By Sam Draut
Dominique Brown churned out 137 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns to lead No. 19
Louisville to a 20-13 victory over Houston.
“The line did a good job of blocking early for him and he was able to run through blocks. The
thing he doesn’t do is get knocked back. He runs physical and strong and as the game goes on he
gets stronger and stronger,” U of L head coach Charlie Strong said.
After a 12-play, 77-yard opening drive that ended with a 13-yard Brown touchdown, the
Cardinal offense stalled for most of the first half and Houston took a 13-10 lead into halftime.
“We had a disappointing first half. We jumped out to a 10-0 lead and we felt like we could
continue to play well and then add more points to it. We kind of got complacent and got
comfortable. Offensively we didn’t do a good job of continuing to move the ball,” Strong said.
Teddy Bridgewater orchestrated a seven-play, 70-yard touchdown drive in the first possession of
the second half, giving the Cardinals a 17-13 lead. The junior quarterback finished 19-29 for 203
yards.
Bridgewater did not throw for a touchdown, snapping his streak of 21 games with a touchdown
pass. Also, his 203 passing yards was Bridgewater’s season low.
With the passing attack stagnant, U of L relied on Brown to carry the load. The junior running
back logged career highs in carries and rushing yards including 50 yards in the third quarter.
“I feel good but this is not an individual performance. The offensive line did a great job up front
on lead blocks. Our tight ends did a great job, our quarterback is doing a great job every night with
getting us in the running game,” Brown said.
The Cardinal defense controlled the line of scrimmage, limiting Houston to 74 rushing yard on
29 carries. Senior defensive tackle Roy Philon finished with a career high seven tackles, one sack
and three tackles for a loss.
Philon and defensive ends Marcus Smith and Lorenzo Mauldin each finished with one sack,
contributing to another dominant performance by the defensive line.
“It’s really hard work, it started back in camp when we all clicked together as a defensive line, we
all believe and trust in one another,” Philon said.
The 7-3 Cougars were limited to 195 total yards of offense and just 41 yards in the second half.
“I’m feeling really good about the defense right now. The only thing that matters is that we got
the win. The guys played hard,” Pryor said. “As a defense right now I feel like we’re stepping up
in big moments. We’re number one on third down for a reason. Guys are getting home, guys are
playing coverage. We’re just playing as one right now.”
U of L has two remaining games as they sit behind Central Florida, who currently holds sole
possession of first place in the AAC. The Cardinals face Memphis next Saturday at Papa John’s
Cardinal Stadium at noon.
“We’re only going to worry about what we can control. We have to focus on ourselves. We still have a
season and something to play for so we’re not paying attention to that at all,” Bridgewater said. “It is college
football and anything happens, so we’ll just continue to focus and shift.”