Louisville, we have a Houston problem.
The Cougars used big plays, surprise fakes and a bunch of big defensive stops to jump out to a 31-0 halftime lead over the No. 5 team in the country on Thursday night in a game that rarely went the Cardinals way.
The visitors began the game by fumbling the opening kickoff and had more penalty yardage than offensive yards for much of the first two quarters. Heisman Trophy favorite Lamar Jackson couldn’t get much of anything going (133 total yards) and spent most of the half being flushed from the pocket thanks to the stellar play of Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who finished with a sack, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and half a dozen pressures of Jackson in the pocket.
Jackson’s counterpart for the Cougars looked much better with both his legs and his arm, with Greg Ward Jr. throwing for 177 yards through the air and two touchdowns while adding 18 more on the ground.
Head coach Tom Herman kept his foot on the gas pedal all half too, converting the initial fumble recovery into a quick touchdown and going with a fake punt that later set up a tip-drill reception for the team’s third score. The Cougars marched down the field and added another touchdown midway through the second quarter and then used a wide receiver pass for a 50 yard score that served as a exclamation mark to that whopper of a first half.
There was plenty of talk about Louisville’s chances of making the College Football Playoff earlier this week but all that looks like it is about to be thrown out the window based on the way things went in the first half.