you to take notice."

Benavides remembered the 2011 trip to UK's Commonwealth Stadium in particular.

As U of L conducted its walkthrough ahead of a 24-17 win, the players were certain someone inside Commonwealth Stadium was watching and filming them, but Strong didn't seem concerned.

"We were the ones who were paranoid," Benavides said, laughing. "We don't know who's up in the press box while we're going through our first 10 plays.

"The coaching staff I played for was really good at staying level-headed."

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In more recent years, the game's taken on a different meaning for U of L after a run of near-.500 seasons from 2007-11, during which Kentucky won four of five meetings.

By the time Benavides was a redshirt senior, in 2012, Louisville's rise in the college football ranks made starting the season with a win vitally important to the Cards' bowl hopes.

U of L's 32-14 win that year was the first of 11 Cardinals victories and kicked off a campaign that ended with a Sugar Bowl win over Florida.

Last year, Louisville topped Kentucky 27-13 en route to a 12-win season and Russell Athletic Bowl victory against Miami.

This year, the stakes beyond the rivalry are high once again, and the entire game feels different coming at the end of the season.

U of L (8-3) still has an outside chance at an Orange Bowl berth, and Kentucky (5-6) needs a win to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2010.

"When we played it the first game of the season, I really enjoyed it because all winter, all summer, it was something to build up to," Petrino said.

"Now that it's the last game of the season, I think the kids are excited because it's rivalry weekend (and) there's a lot at stake for both universities."

As if Petrino needed more motivation against UK.

Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).