It took Dennis Gardeck a second to remember the last time he had a stat line that featured three sacks.
"(Against) Minnesota-Duluth, my fifth-year senior team," Gardeck said.
Fact check here, Gardeck short-changed himself. The outside linebacker finished with five sacks in the University of Sioux Falls 2017 season opener. But it will be hard to forget the details of Sunday's performance, when Gardeck exploded for a trio of sacks, four tackles for loss, and a forced fumble that was recovered by L.J. Collier as the Cardinals' defense overwhelmed the Rams in a 41-10 victory.
"It was cool," Gardeck said. "It's fun. I love playing football with my friends."
It's appropriate, because after a disappointing loss to the Bills last weekend, the Cardinals looked like a team that was having a blast on the field. Certainly Marvin Harrison Jr.’s incredible outing was a reason, and Kyler Murray's rendition of "Murray Magic" played a role, and the excitement surrounding the home opener helped the cause.
The defense was just as big of a reason, though, to have smiles in the locker room after.
"We had a lot of new stuff we put in, and everyone kind of just caught on to it, got it, and finished it well today," linebacker Zaven Collins said. "It's a fun game when it's like that and everything is just clicking well."
Rams running back Kyren Williams left a nasty taste in the mouth of the Cardinals defense last season after a pair of 140-plus yard performances. As the unit prepared for Sunday's home opener against the Rams, Williams was at the forefront of their minds.
The Rams' rushing attack couldn't manage much as Williams and Blake Corum combined for only 53 yards on 20 carries. That is the fewest yards allowed on the ground under Jonathan Gannon.
"We knew that's what we had to do to win the game," Gardeck said. "So, to go out there and execute something that we know we have to do to win the game is cool to see. We take it play by play though (and) you got to stop the run each time they run the ball."
Because the Cardinals were as dominant as they were on run defense, and with the Cardinals lead growing throughout the game, Matthew Stafford was forced into known passing situations as early as the first quarter. Collins and linebacker Krys Barnes were each able to wrap up Stafford for a sack aside from Gardeck's heroics.
"I'm just glad it wasn't like the last one," Collins said with a laugh, poking fun at the penalty the officials called against him last weekend in Buffalo that cost him his first "first sack" of the season.
The Rams offensive line was also banged up, something that Collins said the team "keyed in on."
The Cardinals improve to 1-1 on the season and jump to 1-0 in the division. Last week, safety Budda Baker shared how necessary it is for a team to win divisional games. Cardinals notched one at home against the Rams for the first time in a decade.
"It was just about out motoring them and just getting to the rock, all 11 to the ball on all sides of the field," Baker said. "It was definitely exciting."
Like Baker, Gardeck, who joined the Cardinals in 2018, has seen the Cardinals struggle against the Rams at home. As one of the team leaders, Gardeck made sure to remind the locker room of that fact.
The guys took the message to heart, just like his message of having fun.
"That gave me extra motivation throughout the week," Gardeck said. "Just got to be dialed in Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, so it did mean something to play a divisional opponent that's had your number at home. To go out and do it, it was fun."
