No. 20 Louisville 39, North Carolina 34: Sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns as the 20th-ranked Cardinals took a big lead and held off a furious late rally by the visiting Tar Heels.

North Carolina (1-2), trailing by 25 early in the fourth quarter, pulled within 39-34 with 4:23 remaining on quarterback Bryn Renner’s career-high fifth touchdown pass and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Renner’s fourth-down pass in the end zone was knocked away with 1:44 left and the Cardinals ran out the clock.

Louisville scored on all six possessions of the first half as Bridgewater threw scoring strikes to Charles Gaines, Eli Rogers and Nick Heuser for a 36-7 lead. Bridgewater finished 23-for-28 as Louisville improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2006.

Jeremy Wright rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown for Louisville.

Senorise Perry ran 13 yards for a score to put Louisville 6-0 just 5:29 into the game. Marcus Smith picked off a Renner pass on the next series and the Cardinals made it 12-0 on Bridgewater’s 32-yard scoring strike to Gaines. The Cardinals led by as much as 29-0 before Renner hit Romar Morris (two touchdowns) down the right sideline for a 44-yard score with 6:19 left in the first half.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Running back Giovani Bernard, who rushed for 1,253 yards last season, missed his second straight game for North Carolina with a knee injury. … Louisville leads the series, 4-3. … Renner’s 363 yards passing was a career high.