Louisville-Memphis Postgame Notes
November 23, 2013 | Football
Nov. 23, 2013
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Louisville Postgame Notes
No. 21/15 Louisville 24, Memphis 17
Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013
Louisville game captains were Hakeem Smith and Roy Philon.
Saturday's attendance was 46,421.
UofL won the toss and deferred to the second half. Memphis received the ball to start the game.
The Cardinals and Tigers met for the 43rd time in series history. Louisville now holds a 24-19 overall lead and is 13-8 against Memphis when playing in Louisville.
The win pushed Louisville's senior class total to 35, the sixth most wins for a class in school history. The win total surpassed the 1999-02 class total of 34.
- Prior to the game, Louisville's 18 seniors were recognized. The group helped Louisville achieve a 35-15 record during its tenure.
This is the first team to win 10 or more games in consecutive seasons. The squad is also 12-2 at home in the last two seasons.
Louisville is 35-15 in four seasons under head coach Charlie Strong.
With the decision, Louisville moved to 76-26 when playing in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
The Cardinals are 27-5 when scoring first under head coach Charlie Strong.
When scoring 20 points or more in a game under the direction of Charlie Strong, the Cardinals' record is 34-7.
- It is the 27th-consecutive game the Cardinals have scored 20 or more points.
Louisville's defense forced its 24th turnover this season, with 14 of those serving as interceptions. It's the 10th time in 11 games the defense has forced a change in possession.
Louisville's defense hasn't given up a first-quarter touchdown all season. Louisville now has held nine opponents without a first quarter point.
The Cardinals held the Tigers 2 for 12 on third-down conversions. Opponents this season have only had a 26.4 percent conversion rate on that down against Louisville's defense.
Louisville continued its success in the red zone, going 2-for-4 in scoring territory. The Cardinals are now 44-for-50 in red zone scoring opportunities.
Dominique Brown rushed for his seventh touchdown this season on the ground, the 11th of his career, in the third quarter. He finished the game with 54 yards on 17 carries.
Charles Gaines made his fourth interception of the season, tying Terell Floyd for the team lead. Gaines also had two tackles in the win.
- Gaines has 106 interception return yards this season, the most since Anthony Floyd totaled 152 yards on 10 picks in 2000.
Sheldon Rankins' sack forced a fumble, and Preston Brown returned the ball 48 yards for a touchdown.
- Brown's touchdown marks the third score the defense has recorded this season and first since Terell Floyd returned a pick for a touchdown at Connecticut.
- The last time Louisville returned a fumble for a touchdown was against UCF, when James Quick picked up a botched punt and returned it 30 yards for the touchdown.
DeVante Parker scored the offense's first touchdown of the game on a 39-yard reception from Teddy Bridgewater, Parker's ninth of the season and 25th of his career. His season total is tied for fifth most in a season in school history. It was Parker's only catch of the game.
- Parker has scored on receptions of at least 20 yards in 15 of his 25 career touchdowns.
John Wallace's 39-yard field goal in the second quarter was his 32nd made in his career, tying him for No. 5 on the career chart. He has made 16 this season, tying his 2012 mark for second most in a single season.
Preston Brown finished with a team-high nine tackles, marking the fourth game this season he has finished with at least nine stops. He totaled a season-high 12 against UCF.
Marcus Smith finished the game with one sack, giving him 12.5 for the season. That total makes him half-of-a-sack short of Mike Flores (1988) and Michael Josiah (2000) for fifth most in a season in school history. For his career, Smith has 22 sacks, putting him one short of Marcus Jones' total of 23 (2001-04) for seventh most in school history.
Hakeem Smith earned his 49th-straight start. Others with consecutive starts: Preston Brown with his 29th, and Damian Copeland with his 24th. Marcus Smith made his 25th-consecutive start.
- Michaelee Harris and Robert Clark made their first starts of the season.
Teddy Bridgewater Notes:
- Bridgewater totaled 26 completions in the game, giving him 245 for the year. That total moved him into sixth on the school's single-season chart. His 287 in 2012 ranks fourth on the chart.
- Bridgewater had 36 passing attempts in the game, pushing his career total to 1,060. That number makes him fourth all-time on the school's career chart, passing Jay Gruden's (1985-88) total of1,049.
- Bridgewater entered the Memphis game with 3,048 passing yards this season, and his 220 increased his total to 3,268. He now ranks fifth on the season chart, passing Stefan LeFors' 2003 total of 3,145.
- Following the victory, Bridgewater pushed his total offense to 3,305 for the year. His total is sixth best in a year, moving him past Dave Ragone's 2002 total of 3,128.
- Bridgewater came into the game with 9,007 yards of total offense in his career. He had 237 in the win, giving him 9,244 to move him into third place and pass Dave Ragone's total of 9,161 that was established from 1999-02.
- He connected with 10 different receivers on the day, five of whom had multiple receptions.
Teddy Bridgewater has been instrumental in getting all of his receivers involved throughout his career. He has connected with at least seven receivers on 33 occasions. He connected with a career-best 11 receivers against Syracuse in 2012 and also against USF in 2013. Below is the breakdown of the number of receivers he has hit:
- 7 Receivers - 7 times
- 8 Receivers - 4 times
- 9 Receivers - 15 times
- 10 receivers - 5 times
- 11 receivers - 2 times
