Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Louisville (10-2) vs. Florida (11-1)

GAME NOTES: The 79th annual Sugar Bowl will kick off Wednesday night at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome when the Louisville Cardinals take on the Florida Gators.
Louisville got off to a red-hot start to the season with wins in each of its first eight games, highlighted by a 45-35 road triumph over Pittsburgh on Oct. 13 and a 34-31 overtime victory versus Cincinnati on Oct 26. Despite dropping back-to-back November games to Syracuse (45-26) and UConn (23-20 in OT), the Cardinals were able to clinch their third Big East title in the regular-season finale with a 20-17 road win over Rutgers. This is the fifth 10-win season for the Cardinals, who have made one previous appearance in a BCS bowl game, beating Wake Forest in the 2007 Orange Bowl, 24-14.
"We're really excited to be here and represent the Big East Conference at the Sugar Bowl," head coach Charlie Strong said. "If you look at our season, it's a tribute to our players and the resiliency they've had all season long. We started three years ago building a foundation for this team and we're really excited about the direction it's headed. We know we're playing an excellent team in the University of Florida, but we're happy and we're excited. It's great for the University of Louisville, the city of Louisville, and for our administration."
Florida's outstanding season included wins over nationally-ranked foes Texas A&M (20-17), LSU (14-6), South Carolina (44-11), and Florida State (37-26). It faced a treacherous road in the SEC, meaning its lone loss to Eastern Division rival Georgia (17-9) on Oct. 27 prevented it from participating in the conference championship game. Still, the Gators boasted the strongest at-large resume in the country, which allowed them to qualify for their seventh BCS bowl appearance, their first since the 2010 Sugar Bowl, which they won 51-24 over Cincinnati.
"We have a special team and they deserve a special night," head coach Will Muschamp said. "You're talking about being the sixth team in (UF) history -- which has a pretty good tradition -- (with a chance at) 12 wins, which is huge. It's an opportunity to be ranked in the top five or three in the country. We understand those things are very important to our program as we continue to move forward."
Florida has defeated Louisville in both previous meetings between the programs, claiming home matchups in 1980 and 1992.
Louisville's offensive attack, which scores 31.0 ppg, is heavily reliant on the passing game, which racks up more than 298.6 ypg (24th in the nation).
Spearheading the offense is the Cardinals' star quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who has emerged as one of the country's best signal-callers in his sophomore season. The Big East Player of the Year is completing an outstanding 69 percent of his pass attempts for 3,452 yards, throwing for 25 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. His 161.6 passing efficiency is tops in the Big East and eighth in the nation.
Bridgewater spreads the ball out to several receivers, with five players grabbing at least 30 receptions. Damian Copeland (597 yards) leads the corps with 48 receptions, while DeVante Parker made the most of his 38 receptions, piling up 712 yards (18.7 ypc) and nine touchdowns, which was enough to earn him First Team All-Big East honors.
Louisville is more than just a passing team. In fact, it has a near perfect split between passing (424) and rushing (426) attempts. Sharing duties in the backfield is Jeremy Wright (740 yards) and Senorise Perry (705 yards), who have combined for 20 touchdowns.