Kai de la Cruz’s personal foul gave Miami good field position and the Canes cashed in with a two yard touchdown of their own to Clive Walford to tie the score early in the second quarter.
Then the U sacked Gardner and forced a fumble putting them in business again deep in Louisville territory at the 7. The very next play Stacy Coley fumbled a lateral and Keith Kelsey took it to the house. However officials said it was dead at the spot of the fumble, leading to a near revolt Papa John’s.
Halfway through the second stanza, Miami seemed to gain their footing against the previously fired up UofL defense. And then Corvin Lamb runs back a kickoff 97 yards to put the momentum back in the Cardinal camp. Lamb tied the 5th longest return for a touchdown in school history.
The first half ended 14-10 and with Coach Petrino feeling good about his defense while also seeing flashes of something good on offense.
The Cards came into the second half holding Miami to a three and out, then giving it away on Gardner’s second sack and fumble, giving the Canes the ball in the red zone again. Matt Goudis kicked another field goal and brought it to 14-13 less than 5 minutes into the third quarter.
After that miscue, the Louisville offense seemed to get their groove back on a fairly long and sustained drive capped by a 15 yard Dominique Brown touchdown run. And just like that, the Cardinals looked like the better team again.
John Wallace added a field goal early in the 4th quarter to put the home team up 24-13. However, Miami wouldn’t go away even though their miscues kept them from big plays including an ineligible man downfield on a pass play that would have put them on the Louisville 3 yard line.
Gardner threw a TD pass late in the fourth to Christian to cap the scoring.
While Louisville came away with the victory, there’s work to do. Number one on the list has to be ball security from the talented Gardner and they only have a few days to work on it. The Cards welcome the Murray State Racers this Saturday.
Photos by: Max Sharp/Louisville.com
