Louisville still has a chance to win an automatic BCS berth out of the American, but they will need some help from around the conference this month to make it happen. The Cardinals also need to beat Connecticut tonight t keep that thought alive. That, of course, was not something Louisville was able to do last season, losing to the Huskies in triple overtime. Tonight in Storrs, the Cardinals took a while to get going but are starting to take control of the game. Louisville leads UConn 21-3 at halftime.
Connecticut took the game’s opening drive just in to the red zone but Martin Hyppolite lost a fumble to kill an early opportunity of the home team. Louisville’s defense again held firm to force a punt on UConn’s next offensive possession and the special teams heroics kicked in for the first score of the game. A bad snap on a punt was knocked away by a pair of Louisville players and Charles Gaines picked it up for a quick seven-yard return for a touchdown and the early lead.
From there, Teddy Bridgewater and the offense woke up a little bit. Bridgewater tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass to DeVante Parker and Senorise Perry rushed five yards for another in the second quarter to build a 21-3 lead. Bridgewater has completed nine of 14 pass attempts for 144 yards.