Louisville blanks Kentucky

Fresno State stunned Washington, 35-16.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Lionel Gates ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and Louisville earned its first shutout in four years with a 28-0 victory over Kentucky on Sunday.
The Cardinals won the traditional opener with their archrivals for the fifth time in six years. It was their most lopsided win over the Wildcats since a 56-28 victory in 1999.
The anemic Wildcats rushed for only 66 yards and failed to score in their season opener for the first time since 1962.
As expected, Louisville coach Bobby Petrino started senior Stefan LeFors, but also used highly touted freshman Brian Brohm. Louisville failed to score on its first two possessions, prompting Petrino to make an earlier than expected change.
Brohm, a Louisville native, entered with 1:10 remaining in the opening quarter and completed his first pass, a short sideline route to J.R. Russell. Later, he had a 7-yard scramble on fourth-and-3.
Gates, Louisville's leading rusher in 2003, finished the 13-play march with a sweeping 5-yard run touchdown with 9:43 left in the half.
Fresno State 35, Washington 16
SEATTLE -- Fresno State's James Sanders and Richard Marshall returned interceptions for touchdowns and Brian Morris took a fumble in for another score.
Dwayne Wright rushed for 109 yards as the Bulldogs of the Western Athletic Conference broke open a 7-7 halftime tie and added Washington to a list of big-name conquests that included wins over Colorado, Wisconsin and Oregon State three years ago.
The Huskies were unable to answer a big off-season question -- how to replace record-setting quarterback Cody Pickett, who's now with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers.
Junior Casey Paus started, but coach Keith Gilbertson had promised that sophomore Isaiah Stanback would see plenty of action. They both demonstrated they'll need a lot more practice.
Paus was 18-of-39 for 183 yards with three interceptions. Stanback completed 1-of-5 for 10 yards with one interception.
Fresno State got a solid performance from its quarterback. Paul Pinegar completed 13 of 21 passes for 125 yards with one TD and one interception.
Rice 10, Houston 7
HOUSTON -- Ed Bailey scored on a 2-yard run and Rice came within nine seconds of notching its first shutout in nine years.
Rice won the traditional season opener against its cross-town rivals for the first time since 2001, grinding out a victory in the lowest-scoring game in the 30-year history of the "Bayou Bucket" series.
Houston rushed for only eight yards and nearly half of their 212 total yards came on a 99-yard scoring drive in the final minutes of the game. Kevin Kolb threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Marshall with nine seconds left, helping the Cougars avert their first shutout since a 48-0 loss at Texas in 2000.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.