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Louisville Cardinals

Louisville drops second straight to SMU in wild back-and-forth affair

Derek Peterson

By Derek Peterson

Published:

Louisville and SMU went back and forth on Saturday inside L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium until the fourth quarter when the Cardinals’ offense ground to a complete halt.

The 22nd-ranked Cards nearly had a red zone turnover from the defense, but a controversial overturn gave SMU the ball back and the Mustangs scored the eventual game-winner a few plays later. Louisville had 1 final drive to try and tie the game, but that went haywire at the end and SMU walked away with a 34-27 road victory.

For Louisville, it’s a second consecutive loss, dropping the Cards to 3-2 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. SMU is now 5-1 with wins in each of its first 2 ACC conference games.

Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough completed 22 of his 35 passes for 329 yards and 2 touchdowns. Isaac Brown ran for 117 yards. Ja’Corey Brooks caught 3 passes for 121 yards and 2 scores, including an 86-yard bomb in the third quarter.

SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings was the star of the show, nearly dropping a 300/100 game for the Mustangs. He completed 21 of his 27 passes for 281 yards without a turnover. He also ran for 113 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

The Mustangs had a 24-13 lead at the halftime break. They’d outgained Louisville 284-177 in the first half and held the Cards to 2-for-5 on third down.

In the third quarter, Louisville came alive. The Cards had 216 yards of offense and held SMU to just 9 plays. Louisville scored a pair of touchdowns and benefited from a missed 50-yard field goal late in the third.

Brooks tied the game in the third on his huge reception.

With under 8 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, SMU was driving for a go-ahead score when tailback Brashard Smith was tackled inside the Louisville 10 and fumbled the football. Officials ruled a fumble on the field, but overturned the call on replay review and returned possession to SMU.

Many on social media disagreed with the call on the field. ESPN rules analyst Matt Austin said on the broadcast he wasn’t sure why the officiating crew ruled Smith’s shin down with possession of the football.

SMU tailback LJ Johnson Jr. scored on a 1-yard run just 3 plays later to give SMU the 34-27 lead.

Louisville took over at its own 25 and drove all the way to the SMU 12. A fourth-and-1 conversion and a timely penalty on the Mustangs gave the Cards a first down just shy of paydirt. But from there, the Cards went backward.

Shough was sacked for a 9-yard loss on first down. One-yard runs on second and third down set up a do-or-die fourth-and-long from the 19. Shough just heaved to the endzone, where he was picked off by Isaiah Nwokobia. SMU took over at its 20 and ran out the remaining 2 minutes and 27 seconds.

Louisville will try to regroup next week when it hits the road to face Virginia. SMU, in the midst of a 3-game road trip, will face Stanford.

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.

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