Sep 7, 2007, 4:01 GMT
Louisville, KY - Anthony Allen set a school record with 275 rushing yards and scored twice, as eighth-ranked Louisville survived a first-half scare and downed Middle Tennessee, 58-42, at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
Brian Brohm threw for a career-high 401 yards on 25-of-39 passing and had five touchdown passes for Louisville (2-0), which led just 38-35 at the break. Mario Urrutia and Gary Barnidge each finished with well over 100 yards receiving and scored two touchdowns apiece.
Phillip Tanner rushed for 144 yards and three TDs while Joe Craddock threw for 290 yards and two scores for Middle Tennessee (0-2).
After trading blows with the Blue Riders for the entire first half, Louisville was finally able to gain some breathing room in the third quarter.
Art Carmody upped the advantage to 41-35 with a 30-yard field goal to cap an 11-yard march. Brohm then connected with Urrutia for a 22-yard TD completion with 2:51 remaining in the stanza to increase the lead to 13.
Carmody added another 30-yarder with under 30 ticks left in the third that made it 51-35.
Tanner started the fourth with a 79-yard burst up the middle to bring Middle Tennessee within nine.
Harry Douglas hauled in Brohm's final touchdown pass of the night moments later, however, and the defense held from there.
Louisville opened up the game with an 81-yard touchdown strike from Brohm to Barnidge.
Middle Tennessee, though, struck right back on the ensuing possession, as Craddock and DeMarco McNair hooked up for a 78-yard TD pass to tie the game.
The big-play dynamic continued in the next sequence, with Brohm finding Urrutia for a 71-yard TD to put the Cardinals back in front.
The Blue Raiders coughed up the ball on the subsequent kickoff, and Louisville capitalized with a five-yard Allen touchdown run to establish a 21-7 edge.
That hardly spelled the end for the Blue Raiders, who sliced their deficit to seven with Tanner's 23-yard scamper to pay dirt.
On Louisville's next scoring drive, Brohm connected with Harry Douglas, but he fumbled and Barnidge recovered for a score with less than six minutes to play in the first quarter to give Louisville a 28-14 lead. However, Craddock countered with a 24-yard TD toss to Bobby Williams to make it a seven-point game once again.
Carmody stretched the lead to 10 with a 31-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but McNair answered with a 39-yard TD run to make it 31-28.
One-yard touchdown runs from Allen and Tanner completed the first half scoring, as Louisville headed into the locker room with a slight 38-35 lead.
Game Notes
Louisville compiled 729 yards of total offense, while the Raiders had 555...The Blue Raiders and Cardinals met for the first time ever last season, with Louisville posting a 44-17 triumph in Nashville...Louisville's 20-game winning streak dates back to 2003, when they beat Houston, 66-45.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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