UofL FOOTBALL | Cards' Fast Start Dooms NC State

10/22/2016 05:56 PM

by Andrew Chernoff
• @ADChernoff

• Filed under: Sports Night

The #7 Louisville Cardinals (6-1, 4-1) picked up their second consecutive win of the season by beating North Carolina St. 53-14 on Saturday afternoon.

The Cards dominated the visitors in the first half, taking a 44-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

All phases of the team played well for UofL.

On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Lamar Jackson continued to pad his impressive stats this season. The Heisman front-runner accounted for four total touchdowns on Saturday, throwing three touchdown passes, while rushing for one touchdown. All four scores came in the first half.

His four-touchdown performance gave him 34 touchdowns on the season, which is the most touchdowns a Cardinal player has ever accounted for in a single season. Dave Ragone and Brian Brohm each had 33.

By the end of the game, Jackson was 20-34 in the air for 355 yards. On the ground, he rushed for 76 yards on 17 carries.

Running back Jeremy Smith helped Jackson out as well on Saturday. Smith scored twice, each on one-yard runs.

Louisville tight end Cole Hikutini stepped up too during the contest. He caught six passes for a career-high 118 yards, including a touchdown reception.

Defensively, Louisville intercepted NC St. three times on the day. LB Stacy Thomas, LB Jonathan Greenard and CB Trumaine Washington each picked off the Wolfpack during the game.

Finally, special teams also played well for UofL. Kicker Blanton Creque made four field goals and six conversions, giving him the single-game scoring record for a kicker with 18 points.

The win makes Louisville bowl eligible for the seventh straight season.

UofL will spend the next week preparing for Virginia. The Cards play at the Cavaliers next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. ET in Charlottesville, VA.

NEWS & NOTES:

Former UofL quarterback Dave Ragone was honored during Saturday’s game against NC St. Ragone was a three-time Conference-USA Offensive Player of the Year. He also led the Cards to three bowl appearances during his career with Louisville (1999-2002).

Andrew Chernoff

Andrew is a sports anchor and sports managing editor for Spectrum News. He covers sports all across the state of Kentucky for Sports Night, which airs weeknights at 6:30 and 10:30 on Spectrum News. Andrew was a sports anchor and reporter at KFDM/KBTV in Beaumont, Texas for four years before making the move back home to the Midwest. He is originally from Carmel, Indiana and majored in broadcast journalism and political science at Syracuse University.

When he’s not on the air or in the field covering sports, you can likely find Andrew playing golf, watching IndyCar and Formula 1 races, or exploring the state of Kentucky. His favorite sport is open-wheel racing. In fact, he has not missed an Indianapolis 500 since the early 2000s.

Whether he is working sporting events or not, he always loves talking sports. He is a prolific tweeter, so if you want to stay “in the know” about sports in the Bluegrass, follow Andrew on Twitter @ADChernoff. If you have a story idea for our sports team, send it to Andrew at Andrew.Chernoff@charter.com.