Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater entered Sunday’s matchup against Ohio as a favorite for the Heisman Trophy and a probable top-10 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
His play on Sunday fit the bill.
The Cardinals outmatched the Bobcats in every facet of the game in the 49-7 rout of the Bobcats, but Bridgewater’s performance shined above the rest.
The junior finished 23-of-28 with 355 yards and five touchdowns through the air during jut three quarters of play, playing the role of a hot knife while the Ohio defense resembled butter.
“I thought Bridgewater was precision perfect on a lot of throws,” coach Frank Solich said. “I think that at times, we made it a little easier than we should have made it for him.
“It’s a great passing attack.”
Louisville opened the scoring rather quickly, as Bridgewater found senior wide receiver Damian Copeland for a 34-yard touchdown less than four minutes into the game.
And after a Ohio three-and-out, Bridgewater found Copeland again from 19 yards out.
That was a common theme in the first half, as Ohio’s offense failed to gain any traction on the ground or in the air, producing only 88 yards of total offense by the break.
Ohio would finish with 273 total yards to Louisville’s 615.
Redshirt senior quarterback Tyler Tettleton stressed that the offense just wasn’t in sync, as he threw for 140 yards on 11 completions and 23 attempts.
“You have to give credit to them,” Tettleton said. “They have a great defense. We just weren’t clicking today. We knew that they had a great offense and we felt like to keep up with them, we’d probably have to score every possession.”
Tettleton’s thoughts on the Louisville offense held true, as the Cardinals never let up and Bridgewater lead two more touchdown drives which gave the Cardinals a 28-0 cushion heading into the half.
Ohio had one chance to score in the first half, moving the ball down to Louisville’s 15 after redshirt senior safety Xavier Hughes’ interception, which looked to stem the Cardinal’s momentum. But redshirt sophomore kicker Matt Green missed a 32 yard field goal wide left.
Green’s second attempt at earning three points from 45 yards out in the fourth quarter also didn’t find its way between the uprights.
The third quarter had a strong resemblance to the first half, with the Cardinals continuing to move the ball at will and Ohio’s offense failing to convert on scoring chances.
Recent transfer and former BCS National Championship MVP Michael Dyer saw his first action in the end of the second quarter and didn’t waste his time making an impression in the third quarter.
On his second rush of the game, Dyer burst through a gap and ran the ball in for a 46-yard touchdown, accounting for one of two Louisville touchdowns not involving Bridgewater.
Ohio’s offense showed life after Tettleton hit redshirt senior wide receiver Donte Foster for a 47-yard gain to the Louisville 22, but the drive stalled at the 18 after a fourth down throw from Tettleton fell incomplete.
The Bobcats notched their first score of the game a series after Bridgewater, culminating a 58-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run from redshirt senior running back Ryan Boykin.
But the drive was answered by Louisville’s backups, with redshirt freshman quarterback Will Gardner completing a 30-yard pass to junior wide out Kai De La Cruz for his second touchdown reception of the game with 12:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, serving as the finale for the offensive fireworks the Cardinals displayed for most of the game.
Ohio’s losses weren’t limited to the scoreboard, as injuries piled up in the season opener.
Senior linebacker Keith Moore left after the fourth play of the game with an apparent ankle injury, leaving an inexperienced front seven without their captain.
And while the captain’s injury won’t force him to miss significant time, Solich said that senior offensive linemen Jon Lechner and Ben Johnson will miss significant time with shoulder and knee injuries.
“The area where we were the thinnest is where we got hit,” Solich said regarding his offensive line depth.
The 42-point loss was the second worst in Frank Solich’s tenure at Ohio, only trailing a 45-0 loss at Virginia Tech in 2005.
ch203310@ohiou.edu
@c_hoppens
