Ohio Bobcats vs Louisville Cardinals Match Player Stats On Sep 01, 2013

No. 9 Louisville 49, Ohio 7: Teddy Bridgewater threw for 355 yards and tied a career high with five touchdown passes as the Cardinals pounded visiting Ohio.

Bridgewater was 23-of-28, and his five touchdown passes were the most by a Louisville quarterback in a season opener, breaking Hunter Cantwell's mark of four in 2007. The Heisman Trophy hopeful hooked up with Damian Copeland for scoring strikes of 34 and 19 yards in the first quarter and added touchdown tosses of 27, 40 and 25 yards to three other receivers in the rout.

Louisville's defense also dominated, holding the Bobcats to 88 total yards in the first half and 273 for the game, as Ohio star Beau Blankenship was limited to 22 yards on 12 carries. Ohio broke up the shutout on the last play of the third quarter, when Ryan Boykin powered into the end zone from 10 yards out.

Kai De La Cruz caught four passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinals, hauling in a 40-yard strike from Bridgewater in the second quarter and a 30-yard toss from backup Will Gardner in the fourth.

Senorise Perry got the start in the backfield for Louisville and rushed for 58 yards on 13 carries. Former Auburn running back Michael Dyer added 48 yards on four rushes, including a 46-yard TD burst to make it 35-0 early in the third quarter.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Bobcats fell to 0-17 all-time against top-25 opponents. … Bridgewater passed Stefan Lefors for fifth place on Louisville's all-time passing yards list and surpassed Jay Gruden for the fourth-most touchdown passes in school history. … Ohio lost LB Keith Moore, one of its defensive captains, to an ankle injury on its first defensive series.