Ryan Finley threw for 316 yards and a career-high four touchdowns as N.C. State cruised to a 52-10 victory over the Cardinals.
The Wolfpack (7-3, 4-3) came into Saturday having lost three of their last four. They rolled up 518 yards and 45 straight points on the Atlantic Coast Conference's second-worst defense that went through a coaching change less than a week ago.
Louisville interim coach Lorenzo Ward made his debut after Bobby Petrino was fired Sunday. The Cardinals (2-9, 0-8) held N.C. State on the game's first drive, then marched 40 yards to take a 3-0 lead on a Blanton Creque 32-yard field goal. The Wolfpack, however, controlled the game from there.
Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said he talked to his players about the Louisville situation and how the Cardinals would likely start.
"We talked about not beating us and making them beat them," Doeren said. "We just had to just kind of weather their emotional storm really which they had. I think our players showed resiliency and toughness in this game."
Kelvin Harmon caught seven passes for 100 yards and a score. Reggie Gallaspy Jr. added two rushing touchdowns and caught a scoring pass from Finley. Gallaspy's 1-yard plunge with 56 seconds left in the first half capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive and made it 17-3.
N.C. State then took advantage of two short fields on its first three drives of the second half to extend the lead to 31-3 with 9:10 left in the third quarter.
Finley, who completed 26 of 36 passes, said they knew Louisville would come out differently than how they showed on film.
"I think a team like that is dangerous," he said. "But at the same time, if you jump out on them early and get into a rhythm like we did, it was going to be tough on them. We knew the situation. We just had to come down here and play our game."
It marked the fourth straight game, and sixth this season, the Cardinals gave up 50 or more points.
