LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- The only thing that could stop Teddy Bridgewater was a clipboard.
The University of Louisville sophomore quarterback has shown flashes of brilliance since first stepping into a relief role to lead the Cardinals past rival University of Kentucky last season.
But he never has been as consistently good as he was on Sunday, completing 19 of 21 passes for 232 yards before leaving late in the third quarter to let backup Will Stein mop up the final drives of a 32-14 victory over UK before a record crowd of 55,386 in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
At the end of the game, Stein was so fired up that he glimpsed the Governor's Cup trophy, snatched it out of the hands of the guy holding it and took off running toward his teammates.
Turns out, that guy was Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear.
"Really?" Stein said. "Honestly, I didn't know it was the governor."
Stein may have stolen the trophy, but Bridgewater stole the show. His completion percentage (90.4) was the highest compiled in Football Bowl Subdivision college football on the season's first weekend, and the highest ever in a game for a U of L quarterback.
From his first pass, a perfectly placed low strike to Damian Copeland streaking up the right sideline for 23 yards on third and 9 from his own end zone, Bridgewater was like clockwork. He may have left early, but his timing was perfect. U of L's first three scoring drives went 99, 85 and 93 yards.
Afterward, while Stein was running around like crazy celebrating, Bridgewater played it low key.
"He's cool Teddy," Stein said. "Never gets hyped. You will never see him yell and scream and jump and down before the game."
You did, however, see him get involved. On the field, where he was sharp enough to complete 11 straight passes in one stretch that ended only when he threw a ball away on purpose, his progress was evident.
But it also showed up, less visibly but just as important, on the sideline, where Bridgewater was more likely to come after a series and interact with the entire offense than he was a year ago.
"He might talk to the receivers and O-line more," Stein said. "Last year as a freshman he might've been a little bit intimidated to come back and say something to a bunch of older guys. But now he's in the coaches' ears and the players' ears."
U of L coach Charlie Strong noticed it.
"One thing about Ted is that he studies the game, so he is able to get us in the right spots and make the throws," Strong said. "A year ago I don't know if he was really locked in. He wanted to be the quarterback but it was almost like he didn't want to study the game and go be the quarterback. Now it's just a totally different ballgame. He's telling receivers were to line up.
". . . I saw him talk to Andrell Smith on one throw where he told him, 'Hey, you ran the wrong route here.' He is so locked in, and when he is locked in all of the receivers are then locked in."
One second-quarter play was illustrative. Bridgewater rolled out to his right and looked down the field. A year ago, he'd have fired a bullet into coverage. On Sunday, he scampered toward the sideline, gained three yards, and got out of bounds.
About the only thing Bridgewater did that nobody liked was come out of the game in the third quarter. U of L players sported T-shirts that read, "Stay Hungry," after the victory. Cardinal fans were thirsty for more blood when Stein came in late in the third quarter and the margin still not at ridiculous proportions, at 32-14. In fact, UK was threatening to pull within two scores when it fumbled inside the U of L 5, yet Strong stayed with Stein.
Bridgewater said he was happy with it, that offensive coordinator Shawn Watson told him on the headset that they were taking him out to protect him from injury.
"I was glad to see Stein get that chance," Bridgewater said.
Said Strong: "A year ago at this time Stein was the starter and Stein deserves to play. We got ahead there and I said I wanted Stein to go out and direct the offense."
If the crowd was confused, UK coach Joker Phillips wasn't, saying he just thought, "Teddy was cramping up because he ran up and down the field on us."
As for his own performance, Bridgewater would only talk about the play of the offensive line, and the play of U of L running backs Jeremy Wright and Senorise Perry, both of whom had more than 100 yards on the ground.
He was singularly unquotable.
But his consistency could become his most dangerous weapon.
"Coaches have been telling us all camp that we'll do in the game what we do in practice," center Mario Benavides said. "Well, Teddy just completes 90, 100 percent of his throws every day, and he went out and did it today."
"Instead of being a great athlete out there playing quarterback, now he's a quarterback," Stein said. ". . . We knew this game was all about us and if we did what we were taught to do and played as hard as we could, we knew we couldn't be stopped. It was a statement to the state and hopefully to the nation that U of L is back. I know it's just one game, but I hope we proved to a lot of people that we have the ability to go far this year."
A performance like Bridgewater's on Sunday figures to win the Cards at least a few believers. The sophomore picked up 20 pounds in the offseason. But in his first game of 2012, he picked up some stature.
Copyright 2012 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.
