Cards Face Indiana Looking to Go 3-0
September 15, 2023 | Football
Fresh off a pair of wins, the Cardinals are playing their second neutral site game of the season when they face the Hoosiers for the first time since 1986,
"I think our guys are excited to play a very competitive football game coming up this week against Indiana. Indiana is playing good football and Coach (Tom) Allen has done a good job. Definitely played tough on defense. That's always been a strength of theirs. The Ohio State game was probably one of the Buckeyes' most unproductive days in a long time. So they're playing really, really good right now on defense. Offensively, they've found two quarterbacks that they liked. They've got a dynamic playmaker in the backfield. So we're going to have our hands full. We've got to play good football, have a good week of practice and get ourselves ready to go."
Opening Kick
The Cardinals opened its home schedule in impressive fashion with a 56-0 win over Murray State on Thursday night. The Cardinals moved to 2-0 on the season for the first time since the 2017 season when it began the year at 4-0.
The Louisville defense recorded its first shutout since blanking Syracuse 30-0 during the 2020 season. It also marked the first shutout in a home opener since a 28-0 win over Kentucky in 2004. Â The Cardinals held the Racers to 166 yards of total offense and forced three turnovers.
Louisville records 690 yards of total offense while holding Murray State to 166 yards. The 690 yards is Louisville's 9th highest total in a game, and the most since the Cards posted 687 against Duke in 2021. The 524-yard margin in total offense is the second highest in a game, trailing only the 596-yard margin vs. Murray State on Sept. 30, 2017.
RB Jawhar Jordan rushed for 135 yards on seven carries, scoring on runs of 72 yards and one yard.Jordan logged his fifth career 100-yard rushing game, all coming in the last seven games. Jordan is the first Louisville player since Javian Hawkins in 2020 to have rushing touchdowns of 70+ yards in back-to-back games. Jordan's 19.3-yards-per-carry average vs. Murray State is the sixth highest in UofL history for a player with a 100-yard game.
Wide receiver Jamari Thrash continued his fast start with three receptions for 82 yards and a 73-yard touchdown reception. The Georgia State transfer has four touchdowns (3 receiving) in his first two games and is averaging 17.0 yards per reception.
Quarterback Jack Plummer was an efficient 16-of-22 for 247 yards and a touchdown in the win, and completed the longest pass for a touchdown when he connected with Thrash for a 73-yard touchdown.
Safety Devin Neal is the first Louisville player to recover a fumble and intercept a pass in the same game since Kei'Trel Clark did it vs. Syracuse on Nov. 20, 2020. The Cardinals held the Racers to 166 yards of total offense, the lowest total by an opponent since Cincinnati was limited to 138 yards in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl last season.
The Cardinals saw nine quarterbacks on the field in the win over Murray State, a program record. Five different quarterbacks also completed a pass in the game, which was also the most in school history.  Prior to this season, four quarterbacks had completed a pass in an entire season only four times – in 1955, 1983, 2014, and 2018.
Key Storylines
The Cardinals play at their second neutral site in only their third game of the season, a first in program history that the Cards will play two neutral site regular season games. It's also the Cards' first Saturday game of the season.Â
Louisville is 16-15-1 all-time in neutral-site contests after a 39-34 win over Georgia Tech to open the season.
Louisville has totaled 1,164 yards of total offense in the first two games of the season, an average of 582.0 yards per game. It's the best two-game total to open the season since 2016 when Louisville averaged 754.0 yards per game.Â
In the 56-0 win over Murray State last Thursday, the Cardinals recorded 690 yards of total offense, the ninth-best total in school history and the most since registering 687 yards in a 2021 win over Duke. Â
Louisville will play a Big Ten opponent this weekend for the first time since defeating Jeff Brohm's Purdue team 35-28 Â in Lucas Oil Stadium to the open up the 2017 season. The Cards are 12-20-1 all-time against teams from the Big Ten.
The Cardinals couldn't be more balanced in the win over Murray State, registering 344 yards rushing and 346 yards passing in the 56-0 win. It marked only the 10th time in school history that the Cards recorded a 300-300 game and the first since a 62-22 win over Duke in 2021. Louisville rushed for 384 yards and passed for another 303 yards in the conference win.
The Cardinals are averaging a solid 8.1 yards per play through the first two games, with 36 plays of 10 or more yards and 16 of over 20 yards. Louisville is one of two schools in the country with three plays of over 70 yards — two coming from running back Jawhar Jordan.
Quarterback Jack Plummer has been consistent in a pair of games, throwing for 247 yards in both contests. On the year, the redshirt senior is completing 64.2 percent of his throws and has tossed four touchdowns. He has five completions of 30 or more yards and one of 70+ yards in his first 53 throws.
Wide receiver Jamari Thrash has 10 receptions for 170 yards and three scores — the first wide receiver to record three touchdown receptions in the first two games since Dez Fitzpatrick had three in 2017. Thrash also has rushed for a score to become the first wide receiver to score four touchdowns since Deion Branch in 2000.
Louisville rushed for six touchdowns in a game for the first time since rushing for seven touchdowns versus both Syracuse and Florida State in back-to-back games in Sept. 2016. Louisville has seven rushing scores in the first two contests this year.
After serving in a special teams role last season, linebacker T.J. Quinn leads the team with 12 tackles and one fumble recovery.
Louisville has already forced five turnovers through the first two games, recording three fumbles and a pair of interceptions. Ramon Puryear and Devin Neal have each recorded interceptions this year.Â
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Players Mentioned
