LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jawhar Jordan and Jamari Thrash each scored two touchdowns, and Louisville used a slew of explosive plays to dominate Murray State 56-0 on Thursday night for its first shutout in nearly three years.
Six days after rallying past Georgia Tech 39-34 in Jeff Brohm’s coaching debut, the Cardinals (2-0) were never challenged by the FCS-level Racers (1-1) in the home opener.
Louisville led 28-0 at halftime, with Jack Plummer threading a crossing pass to Thrash for a 73-yard scoring play and Jordan shaking a defender near the left sideline in a 72-yard TD run.
Louisville set the tone with chunk plays on its first possession as Kevin Coleman made an incredible one-handed catch for 30 yards on third and 11. Plummer later hit a wide-open Jordan for 32 yards to the 12, and Thrash took a pitch on the next snap and dashed untouched for the TD to cap a six-play, 76-yard drive.
Jordan, Louisville’s top rusher last season with 815 yards, carried seven times for 135 yards, including a 1-yard TD run in the third quarter. His 74-yard TD run against Georgia Tech provided a cushion after Louisville recovered a fumble with a one-point lead.
Thrash caught three passes for 82 yards. Plummer completed 16 of 22 passes for 248 yards with two interceptions on deep passes before giving way to Brock Domann and Harrison Bailey, who threw a 34-yard TD pass to Joey Gatewood.
Isaac Guerendo, Amari Huggins-Bruce and Keyjuan Brown added short TD runs as Louisville outgained Murray State 690-166 and posted its first shutout since beating Syracuse 30-0 in November 2020.
Murray State's DJ Williams completed 7 of 16 passes for 68 yards.
THE TAKEAWAY
Murray State: The Racers had few highlights as they never got past the Louisville 41 and turned it over on three consecutive possessions. Zayteak McGhee provided one moment by jumping to intercept Plummer's deep sideline pass, but the defense struggled against the bigger, faster Cardinals.
Louisville: The Cardinals had 11 rushing plays of at least 10 yards and eight passing plays of at least 15. That dominance allowed them to use a lot of their roster, which produced a lot of big moments and points.
UP NEXT
Murray State: At former Ohio Valley Conference foe Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Sept. 16.
Louisville: Faces Indiana in Indianapolis on Saturday, Sept. 16.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
