Teddy Bridgewater's junior season got off to a great start Sunday. So did Louisville's.
Bridgewater threw for 355 yards and five touchdowns in three quarters of work as the Cardinals blasted Ohio 49-7. Bridgewater's performance helped Louisville roll up 615 yards and kept him at the forefront of the Heisman discussion.
Bridgewater was on target all day and completed 23 of his 28 attempts; his five TD passes went to four receivers. Bridgewater's only blemish was a second-quarter interception, but he threw TD passes on the Cardinals' other four first-half possessions. His final TD toss came on Louisville's second second-half possession. The Cardinals' first second-half possession ended on a 46-yard TD run by Auburn transfer Michael Dyer.
Dyer was one of five tailbacks who saw time, and Louisville also had nine players catch passes -- six receivers, a tight end and two tailbacks.
Bridgewater showed off his arsenal Sunday. He looked good throwing long and short, and threw a number of pinpoint passes on the sideline and in the middle of the field. His best throw might have been a third-quarter incompletion. Bridgewater, a right-hander, was flushed out of the pocket and rolled left; he uncorked a pass that traveled about 60 yards in the air while running to his left but overthrew his receiver by about 3 yards.
There's no reason to think Bridgwater's offensive fireworks are going to end anytime soon. Ohio was the best non-conference opponent on Louisville's schedule; the other three non-conference foes are FCS opponent Eastern Kentucky, intense in-state rival Kentucky, and Florida International. The Kentucky-Louisville game could get extra ugly, as Louisville has the potential to beat the Wildcats by five or six touchdowns. UK gave up 487 points and 35 points in losing to Western Kentucky on Saturday.
Louisville was ranked ninth in the preseason coaches' poll, and unless the Cardinals beat themselves with turnovers and/or stupid penalties, they have a great shot at finishing unbeaten. That, in turn, would help Bridgewater's Heisman hopes. If the Cardinals do finish unbeaten, the question would be whether their schedule was tough enough to get them into the final BCS National Championship game.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
