Louisville Cardinals Ground 'n Pound to a 49-14 Win

© Clare Grant/Courier Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK

The No. 22 Louisville Cardinals (2-0) defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (0-2) by a final score of 49-14 on Sept. 7 at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium in Louisville, Ky. Louisville powered their way to the win with 233 rushing yards.

Bully Ball

The Cardinals made their game plan simple in the first half—give the ball to their running backs and wear down the Gamecocks' defense. Running back Donald Chaney Jr. capped off a nine-play 62-yard drive with a 10-yard rushing touchdown to put the Cardinals up 7-0, and running back Keyjuan Brown with a 22-yard touchdown made it 14-0 game in the first quarter. Louisville would dominate the first half on the ground with 141 yards and 4 touchdowns. The third would end up in the hands of running back Maurice Turner who rushed up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown to make the score 21-7 Cardinals. For the final rushing touchdown in the first half, head coach Jeff Brohm put the ball in the hands of running back Duane Martin who ran in from 2 yards out and would put Louisville up 28-7. 

Tyler Shough Shines

In the second half, the Cardinals would only have one more rushing touchdown coming on a long 40-yard burst by running back Duke Watson to score the final touchdown and complete the 49-14 rout of the Gamecocks. The Cardinals spread their rushing attack around giving the ball to six running backs for a combined 34 total carries. Quarterback Tyler Shough put up numbers in the passing game as well throwing for 349 passing yards of his own.

He’d throw 2 touchdown passes—both in the second half. The third quarter was his most productive quarter throwing for 120 yards with a 48-yard strike to wide receiver Chris Bell. It was another strong performance by Shough after throwing for 232 yards and 4 touchdowns through the air. 

© Clare Grant/Courier Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK

Louisville will have a bye this week before their first Atlantic Coastal Conference game on Sept. 21 against the No. 23 (2-1, 1-1 ACC) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets who fell 31-28 to the Syracuse Orange (2-0). 

Jacksonville State's head coach Rich Rodriguez should be pleased that his quarterback, Tyler Huff played better against Louisville. The Gamecocks will play Eastern Michigan next week on the road in hopes of winning their first game this season.