CARDINALS

Holliman, Quick spark U of L past FIU 34-3

Jeff Greer
@jeffgreer_cj

MIAMI – The University of Louisville football team waded through the first 24 rain-drenched minutes of game action Saturday at Florida International, swimming in the same offensive inefficiency that sank the Cardinals a week earlier at Virginia.

But a lifeboat — a defense led by safety Gerod Holliman — came along to lift the Cards out of their funk and spark a second-quarter resurgence that turned a slogfest into a rout. Holliman's 32-yard interception return for a touchdown started a 21-point outburst that led to a 34-3 victory over FIU at a soaked FIU Stadium.

"Business trip," U of L coach Bobby Petrino said. "It's a good win for us."

Until Holliman's interception, U of L looked a lot like it did against Virginia.

The opening drive was thorough, a powerful charge through 10 plays, 58 yards and 3½ minutes. L.J. Scott's 1-yard touchdown run put the cap on it.

What followed was anything but thorough: 22 plays, 84 yards, three punts and a lost fumble.

But as it has done so many times in this young season, U of L's defense provided the fire that refueled the Cardinals. Holliman broke on Alex McGough's pass to the left flank, tipped it in the air and snatched it, sprinting untouched for the TD that turned the tide.

"I'm out there just having fun," Holliman said. "We gave the momentum shift to the offense, and they were able to go out and pick it up for us."

U of L scored twice on its next three possessions, with two big touchdown plays to cap the onslaught.

First there was James Quick's 74-yard catch-and-run. The sophomore jostled FIU cornerback Richard Leonard in pursuit of the ball, ripping it out of Leonard's hands, spun out of the tussle and turned upfield.

If a camera zoomed all the way in on Quick's foot as he turned, only the highest-definition image would show the gap between his cleat and the sideline. After he caught his balance, he took off another 50 or so yards to the end zone.

On the Cardinals' next series, Quick collected his second big-play touchdown, a 37-yard pass from Will Gardner to complete the swift turnaround.

"We always look for the big play," Quick said. "Sometimes things don't always go to plan, so we have to stick to what we know. We know how to make big plays."

The rest of the game was practice.

Gardner struggled at times, losing two fumbles on sacks and nearly throwing two interceptions. He left several throws high on routine plays, but he did post a solid final stat line: 16-of-28 passing, 295 yards, two touchdowns.

"I thought he did some really good things," Petrino said. "He missed a few (throws) and missed a few run checks that we would've liked to see him do."

Gardner was in the middle of engineering a no-huddle, two-minute drill in the third quarter when a low hit forced him out of the game. He appeared to hurt his left knee, though he didn't leave the sideline, indicating that it might not be a serious problem. He was to have his knee re-evaluated after the game.

"All they told me was that he was out of the game," Petrino said.

Quick was Gardner's go-to target, finishing with seven catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns. The former Trinity High School star is the first U of L player to surpass 100 receiving yards this season.

But the offensive line problems continued. Jake Smith moved back to center from right guard, and redshirt freshman Skylar Lacy started at right guard, which forced Tobijah Hughley out of the starting lineup.

None of the changes made much of a difference. The Panthers' pass rush, statistcally one of the top units in the FBS, had four sacks and nine tackles for loss.

On Gardner's fumble, Lacy lost his blocking assignment on Mike Wakefield, who got a free shot at the quarterback. Wakefield, who finished with three tackles for loss and two sacks, slapped the ball loose.

"We're still not clicking where we need to be offensively," Petrino said. "Defensively I think we're playing real well, and we were able to come up with big plays to get us in the end zone."

Reach Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter @jeffgreer_cj.