NASHVILLE – Western Kentucky’s losing streak to Louisville has extended another year.
The Hilltoppers – hosting their in-state foe Saturday afternoon at Nissan Stadium in Nashville – dug themselves into a 31-7 hole at halftime and ultimately lost 38-21. WKU has not recorded a win against the Cardinals since it won 21-17 in 1975.
Western (1-2 overall, 1-0 Conference USA) trailed 7-0 after the opening quarter, by 24 points at the break and wasn’t able to overcome its deficit in the second half. The Toppers were outgained 415-288, went just 4-for-16 on third downs, 1-for-4 on fourth downs and fumbled twice.
WKU quarterback Steven Duncan completed 25-of-47 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns to go along with a fumble, while tight end Joshua Simon caught one pass for 77 yards and a TD. Running back Gaej Walker was limited to just 41 yards on 14 carries after putting together back-to-back 100-plus-yard performances in the first two games of the season.
Louisville (2-1) quarterback Malik Cunningham finished 8-of-13 for 119 yards and two TDs, while also picking up 46 yards on the ground. Running back Javian Hawkins rushed for 93 yards and a score on 19 attempts.
WKU will be off next week before hosting Alabama-Birmingham at 6 p.m. Sept. 28.
Louisville struck first late in the first quarter with a lengthy drive that lasted nearly five minutes.
After Cunningham connected with Seth Dawkins for a 10-yard gain to the WKU 27 and followed that up with two runs for 12 yards, the quarterback soon tossed a shovel pass to Tutu Atwell for a nine-yard touchdown. The scoring play capped a 10-play, 58-yard drive that lasted 4:45 and put the Cardinals up 7-0 at the 4:18 mark of the first quarter.
The Cardinals doubled their lead early into the second as Atwell reeled in a 46-yard reception from Cunningham. The receiver took off and was wide open up the middle, and Cunningham found him and released a perfect throw for the score – which put Louisville up 14-0 at the 12:04 mark.
WKU answered less than a minute later.
On just the second play of the series, Duncan threw up the middle to Simon, who made the catch and broke loose down the left sideline for a 77-yard touchdown. The two-play, 82-yard drive cut the Hilltoppers’ deficit in half to 14-7 at the 11:12 mark.
It didn’t take UofL long to regain a double-digit advantage as Hawkins ran in from 20 yards out to put the Cardinals up 21-7 with 8:08 remaining in the half. UofL covered 75 yards with eight plays on the drive.
Blanton Creque’s 43-yard field goal – followed by a Duncan fumble that led to a 30-yard fumble recovery TD for Rodjay Burns – increased WKU’s deficit to 31-7 at the break.
After ending the opening half on a low note, the Hilltoppers started the second strong.
As Louisville fumbled on its first drive and WKU recovered, the Toppers wasted no time finding the end zone as Duncan threw an eight-yard TD pass to Jahcour Pearson to cut their deficit to 31-14 at the 11:37 mark.
The Cardinals responded with Atwell’s 62-yard reception from freshman quarterback Evan Conley to take a 38-14 lead with 1:26 left in the third. Conley – who replaced Cunningham after he was banged up – found Atwell open and made the right throw that led to Atwell crossing the pylon for the third time.
Duncan’s third TD pass – this one a three-yarder to tight end Kyle Fourtenbary – brought the Toppers to within 38-21 at the 12:50 mark of the fourth, and that’s as close as they would get.
