By Derek DeBurger

An undermanned Louisville team went into Dallas and left with a loss to the SMU Mustangs.

From the start

After getting the opening kick, SMU took little time to get their offense going.

The Mustangs were helped out by two pass interference calls on Jabari Mack, but they capitalized on the opportunities. A boot leg for Kevin Jennings gave SMU a 7-0 lead.

On offense, Deuce Adams got the start in place of an injured Miller Moss.

His first drive went great, with the SMU defense struggling to keep up with the versatility of Adams.

The drive stalled once the Cards got inside the red zone, but they kicked a field goal to get on the board at 7-3.

SMU was stifled on their next drive, but Louisville didn’t do anything themselves, going three-and-out.

The Mustangs then went right back to driving down the field, moving down the field in 10 plays and scoring another touchdown.

On the next drive Brady Allen got some run at quarterback, but the result was another three-and-out.

SMU marched right back down the field, getting explosive plays seemingly at will.

Louisville was able to get some sort of action on offense, with Adams starting the drive with back-to-back huge gains in the passing game.

Once the Cards got in the red zone, Adams struggled and got sacked to end the drive. Another field goal gave Louisville just their second score of the game, but a little bit of life.

Louisville went into the half down 21-6.

Short staffed

The second half started off better on defense, but the offense still had an incredibly difficult go of things.

Three straight punts started the half, followed by a long drive that only ended in a field goal for SMU.

With time running out, Louisville put together yet another three-and-out.

The following drive was yet another long drive and a touchdown for the Mustangs to essentially end the game.

After a long and painful fourth quarter, Louisville lost 38-6.

Going backwards

Saturday’s loss is hard to situate within the season given all the injuries on both sides, but the loss just adds to the recent string of misery.

Adams showed flashes of potential, but he also showed exactly why he wasn’t battling for playing time.

The defense also looked the worst it has all season, clearly not coming into the game prepared and getting frustrated with the lack of success on offense.

Jennings had a monster game, throwing for 303 yards with four total touchdowns.

For what started off as such an exciting season, it already feels like a failure with just two games left.

Louisville is now 7-4 on the season and finishes ACC play at 4-4.

Photo by Harrison Plank / The Louisville Cardinal