Louisville 30, Temple 7
PHILADELPHIA -- If one sequence can sum up the direction of two teams, it took place late in the first half of No. 7 Louisville's 30-7 victory over Temple.
Trailing 17-0, the Owls drove inside the Cardinals' 5-yard line. Not only did Temple fail to get into the end zone, but also failed to produce any points. That was because Louisville's Marcus Smith blocked Nick Visco's 23-yard field attempt.
On the ensuing possession, Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater led the Cardinals on a seven play, 81-yard drive capped by his 15-yard scoring pass to Eli Rogers with 37 seconds remaining in the half. The junior receiver was wide open in the middle of the end zone and gave the visitors a 24-0 lead.
Bridgewater finished the day completing 25 of 35 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns. He was 15-of-17 passing for 228 yards and both TDs in that opening half.
Temple's lone score came with 38 seconds remaining and followed a blocked punt. True freshman P.J. Walker connected with Jalen Fitzpatrick from 9 yards out. That prevented Louisville from posting consecutive shutouts for the first time since 1972.
With the help of its tight ends, Louisville (5-0, 1-0 American Athletic Conference) set the tone early on a steamy afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field. On third-and-goal from the 1, Bridgewater rolled to his right and found tight end Gerald Christian wide open for an easy touchdown. The 11-play, 79-yard drive chewed up the game's first 5:37. The play was set up by a 36-yard connection from Bridgewater to tight end Ryan Hubble, who was open deep down the right side and took the ball to the five.
Dominique Brown's 2-yard touchdown run with 10:36 remaining in the half upped the Cardinals' lead to 17-0. The drive started when Bridgewater threw a screen to Eli Rogers that went for 31 yards to the Temple 30. The untimed down to close the first quarter marked Louisville's fourth play of more than 30 yards in the opening 15 minutes.
Walker took over for Connor Reilly at quarterback on Temple's (0-5, 0-2 AAC) first possession of the second quarter. The true freshman connected with Robby Anderson on a 58-yard completion that brought the ball to the Louisville 12. While it was the Owls' longest play of the year, it led to Smith's blocked field goal.
Notes: Louisville's leading receiver, DeVante Parker, injured his right shoulder when he was tackled by Temple cornerback Anthony Robey following a 38-yard reception in the opening quarter. He did not return. ... Dating back to Nov. 3, 2012 against Temple, Bridgewater has thrown 30 TD passes in his last 10 games. ... Bridgewater has thrown at least two touchdown passes of 11 of his last 12 games. ... Since 1974, Temple is 2-85 vs. top 25 teams, including 0-34 vs. top 10 teams. ... Louisville has outscored Temple 92-7 in the last two meetings at Lincoln Financial Field.
