Louisville Postgame Notes

No. 16 Louisville 35, Purdue 28
2017 Ally Classic | September 2, 2017
Lucas Oil Stadium | Indianapolis, Ind.
Attendance: 37,394

TEAM RECORDS & SERIES NOTES

With the 35-28 victory over Purdue at Lucas Oil Stadium, Louisville is 1-1 in season openers at a neutral site.
- The Cardinals are 7-1 in openers under head coach Bobby Petrino.
- All-time, the Cardinals are 55-38-6 in lidlifters.
Head coach Bobby Petrino owns a 110-43 career record, including a 68-22 mark at Louisville.
Louisville improved to 1-0-1 all-time against Purdue.
Jaire Alexander, Lamar Jackson, Reggie Bonnafon, Geron Christian, Chucky Williams, Devante Peete, and Mason King served as captains.
The Cardinals won the toss and elected to receive to start the game.
As a ranked team, Louisville improved to 76-24 with the victory.
Under head coach Bobby Petrino, Louisville is 22-5 in the month of September.
The Cardinals are 31-16 in nonconference play under Petrino.
Louisville is 257-25 when scoring 30 or more points in a game. Under Petrino, Louisville is 55-7 when reaching that mark.
Louisville returns to action on Saturday, as it travels to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina. The Cardinals won 39-34 at home on Sept. 15, 2012.
- Louisville leads the series 4-3.

TEAM NOTES

It is the Cardinals' first victory over a Big Ten team since 1998, when Louisville beat Illinois 35-9 in Champaign on Sept. 19.
Louisville's defense finished the game with three interceptions. It is the most since the Cardinals tallied three against NC State in 2016.
The Cardinals registered seven tackles for loss, the third time in four season openers reaching that mark. Louisville also achieved the feat against Miami in 2014 and Charlotte in 2016.
Louisville's offense logged 524 yards of offense, the program's 81st 500-yard game. It is the 44th time achieving that mark with Bobby Petrino serving as the head coach or offensive coordinator.
Louisville was 6 for 8 in the red zone.

PLAYER NOTES

Lamar Jackson had 485 yards of total offense, the sixth-highest output in a game in school history.
- Jackson, who had two passing touchdowns in the game, owns 34 for his career. It moved him into sole possession of third on the school's career list.
- Jackson moved into a tie for fifth on the school's career list with 44 passing touchdowns after tossing two in the victory.
- Jackson threw for 378 yards, giving him 5,761 for his career. He moved into seventh on the school's career list, surpassing Ed Rubbert (1983-86).
- The Florida native has rushed for 2,638 yards in his tenure after totaling 107 on Saturday. He passed Frank Moreau for fifth on the school's career list.
- Jackson earned the 14th 100-yard rushing game of his career, one behind Walter Peacock, who holds the UofL record.
Jaylen Smith had a career-best eight catches for 117 yards. It is the second game of his career with at least 100 yards receiving.
Seth Dawkins had a career-best four catches for 56 yards. He opened the game with a career-long 43 yard kickoff return.
Jordan Davis' first career catch – and lone one of the game – came on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson in the first quarter.
Blanton Creque connected on all three field goals in the victory, his fourth game with as many.
- Creque is now 19 of 22 (.864) on his career on field goals, ranking first in school history in percentage.
Geron Christian made his 27th-consecutive start.
Tabarius Peterson forced his first career fumble and finished the game with one tackle.
Drew Bailey recorded a blocked punt in the second quarter, the Cardinals' first blocked field goal since Temple on Oct. 5, 2013.
Stacy Thomas accumulated six tackles in the victory. He also had a fumble recovery and returned his second career interception 61 yards for a touchdown.
- It's the first interception returned for a touchdown since Ronald Walker took a pick 31 yards for a score against Wake Forest.
- The 61-yard interception return for a touchdown was UofL's longest interception returned for a score since Charles Gaines accomplished the feat with a 70-yard return for a score at USF in 2013.
Khane Pass finished with a career-high six stops, surpassing the five he achieved twice previously.
Zykiesis Cannon led the defense with a career-high nine tackles, including seven solo.
Chucky Williams, who had six tackles, pulled in his seventh career interception.
TreSean Smith had one tackle and logged his first career interception.
Robbie Bell, Mekhi Becton, and Dorian Etheridge each earned their first career starts. Trevon Young made his first start since the final game of the 2015 season.
The following players made their first career appearances: Dez Fitzpatrick, Robbie Bell, Mekhi Becton, Kemari Averett, Jordan Davis, Mitch Hall, Dorian Etheridge, Corey Reed, TreSean Smith, C.J. Avery, Tabarius Peterson, Derek Dorsey, Russ Yeast, and Tyler Polston.
The following true freshmen made their first appearances in the victory: Dorian Etheridge, Corey Reed, Mekhi Becton, Mitch Hall, TreSean Smith, Kemari Averett, Russ Yeast, and C.J. Avery.

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jaire Alexander

Kemari Averett

C.J. Avery

Drew Bailey

Mekhi Becton

Robbie Bell

Reggie Bonnafon

Zykiesis Cannon

Geron Christian

Blanton Creque

Jordan Davis

Seth Dawkins

Derek Dorsey

Dorian Etheridge

Dez Fitzpatrick

Mitch Hall

Lamar Jackson

Mason King

Khane Pass

Devante Peete

Tabarius Peterson

Tyler Polston

Corey Reed

Jaylen Smith

TreSean Smith

Stacy Thomas

Ronald Walker

Chucky Williams

Russ Yeast

Trevon Young

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