It's been an up-and-down season for the Cardinals, but this latest downswing is lasting long enough that Louisville is close to having its season slip away.

Steve Kragthorpe's crew lost its third game in a row this weekend, falling 28-20 to Cincinnati. That leaves the team at 5-5, with games against West Virginia and Rutgers left.

Because the Big East has more bowl-eligible teams that it does tie-ins, 6-6 isn't likely to earn anyone in the league a postseason berth. That means Louisville has to beat the Mountaineers at home this weekend in order to have the regular-season finale at Rutgers serve as a de facto play-in game for a bowl bid.

Judging by the chorus of boos that greeted the Cardinals at home in the second half against the Bearcats, the fans don't have much faith in that happening.

Perhaps they're just demoralized by the mistakes that have plagued the team all season. Against the Bearcats, Louisville missed a 45-yard field-goal try in the fourth quarter, as a mishandled snap hurt Ryan Payne's chances, and he left it short. He also would have had a much shorter try were it not for a pair of penalties that pushed the Cardinals back, including a brutal delay-of-game call on third down.

Cincinnati then drove down the field for a touchdown to make it 28-20, and Louisville couldn't get the ball across midfield the rest of the way. Serving as a metaphor for the season, when the chips were down, the Cardinals couldn't get themselves out of neutral. As a result, the promise of a month ago seems very far away right now.

SEASON RECAP

Kentucky 27, Louisville 2: Louisville turned the ball over five times, including two fumbles that were returned for touchdowns, in going down to defeat in the Governor's Cup. Only a fourth-quarter safety prevented the Cardinals from being shut out for the first time since the 2000 season.

Louisville 51, Tennessee Tech 10: The Cardinals scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams en route to a blowout victory over the Eagles. Hunter Cantwell completed eight of his first 11 passes as Louisville scored on its opening drive and never looked back.

Louisville 38, Kansas State 29: Victor Anderson ran for 176 yards and three touchdowns as the Cardinals rolled past Kansas State at home. Louisville finished with 303 yards on the ground, and it took a fourth-quarter Wildcats surge to make the final score respectable.

Connecticut 26, Louisville 21: Hunter Cantwell's pass was intercepted by UConn's Lawrence Wilson and returned for a touchdown with less than three minutes to play to seal a 26-21 defeat. The Cardinals lost despite outgaining the Huskies 508 yards to 279, but turnovers and penalties helped seal the defeat at home.

Louisville 35, Memphis 28: The Cardinals won on the road against their former Conference USA rival by taking advantage of big plays on defense on special teams. Louisville returned a blocked punt, a kickoff and a fumble for touchdowns to win despite being outgained on offense 481-299.

Louisville 42, Middle Tennessee State 23: Brock Bolen ran for three touchdowns and Victor Anderson added another to lead the Cardinals to a victory over the Blue Raiders at home. Louisville trailed 14-0 early and 17-14 at the half, but 28 straight second-half points turned the game into a rout in the fourth-quarter.

Louisville 24, South Florida 20: Hunter Cantwell hit Scott Long for a 24-yard touchdown pass with 7:07 to play to give the Cardinals the upset of the 14th-ranked Bulls at home. Louisville's defense held the Bulls to eight yards rushing and picked off Matt Grothe twice in the second half.

Syracuse 28, Louisville 21: The Cardinals suffered a mystifying loss to the Big East's cellar dwellers for the second year in a row, falling behind in the first half and watching a comeback fall short in a 28-21 defeat. Louisville came back from 14 down in the second half to come within a touchdown in the final two minutes, but Hunter Cantwell's interception with 33 seconds left ended any chance at forcing overtime.

Pitt 41, Louisville 7: The Cardinals suffered their second straight loss and put their season in jeopardy as they turned the ball over five times, four of them leading to scores. While successfully bottling up Pitt RB LeSean "Shady" McCoy, the rest of the Panthers offense took charge. QB Billy Stull passed for 216 yards and a touchdown and a number of reverses and trick plays fooled the Louisville defense.

Cincinnati 28, Louisville 20: The Cardinals dropped their third game in a row, as the offense wilted in the second half of a home defeat. Down 21-20 with 8:20 to play, Louisville missed a potential go-ahead field goal, and then allowed Cincinnati to drive for a touchdown that provided the final margin of victory.

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