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No. 7 Louisville pummels FIU 72-0

Sep 21, 2013 - 11:27 PM Louisville, KY (Sports Network) - Teddy Bridgewater threw for 212 yards with four touchdowns to power seventh-ranked Louisville to a 72-0 rout of overmatched FIU at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Bridgewater played three quarters and completed 17-of-22 passes. Six went to DeVante Parker, who had 74 yards and two scores in the lopsided triumph.

"It was just a great overall performance in all three phases of the game," Bridgewater said. "We just went out today and competed and played a complete game."

Senorise Perry, Dominique Brown and Michael Dyer each had rushing scores for Louisville (4-0), which was coming off a solid road win at Kentucky last week and wrapped up its non-conference slate. The Cardinals will take next Saturday off before their first American Athletic Conference matchup at Temple in two weeks.

FIU (0-4) was shut out for the second time in three weeks and has been outscored by a combined 187-23 in its four losses this season.

The Panthers came away with a 24-17 win at Louisville two years ago, but were never in this one. FIU trailed 38-0 at halftime and managed just 33 yards offensively in the opening 30 minutes.

"We had a tough day doing everything...throwing the ball, running the ball, blocking, and catching," FIU head coach Ron Turner said. "It's where we are."

Louisville dominated the first quarter, holding FIU to just seven yards while opening a 10-0 lead. Bridgewater threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Parker on the Cardinals' first possession, and John Wallace kicked a 26-yard field goal to cap the second series.

The Cardinals poured it on with four second-quarter touchdowns.

Perry reached the end zone on a 26-yard run early in the period and Brown accounted for 78 yards on two carries for the next Louisville score, following a 77-yard jaunt with a 1-yard touchdown to make it 24-0 with 9:18 left in the half. Bridgewater threw a 9-yard scoring strike to tight end Gerald Christian and added a 6-yard connection to Parker for a 38-point cushion heading to the break.

The carnage continued at the start of the second half when Charles Gaines returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. Bridgewater played two more offensive series and threw a 34-yard TD pass to Eli Rogers for a 51-0 spread after the extra point was blocked and guided a 35-yard drive that ended in a 3-yard scoring run by Dyer with 1:35 left in the third quarter.

Backup quarterback Will Gardner tossed an 11-yard TD strike to Michaelee Harris and Brandon Radcliff ran nine yards for a score in the fourth to account for the final margin.

Louisville's defense yielded a school-record 30 yards overall and just two first downs. The Cardinals, meanwhile, totaled 464 yards of offense.

Game Notes

Parker has caught a touchdown pass in 10 straight games dating back to last season ... The coaches agreed to play with a running clock for much of the second half ... Louisville has now won two of the three meetings, including a 28-21 triumph at FIU last year.