Louisville vs. UTEP Postgame Notes

Sept. 20, 2003

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Louisville Notes

Nine different Cardinals carried the ball today and nine different receivers caught passes for U of L.
U of L has started its season 3-0 for the second time in three seasons and for the 11th time since 1946. U of L coach Bobby Petrino became the third U of L coach to win his first three games as head coach of the Cardinals (joins Frank Camp and Tom King as the others).
QB Stefan LeFors, who leads Conference USA in passing efficiency, completed 12-of-19 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns. He improved his efficiency rating to 162.8.
TE Ronnie Ghent's first quarter TD reception was the 12th of his career, moving him into a tie for sixth-place on the school's all-time list with Ralph Dawkins (1990-93).
WR J.R. Russell (3 catches for 38 yards) has now caught a pass in a team-high 14 straight games.
OT/FB Kurt Quarterman scored on a one-yard in the second quarter - the first of his career.
U of L's 437 yards of total offense marked the first time since the final three games of the 1998 season that the Cardinals recorded more than 400 yards of total offense in three straight games (then vs. ECU, Army and Marshall).
CB/WR Antoine Harris played both wide receiver and cornerback, becoming the first player since Sam Madison did accomplished the feat in 1996.
QB Justin Rascati (4-of-4 passing, 51 yards) made his collegiate debut and scored his first career touchdown on a 31-yard rush with 11:19 left in the fourth quarter.
Today's U of L victory marked the fourth time in six years the Cardinals have won their home opener in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
Today's crowd of 40,205 was the ninth largest in PJCS history.
Bob Weber, head coach at U of L for five seasons (1980-84), was in attendance at the game.

UTEP Postgame Notes

The Miners' game captains were senior OL Trey Darilek and senior DL Dan Kerr, marking the second time this season that each has been tabbed game captain.
Junior DB Adrian Ward made his first career start at left corner today.
Johnnie Lee Higgins' 16-yard touchdown run in the first quarter marked UTEP's first rushing touchdown of the season. It was the first points scored by UTEP in the first quarter in 2003. It also marked only the Miners' second lead in a game this season (7-0 against Cal Poly). The touchdown by Higgins and ensuing extra point kick by Reagan Schneider were the first points scored by both players at the collegiate level.
With 300 yards of total offense, the Miners have now had under 300 yards of offense in four consecutive games for the first time since the last 10 games of the 1980 season. Overall UTEP has had less than 300 yards of offense in seven of its last nine contests dating back to 2002.
Jahmal Fenner moved into seventh place on the Miners' career kickoff return list with 861 yards.
The Miners dropped to 1-10 in day games and 0-10 in non-conference road games under coach Gary Nord. UTEP is now 11-8 under Nord when scoring first.
UTEP is now 5-7 all-time versus Conference USA schools, including 0-6 on the road.
The Miners have lost 17 consecutive road games, longest skid for UTEP since losing 23 in a row away from El Paso from 1982-85. UTEP has lost nine straight games overall, longest streak for the Miners since dropping 10 in a row during the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
Jacob Gonzalez's touchdown reception was his fourth reception of his career. Three out of four of Gonzalez's receptions have been touchdowns.

University of Louisville Athletics

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