Louisville vs. Houston Score, Recap & Analysis

Houston 34, Louisville 31 In Three Things

1. Greg Ward Jr. threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Ayers in the fourth quarter to give Houston the lead for good. It was a see-saw fourth quarter with each team trading shots, but Louisville couldn’t answer.
2. Louisville was right there all game long – neither team led by more than a score. Lamar Jackson ran for a touchdown and threw for one, but just when the Cardinals appeared to be taking control in the third quarter after a 36-yard John Wallace field goal, Brandon Wilson returned the kickoff for a score.
3. The Cardinals came up with a late Kyle Bolin touchdown pass to Micky Crum late, but Houston went 75 yards in eight plays for the winning drive.

Houston

It took a battle to get the win, and it took a slew of Louisville mistakes, but Houston took advantage of the key moments and came up with a nearly-perfect balance on offense to keep everything moving. This is a fun, exciting team that kept pushing and kept going for big things. It almost wasn’t enough, but Houston dictated the action.

– Greg Ward Jr. completed 23-of-33 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns with an interception

– Kenneth Farrow ran 27 times for 109 yards

– Houston outgained Louisville 226 rushing yards to 70

Louisville

Where’s the running game? The Cardinals are getting some interesting plays out of their quarterbacks, and Lamar Jackson is going to be great, but no one’s taking off and no one’s able to come up with big dashes. Mistakes were disastrous. Houston played well, but the four Cardinal turnovers and nine penalties helped lead to the upset. It’s not time to panic, but Louisville is 0-2 with Clemson up on Thursday night.

– Lamar Jackson completed 17.of-27 passes for 168 yards and a score with two picks, and Kyle Bolin completed 10-of-18 throws for 157 yards and a touchdown

– Micky Crum caught six passes for 103 yards and a score

– The Cardinals averaged just 2.7 yards per carry