Isaac Brown scores two touchdowns, runs for 126 yards in Louisville's rout of Eastern Kentucky

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Isaac Brown and the rest of his Louisville teammates made short work of visiting Eastern Kentucky on Saturday as the Cardinals rolled to a 51-17 victory in both teams’ season opener.

Brown, a sophomore running back, ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries. The second-team preseason All-American’s day ended after his 68-yard scoring jaunt made it 28-0 less than four minutes into the second quarter.

The Cardinals outgained the Colonels, 543-150, with 373 coming in the first half as they built a 41-7 lead. That total did not include Caullin Lacy’s 93-yard punt return for a score midway through the first quarter.

The Colonels scored two touchdowns off of Louisville’s three turnovers. Myles Burkett was sacked four times and completed just five of his 14 passes for 76 yards.

“I was surprised we let that happen,” Colonels coach Walt Wells said about the sacks. “We have four (offensive line) starters back, and I think they got on us a little faster than we thought.”

Besides the turnovers, Louisville also committed a dozen penalties that cost the team 106 yards. That’s the most lost under Brohm, who is entering his third season.

“I just think turnovers and penalties have to be cleaned up for us to progress and move forward, but I do think that we did what we needed to,” coach Jeff Brohm said. “We came ready to play, and we did a pretty good job in the first half.”

Miller Moss played well in his debut with the Cardinals. The former Southern Cal quarterback exited after the first half, in which he completed 17 of 25 passes for 223 yards and ran eight yards for a touchdown. Eight Cardinals hauled in those passes, and Moss displayed his ability to go deep on a 30-yard scoring pass to Duke Watson.

Aside from the first interception, which Brohm said was thrown a bit high, he earned praise from Louisville’s coach, a former quarterback who has a reputation for developing players at that position.

“We felt like we were preparing for this game for a long time,” Moss said. “Like the week was going by really slow, but I’m really proud of the way we prepared. I’m really proud of the way we started.”

Moss threw two interceptions, both of which were gathered by cornerback Vito Tisdale Jr. The redshirt senior, who previously played at Kentucky and Colorado before joining the FCS school last season, recorded just one interception before Saturday. Each of Tisdale’s on Saturday came in the final minute of the second quarter and both came off deflections. He ran one back 29 yards for the Colonels’ lone score of the half.

Louisville was fourth among the teams also receiving votes in the first AP Top 25 poll of the season. With losses by 25th-ranked Boise State and Baylor, which was ranked just ahead of the Cardinals, Brohm’s team should pick up votes when the next poll comes out. Whether that puts them in the top 25 remains to be seen.

Louisville plays at home on Friday night against James Madison.

Eastern Kentucky hosts Houston Christian next Saturday.

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