Kentucky stuns No. 9 Louisville

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- With one perfectly thrown pass, Andre Woodson erased years of agony against Brian Brohm and turned Kentucky’s border battle with Louisville into a real rivalry again.

Woodson threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Steve Johnson with 28 seconds left, and Kentucky shocked the No. 9 Cardinals, 40-34, Saturday night.

It was the Wildcats’ first victory over a top-10 team in three decades -- since they beat Penn State in 1974 -- and halted Kentucky’s four-year losing streak to Louisville (2-1). It also ended Woodson’s even longer skid against Brohm, a nemesis since high school.

“Finally the right team won,” Kentucky Coach Rich Brooks said. “It had more twists and turns than a Dickens novel.”

Kentucky (3-0) was about to lose its fifth in a row to its in-state rival after being pushed back because of a personal-foul penalty. Then Johnson zipped past the Cardinals’ secondary and Woodson found him.

“The only thing going through my head is, ‘Stevie, please catch the ball,’ ” Woodson said. “Once he caught it, I knew.”

Woodson completed 30 of 44 passes for 275 yards and four touchdowns as he beat Brohm for the first time.

The two are among the nation’s top quarterback prospects, so if they meet again, it could be in the NFL.

“What a great throw,” Kentucky tight end Jacob Tamme said. “It had to be done, and he did it.”

Johnson called Woodson a “big-time player.”

Brohm showed he was big-time too, completing 28 of 43 for 366 yards and two touchdowns, and he led a late drive that put the Cardinals in position to win.

But his last-second desperation attempt was deflected and caught by Harry Douglas at the 10, but the receiver couldn’t get into the end zone.

“We did give them quite a bit of time to go down and score,” Brohm said. “They made a play and did a great job. We gave them too many opportunities.”