Isaac Brown rushed for two touchdowns, Tyler Shough threw for two scores and Stanquan Clark had two of Louisville's three interceptions as the Cardinals routed Pittsburgh 37-9 on Saturday.

The Cardinals (7-4, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored on four of their first six possessions for a 27-0 halftime cushion boosted by 10 points off Clark's two interceptions. The linebacker's end-zone pickoff of Eli Holstein on the opening possession set up Brock Travelstead's 41-yard field goal before he laid out to snatch Nate Yarnell's second-quarter pass that resulted in Isaac Brown's 15-yard TD run one snap later.

Clark's critical takeaway came three plays after the Panthers denied Louisville on fourth-and-goal at the 1.

Yarnell was playing in place of quarterback Eli Holstein, who left the game on a cart with a serious left-leg injury sustained on a first-quarter sack by Ashton Gillotte. Holstein started after missing last week’s loss to Clemson with a head injury sustained in the previous game against Virginia.

Pitt (7-4, 3-4) avoided its first shutout loss in five years as Konata Mumpfield caught an 8-yard scoring pass from Yarnell in the third quarter. The Panthers also recorded a fourth-quarter safety but dropped their fourth straight.

Brown carried 13 times for 93 yards, while Shough completed 17 of 28 passes for 293 yards and scores of 15 yards to Ja'Corey Brooks and a 68-yard catch-and-run by Chris Bell down the right sideline. Louisville outgained Pitt 505-265 in bouncing back from a crushing 38-35 loss at Stanford in which it allowed the final 17 points and lost on a walk-off field goal.

The takeaway

Pitt: Turnovers obviously hurt the Panthers, killing two drives inside Louisville territory. More painful was failing to even contain the nation's No. 15 offense, which finished with 12 chunk plays of at least 15 yards.

Louisville: The Cardinals dismissed any questions about a hangover from last week's meltdown with aggression on both sides of the ball. Their defense was particularly stout in picking off three Pitt QBs, the last by Corey Thornton in the fourth quarter.

Up next

Pitt visits Boston College on Saturday.

Louisville visits archrival Kentucky on Saturday, seeking to win the Governor's Cup for the first time since 2017.