Gardner takes blame for Cards' passing woes

University of Louisville quarterback Will Gardner was blunt in his first conversation with the media since Saturday's 23-21 loss to Virginia.

The redshirt sophomore completed 14 of 34 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. He also lost a fumble on a bad handoff to running back Dominique Brown.

What plagued Gardner the most: tipped passes at the line of scrimmage. The official stat book included seven batted-down passes from defensive linemen and linebackers, though that count seemed low.

On Saturday and on Monday, U of L coach Bobby Petrino said "all 11" players on offense had to get better to avoid blocked passes in the future, and he added that the line had to "finish blocks" and not allow pass rushers to jump and tip passes.

Gardner was having none of that on Tuesday.

"I take the blame for that," he said. "I've got to find throwing lanes, and I have to stand tall in the pocket. I have to do my best this week so that doesn't happen again."

Petrino removed Gardner from the game for the final series of the second quarter, and his replacement, freshman Reggie Bonnafon, played the next four series but struggled as well.

Gardner returned in the fourth quarter and engineered two scoring drives that put the Cardinals ahead.

"You can't play like I did in the first half and expect to turn it on right there in the end and win a football game," Gardner said.

Grieving Bonnafon misses practice

Bonnafon missed Tuesday's practice to be with his family a day after the death of his father, Wallace.

It's unclear if Bonnafon, a Trinity High School grad whose potential has excited fans this fall, will travel with the Cardinals to play Florida International at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Miami.

"We just want to support the kid," offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said. "This is something that's only going to happen to you once in your life. I have been through the same situation during the season, and it's just extremely difficult.

Route running

In his "all 11" comments Monday, Petrino included receivers in his discussion about what the offense has to do better. He said they need to run better, sharper, crisper routes.

What does that mean?

"He means getting the routes out, running the right routes," senior receiver Eli Rogers said. "Going outside a guy or going inside a (defender) — just doing the little things, little details in the routes that make up big plays."

— Jeff Greer