|
By STEVE HERMAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Dave Ragone set a Louisville
record with 18 straight completions and threw a career-high five
touchdown passes as the Cardinals beat East Carolina 44-20 on Saturday.
Four of his TD passes came in the first half, when he
missed only one attempt and put the Cardinals (5-3, 3-1 Conference USA)
in control. East Carolina (2-5, 2-1) could not stop anyone on offense.
For the game, Ragone was 23-of-32 for 352 yards. Damien
Dorsey caught nine passes for a career-high 158 yards and three
touchdowns. Henry Miller became the first Louisville player to rush for
more than 100 yards this season, finishing with a career-high 127 yards
and one touchdown.
Ragone's only miss in the first two quarters was on
Louisville's second possession.
But after that, Ragone passed 30 yards to J.R. Russell
for the first touchdown, starting his streak of 18 straight completions
that broke the former Louisville record of 17 set by Chris Redman
against Tulane in 1998.
The NCAA record is 23 straight completions by
Tennessee's Tee Martin against South Carolina in 1998.
The Pirates stopped Louisville only once more before
halftime, although Ragone continued his string of completions until the
Cardinals' third possession of the third quarter.
A 52-yard pass to Dorsey took Louisville to the Pirates'
6-yard line before he finally ended the streak with an incomplete pass,
and the Cardinals settled for a 22-yard field goal by Nate Smith for a
38-20 lead.
East Carolina got two field goals by Kevin Miller and
1-yard touchdown runs by Marvin Townes and Art Brown.
The score by Townes gave the Pirates a 10-7 lead late in
the first quarter, but Ragone's 10-yard TD pass to Dorsey put Louisville
ahead to stay. Dorsey also had touchdown receptions of 18 and 4 yards.
Miller scored on an 8-yard run on the first series of
the third quarter.
East Carolina's Paul Troth was 14-of-36 for 211 yards,
while Brown was the top rusher with 14 carries for 56 yards.
02/23/2007 10:51 AM
Copyright 2002
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
