Two top-20 defensive players collide in Florida in the 2025 Boca Raton Bowl, which means a low-scoring, defense-driven slugfest. That’s how the matchup between Toledo and Louisville unfolded…at least for three-quarters of the time.
But the fourth quarter was a masterclass in pure chaos. Louisville (9-4, 4-4 ACC) thrived in this crazy environment, defeating Toledo (8-5, 4-4 MAC) 27-22 wire-to-wire for its second straight bowl victory under head coach Jeff Broohm.
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Louisville opened the afternoon with little resistance against Houston’s second-ranked overall defense, marching 75 yards downfield in eight plays. Cardinals quarterback Miller Moss threw a 17-yard field goal to TreyShun Hurry in the end zone to give Louisville an early 7-0 lead. However, Toledo’s defense returned to its usual level over the next few quarters, and the Cardinals didn’t move the scoreboard again until 3:40 into the third quarter.
Toledo’s defense — led by all-league defensive backs Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Avery Smith and Andre Fuller — forced the Cardinals to hold the ball short on six straight possessions, but the Rockets offense was unable to capitalize on a ton of opportunities. Toledo made his first start in redshirt freshman Kalib Osborne, replacing injured sixth-year senior Tucker Gleason. Although Osborne showed his dual-threat ability with 167 yards passing, 77 yards rushing and zero turnovers, the Rockets simply could not complete the breakthrough. One factor that contributed to those struggles was penalties, with Toledo being called for 14 flags for 100 yards Tuesday afternoon, many of which were avoidable, such as two “illegal equipment violations” with multiple special teams players wearing the same jersey number.
The game stayed tied at 7-3 throughout the second and much of the third quarter, but Louisville eventually recaptured the magic of its first drive to edit the scoreboard. Running back Kejuan Brown, who missed the final two games of the regular season, made a triumphant return with a 112-yard burst that led the Cardinals to the end zone late in the third quarter. Afterwards, Moss (who earned Offensive MVP honors) hit Antonio Meeks for a 5-yard touchdown on the second touchdown, extending Louisville’s advantage to 14-3.
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Toledo’s offense then punted on 4th-and-31, giving Louisville good field position and seemingly ending the game. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Isaac Brown, returning from injury after his last change on Nov. 1, ran through a sea of Rockets defenders for an 11-yard touchdown. At this point, Louisville leads 21-3 in this game’s defensive struggles.
But all bets were off in the fourth quarter, and a seemingly different movement took place on the field in Boca Raton. A total of 17 points were scored in the first three quarters, followed by 32 points in the fourth quarter – nearly double the number scored in the rest of the game.
Trailing by 18 points, Osborne rallied Toledo’s offense with a 75-yard drive that connected with tight end Jacob Petersen on a crucial fourth-and-11, then made the game even sweeter when the quarterback converted for a 2-point run. About four minutes later, with 6:35 left in the fourth quarter, kicker Robert Hammond III, who had never attempted a college field goal before the kickoff, converted a 50-yard field goal with plenty of leg room to turn Toledo’s 21-3 deficit into 21-14.
As impressive as Toledo’s comeback was, Louisville appeared to have the game over with 5:03 left in the game, capping off a 53-yard run by Isaac Brown, the highlight of his 102-yard performance (one of two Louisville running backs to eclipse 100 yards). However, the Rockets regained some momentum seconds later when Avery Smith blocked the extra point and made it 27-16 from full court.
Osborne then led the Rockets to their third consecutive scoring pass, handing the ball off to sixth-year senior Chip Trayanum near the goal line to cut the deficit to one. All Toledo’s vaunted defense needed was a stop against the suddenly red-hot Cardinal offense, but that stop never came. Louisville’s star guard tandem of Brown and Brown disrupted possession after possession, draining Toledo’s timeouts down the stretch. Frustratingly, a minor brawl broke out between two rivals who had not fought since 1981. The brawl started when Toledo outside linebacker K’Von Sherman caught Isaac Brown after he took a few steps out of bounds, and Louisville’s sideline wasn’t happy with the final hit (which was never evaluated by the officiating staff).
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Tensions were further heightened during Louisville’s celebratory kneeling – the Cardinals actually fumbled on the kneeling, but Toledo negated it with a penalty kick. After the Rockets clear out, the Cardinals celebrate the 2025 Boca Raton Bowl Championship. This year, with Bush’s Beans as a sponsor, defensive MVP Clive Lubin (7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles) enjoyed a scoop of baked beans from the Community Giant Dish along with mascot Cardinal Bird and game ambassador Keegan-Michael Key.
The Cardinals, who earned their second straight bowl victory under Brohm and won nine games for the third time in three years, overcame a tough November to end 2025 on a high note. Louisville will wait for the final AP rankings in January to determine whether it achieved enough. The Rockets, meanwhile, are coming off an 8-5 season for the second straight year and now await an unusual offseason for the program — going through their first head coaching change in a decade as Mike Jacobs prepares to succeed Jason Kandel.