LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville defensive end AJ Green recovered a fourth-quarter fumble in the James Madison end zone and the Cardinals rallied to beat the Dukes 28-14 on Friday night.
Green gave Louisville a 20-14 lead when Alonza Barnett III fumbled while being sacked. The Cardinals (2-0) trailed 14-6 early in the second half.
On a night when both offenses struggled, it was the Cardinals defensive front that made the difference. Coach Jeff Brohm said that he felt the unit was playing well toward the end of preseason camp and that has carried over into the first two weeks of the season.
“We hung in there on a rough night and just continued to play for 60 minutes and found a way to win,” he said.
The Dukes ended with 263 yards of offense, one less than Louisville. They racked up 114 in the fourth quarter, which included 39 on a final-minute drive that ended at the Cardinals’ 1-yard line.
Louisville’s Miller Moss threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Chris Bell in the third quarter and then ran for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 14 with 8:37 left.
The Cardinals sacked Barnett in the end zone two minutes into the final period on a third-and-10 play at the Dukes’ 8-yard line. That was one of six sacks recorded by Louisville.
James Madison coach Bob Chesney’s main takeaway from Friday was disappointment. The Dukes sought a third win over an ACC school in as many seasons.
“I feel like, ultimately, we lost the game. There’s enough in (the game film) that we’re going to have to go back and look at,” he said.
Barnett completed 15 of 25 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Louisville’s Isaac Brown had 12 carries for 104 yards, and his 78-yard touchdown with 3:31 left secured the victory.
The Takeaway
James Madison: Give the Dukes credit, they are not intimidated by ACC competition. However, committing 12 penalties did not help.
Louisville: The Cardinals defense held James Madison to 126 yards on 47 carries. The Dukes rushed for 313 yards on 44 carries last week.
Feast or famine
Through two games, Brown has carried 18 times for 230 yards — 177 of them on his three touchdown runs.
Dukes’ dual threat
A national audience got a chance to see the Dukes’ unconventional offense that uses a quarterback tandem Chesney will switch at any time.
In some cases, both Barnett and Matthew Sluka were on the field at the same time. Sluka, who transferred from UNLV, is primarily a runner. He picked up 83 yards on 21 carries and scored early in the second half to put James Madison up by eight.
Up next
James Madison is idle until it plays at Liberty on Sept. 20.
Louisville is idle until hosting Bowling Green on Sept. 20.
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