The Keg of Nails

See also: Cincinnati–Louisville rivalry

The Keg of Nails is a traveling trophy continuously awarded to the winner of the American college football rivalry game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Louisville Cardinals.^[1][2][3][4] The rivalry has stretched over the span of four conferences from the Missouri Valley Conference, to Conference USA, and more recently in the Big East Conference, which in 2013 was renamed to the American Athletic Conference. It is believed to be the oldest rivalry for the Louisville football team and the second oldest for Cincinnati, only behind the Victory Bell with the Miami RedHawks.

Keg of Nails

Cincinnati Bearcats Louisville Cardinals
Sport	Football
First meeting	October 2, 1929 Cincinnati 7, Louisville 0
Latest meeting	December 17, 2022 Louisville 24, Cincinnati 7
Statistics
Meetings total	54
All-time series	Cincinnati leads, 30–23–1 (.565)
Largest victory	Louisville, 70–7 (2004)
Longest win streak	Cincinnati, 12 (1929–1969)
Current win streak	Louisville, 3 (2012–present)

75km
50miles

Louisville

Cincinnati

  

Locations of Cincinnati and Louisville

The rivalry went on hiatus following the 2013 season, as Louisville moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2014. Cincinnati leads the series 30–23–1.^[5] Cincinnati in the interim was invited to the Big 12^[6] conference and joined in 2023.

Series history

The series was played sporadically before becoming an annual match up from 1966 to 2013, with only a brief hiatus from 1992 to 1996. The match-up gained more significance with the growth of both programs into the 2000s, primarily with the success under coaches John L. Smith and Bobby Petrino for Louisville and Mark Dantonio, Brian Kelly, and Butch Jones for Cincinnati. Both programs would challenge for and win titles during their shared time in Conference USA and the Big East.

The trophy is a replica of a keg used to ship nails. The exchange is believed to have been initiated by fraternity chapters on the UC and U of L campuses, signifying that the winning players in the game were "tough as nails." The present keg is actually a replacement for the original award, which was misplaced by Louisville, lost during some construction of office facilities. It is adorned with the logos of both schools and the scores of the series games.

Notable games

November 8, 1997: Bearcat return specialist Tinker Keck would return two punts for touchdowns, tying the NCAA record at that time. Cincinnati would defeat Louisville 28–9.^[7]

November 28, 2003: The Cardinals came to Cincinnati in what would go down as a shootout on a snowy afternoon. The Bearcats and QB Gino Guidugli would overcome a 28-7 second quarter deficit and the team was ahead 40–35 with 2:20 remaining in the game. An impressive 54-yard touchdown pass by Stefan LeFors with 70 seconds left would be enough to help Louisville escape with a 43–40 victory. This was the final Keg of Nails game by Cincinnati head coach Rick Minter.^[8]

October 14, 2006:The Bearcats took an early lead in the game, but the No. 7 Cardinals led by head coach Bobby Petrino were able to score twice at the end of the half, including on a 1-yard pass by quarterback Brian Brohm, to take a 13–10 lead to halftime. Late in the fourth quarter, the Bearcats had a chance win with another pass in the endzone, however it was knocked down by Cardinal cornerback Gavin Smart to preserve the win. The Cardinals won 23–17 and continued their 15-game home winning streak.^[9]

November 14, 2008: The No. 22 Bearcats, searching for their first Keg of Nails victory in six seasons, came to Louisville to take on a struggling Cardinals team. Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike exited the game with an injury in the fourth quarter. The former starter, replaced by Pike after breaking his leg, Dustin Grutza entered the game and led the game-winning, seventy-two-yard drive for the Bearcats to win 28–20. The Bearcats would go onto win their first Big East conference title.^[10]

December 5, 2013: In a prime time, Thursday night game the No. 16 Cardinals came into Nippert Stadium to play the No. 23 Bearcats. Teddy Bridgewater would have a fantastic game, in which he would lead Louisville to a 31–24 OT victory.^[11]

December 17, 2022: The Keg was revived in the postseason for the 2022 Fenway Bowl. The resumption of the series gained further notoriety when then Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield was announced as the new head coach at Cincinnati after the departure of Luke Fickell. Louisville would go on to win 24–7.^[12]

Game results

Cincinnati victories

Louisville victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 October 2, 1929 Parkway Field Cincinnati 7–0 2 September 24, 1938 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 19–0 3 September 28, 1940 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 7–0 4 September 27, 1941 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 28–7 5 September 26, 1942 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 51–0 6 October 7, 1950 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 28–20 7 October 13, 1951 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 38–0 8 November 7, 1953 Parkway Field Cincinnati 41–0 9 November 12, 1966 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 17–3 10 November 11, 1967 Cardinal Stadium Cincinnati 13–7 11 November 9, 1968 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 37–7 12 November 8, 1969 Cardinal Stadium Cincinnati 31–21 13 November 14, 1970 Nippert Stadium Louisville 28–14 14 November 27, 1971 Cardinal Stadium Cincinnati 19–16 15 October 28, 1972 Nippert Stadium Louisville 38–13 16 October 27, 1973 Cardinal Stadium Louisville 10–8 17 September 28, 1974 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 7–6 18 September 27, 1975 Cardinal Stadium Cincinnati 46–27 19 November 27, 1976 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 20–6 20 September 17, 1977 Cardinal Stadium Tie 17–17 21 September 23, 1978 Nippert Stadium Louisville 28–14 22 September 22, 1979 Cardinal Stadium Louisville 22–19 23 November 15, 1980 Cardinal Stadium Louisville 20–0 24 November 14, 1981 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 24–0 25 September 11, 1982 Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati 38–16 26 September 24, 1983 Cardinal Stadium Louisville 31–23 27 October 27, 1984 Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati 40–21 28 October 19, 1985 Cardinal Stadium Cincinnati 31–9 No. Date Location Winner Score 29 October 4, 1986 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 24–17 30 September 12, 1987 Cardinal Stadium Cincinnati 25–0 31 October 29, 1988 Nippert Stadium Louisville 21–6 32 September 30, 1989 Cardinal Stadium Louisville 37–17 33 November 3, 1990 Riverfront Stadium No. 25 Louisville 41–16 34 October 5, 1991 Cardinal Stadium Cincinnati 30–7 35 October 31, 1992 Nippert Stadium Louisville 27–17 36 October 26, 1996 Cardinal Stadium Cincinnati 10–7 37 November 8, 1997 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 28–9 38 October 3, 1998 Cardinal Stadium Louisville 62–19 39 November 6, 1999 Nippert Stadium Louisville 23–13 40 October 14, 2000 Cardinal Stadium Louisville 38–24 41 October 27, 2001 Nippert Stadium Louisville 28–13 42 November 7, 2002 Cardinal Stadium Cincinnati 24–14 43 November 28, 2003 Nippert Stadium Louisville 43–40 44 November 27, 2004 Cardinal Stadium No. 9 Louisville 70–7 45 October 22, 2005 Nippert Stadium Louisville 46–22 46 October 14, 2006 Cardinal Stadium No. 7 Louisville 23–17 47 October 13, 2007 Nippert Stadium Louisville 28–24 48 November 14, 2008 Cardinal Stadium No. 22 Cincinnati 28–20 49 November 24, 2009 Nippert Stadium No. 5 Cincinnati 41–10 50 October 15, 2010 Cardinal Stadium Cincinnati 35–27 51 October 15, 2011 Paul Brown Stadium Cincinnati 25–16 52 October 26, 2012 Cardinal Stadium No. 16 Louisville 34–31OT 53 December 5, 2013 Nippert Stadium No. 19 Louisville 31–24OT 54 December 17, 2022A Fenway Park Louisville 24–7 Series: Cincinnati leads 30–23–1 A 2022 Fenway Bowl

Wins by location

Category	Cincinnati	Louisville	Tie
Boston, MA	0	1	0
Cincinnati, OH	17	12	0
Louisville, KY	13	10	1

Wins by venue

Category	Cincinnati	Louisville	Tie
Cardinal Stadium	3	5	0
Fenway Park	0	1	0
Nippert Stadium	14	11	0
Old Cardinal Stadium	8	5	1
Parkway Field	2	0	0
Paul Brown Stadium	1	0	0
Riverfront Stadium	2	1	0

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. KAY, JOE (2013). "Louisville, Cincinnati game all about the keg". nbc12.com. AP. An old keg is the traveling trophy that goes to the winner of a long-standing Ohio River football rivalry.
2. KAY, JOE (December 6, 2013). "Bridgewater, No. 19 Louisville beat Cincinnati". AP. The Cardinals and Bearcats have played since 1929, a rivalry that developed its own trophy — the Keg of Nails — and a lot of close finishes.
3. "Bearcats take on Louisville for 'Keg of Nails' Thursday". WLWT. December 5, 2013. The keg doesn't actually contain nails. And nobody knows exactly who introduced it - a fraternity is the best guess. But the winner on Thursday will get to keep the memento of a rivalry that has been played since 1929 and has covered the Missouri Valley Conference, Conference USA, the Big East and the AAC.
4. Vaughn, Austin R. (September 24, 2015). "Rivalry Interrupted: 10 great college football games we may never see again". NCAA. This rivalry has streached across four conferences: the Missouri Valley Conference, the Metro Conference, Conference USA and the Big East.
5. "Winsipedia - Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Louisville Cardinals football series history". winsipedia.
6. "Cincinnati to Enter Big 12 on July 1, 2023". University of Cincinnati Athletics. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
7. Knupke, Gene (12 Mar 2006). Profiles of American / Canadian Sports Stadiums and Arenas. p. 444. ISBN 9781413498233.
8. "LeFors guides Cards to comeback winn". ESPN. 28 Nov 2003. Retrieved 26 Apr 2020.^{[dead link]}
9. "Louisville holds off hard-charging Bearcats in Brohm's return". ESPN. 14 Oct 2006. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved 26 Apr 2020.
10. "Pike throws for 250 yards, two scores as Cincinnati takes over first in Big East". ESPN. 15 Nov 2008. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved 26 Apr 2020.
11. Tapp, Connor (5 Dec 2013). "Louisville vs. Cincinnati 2013 final score: No. 19 Cardinals beat Bearcats, 31-24, in overtime thriller". sbnation.com. SB Nation. Retrieved 26 Apr 2020.
12. Thamel, Pete (December 5, 2022). "Cincinnati tabs Scott Satterfield to replace Luke Fickell". ESPN.