By Chris Duncan
The Associated Press

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen scrambled, dived, fought off tacklers, yelled at his teammates and even threw a side-armed shovel pass. But his one-man show wasn't enough to carry the Wildcats to victory against Louisville on Sunday night.

Louisville defeated Kentucky 40-24, handing Lorenzen his third loss in four starts against the Cardinals.

Lorenzen completed 18 of 31 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns. He addressed his team in the locker room after the game.

"I told this team I'm going to take them to a bowl game," he said. "That's the only way I can feel that my career here has been a success."

The Cardinals had a 14-0 lead nine minutes into the game and Lorenzen was already taking a beating. He was sacked once and knocked down at least three more times on the Wildcats' first three possessions.

Three Louisville tacklers dragged him down with 1:32 left in the opening quarter and officials called the Cardinals for roughing the passer. The 15-yard penalty set up Kentucky's first score, a 44-yard field goal by Taylor Begley.

Louisville blocked a punt and pushed the score to 21-3 early in the second quarter. At the end of Kentucky's next possession, Lorenzen was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 from the Louisville 28.

His helmet off, Lorenzen trotted to the sidelines and screamed at his teammates. He deflected blame to himself after the game.

"The line did a great job," Lorenzen said. "There were some plays where I should've checked off. Some of that was my fault."

The Wildcats got the ball back at their own 36 later in the second quarter, and Lorenzen was promptly sacked by Louisville lineman Marcus Jones.

Unfazed, Lorenzen led the Wildcats down the field for their first touchdown. He was on the run again when he threw an off-balance scoring pass to Glenn Holt with 45 seconds left before halftime.

"Lorenzen is a really good player," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. "I thought we had him tackled a couple of times. It's amazing to see a 260-pound guy do the things he did out there."

The Cardinals pushed the lead to 26-10 early in the third quarter, but Lorenzen drove the Wildcats back again. On first down from the Louisville 46, Lorenzen had his jersey ripped off his shoulder pad by a would-be tackler. Just before taking a hit, he completed an 18-yard pass to Chris Bernard.

"The guy's amazing to me," Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said.

Six plays later, Draak Davis scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.

Lorenzen wasn't finished. He orchestrated another touchdown drive from the Cats' 26, gaining four yards with a sidearm shovel pass to Arliss Beach. He capped the march by slinging a 31-yard touchdown pass to Keenan Burton, taking another hit just after the ball left his hand. Lorenzen still bounced up and sprinted to the end zone to celebrate with his teammates.

"That's just something I'm able to do because of my size," Lorenzen said of his escape ability. "Luckily, a lot of them were just grabbing me. When they did hit me, they took me down and it hurt."

Unfortunately for Lorenzen, Kentucky's inability to stop Louisville's running game and special teams miscues enabled the Cardinals to keep their lead.

Early in the fourth quarter, Louisville led 33-24, but Lorenzen had the Wildcats down to the Cardinals' 19.

He picked the worst possible time to make his first mistake, forcing a pass to Holt that was intercepted by Louisville's Josh Minkins.

Lorenzen left the field slowly, sat down on the bench and wiped his face with a towel.

"They got a lot of pressure on me," Lorenzen said. "I didn't have a lot of time to sit back there and make reads. That really limits what you're able to do back there."