College football

Cardinals top home mark

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 14 Louisville seniors hadn't lost a home game in two years. They weren't about to let Syracuse ruin their final bow at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Montrell Jones caught six passes for a career-high 118 yards and two touchdowns, fellow senior Brandon Johnson made a key third-quarter interception Saturday and the No.17 Cardinals overcame the loss of quarterback Brian Brohm to win a school-record 12th straight home game, 41-17.

The Cardinals held off a late rally by the Orange, who finished with the first 10-loss season in the program's 110-year history.

"The seniors made sure we were going to finish that game with a win," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said.

Brohm suffered a right knee injury on a third-quarter scramble. On third and 8 from the Louisville 21, Brohm dropped back to pass and ran to his right after the protection broke down before being tackled by Syracuse's Kellen Pruitt.

Brohm awkwardly rolled over his right knee as he fell. He is scheduled for an MRI exam on Monday and his status for Saturday's game at Connecticut is uncertain.

With Louisville nursing a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter, Petrino put the game in the hands of the Louisville defense and running backs Kolby Smith and George Stripling. The defense consistently put pressure on Syracuse quarterback Perry Patterson, and Smith and Stripling broke free with two big plays in the fourth.

RUTGERS 44, CINCINNATI 9: Brian Leonard and Ray Rice each ran for two touchdowns as the Scarlet Knights virtually ensured the program's first bowl berth since 1978.

With representatives of the Insight Bowl looking on at Rutgers Stadium, the Scarlet Knights rushed for a season-high 337 yards and sacked Cincinnati quarterback Dustin Grutza nine times en route to their first seven-win season since 1992.

The Scarlet Knights (7-4, 4-3) have a winning conference record for the first time; in 1992 they were 4-2 against Big East teams before the league adopted a round-robin schedule format.

Rutgers' road to a likely bowl berth was not without bumps. After defeating Navy 31-21 on Oct. 29 to become bowl eligible and ensure a winning record, the Scarlet Knights were thumped by USF and Louisville by a combined 101-36.

This time Rutgers jumped on top early. The Scarlet Knights held Cincinnati to minus-23 yards rushing and outgained the Bearcats 574-146 overall.

[Last modified November 27, 2005, 01:18:21]