University of Houston
Louisville
Cougars Fall To Louisville, 66-45
11/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Lionel Gates rushed for a career-high 140 yards and four touchdowns and Louisville amassed a school and Conference USA record 779 yards in a 66-45 win over Houston on Saturday.
Freshman Michael Bush ran for a career-high 137 yards and two scores and Stefan LeFors threw for 334 yards as the Cardinals (8-3, 4-3 Conference USA) topped the previous record of 769 yards they gained in a 63-45 win over East Carolina in 1998.
Louisville hadn't reached 60 points since that game and piled up its highest point total since a 68-0 win over Murray State in 1990.
Anthony Evans rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown for Houston (6-5, 3-4), which allowed its highest point total since a 66-10 loss to UCLA in 1997.
Kevin Kolb went 21-of-27 for 224 yards and two touchdowns for the Cougars.
Gates and Bush had touchdown runs on Louisville's first two possessions. The Cardinals had a combined 114 rushing yards on the drives - doubling their output from a 37-7 loss to Memphis last week.
Kolb finished two Houston drives with short touchdown runs to tie the game at 14-14.
Gates' 1-yard touchdown run with 9:28 left in the first half started a wild sequence of second-quarter scoring.
Ricky Wilson took the ensuing kickoff at the goal line, weaved through Louisville's defense and sprinted down the sideline for a touchdown. The 100-yard return was the second in Houston history.
Louisville started its next possession at the 36. On first down, Robert Haskins took a pitch from Gates on a reverse and followed a convoy of blockers for a score.
Three minutes later, Kolb lofted a 42-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Middleton to tie the game at 28-28.
The Cardinals had 420 yards at halftime. They reached 40 points for the fourth time this season on a 38-yard touchdown pass from LeFors to J.R. Russell three minutes into the second half.
Louisville's Nate Smith had a 47-yard field goal with 8:56 left in the third quarter. He booted the ensuing kickoff into a Cougar and the ball ricocheted to Louisville linebacker Rod Day, setting up Gates' third touchdown run.
Gates and Bush had fourth-quarter touchdown runs to push the Cardinals past 60 points at home for the first time since a 63-34 win over Western Kentucky in 1998.
