Louisville Stumbles in Season Opener vs. Ole Miss

The Cardinals posted 355 yards of offense to 569 from the Rebels.

ATLANTA - Kicking off the 2021 season down in Atlanta, Ga. for the annual Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game, the Louisville football program came stumbling out of the gates to start the new season, falling 43-24 to Ole Miss at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Even with Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin not on the sideline due to COVID-19, Louisville struggled to establish any sort of rhythm. The Cardinals (0-1, 0-0-ACC) finished with just 355 yards of total offense to the Rebels' 569, converted just six of their 15 third down attempts, and committed nine penalties.

Quarterback Malik Cunningham went 22-of-37 for 191 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while also finishing as the leading rusher on the day with 79 yards and two scores. Tight end Marshon Ford finished the game with four receptions for 50 yards, while wide receiver Josh Johnson had six catches for 40 yards.

Over on the other side line, the offense was as good as advertised. Rebels quarterback Matt Corral went 22-of-32 through the air with 381 yards and a touchdown, with Dontario Drummond hauling in the score and 177 of the yards. The Rebels also had 188 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, led primarily by Snoop Conner's 60 yards and two scores.

The first half went about as poorly for Louisville as you can imagine. Wide receivers couldn't get open, the offensive line struggled to block, and the situational play calling was questionable. And that was just the offensive problems.

Over on defense, the Cardinals could not seem to get out of their own way. Not only did Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral take advantage of soft coverage to allow easy catch-and run conversions, but both inside linebacker Monty Montgomery and defensive end Tabarius Peterson were both ejected on targeting penalties.

Louisville had a chance to prevent a first half shutout, but running back Hassan Hall fumbled an option toss on fourth down just outside the red zone on their final drive of the half.

Ole Miss took a 26-0 lead into the locker room, and had 327 yards of offense to just 107 for Louisville at half. In fact, quarterback Malik Cunningham was the team leader in both passing (17), rushing (54) and receiving yards (nine) at the half - thanks to a swing-back pass from Braden Smith.

The Cardinals' offense found some signs of life in the second half, posting more than double the yardage than they had in the first half. They broke the shutout with a 38-yard field goal by James Turner, followed that up with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Braden Smith, then 1- and 9-yard rushing scores by Cunningham.

Unfortunately for them, the Ole Miss offense still kept on ticking, and the team as a whole still showed shades of the first half from time to time. The closest they would ever get in the second half were a pair of 19-point deficits - one at 36-27, and the next one when Louisville tallied their final score.

Louisville will be back action next weekend for their home-opener against FCS Eastern Kentucky at Cardinal Stadium. Kickoff against the Colonels is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 11 at 7:00 p.m. EST on ACC Network Extra.

(Photo of Malik Cunningham: Dale Zanine - USA TODAY Sports)

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