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LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Louisville football team jumped out to a big lead early on its way to a 45-3 win over Samford Saturday night at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
 
"I told Coach Petrino before the game, they're one or two plays away from being a Top 10 team," Samford head coach Chris Hatcher said of Louisville. "With the type of defense they play, if they settle on a quarterback, they have a chance to win a whole lot of ballgames this year."
 
Louisville totaled 562 yards of offense, to 201 yards for Samford. Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns, and passed for 212 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
 
For Samford, Karel Hamilton had five catches for 51 yards. Samford played two quarterbacks in the game. Starter Michael Eubank completed 7-of-9 passes for 51 yards and one interception. Devlin Hodges also played, completing 10-of-21 passes for 79 yards and two interceptions.
 
The Samford defense was led by Justin Cooper with nine tackles. Jamerson Blount and Shaheed Salmon had one interception each.
 
Louisville scored touchdowns on each of its three first-quarter possessions, with the first two being set up by Samford turnovers. On Samford's opening drive, Keith Kelsey recovered a Samford fumble and returned it to the Bulldogs' 17-yard line. Three plays later, Jackson scored on a 14-yard run for a 7-0 Louisville lead with 13:23 left in the first quarter.
 
On Samford's next possession, Louisville's Trumaine Washington intercepted a Eubank pass, giving the Cardinals the ball at their own 20-yard line. On Louisville's ensuing drive, Jackson scored on a 13-yard run for a 14-0 Cardinal lead with 9:13 left in the first quarter. On the Cardinals' third possession  of the quarter, Brandon Radcliff scored on a two-yard run with 4:54 left in the opening period to make the score 21-0.
 
Samford got on the scoreboard on its first possession of the second quarter. Anthony Pistelli booted a 32-yard field goal to cut the Louisville lead to 21-3 with 10:17 left in the second quarter.
 
Louisville's John Wallace kicked a 50-yard field goal with 6:15 left in the second quarter to push the Cardinals' lead to 24-3. The Cardinals added one final score before halftime when Reggie Bonnafon hit Micky Crum for a three-yard score to make the score 31-3 with 31 seconds left before halftime.
 
Louisville got the second-half scoring started early in the third quarter. Jackson hit James Quick for a 36-yard touchdown with 10:11 left in the third quarter. The score pushed Louisville's lead to 38-3.
 
The Cardinals' L.J. Scott added a two-yard touchdown run with 12:56 left in the fourth quarter to make the score 45-3.
 
With the loss, Samford drops to 2-2 on the young season. Louisville improves to 1-3 with the win.
 
Samford will take the next week off from competition. The Bulldogs will return to action on Oct. 10, when Samford resumes Southern Conference play at VMI. The game is scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. (CDT) start from Lexington, Va.