Louisville Pulls Away from SMU 41-31 After Seven Lead Changes
Kendrick Raphael ran 24 times for 197 yards and three touchdowns, and his team still lost by 10. That is the kind of afternoon SMU had.
The game was a seesaw for three quarters. SMU scored first on Raphael's two-yard run, Louisville answered with Lincoln Kienholz's one-yard run and a 33-yard throw to Lawayne McCoy, and it was 14-7 after one. Kevin Jennings hit Yamir Knight from 19 yards to tie it at 14, and Nick Reed's 46-yard field goal as the half expired put SMU up 17-14. Keyjuan Brown's 58-yard run flipped it back, Raphael's 25-yarder flipped it again, and Kienholz found Jaleel Skinner from four yards to make it 28-24 Louisville going into the fourth. Seven lead changes, two ties.
Then Raphael scored his third, a 12-yarder with 11:33 left, to make it 31-28 SMU. It was the last time the Mustangs led. Keyjuan Brown ripped off a 53-yard run 91 seconds later for a 35-31 lead, and Isaac Brown added a 27-yard run with 5:32 left (the extra point failed) to make it 41-31. SMU did not score again. Thirteen straight points decided it.
The turnovers tell the rest: SMU gave it away three times (two Jennings interceptions and a lost fumble) and Louisville never did. Louisville ran 33 times for 286 yards, nearly 9 a carry, while throwing for just 177. SMU had the better ground volume with 45 carries for 257 and the better total passing line, 222 yards on 24 of 35, and still came up short. Both teams are 2-1. For fantasy, it was a Raphael and Brown game, and the two backs combined for five rushing scores.