Cam Ward passed for 319 yards and four touchdowns as No. 6 Miami went on the road to Louisville 52-45 in an ACC game on Saturday afternoon.
Miami (7-0, 3-0) entered the game as the highest-scoring team in the nation at 47.7 points per game, and the Hurricanes continued to roll to their first 7-0 start since 2017.
Tyler Shough passed for 342 yards and four TDs for Louisville (4-3, 2-2), which also got a 100-yard kickoff return from Caullin Lacy.
The Cardinals never led after an early 7-3 advantage and trailed 10-7 after one quarter before falling behind 24-17 at halftime.
On a day of big plays, first-half highlights included a 55-yard field goal from Miami’s Andres Borregales, a 43-yard TD run by Louisville’s Isaac Brown and Ward’s 27-yard TD pass to Jacolby George.
Ward also tossed a 49-yard TD pass to Samuel Brown in the second quarter. On its next drive, Louisville cut its deficit to 17-14 when Shough flipped a 3-yard TD pass to tight end Mark Redman.
Miami also got a defensive TD in the second quarter on a fumble recovery in the end zone from linebacker Raul Aguirre Jr. to stretch its lead to 24-14. Rueben Bain Jr. and Simeon Barrow Jr. forced the fumble.
Miami took the second-half kickoff and mounted a 14-play drive that ended with Ward’s 9-yard TD pass to Xavier Restrepo for a 31-17 lead. Miami had four third-down conversions on the drive, including the TD.
Fifteen seconds later, Louisville cut its deficit to 31-24 on Lacy’s kickoff return while breaking three arm tackles.
After a fumble by Miami’s Mark Fletcher Jr., Louisville tied the score 31-31 on Shough’s 21-yard TD pass to Ja’Corey Brooks with 6:59 remaining in the third quarter to give the Cardinals two touchdowns in 67 seconds.
Miami scored on a Ward’s 2-yard slant to Isaiah Horton late in the third quarter before Louisville tied the score 38-38 on Shough’s 4-yard TD pass to Duke Watson with 13:22 remaining
On its next drive, Miami went 80 yards in five plays and scored on Ajay Allen’s 2-yard run for a 45-38 lead with 11:17 remaining.
With 4:05 left, Miami stretched its lead to 52-38 on Damien Martinez’s 30-yard TD run. Louisville got the final score of the game with 54 seconds left as Brooks caught a 4-yard TD slant.
–Field Level Media