By Sam Draut
Charles Gaines has been in the end zone three times this year, but the sophomore cornerback has yet to
play a series on offense.
Previously, Gaines had a 93 yard kickoff return and a 70 yard interception return that went for
touchdowns. In Friday night’s 31-10 win over Connecticut, 0-8, Gaines blocked a punt and returned it
seven yards for the score to put U of L, 8-1, up 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
Teddy Bridgewater led the Cardinal offense with 288 yards passing and one touchdown. The junior
quarterback completed 21 of 37 passes and spread the ball out to nine different receivers.
“Coming into this game, we knew we had to make a bunch of big plays on our side. We had a couple
drops, but at the end of the day, we got the win. We’ll have a chance to correct mistakes,” Bridgewater
said.
The U of L offense was well below its season average, finishing with 369 yards of total offense and
just 81 yards rushing. In particular, the offense was slowed by a few uncharacteristic dropped passes
throughout the game.
“They need to keep their eyes on the ball. A lot of times they would start running with the ball before
they caught it,” Strong said. “I think of the one DeVante dropped, he was running before he saw himself
catch it. They need to worry about the catch first, then run after you catch it.”
The running game averaged 2.7 yards per carry, in contrast to the season average of 4.7 yards per carry.
Dominique Brown finished with 29 yards on nine carries while Senorise Perry ran for 27 yards and a
touchdown on 11 carries.
U of L appeared sluggish and out of sync for much of the night, finishing the game with 12 penalties
accumulating to 101 yards. UConn picked up three first downs off of the Louisville penalties.
“It wasn’t very clean but we came away with a win. There were just too many penalties, we didn’t play
smart, dropped too many balls offensively,” Strong said.
The UConn offense had scored just nine touchdowns during the season; Louisville’s defense was able
to shut them down for much of the night. UConn was held to 237 total yards of offense, only 58 yards
coming on the ground off of 33 carries, which was just 1.8 yards per carry.
The defense created five turnovers, three interceptions and two forced fumbles. Terrell Floyd returned
his interception 17 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter to put the Cardinals up 28-3.
“Defensively we started off very slow, they continued a drive due to a penalty but we got a turnover
to make up for it. I was very pleased with our defense,” Strong said. “I know they got that score late
but we were able to get a lot of guys in the game who usually don’t play. We just have to play better,
we have to play smart, we have to play disciplined. When we do that, we will be able to put a complete
game together, which we didn’t do today.”
“The primary goal is to get a W,” Bridgewater said. “We’re just happy to get the job done tonight.”
U of L faces Houston on Saturday November 16 at 7:00 at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.