Former New England Patriot great Deion Branch leads Louisville football to Fenway Bowl win

BOSTON – Deion Branch is back in New England winning bowl games.

But this time around, the two-time NFL Super Bowl champion isn’t catching passes for the Patriots, instead he’s on the sideline as the interim head coach for the University of Louisville football team.

On Saturday, the Cardinals (8-5) defeated Cincinnati (9-4) at the Wasabi Fenway Bowl, 24-7. Saturday's contest was the inaugural Fenway Bowl, as the two previous tries resulted in cancellations due to COVID.

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“Coming back to Boston, I always felt like everything was fitting,” said Branch. “And then here comes the selection committee asking me to become the interim head coach. The last task was to win the game.”

Branch took the interim position on Dec. 5 after the departure of former head coach Scott Satterfield, who coincidentally took the head-coaching job at Cincinatti.

“I been telling these guys the past two weeks, ‘The game is won, it’s just a matter of how bad we’re going to beat these guys,’” said Branch.

The win came behind an impressive showing from running back Jawhar Jordan, who finished with two touchdowns on 115 yards rushing. Both Jordan and Maurice Turner, who finished with 160 rushing yards, used their speed, quickness and elusiveness to allow the Cardinals to manage the clock, move the chains and put points on the board.

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“Jaws has been this guy all season,” said Branch of Jordan. “Somehow some reason Jaws ended up being No. 4 on the depth chart. How crazy is this? Two guys who ended up four and five on our depth chart ended up being our main guys.”

Jordan got Cardinals on the board first with a 49-yard TD run with 21 seconds left in the first quarter.

Jordan’s second score came before halftime on a 41-yard touchdown run down the right sideline. That allowed the Cardinals to extend their lead to 21-7 with 42 seconds left in the half.

“I’ve been counted out a lot,” said Jordan who was named the game's offensive MVP and received a baseball bat as the trophy. “I’ve been seeing what people in the media have been saying about me, I’ve been counted out on the team as well, I just worked harder and waited on the opportunity."

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Chunk plays is what brought the Cardinals out of an offensive slump in the beginning of the game after opening the day with a pair of punts and a fumble.

“The game didn’t start off how we anticipated offensively, we had some struggles early on. The defense held us in like they’ve been doing all season,” said Branch. “Only bright spot we did have in the first half was the rushing yards.

“I mentioned to these guys that the game is going to be won or lost on the frontline of the offensive and defensive lines."

Defensively, the Cardinals certainly won the battle in the trenches with seven sacks.

When Branch was a player he was known for his deep threat ability as a receiver. Trying to bring that same dynamic to his team this season, the Cardinals struggled to throw the ball. Quarterbacks Brock Domann and Braden Smith combined to throw 138 yards and two interceptions. Cincinatti safety Amorion Smith and cornerback Ja’von Hicks each had interceptions. Domann did throw an 8-yard TD pass to Wyatt Fisher in the second quarter.

Defensively, Louisville allowed just 127 yards and forced four turnovers. Monty Montgomery was named the defensive MVP.

“Second half wasn’t the same,” said Branch. “It wasn’t the second half that I thought we’d actually play. Three points scored, but we didn’t allow anything on their behalf so I’ll take it with a grain of salt."

Now Branch has won playoff games in Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium. This time, he received a different trophy and a Gatorade shower to go with it.

For Branch however, his head-coaching gig will be short lived, as he’s taking his "coaching cap off."

“Tomorrow, I’ll be back to player development, and this is what I’m talking about – trusting the process,” said Branch.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Former Patriot Branch coaches Louisville football to Fenway Bowl win