Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had his second consecutive underwhelming game Saturday, throwing for just 220 yards and a TD as the Cardinals held off one-win Memphis 24-17.
Bridgewater completed 26 of his 36 attempts, but his average completion went for just 8.5 yards per reception. He had just one completion of more than 16 yards -- a 39-yarder to DeVante Parker for a TD in the second quarter.
Louisville led 24-3 midway through the third quarter, but struggled to hold on. After they took the 24-3 lead, the Cardinals ran 27 plays but for only 102 yards. Louisville finished with 342 yards.
Bridgewater has thrown just two TD passes total in the past three games and has averaged 238.7 yards per game in those contests.
He has thrown 25 TD passes against just three interceptions this season, but after eight consecutive games to open the season in which he averaged at least 8.9 yards per attempt and four times averaged at least 10.0 yards per attempt, Saturday's game was the third in a row in which he averaged 7.8 or fewer yards per attempt. Opposing defenses are taking away the deep throw and forcing Bridgewater to go to his checkdown receivers. Saturday's 6.1-yard average was his second-lowest in the past two seasons (5.4 against FIU last season was the worst).
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.