Tops Football Opens With 35–21 Loss in Louisville

The long wait for college sports in 2020 ended as soon as Cory Munson kicked the ball off to begin the Tops opening game in Louisville…

The long wait for college sports in 2020 ended as soon as Cory Munson kicked the ball off to begin the Tops opening game in Louisville. After deferring to receive a second-half kickoff, the Cardinals opened up the game on offense.

After having the opening drive squandered, the Cards fumbled the 4th down punt attempt which resulted in a fumble recovery for the Tops. Tyrell Pigrome made his debut as the Tops quarterback. He gave the ball to Gaej Walker for a single carry turning into a touchdown. With 12:53 left in the first quarter, the Tops made a statement off of Louisville’s misfortune, 7–0. After getting the ball back, Micale Cunningham threw a deep pass that was completed for 61 yards. Cunningham made use of his passing attack for an answered touchdown, connecting with Eli Pieffer, tying the game at 7 with 10:57 in the first.

In the second quarter, Cunningham scored another touchdown on an option play, making the score 14–7 with 14:54 left. The Tops early misfortunes kept piling up in the next ensuing drive for the Cardinals. The trio of Cunningham, wide receiver Tutu Atwell, and halfback Javien Hawkins kept attacking the defense. The drive ended with a Hawkins touchdown, increasing the score to 21–7 with 9:21 left. The promising start to the first half kept dwindling as the Cardinals kept their high octane offense on the field for most of the second quarter. With 42 seconds left, Cunningham struck gold again with a short touchdown pass to tight end Marshon Ford. The first half came to a close with Lousiville leading 28–7.

In the third quarter, the Tops quickly made the deficit smaller as Malik Staples, a former linebacker turned halfback and Louisville transfer scored a rushing touchdown to make the game 28–14.

In the next drive for Lousiville, Cunningham once again threw a strike downfield, finding Dez Fitzpatrick with a touchdown, making the score 35–14. Defensive back Omari Alexander did get his first interception of the year on his play:

Going into the fourth quarter: the Hilltoppers finally had found some success in suppressing the lead, late in the game. Pigrome connected with Mitchell Tinsley on a 12-yard scamper. The Cards still led the game 35–21 with 5:40 left in the game.

As time winded down, the Tops dropped their first game of 2020, 35–21. The Tops haven’t recorded a victory against Lousiville since 1972.

Here are some notes from tonight’s game:

Having a shortened preseason training camp HURTS. There wasn’t any duration where Pigrome and the receiving corps could build any relationships. On a bright note, Piggy has got some wheels. He rushed for

Gaej Walker picked up where he left off last season. He’ll be a bigger threat at RB this season. Plus the depth of Staples, a healthy Jakari Moses, and Noah Whittington will help out.

The offensive line was not their best today. They allowed four sacks on pivotal plays. This talented group should bounce back next week.

248 yards of offense is not a bad effort. The most concerning thing is that WKU’s offense went for 4 out of 12 complete third-down conversions. Not much has gone our way all night when it came to making the most of third-down opportunities.

The defense had a rough night. Despite having one interception, the Cardinals offense totaled 504 yards, including 343 from Micale Cunningham. Deep throws and tight passes have been getting the best of our secondary. Deangelo Malone had some great success early in the first half of breaking up backfield plays.

This was the first game of many things that needed to be seen in the light. A new quarterback to start the year, a young wide receiving corps, and the rust off of a long offseason from last year’s returning players.

The Tops will return to The Houch for their home opener next Saturday, Sept. 19th against Liberty at 11 am CST on ESPNU.

Here are the final stats from Louisville: