Louisville 31, Connecticut 10
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater passed for 288 yards and one touchdown and got scoring help from his defense and special teams as No. 20 Louisville completed a workmanlike 31-10 victory over Connecticut on Friday night at Rentschler Field.
The Cardinals (8-1 overall, 4-1 American Athletic Conference) blocked a punt for a first-quarter touchdown and scored the only points of the third quarter when cornerback Terell Floyd intercepted UConn's Tim Boyle and sprinted 17 yards into the end zone.
Louisville, averaging more than 39 points per game, scored only two touchdowns on offense. But the victory over UConn (0-8, 0-4) allowed the Cardinals to avenge a costly 23-20 triple overtime loss to the Huskies last season in Louisville.
Bridgewater, 21 of 37 with one interception, didn't get much help from a receiving corps that dropped numerous passes on a cold and windy night. After completing two of his first five attempts, the junior connected on nine of his next 13 and passed for 157 yards in the first half.
Louisville entered the game ranked second in the nation in rushing defense, yielding just 80.5 yards per game. UConn rushed for 74 yards in the first half but managed just a field goal and trailed 21-3 at halftime. The Huskies lost 4 yards rushing in the second and third quarters, managed just 29 yards of offense in those two quarters and had only two first downs after picking up eight in the first quarter.
Boyle completed 14 of 29 passes for 113 yards and one interception. The game was played before 27,104, the smallest attendance in the 10-year history of Rentschler Field. Reserve quarterback Casey Cochran threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Kamal Abrams with 35 seconds left in the game.
The Cardinals opened the scoring with a special-teams touchdown. Punting on fourth-and-4, UConn got a low snap from Adam Mueller and Louisville running back Brandon Radcliff blocked the punt attempt by punter Cole Wagner. Cornerback Charles Gaines scooped up the ball and ran it into the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown return with 6:23 left in the first quarter.
The Huskies responded with a 14-play, 57-yard drive that ended on a 35-yard field goal by kicker Chad Christen six seconds into the second quarter. But a 28-yard touchdown pass from Bridgewater to wide-open receiver DeVante Parker with 10:12 left before halftime extended the lead to 14-3. Bridgewater was 4-of-4 passing on the seven-play, 64-yard TD drive that took 4:42 off the clock.
Running back Senorise Perry added a 5-yard touchdown run with 2:18 left in the second quarter to give Louisville a 21-3 lead.
NOTES: Bridgewater extended his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass to 21. And after the 28-yard TD pass to Parker in the second quarter, Bridgewater needed just seven more touchdown passes to break the school record of 30 in a season set by Brian Brohm in 2007. ... Louisville last lost on the road on Nov. 10, 2012, a 45-26 setback at Syracuse. ... UConn, which has two road games and two home games remaining, last went winless in a season in 1932 when the Huskies were 0-6-2.
