It was a beautiful November evening for the first night game in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in 5 years. The Cards started off slow but got things going in the second half to beat the Cougars 20 to 13. With the win the Cardinals take possession of second place in the AAC and now move to 9-1 on the season. Louisville is 9-1 for the second straight season which is the first time that has happened and this is the 12th time in school history that they have reached the nine win mark. The Cardinals take the lead in this series with Houston 8-7, and they will renew it when they move to the ACC. This football program has now only lost one game in the last 358 days.
Usually when writing these articles after a game it is Teddy Bridgewater and the passing game getting most of the ink. And while they did put up some decent numbers it was the running game that ruled this night. Teddy threw for 203 yards and for the first time in 22 games he didn’t have a touchdown pass. The high receiver on the night was DeVante Parker who had four receptions for 72 yards. But again the big story of the night was the dominance on the ground by Dominique Brown. He was a beast with the ball in his hands tonight and ran for a career-high 137 yards with two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in the third quarter. At times he was making it look easy and like he was running downhill. He had 27 carries on the night and the previous high this season for carries had been 18. You could just sense that Brown was going to eventually have a game like this and he has now emerged as the Cardinals go to back. This kid has really made a remarkable recovery to get where he is right now. He is running the ball with just as much power as he ever did. It seems like running the ball is going to be the name of the game at Louisville in the future and it seems like Charlie Strong wants it that way. Maybe he is preparing for life after Teddy. I would prefer to see a more high powered offense and throwing it up and down the field, but it looks like we are going to have to get used to a more methodical approach to the game. The Cardinals had the ball 37 minutes to Houston’s 22 minutes.
Lost in the shuffle of all the concern about the offensive production is the fact that Louisville has one of the more elite defenses in the country. They have been pretty dominating all year long and they haven’t allowed a 1st quarter touchdown this season. It is the #1 scoring defense and the #2 total defenses in the country with two of the nation’s sack leaders in Marcus Smith and Lorenzo Mauldin. Smith had 3 tackles tonight with one sack and Mauldin had 5 tackles with one sack. This group found their backs against the wall again tonight with Houston looking to drive the ball down the field and tie the game with 2:50 on the clock. Charlie asks the group to step up and deliver and they did. Marcus Smith and Roy Philon had back to back sacks on Houston QB John O’Korn that resulted in -18 yards. The defense would hold the Cougars to a 4 and out on their final possession. Brown was the man tonight but this defense deserves a lot of credit as well. It is one of the best ever for Louisville.
I know most like to complain about the offense being too slow and a lot of folks don’t feel like Shawn Watson is using the tools he has effectively in regards to Teddy and the group of receivers. I personally don’t care how the Cardinals win football games just as long as they win them. And as I mentioned earlier I think they are preparing this team and program for life without Teddy Bridgewater and I think that Charlie Strong prefers a rock em sock em type of offense to an air it out one. He has the horses to back it up especially with a guy like Dominique Brown emerging. I have a feeling we are just seeing the beginning of something very special with this kid.
Cards Take The Field For Houston:
Coach Strong After Houston Win:
Teddy After Houston Win:
Roy Philon After Houston Win:
Marcus Smith After Houston Win:
James Burgess After Houston Win:
Dominique Brown After Houston Win:
