Louisville Defeats UCF, 20-14

Friday, September 9

Orlando, Fla.

7:30 p.m.

University of Louisville

1-1 , 0-1

UCF

1-1 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Louisville	7	0	10	3	20
UCF	7	7	0	0	14

Malik Cunningham after scoring a touchdown at UCF.

Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

September 09, 2022 | Football

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By: Kennedy Knisley

ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Louisville football team clinched their first victory of the season with a 20-14 win over the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla. The Cardinals are now 1-1 heading into their first home game of the season next Friday night against Florida State.

The Cardinals held the Knights without a score in the second half of the game and Jarvis Brownlee grabbed a clutch interception in the end zone with just under three minutes left to help secure the victory. Friday marked the first time in six years the Cardinals were trailing at half and went on to shut out the opponent in the second half and win the game.

Quarterback Malik Cunningham rushed for 121 yards and recorded a 43-yard rushing touchdown while throwing for 195 yards on 14-of-29 passes. Cunningham is now tied for third place in school history with Michael Bush (2003-06) for career rushing touchdowns (39 total).

Tiyon Evans rushed for 75 yards and had a single touchdown early in the first half.

Louisville Head Coach Scott Satterfield Said

"I want to give some kudos to Central Florida and Coach Gus Malzahn. I think he does a great job with their program. Their kids play hard and they are a talented football team and they play fast. It was my second time going against them, last year and this year were two highly contested games. Having said that, I could not be any more proud of our players. Especially after coming off of an unbelievably disappointing week last week on a short week with back-to-back road games. They got back at four in the morning on Saturday night and had to travel on Thursday down here to Central Florida, another hostile environment. For them to come back and play the way they did. There was a lot of negative talk last week about our offense, our defense and for them to battle back and come up strong against a really fine football team in Central Florida. And to win it the way we did, I thought it was great. It was tough, it was hard-fought. Our defense played outstanding. The first half was a battle back-and-forth. I think the difference in the first half was the turnover after we were having some good plays and momentum. We were down 14-7 and then defensively in the second half it was lights out. We were able to move the ball enough and score. I am proud of James Turner for knocking down the two field goals there at the end too. It came down to our defense. I went for it on fourth down because I really believed in our defense and if we would have gotten the first down there the ball game would have been over. But, we didn't and the defense held them out. It was a great win, a great team win and I am looking forward to this upcoming game against Florida State."

How It Happened

First Quarter

10:03 – UL | Tiyon Evans started the scoring with a seven-yard touchdown run to cap off a 10-play, 75-yard opening drive that took 4:57.
06:33 – UCF | Isaiah Bowser scored on a two-yard rush to finish a 10-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 3:24 for the Knights.

Second Quarter

11:31 – UCF | Isaiah Bowser rushed for his second touchdown of the game, this time from three yards out as part of an 8-play, 77-yard drive that covered 2:43.

Third Quarter

06:07 – UL | James Turner converted from 35 yards out for his first field goal of the season to pull the Cards within 14-10. The drive was 7 plays, 50 yards and took 3:22 off the clock.
02:46 – UL | Malik Cunningham ran 43 yards to the house to give the Cardinals the lead back. Louisville converted on a quick 3-play drive for 57 yards that took 1:12.

Fourth Quarter

09:45 – UL | An 11-play, 37-yard drive ended with a James Turner 35-yard field goal to extend Louisville's lead to 20-14. The drive lasted 5:15.

Up Next

Louisville will play its first home game of the season on Friday, Sept. 16 against Florida State.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET at Cardinal Stadium and will be televised on ESPN.