University of Louisville
0-2
HOUSTON
2-0
Football Comes Up Short Against Houston in Home Opener
September 12, 2015 | Football
Kyle Bolin completed 10-of-18 passes for 157 yards and one score.
The odds don't look great with No. 12 Clemson coming in Thursday, especially for an 0-2 team struggling on both sides of the ball after Saturday's 34-31 loss to Houston.
This latest loss ended with sophomore Kyle Bolin at quarterback after starting the fourth quarter in relief of struggling freshman Lamar Jackson. Bolin did his best in rallying the Cardinals twice with fourth-quarter scoring drives including his 29-yard scoring pass to Micky Crum with 6:25 remaining.
Louisville rallied four times overall, but Bolin couldn't complete a fifth comeback as the Cardinals fell to 0-2 for the first time since 1998.
"It's a bad day for us," coach Bobby Petrino said. "I thought we got outplayed and outcoached. Offensively, we weren't able to move the ball early, we turned it over and made mistakes when we got in scoring position.
"Lamar struggled, there's no question about that. When Kyle came in, he did give us a lift and we were able to get back to a normal offense and move the ball. But it wasn't enough."
Bolin was 10 of 18 passing for 157 yards and led a touchdown drive ending with Jeremy Smith's 4-yard run for a 24-20 lead early in the fourth. Jackson was 17 of 27 for 168 yards and a TD in his first start but threw two deep interceptions, one of which led to Kyle Bullard's 21-yard field goal for Houston.
Petrino declined to say how Louisville will fix its quarterback situation. Right now, the Cardinals have a bunch of issues to address.
The Cardinals were outgained 462-395 and recorded four turnovers, including two interceptions by Jackson. They allowed a game-tying 100-yard kickoff return touchdown to Brandon Wilson right after John Wallace's 36-yard field goal seemed to swing momentum their way.
Breakdowns happened often and Houston took advantage to end a three-game losing streak against Louisville in this matchup of former American Athletic Conference members.
"Just a bad feeling right now, letting them come into our house and get a W," linebacker Keith Kelsey said. "Can't blame anybody but ourselves."
Louisville's biggest problem was containing mobile Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. Ward threw for three touchdowns, including a 15-yarder to Demarcus Ayers with 3:09 remaining to cap Houston's rally.
"We just leaned on each other, just believed in each other," Ward said. "We've been grinding it out, every week, every day. This is a great win for us."
Ward combined for 334 yards on offense, completing 23 of 33 attempts for 236 yards with one interception. He also carried 21 times for 98 yards.
"He moved around, he ran and did a good job keeping his vision downfield," Kelsey said of Ward.
The Cardinals had hoped to rebound from last week's 31-24 loss to No. 6 Auburn with a strong effort that would carry them into the Atlantic Coast Conference opener at home against Clemson. Jackson showed a crowd of 50,019 glimpses of his dual skills that helped him beat out favorites Reggie Bonnafon, Will Gardner and Bolin for the start, but freshman mistakes showed throughout.
The freshman ran and threw for many of Louisville's 75 yards on its game-tying first-quarter drive, including his 1-yard TD run. But he took a 17-yard sack loss on the opening drive, threw an interception deep into double coverage and twice lost the handle on exchanges.
"I think he was trying to do too much," Petrino said of Jackson.
Louisville now is faced with moving on from another loss, something the program hasn't had to face in recent years. And especially not to start the season.
Asked how the Cardinals can turn things around, Crum said, "forget about the past, focus on Clemson and don't focus on the two losses."
Team Stats
HOU 7, LOU 0
HOU - DUNBAR, Steven 29 yd pass from WARD Jr., Greg (PIPER, Logan kick) 6 plays, 51 yards, TOP 1:33
HOU 7, LOU 7
LOU - Jackson, L. 1 yd run (Wallace, J. kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:02
HOU 10, LOU 7
HOU - BULLARD, Kyle 41 yd field goal 12 plays, 49 yards, TOP 4:49
HOU 10, LOU 14
LOU - Savage, J. 6 yd pass from Jackson, L. (Wallace, J. kick) 4 plays, 20 yards, TOP 1:16
HOU 10, LOU 17
LOU - Wallace, J. 36 yd field goal 4 plays, 5 yards, TOP 1:19
HOU 17, LOU 17
HOU - WILSON, Brandon 100 yd kickoff return (BULLARD, Kyle kick)
HOU 20, LOU 17
HOU - BULLARD, Kyle 21 yd field goal 6 plays, 23 yards, TOP 1:43
HOU 20, LOU 24
LOU - Smith, Je. 4 yd run (Wallace, J. kick), 7 plays, 79 yards, TOP 3:25
HOU 27, LOU 24
HOU - BONNER, Linell 22 yd pass from WARD Jr., Greg (BULLARD, Kyle kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:07
HOU 27, LOU 31
LOU - Crum, M. 29 yd pass from Bolin, K. (Wallace, J. kick) 9 plays, 73 yards, TOP 2:59
HOU 34, LOU 31
HOU - AYERS, Demarcus 15 yd pass from WARD Jr., Greg (BULLARD, Kyle kick) 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:16
