By Randy Burns
The Cardinals rebounded after suffering a disappointing loss against TCU last week. Louisville’s big three stepped up to hand the visiting Pirates of East Carolina their first Conference USA loss. Dave Ragone had an unbelievable game, and stuffed the stat sheet with 352 yards through the air on 23 of 32 passing, no interceptions, and a career high 5 touchdowns. Midway through the third quarter, Ragone broke a once-held Chris Redman record by completing 18 consecutive passes. “I think we had a good game plan,” said Ragone. “I got the ball out of my hands quick. We knew we had a good matchup in the secondary. I felt really good and wasn’t trying to force anything.
His main target was wide receiver Damien Dorsey who also had a career day. He caught 9 passes for 158 yards and 3 touchdowns. All three of his scores came in the first half against a Pirate secondary that has probably seen better days. “We just wanted to do whatever it took to win today,” said Dorsey. “They just played a base defense, cover three, to keep everything in front of them. With Dave and I, it was just pitch and catch.”
The offensive line did an outstanding job of opening up holes for running back Henry Miller throughout the entire game. Miller carried the ball 18 times for 127 yards and a touchdown. Miller broke a 37-yard run in the third quarter and averaged 7.1 yards a carry at the end of the day. “Offensively, I thought we kept them off balance,” said Cardinal Head Coach John L. Smith. “A lot of that credit goes to our guys up front. They did a good job blocking and it was good to see.”
The Cardinal defense only gave up two touchdowns and a pair of field goals to help the offense take over the game. East Carolina’s leading rusher, Art Brown, was only able to manage 56 yards on the ground and quarterback Paul Troth did not throw for a touchdown and gave up one interception. “Our priority was to stop the run,” said senior defensive end Devon Thomas. “Stopping the run makes them have to pass it. I think we did an excellent job on our defensive line.”
With Louisville leading 14-10 early in the second quarter, senior safety Curry Burns blocked a punt which ultimately turned into a Dave Ragone touchdown pass to put the Cards up 21-10. Louisville took a 28-15 score into the locker room at halftime and never looked back. Henry Miller capped off the opening drive for the Cards with an 8 yard touchdown run up the middle to place Louisville in a commanding lead of 35-13. Art Brown scored for the Pirates on 1-yard touchdown run with 9:54 left in the third quarter, but that was the last East Carolina would see of the end zone as the game ended in a 44-20 Cardinal victory. “We came out, played harder, and played with more enthusiasm,” said Coach Smith. “I’m proud of our guys.”
