“TD” Bridgewater Goes for 4, as Cards Dominate EKU 44-7

In the searing, bright  sunshine heat of a 90 degree late summer day,  the eighth- ranked Louisville Cardinals fried the EKU Colonels 44-7 as Teddy Bridgewater threw for 4 TD’s and 397 yards to further solidify his Heisman candidacy.

Teddy Bridgewater scorched EKU for 4 TD’s and 397 yds– and 0 INT’s.

Personally, I came to see two things: 1)  Whether the defense would continue its good performance from last week and get a shutout, and 2) see Teddy go for at least 3 TD’s and 300 yards to maintain a Heisman pace.

On the whole, I came away pleased.

The D dominated EKU most of the game, only giving up one  late touchdown.  In a season of high expectations, I will note that the kick return coverage was very poor all the game, which was disappointing and a bit troubling.   The kickoffs continue to be short of the end zone too.  Letting your opponent start at the 40 yard line every time–which we did with the Colonels–  is a recipe for disaster against even marginally better teams.

WR DeVante Parker hauled in another of his circus catches over a hapless defender for a TD in the first half.

And Teddy , though seeming a bit off kilter some of the day, was still sharp enough to rack up his 4 TD’s and 397 yards and zero interceptions.  He now has 9 TD’s in 2 games–not a bad pace.

Unfortunately, the rushing game–which was expected to also dominate — was relatively punchless, registering only 78 yards on 28 carries.  Part of that was the fact that it was EKU’s strategy  to stop the run–and to their credit they did that.  But it was still disturbing that SOME big holes should have been opened up, but weren’t.  It put extra pressure on Bridgewater, and he was up to the task as usual, thank goodness.

RB Senorise Perry pops up, after bulling his way for a TD in the first half.   The running game as a whole disappointed on the day though.

Head coach Charlie Strong was not entirely pleased either.  “You always talk about raising the standards… You know the weapons you have when you get the ball in the red zone you like touchdowns instead of  field goals.  We missed opportunities down there.”

Heach Coach Charlie Strong was not entirely pleased with the performance, particularly by a less-than-perfect showing by the  O.

Indeed,  three to be precise, Coach.   But one good additional thing to note:  field goal kicker John Wallace was perfect on 3 for 3 attempts.  That will come in mighty handy later in the season for sure.

Another  thing to keep in mind during this season of extremely high expectations:  Last season, the Cards scored 40 points only twice all season long.  They already have matched that in their first two games.

I think I’ll  take that , and smile some.  Just keep it coming, Teddy.

*********************************************************************************************************************

As usual, HITH photog Matt Wickham took these pics.  His entire set of the game can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kylures/sets/72157635428716356/

*********************************************************************************************************************

Oh, yeah. The LadyBirds were there too…