Louisville Falls to Florida State in Home Opener

Mistakes on both sides of the ball spelled doom for the Cardinals against the visiting Seminoles.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Playing in their first home game of the 2022 season after spending the first two weeks on the road, the Louisville football program could not carry over their momentum from their win at UCF, falling to Florida State 35-31 Friday night at Cardinal Stadium.

Like in their game against the Knights the week before, the Cardinals (1-2, 0-2 ACC) had several opportunities to put the game away against the Seminoles (3-0, 1-0 ACC), only it bit them harder this time around. The offense produced several empty drives, while missed tackles and poor coverage plagued the defense. Louisville committed 11 penalties, and allowed FSU to go on a 14-3 run at the end of the fourth quarter after going up seven.

Quarterback Malik Cunningham went 21-of-34 for 243 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while also tallying 127 yards and two scores on the ground. Running back Jawhar Jordan had a career day with 91 rushing yards, and fellow RB Trevion Cooley had a combined 70 yards. The defense produced four sacks, 10 tackles for loss and two picks.

Florida State QB Jordan Travis went 13-for-17 with 157 yards, two touchdowns and a pick; while backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker was 6-for-10 for two touchdowns and a pick as well. Running back Treshaun Ward had 126 rushing yards for the Noles, and wide receiver Johnny Wilson had seven receptions for 149 yards and two scores.

Both offenses came firing out of the gates, as the Cardinals and the Seminoles each scored on two of their first three drives of the game. Cunningham had a pair of first quarter scores, one coming on an eight-yard rush, and the other on a 17-yard screen pass to Trevion Cooley. On the other sideline, Travis looked just as sharp in the opening quarter, tossing an easy two-yard touchdown pass to Preston Daniel and a 21-yard strikes to Malik McClain in the back of the end zone.

In the second quarter, the Louisville offense began shooting themselves in the foot again, but their defense started to step up. Cunningham and Jordan each had a fumble during this period, but Rance Conner and Yasir Abdullah countered those with interceptions - holding the Noles to 16 second quarter yards in the process. The only score during the final quarter of the first half came from the Cardinals, with Cooley punching it in from the goal line.

The injuries also began to pile up on both sidelines during the second quarter. Already short running backs Tiyon Evans and Jalen Mitchell, wide receiver Dee Wiggins had to be carted off the sideline, and offensive linemen  Caleb Chandler and Trevor Reid also went down with various injuries.

As bad as that is for Louisville, Florida State got it worse. Travis was knocked out halfway through the quarter with an apparent knee injury after taking a hard sack, and their top two defensive players - defensive end Jared Verse and linebacker Tatum Bethune - also got injured.

Florida State got a little bit of momentum on their first drive of the third quarter with Rodemaker - and were aided by a costly Louisville offsides call on 3rd down - leading to a 15-yard rushing score from Lawrence Toafili to tie the game. The Cardinals' defense had a pair of third quarter stops after that, but their offense struggled to put together anything of substance on their first two drives out of halftime.

After both Louisville and Florida State had combined to score on just two on their 14 drives in the second and third quarters, the Cards and Noles combined to score on the first four drives of the fourth quarter. Louisville started the period with an 18-yard rushing score by Cunningham then a 36-yard field goal from James Turner, but their defense lapsed and allowed Florida State to jump in front thanks to 10- and two-yard touchdown receptions from Wilson.

With under eight minutes to go and trailing by just four, Louisville was unable to march down the field and get back on top, turning the ball over on downs around midfield with just under five minutes left. Florida State did miss a field goal at the 18 yard line to give the Cardinals another chance, but the drive ended with a Cunningham interception.

Next up, Louisville will stay at Cardinal Stadium and host former Conference-USA and Big East counterpart USF. Kickoff against the Bulls is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 24 at 12:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Malik Cunningham: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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