By Gabriel Wiest and Mariam Prieto —
After 358 days without a win, Louisville celebrated a long-awaited victory. Marking Scott Satterfield’s first win as head coach, the Cardinals defeated Eastern Kentucky University 42-0.
This win puts a swift end to Louisville’s second longest losing streak in history, with the first shut-out since 2013.
“All I do is think about our staff and players I really don’t think about me. I think about how hard they work, how hard the coaches work and I am happy for them,” said Satterfield. “We do this to win.”
Louisville’s defense started off strong with a sack by sophomore Yassir Adbdullah.
The Cardinal’s offense took the field with energy, with sophomore Tutu Attwell scoring a touchdown within the first three minutes of the game.
Louisville maintained its rushing offense during the first, rushing 43 yards off of seven plays.
The Card’s offense flexed passing with 50 receiving yards coming from Attwell along with a five-yard catch by freshman Marshon Ford that resulted in a touchdown.
The Louisville defense kept the Colonels out of the first quarter leaving the score 14-0. No touchdowns were made in the second quarter.
Freshman Javian Hawkins opened up the second half with a bold 66 yard rush. Ford quickly scored a touchdown five yards out from in-zone making the score 21-0.
Hawkins made another huge rush, gaining 50 more yards. Junior Jawon Pass then threw to junior Dez Fitzpatrick scoring another touchdown. EKU did not answer, ending with the quarter 28-0.
Four touchdowns were scored off passing proving Louisville’s offensive versatility. Louisville rushed 322 yards while also passing 220 yards. This game marks a career high for Pass, with four passes into the in-zone.
Sophomore Hassan Hall made the first rushing touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter. This was followed by another rushing touchdown by sophomore Malik Cunningham making the final score of the game 42-0.
“This is huge. We are in this business to win football games and we want to do in the right way. I think that it validates what we’ve been doing,” Satterfield said.
Louisville’s defense shined with five sacks on the EKU quarterback.
In the first game against Notre Dame the defense showed strides, and against Eastern the defense executed.
“It was great, we worked hard and a long time for this. And for this to finally come, it was everything we thought it would be,” junior Dorian Etheridge said.
Louisville will face off against Western Kentucky University on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 4:00 p.m.
Photo by Jessica Abell / The Louisville Cardinal