Louisville defense contains Tar Heels

The Louisville defense expected a close game. It expected a potent North Carolina offense led by a record-setting quarterback and reinforced by a multi-faceted running game.

What it got, instead, was a shutout.

The Cardinals held the Tar Heels scoreless en route to a 34-0 victory Saturday. And no one was more surprised by the shutout than UL head coach Bobby Petrino.

"Heck, I didn't think about shutouts at all," Petrino said. "As a coach, what you're trying to do is win by one. But I'm real proud of how hard our defense has worked, and how much they came together as a unit."

This shutout is Louisville's second in three games. It blanked Kentucky 28-0 in the team's season opener Sept. 5. The Cardinals had not recorded a shutout before that game since a 52-0 effort against Grambling in 2000.

The Louisville defense held UNC to 222 total yards. Going into Saturday's game, the Tar Heels had been averaging 478.3 yards of offense per game, ranking them 14th in the nation.

"The defense shocked me," said Louisville tailback Eric Shelton. "I knew we were going to win the game. I was confident we were going to do that. I didn't know the defense was going to pitch a shutout, and when they did I was real excited."

The Cardinals successfully silenced the Tar Heels' running game, allowing only 77 yards on the ground. The defense also kept UNC quarterback Darian Durant constantly on the move.

He only completed 10 of 19 for 80 yards and threw no touchdowns. It was the fewest yards for Durant since the 2001 Peach Bowl when he threw for 76 against Auburn. It also ended his 10-game streak of consecutive touchdown passes.

"You start with taking away their run game," said Louisville defensive coordinator Mike Cassity. "They had success last week running the football.

"Obviously Durant is a great player, so it was a double-edged sword. You had to contain the run, but yet, at the same time, with his maneuver ability, he could scramble around. (The Tar Heels) made big plays in the past (with) him scrambling and throwing the football down field."

The Cardinals had three sacks against the Tar Heels that totaled a loss of 19 yards. The high-pressure, high-intensity defense was the Cardinals' strategy to containing the previously efficient Tar Heel offense.

"Louisville played great defense today; I'll say that," said Tar Heel tailback Jacque Lewis. "Those guys played hard today, and they were all over the field making plays. They didn't allow us to do too much as an offense."

The Cardinal defense only allowed UNC to convert 3 out of 11 third-down plays. They also created three turnovers, with two interceptions and one fumble recovery.

Junior Brandon Johnson picked off Durant on the 13-yard line in the second quarter, which prevented the Tar Heels from scoring on their first trip into the red zone.

The second fumble also occurred within the red zone in the fourth quarter. Junior defensive end Elvis Dumervil stripped UNC quarterback Matt Baker at the 5-yard line, keeping the shutout intact.

"We tried to create turnovers," Cassity said. "We had an objective this game to create more turnovers, and we had that. Any turnover is a good turnover, but to savor a shut out, I think that is special."

The effectiveness of the Louisville defense took the pressure off its offense and allowed it to control the game. The Cardinals possessed the ball for 36 minutes, 30 seconds compared to the Tar Heels' 23:30.

"We had meetings starting the whole summer about us making a statement this year," Dumervil said. "We wanted another egg on the scoreboard. That was our motivation."

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.