Getty Image
A Louisville Cardinals offensive lineman is going viral this weekend after doing a cartwheel mid-play in hopes of distracting the defense. The acrobatics didn’t seem to have much effect on the play, but it gave viewers some hilarious entertainment in a blowout contest.
The Cards took on Boston College in an ACC matchup on Saturday and they tried to use a little trickery to take control of the game.
Head coach Jeff Brohm pulled out all the stops. Louisville used the classic fumble-rooskie play just before halftime to widen its lead to 42-14.
Might watch this 75 times between now and when I fall asleep tonight pic.twitter.com/0byxV37KAH
— Mike Rutherford (@CardChronicle) September 23, 2023
The Cardinals would coast from there to improve to 4-0 on the year.
It wasn’t the only interesting play call of that first half, though. While leading the Eagles 21-0 early in the second quarter, an offensive lineman went viral for randomly doing a cartwheel in the middle of the action.
Lining up in the slot, he was used as a decoy from the get-go.
The big man wasn’t looking to block. He wasn’t watching his quarterback run down the opposite sideline. He wasn’t looking for the ball. He was literally doing somersaults on the field as a play was taking place.
We’ve got big men doing cartwheels in our offense pic.twitter.com/iBhwyUoQDF
— Mark Blankenbaker (@UofLSheriff50) September 23, 2023
Fans immediately commented on the unexpected cartwheel online.
“That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in a college football game, I’m crying.”
“When the game’s a blowout, this is how you keep us glued to the screen.”
“Is he also being scouted by the gymnastics team?!”
After the game, Coach Brohm was asked about the play. He said that he’d actually called for the lineman to do a split as opposed to a cartwheel.
“Well, we wanted him to do the splits, but he couldn’t quite get that. So, he went with the cartwheel,” the head coach said.
We’ve seen bizarre plays like this in the past. In many cases, it doesn’t work out exactly how the play caller drew it up.
In this case, the cartwheel from the offensive lineman had little impact on the end result. Still, it was fun to watch.