In a season marred by offensive woes, the Louisville football team’s defense collapsed Friday night.

Georgia Tech put on a triple-option clinic and rolled over the Cardinals, 66-31, handing Louisville its worst home loss since 1997.

The Yellow Jackets rushed for 542 yards, the second-most Louisville has allowed in a game and the most since 1932. They averaged 8.3 yards per play. They scored on every offensive possession – eight touchdowns and one field goal.

"We didn't have any answers for their offense," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said.

Georgia Tech’s engine was quarterback TaQuon Marshall, who rushed 23 times for 175 yards. But Marshall’s offense distributed the ball with little resistance. B-back Jordan Mason, who dove up the middle as the first of three options, added 13 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Analysis:No answers for Louisville football against Georgia Tech

Louisville’s offense did its defense no favors in the first quarter. On fourth-and-1 from midfield, quarterback Jawon Pass threw incomplete downfield under duress. Georgia Tech scored in five plays.

Running back Trey Smith fumbled on the second play of Louisville’s next drive, setting up Georgia Tech at the Cards’ 36-yard line. Tech scored in five plays again.

"We installed a lot of schemes this week that are designed to stop the option," linebacker P.J. Blue said. "We saw everything. We saw that in practice. It's just, the scout team can't replicate that speed. We just got to be ready to play it. I don't know if we were ready to play it."

The Cards briefly trimmed the deficit to 10, but they didn’t draw any closer. To start the second half, Georgia Tech drove 79 yards in 13 plays over 6:58, pushing its lead to 38-17.

"You come into halftime thinking, 'Hey, let's do a great job covering the kick. Let's get them off the field and get the ball right back and make this a good game,'" Petrino said. "Then coming out of halftime, they had the ball for (seven) minutes. That hurt. We weren't able to get them off the field."

In nine drives, Louisville only forced Georgia Tech to seven third downs, a program record low for opposing third downs. The Yellow Jackets converted six of seven and kicked a field goal after they missed on the other.

Even after Georgia Tech put in backup quarterback Tobias Oliver, its offense didn’t slow down. Oliver had Tech’s longest run of the night, a 65-yarder down the left sideline. He finished with 103 yards.

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Pass finished 23-for-35 passing for 299 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Jordan Travis relieved him with 6:35 left, exciting the few thousand fans left in Cardinal Stadium with a 25-yard scramble on his first play.

But no hope lasted long. Later in that drive, Georgia Tech returned a Travis interception 95 yards for a touchdown.

Jake Lourim: 502-582-4168; jlourim@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jakelourim. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/jakel.