Cards find a way to win late, beat Bulls, 27-25

It was a rollercoaster second half Saturday night in Louisville as the Cards needed a last minute touchdown drive to pull out the win and move to 7-0 on the season.

Just like the last home game for the Cards against North Carolina a month ago the Cards spoiled an early lead in the second half and had to fight for the win.

They took a 14-3 lead into the second half, but couldn’t find a consistent answer for the USF ground game.

The Cards defense struggled all game to stop the run up the middle. They did a solid job of winning matchups outside, besides two B.J. Daniels touchdown passes that went over the reach of Stephan Robinson for touchdowns, but where they really couldn’t make plays was in the middle of the field.

Lamar Lindsey ran past the Cards defense as the linebackers could not keep him from taking it to the next level.

In the second half USF drove the ball for seven points and cut into the Cards halftime lead. The Cards answered the Bulls score with a touchdown of their own. When Teddy Bridgewater threw for that third quarter touchdown it made it seven strait games with a touchdown through the air for the Cards QB. The touchdown pass was to Damian Copeland, the junior wide out’s first career touchdown catch.

The Bulls got the ball back and immediately began gashing the Cards defense with runs up the middle. USF took it down to the goal line, but the Cards held strong. It looked as though that play at the end of the third quarter might just be the game, but the fourth quarter provided even more second half drama for both teams.

Louisville had a 21-10 lead going into the fourth quarter, but Daniels and the Bulls drove the field twice to score on passes and take the lead with just 3:09 left in the game. Defensive penalties and a lack of push up front allowed the Bulls to take the lead, but Bridgewater and the Cards were not ready to go down without a fight.

The offense moved the ball down the field again using Bridgewater’s legs and arm. He ran for some key first downs and was able to move around the pocket and find receivers open down field to move the chains.

The Cards got into the red zone and didn’t waste much time as Teddy quickly found Eli Rogers in the middle of the end zone for six. Unfortunately for the Cards they only got six. The extra point was blocked by the Bulls and the Cards had to settle for just a two point lead. The highs and lows for both teams in the second half were too numerous to count.

The Cards held up on defense as South Florida picked up a couple of first downs, but couldn’t get into field goal range in 1:35. Daniels ended up throwing the ball up as time expired and Adrian Bushell came down with it for the Cards.

Teddy finished with a team high 74 yards rushing and threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns.

South Florida outgained the Cards on the ground 197 to 128 with Teddy accounting for more than half of the Cards yards. Lindsey Lamar paced the Bulls with 110 yards.

The Cards have made too many of these games too close. Still we haven’t seen a true complete game from them and hopefully one of those is in our new future.