Houston clamps down on Lamar Jackson, No. 3 Louisville in rout
HOUSTON — No. 3 Louisville saw its College Football Playoff chances severely damaged if not outright dashed with a stunning 36-10 loss at Houston on Thursday night.
The Cardinals (9-2), who are No. 5 in the CFP rankings, had a chance to impress the selection committee and the nation with a nationally televised game against a quality opponent. Instead, the Cardinals laid an egg.
Louisville fumbled the opening kickoff return to set up a quick Houston touchdown — one of three lost fumbles by the Cards — and fell behind 31-0 by halftime.
Houston’s defensive front outplayed U of L’s offensive line all night and kept quarterback Lamar Jackson under duress.
Jackson was sacked a season-high 11 times, and the Cards were flagged for a season-high 15 penalties.
Jackson, whose Heisman Trophy candidacy had by far its roughest night yet, completed 20 of 43 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown and ran for just 33 yards on 25 carries. His rushing total included 83 yards lost on sacks, including one for a safety late in the game when Jackson was called for intentional grounding in the end zone.
Houston’s own top-notch quarterback, Greg Ward, was 25-for-44 for 233 yards and two TDs through the air. The Cougars' fans rushed the field after the game.
Louisville figures to fall in the next set of playoff rankings, and the Cards probably will need mass chaos from the other teams in the top 10 in the coming weeks to find its way back near the top four.
The game started in terrible fashion for Louisville.
Malik Williams fumbled the opening kickoff over the Cougars at the Cards' 13-yard line, and Greg Ward threw a touchdown pass to Duke Catalon on Houston's first play just 11 seconds into the game.
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Louisville turned it over again on Brandon Radcliff's fumble at the 3:05 mark of the first period, setting up a Houston field goal and a 10-0 UH lead after the first quarter.
Louisville had three false-start penalties in the first quarter, plus another on the first play of the second quarter.
Houston added on by successfully executing a fake punt — the punter completed a 15-yard pass on fourth-and-13 - then scored when Ward's pass bounced off one receiver and fell right into the hands of Catalon for an easy touchdown.
The Cougars' up-tempo offense kept Louisville on its heels as Houston scored again on a 12-play, 73-yard drive and they scored again on a trick play in which Linnell Bonner threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to fellow wide receiver Chance Allen.
That made the score 31-0, which was Louisville's largest halftime deficit since being down 49-0 to Rutgers in the 2008. The Cards' previous largest deficit this season was 18 points at halftime against Clemson.
The first-half stats were brutal for Louisville: zero points, two turnovers, six punts, 10 penalties, four sacks allowed, a total yardage deficit of 242-92 and an average of 3.5 yards per play.
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