Louisville clubs EKU

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The eighth-ranked Louisville Cardinals may need to start earning some style points to go along with their victories.

Teddy Bridgewater threw for 397 yards and four touchdowns as Louisville routed Eastern Kentucky 44-7 Saturday on a day the Cardinals’ defense just missed a shutout for a second week in a row.

Linebacker Preston Brown had two sacks, and Calvin Pryor had an interception as Louisville limited Eastern Kentucky to 76 yards total offense in the first half.

The Cardinals (2-0) needed the defensive plays. Following the noon kickoff, Louisville settled for a pair of field goals from John Wallace after turnovers gave the offense short fields. The Cardinals also settled for a third field goal in the third quarter despite reaching Eastern Kentucky’s 4.

Bridgewater completed his first five passes to continue his strong start on the season. He tossed touchdown passes to Damian Copeland and Gerald Christian and two to DeVante Parker while connecting with eight receivers. He wound up 23 of 32 with no interceptions.

The Cardinals never were threatened by a instate program from the Football Championship Subdivision that upset Louisville 45-21 in 1985. Louisville led 14-0 after the first quarter and 27-0 at halftime in improving to 11-31 in this series playing on its own field.

In other games involving American Athletic Conference teams, Richie Leone of

Houston (2-0, 1-0) kicked five field goals and Ryan Jackson’s 10-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown spelled the difference in the Cougars’ 22-13 victory over Temple (0-1, 0-1) before 27,328 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. … Paul James ran for 119 yards and three touchdowns and Rutgers (1-1) defeated Norfolk State 38-0 in Piscataway, N.J. … Brandon Connette, subbing for injured starter Anthony Boone, threw for 198 yards and a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to lead Duke (2-0) past host Memphis (0-1) 28-14. ... Garrett Gilbert completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Darius Joseph with 12 seconds left against Montana State to give SMU (1-1) a come-from-behind 31-30 victory in Dallas.