Malik Cunningham Sets Louisville Career Touchdown Record
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There's a new touchdown king at Louisville.
With a six-yard rushing score in the second quarter of Saturday's 26-13 loss at Kentucky, quarterback Malik Cunningham amassed his 120th career touchdown responsible for at Louisville, breaking a tie with former Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson for the most touchdowns responsible for in school history.
Heading into Saturday's game, the Montgomery Ala. native had completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 1,552 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions; while also rushing for 556 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has started in nine of Louisville's 12 games this season, missing the games against Virginia and NC State due to injuries, while coming off the bench at Kentucky.
Cunningham joined Louisville as part of their 2017 recruiting class, and is one of seven Cardinals still on the roster that played under former head coach Bobby Petrino before his firing during the 2018 season. He redshirted his first season, then appeared in 10 games with three starts in 2018, totaling 970 yards of offense and six touchdowns.
He burst onto the scene in 2019, taking over the starting job after Jawon Pass suffered a season-ending toe injury in their season-opener. Though Cunningham himself would go in and out of the lineup throughout the year due to various injuries himself, he still managed to complete 62.4 percent of his passes for 2,061 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions. Also rushing for 482 yards and six touchdowns, he set the single-season school record for passing efficiency with a mark of 194.45.
That efficiency took a little bit of a dip in 2020. While he still completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 2,617 yards and 20 touchdowns, that also came with 12 interceptions and nine fumble (three lost), with his 15 lost turnovers being the driving force behind the second-worst turnover margin in FBS that season at -12.
Cunningham bounced back in a big way during the 2021 season. He finished the year fifth in the ACC in rushing yards with 1,031, and fourth nationally in rushing touchdowns with 20. Not to mention was on top of a 62.0 percent completion rate for 2,941 yards and 19 touchdowns through the air to only six interceptions. His 305.5 yards per game was good for fifth in the ACC and 14th nationally.
(Photo of Malik Cunningham: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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