Louisville Football: Cuse puts the orange crush on Cards
The Louisville football program came into the Carrier Dome with a 2-7 record, to face Dino Babers and 7-2 Syracuse. The Cards showed energy and effort we haven’t seen in weeks, but in the end, the Orange crush the Cards.
Louisville football looked to extend Bobby Petrino’s record to 8-0 against the Cuse Friday Night, but costly turnovers and penalties once again were the tale of the game. Syracuse won the toss and chose to defer to the 2nd Half.
The Cards opening drive went 3 & out and were forced to Punt. CJ Avery forced a fumble after the ‘Cuse Punt returner elected to return the Mason King Punt. London Iakopo recovered the fumble in Cardinals territory. That’s where the penalties would begin to be felt as the Cards drive stalled and Mason King was once again forced to punt.
After the Cardinals defense would show some signs of life and force the Orange to punt, Malik Cunningham would come in for the Cardinals 2nd drive and bring an immediate spark with a big gain to rush it down to the Syracuse 15yrd line. OG Lukayus McNeil would be flagged for an Unnecessary Roughness call that would back the Cards up to the 30yrd line.
A few plays later, the Cards drive would stall and be forced to resort to a FG attempt. The Blanton Creque attempt would be blocked and returned to Cards 31yrd line. 3 plays later, Jarvion Howard would put the Cuse on the board, striking first giving the Cuse a 7-0 lead.
The Cards offense once again would stall and be forced to punt. They would hold Syracuse to a FG trailing 10-0 before Pass would drive the offense down the field resulting in a touchdown pass to Dez Fitzpatrick to open the 2nd Quarter.
The Cardinal defense would fail to hold Cuse allowing them to score right back on a long touchdown run extending their lead to 17-7. That’s where the woes for the Cardinal would begin. The 2nd Quarter would prove to be disastrous to their winning aspirations.
The second quarter made the difference in this one. Pass and the Cardinals offense would self destruct through the 2nd Quarter giving up 20pts off turnovers and at Halftime would trial the Orange 37-7.
Syracuse got the ball first in the 2nd Half and struck quickly. On the first play of the 2nd Half Moe Neal broke off a huge run up the middle to take it down to the Cardinals 6 yard line. A few plays later, the Orange punched it in, and the damage was already done.
Syracuse only outscored the Cards 24-16 in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th quarters, however the stretch of the second quarter where Louisville turned the ball over four times in seven plays made the difference in the game. The orange scored 30 points overall in a second quarter where Louisville’s defense forced two Syracuse field goals deep into their own territory.
The Cards shot themselves in the foot a few too many times, and before they could even reach half time the game was out of hand.
The Good: Running Game established itself with Colin Wilson leading the way.
Both Colin Wilson and Hassan Hall continued to show glimpses of a running game that resembles something to what we expected at the beginning of the season. The Cards averaged 5.2 yards per rush and Wilson and Hall each were both responsible for a Touchdown on the ground. There’s not many bright spots, but the rushing attack continues to get better with the emergence of both Hassan Hall and Colin Wilson.
The Bad: Puma Pass
3 Turnovers; 2 fumbles, 1 INT. Jawon Pass’ inability to take care of the ball resulted in a fast pace Syracuse offense having more opportunities to score as they capitalized and helped put the Cardinals away in the 1st Half.
MVP: For the second week in a row, Colin Wilson has shown vision and a running style that has been missing from the Cardinals running attack this season. He had 10 carries for 42 yards and a TD with a long run of 22 yards. He was one of the lone bright spots of the night.
LVP: You just can’t have your starting QB, your field general responsible for 3 turnovers and expected to win. Let alone on the road against a ranked opponent. Benched before the end of the 1st Half after his 3rd turnover which was unforced, walk-on QB Sean McCormack came in to replace Pass. Not exactly an idea scenario for winning. Jawon had to do better.
Stat of the Night: Louisville committed four turnovers that resulted in 20 Syracuse points in the second quarter.
Tweet of the Night:
The Cards came into the Carrier Dome inspired and played with energy. For the first time in weeks Cards Fans saw energy from the sideline, but once again, undisciplined football and costly turnovers resulted in a loss.
dark. Next. Blowout loss to Syracuse would be new program low for Louisville
The Cards will look to find a way next week as ranked NC State makes a visit to Cardinal Stadium.