Louisville-Ohio Postgame Notes
September 01, 2013 | Football
Sep 1, 2013
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Louisville Postgame Notes
No. 9 Louisville 49, Ohio 7
Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013
Louisville's game captains were Damian Copeland and Hakeem Smith.
Ohio won the toss and deferred to the second half. Louisville received the ball to begin the game.
The Cardinals have opened the season on Sunday 11 times in school history and own an 8-3 mark. Louisville started the 2012 campaign against Kentucky last year on the last day of the week, recording a 32-14 victory over the Wildcats.
Under head coach Charlie Strong in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, the Cardinals are averaging nearly a 10-point margin of victory. Louisville has played 21 games in The Oven under Strong and outscored its opponents 568-365.
Under head coach Charlie Strong, Louisville is 9-3 in the month of September. The Cardinals went 5-0 in the month last year.
Today's attendance of 55,332 is the second-largest crowd in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium history. The record of 55,386 was set in 2012 versus Kentucky.
The Cardinals moved to 3-2 all-time against Ohio. Louisville leads the series 2-1 in Louisville, while it's knotted at 1-1 in Athens, Ohio. The programs have never played at a neutral site.
Louisville is 51-39-5 all-time in season openers and has won its last three opening games. Since 2000, the Cardinals are 11-3 in opening games.
Louisville's record against nonconference opponents since the 2002 season moved to 43-18.
When scoring 20 points or more in a game under the direction of Charlie Strong, the Cardinals' record is 25-6. When holding opponents to 20 or fewer points, Louisville boasts a 15-3 mark under Strong.
Louisville owns a 71-25 mark in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium since moving into the venue in 1998.
The UofL offense finished the day with 615 yards of total offense. The last time Louisville's offense reached 600 yards was against Syracuse (Sept. 22, 2007), when it recorded 628.
With DeVante Parker's 27-yard touchdown reception with 13:32 left in the second quarter, Louisville now has scored at least 20 points in its season opener 11 of last 15 seasons.
Points - Opponent (Date)
49 - Ohio (Sept. 1, 2013)
32 - Kentucky (Sept. 2, 2012)
21 - Kentucky (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)
Gerald Christian (tight end) and Chris Acosta (offensive line) earned their first starts in a Louisville uniform.
Hakeem Smith made his team leading 39th-consecutive start.
Players who made their Cardinal debuts: Robert Clark, Gerald Christian, Griffin Uhl, Nick Dawson, Zeke Pike, Michael Dyer, Matt Milton, Keith Kelsey, Devontre Parnell, Kevin Houchins, Will Gardner, T.C. Klusman, Aaron Epps, Jarrod Barnes, James Hearn, Tyler Polston, Brandon Radcliff, Joe Manley, and James Quick.
Teddy Bridgewater Notes:
- He tied Chris Redman's record (1999; vs. Kentucky) for the most touchdown passes in a season-opening contest in school history.
- With his five touchdown passes, he passed Jay Gruden (44; 1985-88) for fourth all-tie on the school's career chart.
- He has thrown touchdown passes in 13-consecutive games.
- He secured his second career five-touchdown game. He previously threw for five scores against Temple on Nov. 3, 2012.
- His four touchdown passes in the opening half are the most in a half since Dave Ragone tossed four touchdowns in the first half against East Carolina on Oct. 26, 2002.
- He threw for 355 yards on the day, pushing him into sole possession of fifth-place on the school's career passing yards list with 6,202. He moved past Stefan LeFors, who had 5,853 yards from 2001-04.
Damian Copeland made his third career touchdown reception on the opening play of the game and then followed that with the game's second touchdown. His first touchdown reception was a 34-yard strike and the second was a 19-yard catch. He finished with a game-high six receptions and had 98 yards.
DeVante Parker caught his first touchdown pass of the 2013 season in the second quarter, the 17th of his career. He finished the game with four catches for 73 yards.
Michael Dyer wasted little time making an impact in the backfield, rushing 46 yards for his first touchdown in a Louisville uniform. He scored the lone rushing touchdown of the game for the Cardinals and had four rushes for 48 yards.
Louisville finished the game 13-of-16 on third-down conversions. The Cardinals ranked eighth last year in the category after converting 92 of its 185 chances for nearly a 50-percent rate.
This is the second time Louisville scored on its opening offensive drive of the season - after scoring on the opening play last year - since the 2007 season, when Brian Brohm hit Harry Douglass for a 44-yard touchdown against Murray State on Aug. 30.
