No. 11 Louisville blasts Oregon State

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Brian Brohm threw for 368 yards and five touchdowns and No. 11 Louisville topped 50 points for the ninth time under coach Bobby Petrino in a 63-27 win over Oregon State on Saturday.

Mario Urrutia caught seven passes for 175 yards with two touchdowns for Louisville (2-0), which tied an Oregon State record for points by an opponent.

Louisville linebacker Brandon Johnson blocked a punt and returned an interception for a score, and defensive end Elvis Dumervil set an NCAA record with his ninth sack in consecutive games.

Matt Moore finished 25 for 48 for 317 yards for Oregon State (2-1), which lost to a ranked opponent on the road for the seventh straight time.

Petrino had been asked repeatedly about his conservative play-calling since the Cardinals gained only 388 yards in a 31-24 win at Kentucky on Sept. 4. He won’t have to answer those questions again – the Cardinals piled up 553 yards on 50 plays against the Beavers, a gaudy 11-yard average.

The Beavers led 10-0 after consecutive 11-play scoring drives, putting the Cardinals down at home for the first time since a 37-7 loss to Memphis in 2003.

With their best stretch of play this season, the Cardinals turned the game into a rout over the next 15 minutes, generating two sacks, a fumble, a blocked punt and 35 points.

Brohm started the first of five consecutive scoring drives with a shovel pass to Joshua Tinch, who scampered 24 yards. Brohm then lofted a 46-yard pass down the sideline to Harry Douglas, the Cardinals’ longest reception since last season.

Two plays later, tight end Gary Barnidge snagged a Brohm pass with one hand and scored his fifth touchdown on his ninth career reception.

Brohm completed 18 of 22 passes (81.8 percent), the second-best completion percentage in school history. Last season, Stefan LeFors went 12 for 14 (85.7) in a win over East Carolina.

Dumervil, who had six sacks in the Cardinals’ opener, tackled Moore on two straight plays and forced a fumble on the second.

The Cardinals recovered at the Oregon State 15 and Michael Bush powered into the end zone to give Louisville its first lead.