Louisville’s aggressive defense made up for an inexperienced offense in a 21-9 victory over Murray State on Thursday night.

The Cardinals forced three turnovers and held Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year Casey Brockman to just 148 yards on 17-of-34 passing. Louisville’s two new fresh-faced cornerbacks looked as comfortable as the seven returning starters on defense, as Anthony Conner had a pivotal pick on Murray State’s only real threatening drive of the first half.

That turnover helped preserve a 21-0 lead, as new quarterback Will Stein led Louisville to three touchdowns on its first four drives. Stein went 17-of-32 for 226 yards and two scores in just his third career start. Coach Charlie Strong, though, messed with a good thing in the second quarter, inserting freshman speedster Teddy Bridgewater into the game. Bridgewater promptly threw a pick and the Cardinals’ offense remained out of sync for the rest of the game.

That inconsistency, though, was just as easily traced to four new offensive linemen, who accounted for a good chunk of Louisville’s 10 penalties and had numerous gaffes resulting in four Cardinals turnovers.