Louisville-Kentucky Postgame Notes
September 02, 2012 | Football
Sept. 2, 2012
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Louisville Postgame Notes
No. 25 Louisville 32, Kentucky 14
Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012
The last time Louisville opened the season on a Sunday was Aug. 31, 2008, at home against Kentucky. Louisville lost the contest, 27-2.
Louisville's game captains are Alex Kupper and Will Stein.
Louisville won the toss and deferred to the second half.
Today's attendance of 55,386 is a record for Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. The previous record of 55,327 was set in 2010 versus Kentucky.
The Cardinals moved to 11-14 all-time against Kentucky, 4-6 in Louisville. In Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, Louisville holds a 4-4 record against the Wildcats.
Louisville owns a 9-6 record when opening the season against Kentucky.
All-time in season-openers, the Cardinals are 50-39-5 and have won 11 of their last 14 contests.
Louisville's record against nonconference opponents since the 2002 season moved to 37-18.
Other records for the Cardinals: Louisville captured its 12th win against an opponent in the Southeastern Conference; Louisville is 79-68-5 against schools in Kentucky.
When scoring more than 20 points in a game under the direction of Charlie Strong, the Cardinals' record is 14-4. When holding opponents to 20 or fewer points, Louisville boasts a 10-3 mark under Strong.
With Jeremy Wright's touchdown with 4:17 left in the second quarter, Louisville now has scored at least 20 points in its season opener 10 of last 13 seasons.
Points - Opponent (Date)
32 - Kentucky (Sept. 2, 2012)
21 - Murray State (Sept. 1, 2011)
30 - Indiana St. (Sept. 5, 2009)
73 - Murray St. (Aug. 30, 2007)
59 - Kentucky (Sept. 3, 2006)
31 - Kentucky (Sept. 4, 2005)
28 - Kentucky (Sept. 5, 2004)
40 - Kentucky (Aug. 31, 2003)
45 - New Mexico St. (Aug. 23, 2001)
40 - Kentucky (Sept. 2, 2000)
True freshmen participating in their first collegiate game: Keith Brown (linebacker), James Burgess (linebacker), Sheldon Rankins (defensive line) and Josh Appleby (kicker).
Others seeing playing time for the first time in their careers: Ryan Hubbell (tight end), Jermaine Reve (safety), Jalen Harrington (linebacker), John Wallace (kicker), Ryan Johnson (punter) and Ryan Mack (offensive lineman).
Teddy Bridgewater had an inspiring season-opening performance against Kentucky. He set the school record for completion percentage, connecting on 19-of-21 attempts, while registering 232 yards in the air. The Miami, Fla., native hit nine different receivers in the win. He also was clutch on third downs, completing all four passing attempts for 77 yards.
Stefan LeFors previously held the record for completion percentage, connecting on 12-of-14 attempts against East Carolina on Oct. 4, 2004.
Teddy Bridgewater's first pass of the season, a 20-yard completion to Damian Copeland is the longest opening pass play of the year since Brian Brohm connected on a 44-yard touchdown pass to Harry Douglass against Murray State on Aug. 30, 2007.
After a huge debate during the offseason on who would be the leading running back, Jeremy Wright earned the first carry of the game. He solidified himself as a lead back, finishing the game with 105 yards on 16 carries, an average of 6.8 yards per carry, and one touchdown. He also had a reception for 10 yards.
Jeremy Wright becomes the first running back with three rushing touchdowns since Brock Bolen registered three versus MTSU in 2008.
Today's game marked the first time Louisville has had two running backs register at least 100 yards apiece since the Cardinals' win over Arkansas State on Oct. 2, 2010. Senorise Perry finished with 108 yards and Jeremy Wright had 105. In the Arkansas State win, Bilal Powell tallied 162 yards and Victor Anderson had 109.
Senorise Perry increased Louisville's lead by eight in the second quarter on a career-best 47 yard rush to the right of scrimmage. It was Perry's second career touchdown. It's the longest rushing touchdown since Victor Anderson scored from 61 yards out last season on Oct. 29 against Syracuse.
Last year, Louisville didn't have two rushing touchdowns in a game until the fourth contest of the year, scoring a pair or rushing touchdowns against Marshall. Louisville reached the three-touchdown plateau on the ground in the seventh game of the year (Rutgers, Oct. 21, 2011). In the first half of the season opening contest, Jeremy Wright and Senorise Perry combined for three rushing touchdowns. The duo finished the game with 213 yards on 38 attempts for four touchdowns.
This is the first time Louisville scored on its opening offensive drive of the season since the 2007 season, when Brian Brohm hit Harry Douglass for a 44-yard touchdown against Murray State on Aug. 30 .
Following the Cardinals' first scoring play of the year, Will Stein connected with Marcus Smith for a successful two-point conversion. The last time the Cardinals scored on a two-point conversion was against Southern Miss on Oct. 10, 2009, when Adam Froman found Scott Radcliff in the end zone. Louisville won the game, 25-23.
A bit of history: The last time Louisville converted a two-point attempt in a season-opening contest was against Tulane on Sept. 5, 1987. In the third quarter, after a Deon Booker six-yard touchdown run, Rodney Knighton ran into the end zone for the two-point conversion.
Calvin Pryor forced the first fumble of the year, jarring the ball loose from Kentucky's Raymond Sanders late in the second quarter. Andrew Johnson recovered the fumble. It was Pryor's third career forced fumble and Johnson's second career recovered fumble.
Louisville excelled at long scoring drives against Kentucky. The Cardinals opened the game with a 99-yard scoring drive (touchdown), followed that with an 85-yard drive (touchdown) and then tacked on a 93-yard drive (touchdown). After punting on its fourth possession, Louisville tacked on a field goal after driving 71 yards. Louisville's only other scoring play came on a "short" 38 yard drive that resulted in a touchdown.
DeVante Parker finished the game with a team-high 57 yards on three catches.
Louisville's 22 first-half points are the third most against Kentucky since 2000.
Points - Date
31 - 2006
28 - 2005
22 - 2012
21 - 2003/2007
Hakeem Smith, who is held in high regard this year, finished the game with 10 tackles. This is his sixth game with at least 10 tackles.
The Cardinals are 2-0 against Kentucky this week, beating the 10th-ranked Wildcats earlier this week in volleyball (3-1) and then defeating the football team today (32-14).
