Louisville Dominant in Petrino’s Return
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iStockphoto(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — The Louisville Cardinals (1-0) defense held Miami to 1-for-13 on three downs, helping lead the team to a 31-13 win over the Hurricanes on Monday in their season opener.
It was also the first victory for head coach Bobby Petrino in his return to Louisville.
“I thought it would be a real battle and we would have to work extremely hard,” said Petrino. “Obviously, we made some mistakes on offense and on special teams. I thought the defense really did a great job all night long, especially on third down.”
The Cardinals opened the scoring in the first quarter when Will Gardner hit Charles Standberry on a two yard touchdown pass. The Hurricanes countered with 10 straight points before Louisville regained the lead just prior to halftime when Corvin Lamb went 97 yards on a kickoff return.
Coming out of the locker room it was all Louisville as they scored 17 straight points after Miami closed the gap to 14-13 just four minutes into the third.
The game also saw a pair of quarterbacks making their first career starts. Gardner was 20-for-28 passing for 206 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Freshman Brad Kaaya did not fare as well for Miami (0-1), tossing a pair of interceptions and going just 17-for-29 in his debut.
“We did not do a good enough job protecting a first-start quarterback. Period,” said Hurricanes coach Al Golden.
Louisville opened their tenure in the Atlantic Coast Conference, dominating a mainstay program in the ACC. Petrino led the Cardinals to a 41-9 record from 2003-06 as head coach.
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