Sometimes the score does say it all, and that was definitely the case with the 72-0 beating that the Panthers took at the hands of Teddy Bridgewater and the University of Louisville Cardinals Saturday.
The Panthers, who were kept to just 30 yards of offense in the whole game, took their worst loss in the history of the program in the 72 point loss. Their previous biggest margin of defeat was 59 points on two different occasions. A game against the University of Florida Gators ended 62-3 in 2009 and then a loss to the Penn State University Nittany Lions 59-0 in 2007.
This was quarterback E.J. Hilliard’s first start of the 2013 campaign and the only memorable thing about it for him would be that he played against multiple former teammates from Northwestern High School. Hilliard had four completions on nine attempts for 27 yards in the air on the day. He did not have any success on the ground with five carries for -32 yards. In taking those negative yards into consideration the Panthers ran for a total of three yards on the day.
The only two Panthers that did have positive yards in the game were punter Chris Ayers who let off 10 punts for 321 yards and Clinton Taylor who had three kick returns for 47 total yards along with his single reception for 10 yards.
The Panthers defense allowed for over 400 yards of total offense to the Cardinals. 254 of those came in the air between Bridgewater and backup Will Gardner with five touchdowns coming in the air. 210 yards came on the ground for the additional four touchdowns. Even though no running-back went for over 100 yards on the day, all runners combined for a 7.2 average per carry.
The Panthers have their first of two bye weeks this coming week before entering their first season of Conference-USA play against the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss. on Oct. 5.
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