No. 17 Louisville Gets Sloppy 41-17 Win

Posted 8:30PM on Saturday 26th November 2005 ( 19 years ago )

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Montrell Jones caught six passes for a career-high 118 yards and two touchdowns and linebacker Brandon Johnson's third-quarter interception helped No. 17 Louisville overcome an uncharacteristically sloppy performance to win a school-record 12th straight home game, 41-17 against Syracuse on Saturday. The Cardinals (8-2, 4-2 Big East) held off a late rally by the Orange (1-10, 0-7), who finished with the first 10-loss season in the program's 110-year history. The Cardinals bolstered their quest for a Jan. 2 bowl bid thanks to a defense that tightened up after Louisville starting quarterback Brian Brohm went down with a sprained right knee in the third quarter. Brohm threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns but also threw two interceptions, twice as many as he'd thrown in Louisville's first five home games this season. But Brohm's afternoon ended on a third-quarter scramble, when he ran to his right and was tackled by Syracuse's Kellen Pruitt at the Louisville 28. Brohm awkwardly rolled over his right knee as he fell and lay on the turf for several minutes before being helped to the sideline. Redshirt freshman Hunter Cantwell replaced Brohm, but with the Big East's leading passer on the sidelines, the Cardinals used steady play from running backs Kolby Smith and George Stripling to run out the clock. Filling in for injured starter Michael Bush, Smith finished with a career-high 96 yards and a touchdown. He also caught four passes for 68 yards, including a 57-yard catch-and-run late in the fourth quarter that set up a 9-yard touchdown run by Stripling to seal it for the Cardinals. Stripling later added an 89-yard touchdown run with 38 seconds left to end the best day of his career with 137 yards and two scores. Syracuse quarterback Perry Patterson threw for 259 yards and a touchdown, but an intentional grounding penalty midway through the fourth quarter stopped a Syracuse drive. On second-and-12 from the Louisville 13, Patterson threw the ball away while getting chased by a pair of Louisville defenders. The penalty pushed the ball back to the Louisville 31 and two plays later a 48-yard field goal attempt by John Barker bounced off the left upright, ending Syracuse's last real chance at the upset. © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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