Isaac Guerendo’s 73-yard touchdown run with 3:24 left Thursday night snapped a tie and lifted No. 11 Louisville to a 31-24 win over visiting Virginia, bringing the Cardinals within a win of a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game next month.
Guerendo exploded off the right side, going untouched to the end zone for the score that improved the Cardinals to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the ACC. It capped their rally from 21-14 and 24-17 deficits in the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers (2-8, 1-5) maneuvered their way to the Louisville 45 on their last drive but it ended when Anthony Colandrea’s 4th-and-7 pass to Malachi Fields fell incomplete. That ended a marvelous game for Colandrea, a true freshman who completed 20 of 31 passes for 314 yards with an interception and added 89 yards on 14 rushes.
Malik Washington caught nine passes for 155 yards and returned a fumble 42 yards with 49 seconds left in the third quarter to give Virginia a 21-14 edge. The Cavaliers actually outgained the Cardinals 434-423 but committed 13 penalties for 100 yards.
Louisville’s Jack Plummer hit 19 of 28 passes for 243 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. His 52-yard strike to Ahmari Huggins-Bruce with 6:20 remaining in the game tied it at 24.
Louisville controlled the first half behind a balanced offensive attack and its usual stifling defense that allowed Virginia to run only six plays on its half of the 50.
The Cardinals initiated scoring on Plummer’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Joey Gatewood at the 6:42 mark of the first quarter, finishing off a 60-yard drive. They have outscored opponents 76-7 in the first period this year.
Louisville made it 14-0 with 3:01 left in the half via a perfectly executed punt block scheme. D’Angelo Hutchinson snuffed out Daniel Sparks’ punt in the end zone and Jimmy Calloway ran under the ball in the back of the end zone.
Virginia got on the board with 4:15 on the clock in the third quarter on Jack Griese’s 1-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-goal, capping an 80-yard march.
–Field Level Media
