Nine Quarterbacks See Action for Louisville in Win vs. Murray State

Every quarterback on the roster for the Cardinals took a snap in their blowout win over the Racers.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Typically whenever an FBS team takes on an FCS team in college football, it's a golden opportunity for the former to play as many players as they can. Way more often than not, these matchups are usually extremely one-sided affairs in favor of the FBS team, which gives them the chance to give valuable in-game reps to some of the younger or more inexperienced players on the roster.

This was certainly the case for Louisville during their home-opener against Murray State, who wound up giving snaps to 89 different players on Thursday night. On top of that, the Cardinals, incredibly, wound up playing all nine of the quarterbacks on their roster in their 56-0 win over the Racers.

"Well my father Oscar was mad at me because he wanted to get 10 in but I told him that his eligibility had run up," head coach Jeff Brohm joked after the game. "It is hard to get in nine quarterbacks, but we did and it was great to see them play. We played a lot of guys in a lot of positions and of course when you are up on a team, you want to get the reserves and the backups in as much as you can."

The nine quarterbacks used against Murray State was not only by far and away a single-game record for Louisville, it set the single-season mark in the process. Previous, the school record for most quarterbacks used in a season - let alone a game - was five back in 1974. Five signal callers attempted a pass against the Racers, while the other four either handed the ball off to the running back in the game or ran the ball themselves.

Starting quarterback Jack Plummer was far from perfect, but he did take a noticeable step forward after having a shaky first half against Georgia Tech the week prior. Playing until midway through the third quarter, he completed 16 of his 22 attempts for 247 yards and a 73-yard touchdown to Jamari Thrash, while also gaining five yard and four rushing attempts. Now, that also came with two interceptions, but one of them came off an end-of-half Hail Mary.

"Jack had a really good week in practice," Brohm said. "He understands what he needs to do. He has experience, throwing with conviction and stand in there and not throwing off his back foot, cutting it loose, throwing with anticipation and knowing when to throw with touch on the ball. I thought he did a solid job.

"He had one interception and the defensive back did a good job. (The other) was a Hail Mary that we were trying to get in the end zone, before they made a good scramble and got it handled. Overall, he is going to continue to improve. He works hard."

Plummer took the field for Louisville's first nine drives of the game, with Brock Domann, Evan Conley, Harrison Bailey and Pierce Clarkson each receiving a drive afterwards in that order. On the Cardinals' 14th and final drive, Brady Allen, plus walk-ons Sam Vaulton, Sam Young and Travis Egan rotated in and out of the lineup.

Domann was a perfect 4-for-4 with 34 yards, Conley didn't attempt a pass but ran it once for 19 yards, then Bailey went 3-for-5 with for 51 yards and a 34-yard touchdown to Joey Gatewood. All three quarterbacks helped orchestrate scoring drives.

Clarkson went 1-for-2 with a seven-yard completion and a three-yard run, but his drive would stall out. Allen would also have a seven-yard pass on his only attempt of the night, while Vaulton, Young and Egan simply handed the ball off to the running backs.

In total, Louisville's quarterbacks combined to go 25-for-34 for 346 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. They helped the Cardinals put up a whopping 690 total yards of offense against Murray State, while the Racers could only muster 166 yards. It was the ninth-most yards of offense in a single game in school history, while the net margin of 524 yards was good for second-most. The most came against Murray State in 2017 when Louisville out-gained them by 596 yards.

"I thought those guys played hard and it was really good experience for them," Brohm said. "They can use this as a great learning tool, and we have to continue to progress those guys. At some point we are going to need them and you never know when. In order to be a great football team, depth is very important."

(Photo of Pierce Clarkson: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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