The No. 4 Florida Gators take on the No. 18 Louisville Cardinals in the 79th annual Sugar Bowl Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. EST at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La.
Follow the Game via the following media:
TV: ESPN
Radio: ESPN Radio
While many pick Florida as the obvious favorite in this year's Sugar Bowl, Louisville is coming off yet another red-hot, 10-win season, its fifth in a row. The Cardinals won their first eight games in row, with spectacular performances against Pittsburgh, winning 45-35 on the road, and capturing victory in overtime versus Cincinnati 34-31. Louisville lost back-to-back games to Syracuse (45-26) and UConn (23-20 OT) but were still able to clinch the Big East title with a 20-17 road win over Rutgers.
"We're really excited to be here and represent the Big East Conference at the Sugar Bowl," Louisville 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."
While Florida's offense is no doubt efficient, much of the reason behind the team's success this year was its powerful defense. Florida has proven itself a giant to reckoned with in a conference stacked with talented defensive units. The Gators ranked fifth in the country in yards allowed per game (283.4) and third in points allowed (12.9).
If Florida's defense is firing on all cylinders that should spell trouble for Louisville's main plan of attack: quarterback Terry Bridgewater. But good news for Cardinals fans: after sustaining several injuries over the season, a month of off time has likely got Bridgewater back to fighting health. Even if he isn't 100 percent, Bridgewater has proved he'll do just about whatever it takes to win, having played through various injuries while Louisville fought for the Big East championship.
Louisville needs Bridgewater to establish the passing game early on if it wants to remain a threat, Florida's running defense is ranked second only to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference.
Lucky for Louisville fans they've got an inside man in coach Strong; he was the defensive coordinator at Florida from 2003-09 a stint during which he won two BCS titles. Strong's track record at Louisville has been similarly impressive. So much so that he was recently in the running for a head coaching position for the Tennessee Titans.
"You look at those jobs, but I have a great job here. The stability of this program is always going to be solid and they're going to do everything to make this one of the best programs in the country," Strong told ESPN.
Strong admits the Cardinals enter the game a clear underdogs, but says that's the furthest things from he and his players' minds when they hit the field.
"When you think about teams that are the favorites or the underdogs, at the end of the day, you still have to go and play the game," he said. "With us, it's all about fundamentals and technique. We're going to practice each and every day, so let's take care of that business. We're going to go play this game, but if we're not prepared and we're not locked it and we're not focuses, it doesn't really matter."
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