Tonight was the debut of the Cardinal sledge hammer a new symbol for this Louisville football program. Senior tackle Jamon Brown will carry it to the field for every game. They sure dropped the hammer on this Murray State team tonight. This wasn’t exactly the type of blow-out that game was back in 1932, but I’ll take it. The Cards made quick work of the Murray State Racers tonight beating them 66-21. Tonight wasn’t about winning or losing this game as there was never any doubt about the outcome. Tonight was about offensive and defensive execution, and about showing maturity. All of which our Cardinals did.
Our guys came out very business like from the beginning and did execute their offensive and defensive game plan to near perfection. In the first half the Cards only had 1 penalty for 5 yards and didn’t have any turnovers. The starting unit scored 45 points, and had 357 yards of total offense. They would score 66 points and have 603 total yards on the night.
The defensive starting unit was again stellar and flying all over the field. These guys are playing on a different level. They held the Racers to 7 points giving up only 111 yards of total offense in the first half. During the second half a lot of the second team guys got to play and ended up giving up 21 points total and 292 yards total. Coach Petrino was able to give a lot of guys some PT tonight on both sides of the ball.
Will Gardner looked very solid tonight and had a lot of zip on his balls. He made some really solid completions and paced the first unit very well. He was 13 for 22 with 133 yards and 2 touchdowns.
I knew we would see Reggie Bonnafon tonight and man did he impress the hometown crowd. He really seized his moment tonight throwing a beautiful touchdown pass to Michaelee Harris and scored two touchdowns on keeper plays. After seeing this kids composure tonight in his Cardinal debut it’s obvious that the QB position will be solid for years to come.
Dom Brown had another solid outing and was mowing over the Murray defensive players like they weren’t even there. Like Bonnafon I knew that LJ Scott would get a good number of carries tonight and he like Reggie really made the most of it. He rumbled for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Brandon Radcliff also made the most of his extra reps with 97 yards and two touchdowns. Like the QB position the running back spot is going to be very solid for years to come.
Several of the Cardinal wide receivers also got in on the action tonight with Kai Dela Cruz leading the way with 53 yards and a touchdown. Gerald Christian, and Michaelee Harris also had touchdown grabs. Eli Rodgers had a solid performance with 5 grabs for 45 yards. I was really glad to see Harris get a touchdown catch. For all that he’s been through with his injury problems he deserves his moments.
As I mentioned above this Louisville defense has really been a joy to watch during the last two games. They are playing with a lot of passion. Their close out speed and hard hitting is unreal. Taking into account these guys are still learning a new system I get giddy thinking about just how good they will be. Keith Kelsey and Devontre Parnell led the way for this group tonight each with 4 tackles. Lorenzo was also very disruptive to the Murray State offense. They avoided him as much as they could.
It was another great night of football in Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium. The Cardinals are now 24-1 at home with Coach Petrino at the helm and have the second longest winning streak in the country with 8. These first two games have Cardinal fans thinking big. And I really believe these guys can deliver.
