Thursday night college football: Rutgers-Louisville, Arizona-USC lead the way

Teddy Bridgewater is an amazing athlete capable of throwing a football into a poorly carved pumpkin from 30 yards with a defensive end chewing on his shoulder pads. He will likely be paid millions of dollars for his skills as a football player in the NFL. He is very good at athletic things.

Teddy Bridgewater also cannot slide like a normal human being.

Evan Budrovich of Conquest Chronicles saw a different Trojan team inspired by their new head coach.

Kevin Zimmerman of Arizona Desert Swarm pointed to the Wilcats’ inability in pass coverage as a primary reason for the loss.

College football is weird. How weird? Louisville beat Rutgers, perhaps their closest competition in the conference, by two touchdowns Thursday night to keep them undefeated, and not doing so more convincingly may have knocked them out of the national title hunt, because the sport thirsts for blood.

Mark Ennis of Card Chronicle said that while the close win may have eliminated Louisville’s national title hopes, fans should not be dismayed.

After former coach Lane Kiffin was grounded on the tarmac on Sept. 29, USC aired it out against Arizona with two of its longest three pass plays of the season in the first quarter on Thursday night, the first Thursday home game for the Trojans since beating UCLA on Thanksgiving in 1938.

The teams combined for 1,055 yards and 53 first downs. USC (4-2, 1-2 in Pac-12) picked up their first conference victory of the season, while Arizona (3-2, 0-2) remains winless in Pac-12 play.

Via @cjzero, here’s Fox Sports 1’s Kristina Pink narrowly avoiding a pile-up when a play in Arizona-USC veered over the sideline:

TV reporters need rearview mirrors or something.

For whatever reason, there is a person on the Arizona sideline calling for a punt with-- what else-- a big ol’ flag that says “PUNT”:

Some things are just better said with a flag, you know?

The Trojans have been stout on the defensive side of the ball, yielding just 94 yards to Arizona’s offense. The Wildcats were able to string together an 11 play, 56 yard drive, but Jake Smith missed a 38-yard field goal.

Louisville jumped to a 17-0 first half lead on a John Wallace chip-shot field goal and two second-quarter touchdowns, and looked to be in control of the game. Rutgers answered the second Louisville touchdown with an 11-play, 70-yard touchdown drive of its own, highlighted by a fake field goal attempt that set up first-and-goal at the Louisville goal line. The Cardinals held a narrow 17-7 advantage at the half.

Box Score Hero: On a night where Bridgewater, a potential Heisman Trophy contender, put up gaudy stats but committed two critical turnovers, our box score hero is the Louisville defense. The Cardinals held Rutgers to just 240 total yards, including a miniscule 12 rushing yards on 27 carries. Rutgers managed just two drives of 50+ yards, with one of those coming when the game was out of reach. Louisville’s defense also recorded eight sacks and forced four Gary Nova interceptions.

Louisville leads Rutgers 17-7 late in the third quarter.

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USC interim coach Ed Orgeron is not Lane Kiffin. No one besides Lane Kiffin is Lane Kiffin, but if anybody is, it’s definitely not Ed Orgeron.

The boisterous former Ole Miss coach with the guttural, Cajun accent has made changes all throughout the Trojans’ program, including a noted uptick in fried chicken.

Suffice it to say, he was not the primary target on the route -- Lumpkin’s histrionics drew the Louisville linebackers his way, a clear sign of a decoy -- but the FAT GUY TOUCHDOWN potential in this play is off the charts.

GIFs via ESPN

Via ESPN

Rutgers senior defensive back Lew Toler went down early in the first quarter of Thursday night’s Rutgers-Louisville game with an apparent arm injury. After spending several minutes lying on the field, Toler left shortly after that on a cart with his arm heavily wrapped, and did not return.

The fifth-year senior and graduate student transfer ranked fifth on the team with 24 tackles entering the game, and was second on the team with four passes broken up.

Louisville receives its first serious test of the season Thursday night as fellow AAC contenders Rutgers visit for an exciting Thursday night contest. Television coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The Cardinals have had little trouble in their 5-0 start, with only one win coming by a margin of fewer than 23 points -- a 27-13 win at Kentucky. Louisville has been helped by one of the best passing attacks in the nation and the top-ranked scoring defense, which has allowed less than a touchdown per game. Their average margin of victory so far this year? About 44-7. The Cardinals could be without leading receiver Devante Parker, who suffered an injury in the win over Temple but seems to think he’s ready to go.