Under the bright lights of the Atlanta skyline the Louisville Cardinals marched one of the hottest offenses in the country into Bobby Dodd Stadium for a matchup with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Saturday night.  Coach Jeff Brohm came into the night with 99 career wins and hoped that his team would put together a complete game on both sides of the ball for his 100th win.

Carson Hilbert capped off the opening drive with a 42-yard field goal as the Cards marched 50 yards behind an 18-yard reception by Jaleel Skinner from Lincoln Kienholz and 16 rushing yards on two carries from Keyjuan Brown. 

After a Clev Lubin sack of Georgia Tech quarterback Alberto Mendoza got the Cardinal defense off the field, Jackson Voth muffed the ensuing punt that the Jackets recovered near midfield.  The Louisville defense forced another three-play stop and roughed the punter on the next attempt to prolong the drive.  Aidan Burr connected on a 32-yard field goal to tie things up 3-3 with 6:19 left in the opening quarter.

The Louisville offense was without star receiver Lawayne McCoy and offensive tackle Anwar O’Neal.  Isaac Brown was a gametime decision after practicing limitedly through the week.  Tre Richardson and Treyshun Hurry knew they would have to step up again for a Louisville offense averaging 43 points and 500-plus yards per game the past three contests. 

Louisville scored the next 24 points behind the always steady play from Kienholz.  Skinner had another 15-yard reception and Hurry hauled in a 32-yarder to set up a swing pass to Richardson, putting Louisville up 10-3.  The Louisville defense held Georgia Tech to 9 yards on six plays their next two drives.

Kienholz found Hurry for a four-yard fade pass touchdown to the back pylon and Richardson took an end around for a 52-yard touchdown for another score during the Louisville scoring flurry.  Hilbert hit a second field goal from 23 yards out with :53 seconds left in the half to push the lead to 27-3. 

Georgia Tech tried to throw a wrench at the Louisville defense and used a two-quarterback system with Mendoza and Grady Adamson.  Georgia Tech manufactured a touchdown drive in the final minute of the half capped off by a 10-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Fuhrmann, cutting the Cards lead to 27-10 at the half. 

The Louisville offense had 305 yards in the first half in comparison to Georgia Tech’s 141.  The Cardinal’s attack was balanced, rushing for 151 yards and passing for 154.  The Jackets were 2-for-8 on third down and 0-for-1 on fourth down in the opening half. 

 Kienholz was 12-for-17 with 154 yards and two touchdowns.  Hurry had five receptions for 63 yards and a score, with Richardson hauling in three catches for 49 yards and a score.  Keyjuan Brown led the Cards with 45 yards on six carries.  Kienholz rushed five times for 28 yards and Isaac Brown had 27 yards on six carries. 

Georgia Tech put together a good drive to start the first half, advancing the ball into Louisville territory before Clev Lubin came up with his second sack of the night, turning the Jackets over on downs and setting up Louisville at midfield.  After a 23-yard scramble by Kienholz and a 10-yard reception by Hurry, Hilbert hit his third field goal of the night from 29 yards for a 30-10 lead. 

After a defensive holding on Louisville, Georgia Tech punted three plays later and Voth redeemed himself with a 68-yard punt return.  Isaac Brown scampered in from 11 yards out to put Louisville up 37-10 to start the fourth quarter.  Georgia Tech put together a 14 play, 61-yard drive that took seven minutes and ultimately ended in a turnover on downs.   

Each team scored in the closing minutes, with Braxton Jennings punching in a two-yard touchdown following a Micah Rice interception.

Final.  Louisville 44 – Georgia Tech 17. 

Louisville pushed the win streak to four, achieved bowl eligibility for the fifth straight season and Coach Brohm achieved his 100th win as a head coach.  The Cardinal offense finished with 456 yards, 251 of those coming on the ground.  

Kienholz led the way with 81 yards on nine carries.  Keyjuan Brown had 8 carries for 54 yards.  Isaac Brown in limited action had seven carries for 38 yards and the score.  Kienholz finished 17-for-25 through the air for 182 yards and two touchdowns.   Davin Wydner played the final drive and completed a pass for 23 yards to Hurry. 

Hurry’s final tally was eight catches for 104 yards and the score, Richardson had four catches for 52 yards to go with the 52-yard rushing touchdown and Skinner finished with 39 yards on three receptions.

Stanquan Clark led the Cardinals defensively, finishing with eight tackles including two solo stops and 1.5 tackles for loss. Lubin had the two sacks and Kalib Perry added seven tackles and a pass breakup.

Coach Brohm on the win:

"Proud of our team today. Proud of our coaches, it's good to go on the road and get a win. I thought, other than a couple bonehead things that happened in the first half, we really play pretty efficient on offense and defense so that was improved in my opinion. Do we need to clean up those silly things – yes. Were we able to overcome it – yes. I think the second half, we came ready to play as well. Defense did a lot of good things. I think they're showing improvement. We've just got to continue to build on that. There's always things to clean up, which we'll continue to do that. Like I said, we had some costly penalties again that we've got to get better at. I just that it's a weekly process, its good to go on the road and win and we're hoping to do it again next week." 

Louisville will put the win streak on the line next Saturday night in Chapel Hill, facing the North Carolina Tar Heels.  UNC beat Connecticut 38-21 to improve to 5-4 on the season.  Kickoff time is 7 pm and ESPN2 will have the broadcast.