LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville's defense finally got a hand on Pittsburgh running back LeSean McCoy, just in time to save the Cardinals' season.

Rod Council recovered a fumble by McCoy at the Louisville 3 with 1:10 remaining to help the Cardinals escape the pesky Panthers 24-17.

"It's a game of inches and a 100-yard field," Council said.

Good thing, because the Cardinals (5-4, 2-2 Big East) needed every one of them to snap a two-game home losing streak and keep their hopes of a 10th straight bowl appearance alive.

The late-game heroics hardly seemed necessary after the Cardinals went ahead by a touchdown on a 1-yard run by Brock Bolen with 1:54 left.

But the Panthers (3-5, 1-2) needed just four plays — three runs by McCoy and a 19-yard pass from Pat Bostick to Oderick Turner — to get to the Louisville 1.

Officials ruled Turner scored on the pass, but video replay put the ball inches from the goal line.

The Cardinals took advantage of the reprieve with their biggest defensive stop of the season after Bostick and McCoy appeared to mishandle the exchange.

"It looked to me (like) he fumbled the handoff," Council said. "It fell on the ground and I went for it."

And for one of the few times this season for the nation's 89th-ranked defense, a bounce went the Cardinals' way.

"It wasn't all on Pat," McCoy said. "I didn't secure the ball well enough. I was trying to read the defense, but you have to secure the ball first. Things like that happen."

The Cardinals allowed a season-low 270 yards, including just 49 in the first half.

"Our defense found a way to come up with the play and win the game," said Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe. "I'm proud of the way they hung in there. We've all come up a little short at times. I'm just glad they were rewarded today."

Brian Brohm threw for 236 yards and two scores for Louisville, and was at his best on the game-winning drive. He marched the Cardinals 70 yards in seven plays, including a 27-yard pass to tight end Scott Kuhn that helped move the ball to the Pittsburgh 7. Bolen took over from there, bulling his way to the Pittsburgh 1 then diving over the top for the score.

"We knew we had to go down and score," Brohm said. "Brock Bolen did a great job of finishing off the drive. We just had to finish the game. We knew the game was in our hands. We felt the defense could hold them."

It did. Barely.

McCoy, who was bottled up for much of the game by a Louisville defense that wasn't fooled by the variety of formations the Panthers used in an effort to get him the ball, finally got rolling in the fourth quarter.

He rushed for 65 of his game-high 120 yards in the final frame, including a 7-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 17 with 4:27 to play.