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No. 25 Louisville routs Murray State

Sep 7, 2014 - 7:38 AM Louisville, KY (SportsNetwork.com) - Will Gardner's two touchdown passes helped lead the No. 25 Louisville Cardinals to a 66-21 rout of the Murray State Racers on Saturday.

Gardner went 13-of-22 for 133 yards and backup quarterback Reggie Bonnafon was solid, completing eight passes for 112 yards and a touchdown with two rushing scores.

"We've (played two quarterbacks) before and it worked out pretty good that time," said Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino. "We have to evaluate the video and see and continue to work hard in practice."

L.J. Scott led all Louisville rushers with 126 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown, while Brandon Radcliff ran the ball 15 times for 97 yards and two scores. Kai De La Cruz, Michaelee Harris and Gerald Christian each caught a touchdown for the Cardinals (2-0), who defeated Miami, 31-13, in their season opener.

"One of the things we wanted to make sure we did was get L.J. in the game when the game still meant something," added Petrino. "It was really good to see him run hard, run fast."

Backup quarterback KD Humphries went 13-of-19 for 158 yards and two touchdowns for the Racers (1-1), who had starter CJ Bennett convert just eight of his 19 throws for 93 yards with a touchdown and interception.

Janawski Davis led all receivers with 100 yards on five receptions and two touchdowns and Jeremy Harness hauled in a TD pass in defeat.

Louisville opened the scoring on its second drive of the game. DeAngelo Brown broke through for a 33-yard run and Gardner found De La Cruz, who broke a tackle on the right side and dove in for a 12-yard score. Charles Gaines picked off Bennett at the Racers' 28 on the very next drive before Brown plunged into the end zone for a 14-0 lead.

Murray State quickly scored on Bennett's pass to Davis, who raced down the sideline for a 57-yard touchdown with 6:17 left in the first.

Scott rushed for 68 yards on Louisville's first play. Later in the drive, Scott found the end zone after two straight rushes to cap a 6-play, 83-yard drive. Christian caught a pass from a yard out to end a 73-yard march with less than a minute into the second quarter for a 28-7 score

Bonnafon took over at quarterback for Louisville, which started at the Racers' 48. De La Cruz hauled in an 18-yard catch that was compounded with a Murray State penalty. Scott ran for seven yards before Bonnafon scored on an 8-yard scamper.

Harris hauled in a 27-yard TD pass from Bonnafon and John Wallace made a 45- yard field goal to give the Cardinals a commanding 45-7 lead heading into the half.

The Cardinals continued the rout with two touchdowns in the third quarter. Bonnafon scored on a 16-yard dash to cap a 10-play, 89-yard trek down the field. The Cardinals went for it on 4th-and-4 at the Racers' 17 and converted on Keith Towbridge's 10-yard catch. Radcliff then ran it in from seven yards out to make it a 59-7 game.

Murray State countered with a touchdown of its own on the next drive. Humphries completed all seven of his passes for 70 yards, culminating in a 9- yard pass to Davis with 2:13 left in the third.

Humphries was also efficient on the next drive, leading the Racers down the field on a 9-play, 74-yard drive that ended with Harness' 16-yard TD catch early in the fourth.

Radcliff's 5-yard rushing TD with 7:23 left accounted for the final score.

Game Notes

The Cardinals have won 20 straight home games to improve to 24-1 under head coach Bobby Petrino ... Louisville won its eighth straight game ... Murray State lost its fifth straight meeting against Louisville ... The Racers had just 41 rushing yards compared to the Cardinals' 325.