It was supposed to be a joyous day for the Louisville Cardinals. The Houston Cougars were coming into town for their first home game of the season and it was supposed to be an easy victory. But Houston played spoilers to the Cardinals and were able to hang with them the entire game.
It was all types of problems for the Cardinals all day. They were careless with the ball, turning it over many times. That’s the risk of starting a true freshman at QB in Lamar Jackson. He threw two interceptions on homerun balls and even fumbled the ball when trying to hand off to the running back. All of his errors led to Kyle Bolin coming into to the game in the 4th quarter to try to pull out a victory.
Houston led the country in turnovers forced last season and that doesn't mix well with a freshman QB. But their special teams deserve some credit as well. They blocked a 53 yard field goal from Louisville at the end of the game to seal the victory. Brandon Wilson even returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. It was all sorts of breakdowns for the Louisville Cardinals.
Cougar QB Greg Ward JR, was the pivotal reason why they were able to compete. He is a terrific dual threat QB and was able to prove it the entire day. He threw two of his three touchdown passes in the 4th quarter on their way to a victory.
“We just leaned on each other, just believed in each other,” Ward said. “We’ve been grinding it out, every week, every day. This is a great win for us.”
The 4th quarter was absolutely insane for both teams. Both teams were tied 17-17 until they erupted for a combined 31 points. It included a 15 yard game winner from Houston with 3:09 remaining to pull away. But Kyle Bolin almost led Louisville to victory when he came in. He had 157 yards and a touchdown all in the 4th quarter. Greg Ward Jr. had 236 yards and three touchdowns for the Cougars.
This was a tough game to swallow for Cardinal fans after almost winning against Auburn. It was supposed to be all Lamar Jackson but now the QB competition is open after Bolin played terrific. Bolin looks like the better QB at decision making and pocket passing but Jackson has the dual threat ability and athleticism to be electrifying. But at the end of the day, the Cardinals are sitting at 0-2 and have Clemson coming into town next weekend. Houston is 2-0 and looks like a contender in the American Athletic Conference.
Player of the Game/Greg Ward Jr. Houston Cougars-
Ward was tremendous for Houston and kept them in the game with his excellent passing. He had 236 yards and three touchdowns with only a single interception.