Isaac Brown needed only nine carries to rack up 139 yards and three touchdowns as Louisville pulled away for a 52-24 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over visiting Stanford on Saturday.
Lincoln Kienholz completed 20 of 28 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinals (5-3, 4-2 ACC), who outgained the Cardinal 545-351. Kienholz added 62 yards and a touchdown on the ground while Tre Richardson caught a career-high 10 passes for 140 yards for Louisville.
Davis Warren completed 23 of 37 passes for 270 yards, three touchdowns and one interception for the Cardinal (4-5, 2-4). Nico Brown caught six passes for 109 yards and one touchdown.
Facing the league’s worst defense, the Cardinals racked up 545 total yards for their best showing against a Football Bowl Subdivision foe this season. However, Louisville was locked into an evenly matched game until midway through the third quarter.
Stanford, which built two leads in the second quarter, was driving for a potential tying score late in the third quarter when Tayon Holloway pounced on a botched hook-and-lateral. The Louisville defensive back returned the fumble 31 yards for a score to make it 38-24 with 3:34 left in the third quarter.
After Jabari Mack picked off a Warren pass on Stanford’s next possession, Brown broke off a 23-yard scoring run to make it 45-24 with 27 seconds to go in the third. He finished the scoring with a 75-yarder with 10:01 left.
Until the turnovers, Stanford took advantage of a porous Cardinals secondary as Warren completed touchdown passes of 41, 75 and 40 yards.
Louisville also hurt its cause by failing to convert a fake field goal in the first quarter. A botched snap on the ensuing drive in Stanford territory allowed the visitors to get their first points of the game, a 48-yard field goal by Emmet Kenney.