University of Louisville
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UTEP
Cardinals Clobber UTEP, 42-14
September 20, 2003 | Football
Sept 20, 2003
Final Stats?|? Quotes?|? Notes |
Coach Petrino Audio | QB Stefan LeFors Audio
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Stefan LeFors threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns to lead Louisville to a 42-14 win over UTEP in the Cardinals' home opener on Saturday.
Running backs Lionel Gates and Eric Shelton and 6-foot-5, 350-pound offensive lineman Kurt Quarterman all had 1-yard touchdown runs for the Cardinals (3-0), who have scored in every quarter this season.
Howard Jackson rushed for 118 yards for the Miners (0-4), who lost their ninth straight game and their 17th straight road game.
Louisville faced its first deficit of the year when UTEP receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins scored on a 16-yard run 3:11 into the game. It didn't last long.
On UTEP's next possession, Louisville linebacker Rod Day intercepted an Orlando Cruz pass and returned it to the Miners' 15-yard line. LeFors found Joshua Tinch wide open in the end zone for the tying touchdown with 9:48 left in the first quarter.
After a UTEP punt, Louisville freshman Michael Bush, a record-setting quarterback at nearby Male High School, caught a short pass from LeFors and ran 56 yards to the UTEP 7. The play set up LeFors' five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ronnie Ghent with 5:22 remaining in the first quarter.
Shelton finished Louisville's next drive with his third TD run of the season. Quarterman lined up in the backfield and delivered a punishing block to clear Shelton's path.
A 21-yard pass from Bush to Brent Johnson on a fake punt kept alive the Cardinals' next drive. When they reached the 1-yard line this time, Quarterman took the handoff and barreled into the end zone on his first career carry.
Gates' TD run finished a 10-play, 89-yard drive that opened the third quarter.
Louisville coach Bobby Petrino replaced LeFors with backup Justin Rascati after that, and Rascati scrambled for his first career touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Jordan Palmer, the younger brother of last year's Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer, had a six-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Gonzales with 22 seconds left in the game.
The Miners committed three turnovers, pushing their nation-leading total to 17.
The Cardinals have scored on 18 of 31 possessions this season.
