CardinalSports.com - Game Day: Missouri State

September 8, 2012

Matt Willinger
CardinalSports.com Staff Writer

Missouri State (0-1) at No. 23 Louisville (1-0)
Saturday, Sept. 8
3:30 p.m.
Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
Louisville, Kentucky
Television: WHAS-TV
Radio: WHAS 840 AM

The Game

Louisville remains home for the second-straight week, when the Cardinals host FCS foe Missouri State on Saturday, Sept. 8, at 3:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast locally on WHAS TV with Drew Deener and Doug James calling the action.

Louisville ran its record to 1-0 with an impressive 32-14 win over Kentucky last Sunday at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. The Cardinals recorded 466 yards of total offense and had two running back rush for over 100 yards for the first time since the 2010 season in the win over the Wildcats. The 466 yards of total offense was the most for the Cardinals since racking 446 yards of offense in a loss at home to FIU last season.

Sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater set a school record for completion percentage in a game at 90.5, going 19-for-21 for 232 yards in just over two quarters of play. One of his two incompletions came when he scrambled out of trouble and had to throw the ball out-of-bounds. He completed passes to nine different receiver and was 4-for-4 for 77 yards on third down.

The junior tandem of Jeremy Wright and Senorise Perry each recorded over 100 yards on the ground. Wright rushed a career-high 22 times for 105 yards and three scores, while Perry tallied career-bests with 16 carries for 108 yards and one score. The Cardinals rushed for 219 yards and averaged 4.8 yards a rush. Louisville tallied four rushing touchdowns against UK, a feat that took eight games to reach last season. It was Wright's second career 100-yard game and his first since tallying a career-best 108 yards in a win over Rutgers last season.

The Cardinals opened the game by scoring on its first three possessions of the game - all of which were over 85 yards. Louisville took its first drive of the season 99 yards on 15 plays to take an 8-0 lead. The next drive was a six-play, 85-yard drive and the third was a 10-play, 93-yard scoring jaunt to take a 22-7 lead at the break.

The safety tandem of Hakeem Smith and Calvin Pryor combined to force three fumbles in the win over Kentucky. The duo also combined to register 19 total tackles -10 by Smith and nine by Pryor.

Series Information

Saturday's game marks the first meeting between the two schools.

Under head coach Charlie Strong, Louisville is 2-0 vs. teams from the FCS Division, having defeated Eastern Kentucky in 2010 and Murray State last year.

Louisville is 87-51-3 all-time against current FCS opponents.

Louisville / Missouri State Connections

Missouri State athletic director Kyle Moats served as the Associate Athletic Director for National Marketing at Louisville from 2005-09.

Missouri State's First and Ten

Ashton Glaser (Jr., QB, Springdale, Ark.) completed 22-of-44 passes for 257 yards after drawing the start in his MSU debut last week at Kansas State. Glaser's 267 yards of total offense was good enough to place him 22nd in the nation entering week two.

Punter Chris Sullens (Fr., Camdenton, Mo.) enjoyed a strong MSU debut at K-State as well. The Camdenton, Mo., product turned in three punts of 50 yards or more and ranks fifth in NCAA FCS in punting average (47.2). MSU kicker Austin Witmer (Jr., Grand Island, Neb.) currently shares the national lead in field goals after matching a career high with conversions in all three of his attempts to account for all of the Bears' scoring against the Wildcats.

Since moving to Division I status in 1982, Missouri State is 1-27 all-time against FBS programs, including a 51-9 setback last weekend at Kansas State in its 2012 debut. The Bears' sole FBS win came at UNLV (31-24) in 1990.

On the strength of their 323 yards passing against Kansas State, the Bears lead the Missouri Valley Football Conference and rank eighth nationally in passing offense. They rank 10th, however, in scoring offense (9.0 ppg.).

MSU will earn a $500,000 guarantee from Saturday's game.

Cadarrius Dotson (Sr., WR, Memphis, Tenn.) has caught at least one pass in 30 of his first 34 career games as a Bear and became the 17th MSU player to top the 1,000 receiving yardage mark for his career last Saturday at Kansas State. Additionally, Dotson needs just six more receptions to reach 100 career receptions.

Matt Thayer (Sr., TE, Bellevue, Neb.) brings a string of 13 consecutive starts at tight end into Saturday's game. Five additional Bears have started 12 straight games, including Mike Crutcher (So., S, Wentzville, Mo.) on the defensive side of the ball, and Zack Cooley (So., OL, Lee's Summit, Mo.), Kurt Kutter (Jr., OL, O'Fallon, Mo.),Harrison Menke (Sr., OL, Joplin, Mo.) and Randy Richards (Sr., OL, Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) on the offensive side.

The last Missouri State player to rush for 100 yards against an FBS opponent was Maurice Daniels at Arkansas State on 9/19/98. His 162 yards in that game is the highest total of any of the Bears' seven 100-yard efforts against FBS clubs.

The Bears and Cardinals have never met on the football field; Saturday's meeting will also be the first for Missouri State against a Big East foe.

Missouri State shares the NCAA FCS national lead in sacks allowed after holding K-State without a sack last Saturday.

Strong Looks for Third Straight Winning Campaign
Entering its 94th season of football, the University of Louisville has had only three coaches start their coaching careers at Louisville with three straight winning seasons.

Bobby Petrino (2003-06) and John L. Smith (1998-2002) were the last two head coaches to post three straight winning seasons in their first three years on the job.

Lee Corso (1969-72) was the other coach to post three consecutive winning seasons to start their careers.

Corso, Smith and head coach Charlie Strong also won league titles during their first three seasons. Strong looks to become the fourth to accomplish after guiding his team to back-to-back 7-6 campaigns.

Century Mark for Buford
MSU junior receiver Dorian Buford (Jr., WR, Florissant, Mo.) had game highs of seven catches for 114 yards at Kansas State, both career bests. In his fourth career start with the Bears, Burod pulled in a 56-yard pass fromKierra Harris in the second quarter and became only the fourth different MSU player since 2007 to reach the century mark in receiving yards (since 2007 - Clay Harbor 5, Jermaine Saffold 9, Cadarrius Dotson 1). It was also the most receiving yards by a Bear against an FBS opponent since 1997.

Snap to 1,000
Cadarrius Dotson (Sr., Memphis, Tenn.) eclipsed 1,000 career receiving yards in the season opener at K-State. His six receptions for 82 yards against the No. 22 Wildcats made him the 17th Bear to reach the yardage milestone. His efforts also put him just six catches away from 100 for his career, which would make him the 10th MSU player to reach the century mark in pass receptions. He now has 94 career snags for 1,035 yards, including receptions in 30 of his 34 career ball games.

Bridgewater Named MVP
Sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was named the Howard Schnellenberger most Valuable Player for his performance against Kentucky on Sunday. Bridgewater completed 19-of-21 passes for 232 yards in the 32-14 over the Wildcats. He becomes the second U of L player to earn this award, which is given to the top player in the U of L-UK game. Dexter Heyman won the award for the Cardinals last season in Louisville's 24-17 win at Commonwealth Stadium.

Youth Movement
More than half of the Louisville Cardinals' 2012 roster are freshmen and sophomores. All-told, Louisville's roster includes 41 freshmen - 25 true freshmen and 16 redshirt freshmen - and 31 sophomores. The Cardinals also have 28 players in the junior class and just 12 seniors.

The Valley Against FBS Teams
Since 1985, members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference have defeated 30 Division I FBS programs in football, including a 31-24 win at UNLV by the 1990 Bears under head coach Jesse Branch.

Since 2000, the MVFC has notched 10 victories, including wins over BCS league members Iowa State (UNI), Kansas (NDSU), Minnesota (NDSU) and Indiana (SIU). Last year, North Dakota State defeated Minnesota (37-24) before ultimately claiming the FCS national title, and Indiana State knocked off former league foe Western Kentucky by a decisive 44-16 score in Bowling Green. MVFC schools have won games against FBS opponents in back-to-back seasons on seven different occasions, including each of the last two years.

Missouri State is 1-26 all-time against FBS programs, coming up winless in each of its last 25 such contests. This year marks the second straight year in which MSU will play more than one FBS team in the same season. The Bears dropped games against nationally-ranked Arkansas and Oregon squads last fall, and split contests at Tulsa and UNLV in 1990.

Uniform Change
The Cardinals went red jerseys and red pants for the 32-14 win over Kentucky last Sunday. It marked the first time in the Charlie Strong era that wore the red tops and red bottoms. The Cardinals deviated from their typical red jerseys and white pants one other time when they wore black uniforms versus West Virginia in 2010.

Cardinals Open With Three at Home
The Cardinals opened the 2012 season with the first of three home games - a 32-14 win over Kentucky. It's the first of three straight games at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium to open the year. The last time Louisville opened the season with at least three straight at home was 2008 when the Cardinals had four consecutive home contests to start the year.

Third-Down Efficiency
One of the reasons the Cardinals were so efficient on Sunday was their play on third down. In the win over Kentucky, the Cardinals were a solid 6-of-12 on third down conversions, including a big play on the game's first drive when Teddy Bridgewater connected with Damian Copeland on a 23-yard reception on third and nine. Bridgewater was 4-for-4 for 77 yards on third down last Sunday.

Finally Some Home Cooking
The Cardinals have struggled at home under head coach Charlie Strong. With the win over Kentucky on Sunday, Strong evened his home record at 7-7 with the 32-14 win. The 32 points were the second-most points during the Strong era at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium - having scored 56 in a win over Memphis in 2010. Sunday's 32 points marked just the second time in 14 games that Louisville tallied 30 or more points in a game.

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