SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
Air Force (9-3, 6-2 MW) vs. Louisville (6-6, 4-4 ACC)
Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2:15 p.m. CT, Gerald J. Ford Stadium (SMU), Dallas, TX
Air Force Falcons Notes
STORYLINES
• Air Force is playing in its 28th bowl game overall and 11th in head coach Troy Calhoun’s 15 seasons. Air Force has a 13-13-1 all-time bowl record, including a 5-5 mark under Calhoun.
• This is Air Force’s first appearance in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl.
• Air Force and Louisville are playing for the first time ever.
BOWL HISTORY OWL HISTORY
Air Force is playing in its 28th bowl game. The Falcons have earned a bowl bid 11 times in head coach Troy Calhoun’s 15 seasons. Air Force has a 13-13-1 all-time bowl record, including a 5-5 mark under Calhoun
BOWL FACTS
• This is Air Force’s first appearance in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl.
• Air Force and Louisville are playing for the first time ever.
• Air Force will be playing its second neutral site game at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, as the Falcons played Houston in the venue in 2008…the game was moved from Houston due to Hurricane Ike and was not televised.
• Air Force is playing an ACC team in a bowl for the first time since playing Georgia Tech in the 2010 Independence Bowl.
• Air Force is 2-2 all-time in bowl games vs. the ACC with two of the four meetings coming in the Independence Bowl. The Falcons lost to North Carolina, 35-0, in the 1963 Gator Bowl, beat Virginia Tech, 23-7, in the 1984 Independence Bowl, lost to Virginia Tech, 20-13, in the 2002 San Francisco Bowl and beat Georgia Tech, 14-7, in the 2010 Independence Bowl.
• This is Air Force’s eighth bowl in the state of Texas and first since falling to California, 55-36, in the 2015 Armed Forces Bowl.
• Air Force will be playing a Power 5 team for the second straight bowl game. The Falcons defeated Washington State, 31-21, in the 2019 Cheez-It Bowl in Arizona.
• Air Force has 11 players from the state of Texas on the roster.
AIR FORCE VS. POWER FIVE
Air Force is 6-12 against Power Five teams since 2003. The Falcons are 0-2 at home and 6-9 on the road/neutral. Air Force is 4-9 under head coach Troy Calhoun. A closer look at the most recent games follows.
Year Team Result
2019 vs. Washington St. (N) W 31-21
2019 at Colorado W 30-23 OT
2017 at #7 Michigan L 13-29
2015 vs. California (N) L 36-55
2015 at #4 Michigan State L 21-35
2013 vs. Notre Dame L 10-45
2012 at #19 Michigan L 25-31
2011 at Notre Dame L 33-59
2010 vs. Georgia Tech (N) W 14-7
2010 at #7 Oklahoma L 24-27
2009 at Minnesota L 13-20
2007 at Notre Dame W 41-24
2007 vs. California (N) L 36-42
2006 vs. #8 Notre Dame L 17-39
2006 at #11 Tennessee L 30-31
2005 vs. Washington (N) W 20-17
2004 vs. #13 California L 14-56
2003 at Northwestern W 22-21
AIR FORCE VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
Air Force is 42-27 against non-conference opponents under head coach Troy Calhoun. The Falcons are 27-4 at home, 9-17 on the road and 6-6 in neutral site games. Air Force is 3-1 this season, including a 2-0 mark at home.
THE SERIES/ACC
• Air Force and Louisville are meeting for the first time.
• Air Force is 12-10 in 22 meetings against team from the ACC.
• Air Force is 2-2 vs. ACC in bowl games.
• The Falcons are playing an ACC team for the first time since beating Georgia Tech, 14-7, in the 2010 Independence Bowl.
Air Force All-Time Results vs. ACC
Team G W L T LAST MTG
Boston College 7 4 3 0 1980
Georgia Tech 4 1 3 0 2010
Miami (Fla.) 2 0 2 0 1963
North Carolina 5 4 1 0 1969
Pittsburgh 2 2 0 0 1972
Virginia Tech 2 1 1 0 2002
TOTALS 22 12 10 0
LOOKING AT LOUISVILLE
Louisville finished 6-6 overall this season and tied for fourth in the Atlantic Division of the ACC with a 4-4 mark…The Cards had a two-game winning streak snapped in their last game, a 52-21, loss vs. Kentucky Nov. 27 … Louisville is coached by Scott Satterfield, who is in his third season … The team averages 31.9 points per game while allowing 27.0 … Redshirt junior quarterback Malik Cunningham leads the team in rushing with 968 yards and 19 touchdowns … Cunningham has hit 196-316 passes for 2,734 yards with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions … Redshirt sophomore Marshon Ford leads the team in receiving with 47 catches for 530 yards and two touchdowns, while freshman Jordan Watkins has added 35 catches for 529 yards and four TDs … Redshirt senior C.J. Avery leads the team in tackles with 87 … Junior Yasir Abdullah leads the team in tackles for loss with 14.5 for 82 yards and sacks with 9.0 for 71.
AN AIR FORCE WIN WOULD
• Air Force would finish the season 10-3 overall, posting double-digit wins for the second time in three seasons and ninth time in program history…the Falcons would post its fourth double-digit win season under head coach Troy Calhoun
• Air Force would win its third straight bowl game dating back to 2016…the three-game streak would be the longest since winning a school record four straight from 1982-85
• Air Force would improve to 13-10 all-time vs. teams from the ACC
• Air Force would improve to 43-27 against non-conference opponents under head coach Troy Calhoun, including a 4-1 mark this season
• Air Force would win its third straight game vs. a Power 5 team
• Air Force would improve to 7-11 against Power Five teams since 2003, including a 7-9 mark on the road/neutral sites
THE LAST TIME OUT
Air Force defeated UNLV, 48-14, in Falcon Stadium to close out the regular season. The Falcons controlled the game from the onset, taking advantage of a UNLV turnover on the opening kickoff return and on its first possession to take a 14-0 lead. Brad Roberts rushed for two short touchdowns to provide the scoring. Air Force extended the lead to 24-0 at the half behind a Matt Dapore 37 yard field goal and a Brandon Lewis 41 yard touchdown run. The Falcons controlled the game in the second half, holding the ball for 26:12 of the 30 minutes. Air Force finished the game with 511 total yards, all rushing, marking the first time since 2012 the team didn’t attempt a pass in a game. Emmanuel Michel led the Falcons with 123 yards on 12 carries while Roberts chipped in with 98 and two scores on 16 carries. The Falcons had 13 players carry the ball and finished with a 40:49 to 19:11 advantage in time of possession. UNLV finished with 214 total yards, including 144 passing. Charles Williams led the Rebels with 137 yards rushing and two touchdowns, 72 coming on a fourth-quarter touchdown run.
Louisville Cardinals Notes
CARDS CLASH WITH AIR FORCE IN BOWL
Louisville is set for its 24th bowl appearance when it plays in the 2021 First Responder Bowl when the Cardinals face Air Force on Dec. 28 at 3:15 p.m. on ESPN.
The Cardinals face the Falcons for the first time in school history.
KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER
For the third-straight season, the Cardinals were balanced on the offensive side of the football, averaging 230.6 yards through the air and 211.3 yards on the ground. Louisville is the only team in the nation to average over 200 and 200 over the last three seasons.
The Cardinals enter postseason play ranked 21st nationally in rushing offense after averaging 211.3 yards per game.
Quarterback Malik Cunningham is is 32 yards away from becoming only the third quarterback in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and just the 17th player to rush for 1,000-yards in a season.
Satterfield owns a perfect 4-0 record in bowl appearances as a head coach. He defeated Mississippi State in the 2019 Music City Bowl in his first season at Louisville. While at App State, his teams defeated Ohio 31-29 in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl in 2015 and Toledo 31-28 in the same bowl in 2016. The Mountaineers also defeated the Rockets 34-0 in the 2017 Dollar General Bowl.
Offensive guard Caleb Chandler was the lone Louisville player to earn first team All-Atlantic Coast Conference accolades, becoming the first offensive lineman to garner top honors since 2019.
The Cardinals recorded 31 sacks on the season, the most for the program since totaling 30 during the 2016 season. Linebacker Yasir Abdullah finished second in the ACC with 9.0 sacks.
Tight end Marshon Ford, a third team All-ACC selection, led the team with 47 receptions for 530 yards and a pair of touchdowns — all career highs. The Louisville native has 15 career touchdowns since earning a scholarship in 2019.
The Cardinals averaged 5.4 yards a carry on the ground, which ranks seventh nationally heading into the bowl game.
GAME NOTES
STREAKS AND TRENDS
Louisville is 1-0 in bowl games under head coach Scott Satterfield.
The Cardinals are 5-7 in one-possession games (decided by eight points or less) since the start of the 2019 season.
Louisville has outgained its opponent in 24 of the last 36 games under head coach Scott Satterfield.
Louisville has won 20 of the 21 games it has outgained its opponent under Scott Satterfield.
The Cardinals are 19-2 under Herman when outrushing their opponents, and have won 13 of the last 15 instances.
UT’s defense has forced at least one turnover in 15 of its last 17 games. The Horns have forced at least one turnover in 32 of 39 games under Tom Herman.
Louisville is 15-1 under Scott Satterfield when leading at halftime, including a 6-1 mark in 2019.
The Cardinals have won six of seven games when holding the opposition to 20 or fewer points.
Tom Herman’s Texas teams are 4-0 when forcing at least three turnovers and are 17-6 when turning the ball over fewer than three times.
Junior QB Malik Cunningham has rushed for at least one touchdown in nine of Texas’ 11 games against ranked opponents since the start of the 2018 season.
Ehlinger has thrown for at least 200 yards in all 12 games this season.
Senior WR Devin Duvernay has made at least six catches in every game this season.
Duvernay has logged more than 80 receiving yards eight times this season, including seven 100-yard outings.
Sophomore LB Joseph Ossai has made at least eight tackles in seven of his last nine games.
THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
The Cardinals finished their eighth season in the Atlantic Coast Conference after joining the league for the start of the 2014 season.
Louisville owns an all-time mark of 28-30, with a mark of 7-1 in 2016 being the high-water mark.
BOWL ELIGIBILITY
The Cardinals are bowl-eligible for the 20th time in the last 25 years. The Cardinals weren’t selected to participate in a bowl game following a 6-6 season in 2007.
The Cardinals failed to qualify for the postseason in 2007-2009, and in 2018 and 2020.
HISTORY LESSON
The 2021 season marks the 103rd season of intercollegiate football at Louisville. It is the 76th-consecutive year in which Louisville has competed on the gridiron. The University did not field a team in either 1917-20 and 1943-45. The Cardinals own an all-time record of 532-487-17.
SCORE POINTS
In his three seasons as a head coach at Louisville, Scott Satterfield’s teams are 7-4 when his teams score 30-39 points, but have lost two in a row after losses to Wake Forest and Virginia when scoring over 30 points.
Satterfield’s teams are a perfect 6-0 when scoring between 40-49 points during his time with the Cardinals. Louisville defeated Syracuse 41-3 on Nov. 13.
Louisville is 3-0 when scoring more than 50 points in a game under Satterfield after the 62-22 win over Duke.
RUSHING TO SUCCESS
The Cardinals were one of the top rushing teams in the country, finishing the regular season ranked 21st nationally with an average of 211.3 yards per game. Louisville rushed for over 200 yards in six games and over 300 yards in two contests.
After averaging just 158.8 yards on the ground over the first four games, the Cardinals closed the year by averaging 237.6 yards during the final eight contests, including 331 yards against Boston College and 384 against Duke.
Louisville averaged 5.43 yards per carry over the course of the season, which was the seventh-best mark in the nation.
Satterfield’s teams have combined to average 208.4 yards on the ground during his first three seasons and have averaged 5.2 yards per carry.
The Cardinals averaged 212.8 yards during his first season at the helm of the U of L program.
VERSUS SERVICE ACADEMIES
Louisville is 8-3 versus United States service academies, including a 6-3 record versus Army and a 2-0 mark against Navy.
Louisville and Air Force are meeting for the first time in school history.
LOUISVILLE IN TEXAS
The Cardinals are 8-17 in games played in the state of Texas, including a 3-8 mark in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Louisville is 1-0 in neutral site games played in Texas, defeating Drake 34-20 in the 1958 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
STARTING OUT
Louisville has been productive in the first quarter this season, outscoring the opposition 114-77 in the first quarter this season.
Louisville has scored on its first possession in seven of the last nine games after not scoring on its initial possession in the first three contests.
After Kentucky opened the scoring on Nov. 27, the Cardinals immediately answered with a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive.
The second quarter was just as productive with the Cards holding a 107-79 scoring advantage.
SATTERFIELD 15-1 WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF
Under head coach Scott Satterfield, Louisville is 15-1 (.933 when leading at the half after taking a 35-9 lead into the break last Thursday’s game against Duke. Louisville owns a 70-12 lead in the last two games at the break.
Louisville has won all six games this season when taking a lead into the locker room.
The Cardinals own a 214-132 scoring advantage in the first half this season, including averaging 9.7 points per game in the first and second quarters. The Cardinals held a 35-9 lead at halftime against Duke.
The 35 points are the most in any half by the Cardinals since also scoring 35 against Syracuse in the opening half on Nov. 18, 2017. The 32-point lead is the largest halftime advantage for Louisville since leading by the same score versus Syracuse on Nov. 18, 2017.
Louisville has halftime leads exceeding 25 points in back-to-back games vs. FBS opponents for only the second time in program history. The previous pair of games were Nov. 27 and Dec. 4, 2004, when Louisville had halftime leads of 42-0 and 27-0 vs. Cincinnati and Tulane.
Louisville’s only loss under Satterfield came on Oct. 2, 2020 when they held a 21-14 advantage over Georgia Tech before falling 46-27.
RED ZONE SUCCESS
When the Cardinals get into the red one, it usually results in a score. The Cardinals enter the postseason rank 20th nationally in red zone conversions, converting 38-of-42 opportunities.
The Cardinals have converted 29 of those opportunities into touchdowns and nine have been field goals.
THAT’S OFFENSIVE
Entering the postseason, the Cardinals have put one of the most explosive offenses on the field, closing the regular season 20th in total offense averaging 450.2 yards. The Cardinals recorded four games of over 500 yards of total offense, including 687 yards in a win over Duke.
The 450.2 yards per game this season was the best mark in the three years under the direction of head coach Scott Satterfield.
The Cardinals averaged 6.7 yards per play, which stood 10th in the entire nation, and had eight games where they averaged better than 6.0 yards per play. Louisville averaged a school record 11.08 yards per play in a win over Duke, breaking the school record of 11.06 yards a play against Oregon State in 2005.
The Cardinals’ offense was taken to a different level in conference action, averaging 469.1 yards per game en route to a 4-4 league mark. The offensive showed big play ability by averaging 7.0 yards per play.
Over Satterfield’s three-year tenure, Louisville’s averaged 447.3 yards per game, ranking in the top 30 in all three seasons. Louisville finished 20th in the country this season and were 29th last season and 24th in 2019.
Louisville finished the regular season with 68 plays of 20 or more yards.
UNDER SATTERFIELD
In 36 games under Scott Satterfield, Louisville has scored over 40 points 10 times and has posted an 10-0 record when doing so.
Louisville has gone over 500 yards of total offense in 12 games under Satterfield and over 600 yards three times.
Louisville has four 300+ yard rushing games in the Satterfield era, two coming in 2019 and the 317 yards versus Virginia
Louisville has had eight 300+-yard passing games during the Satterfield era.
RUSH HOUR
Since Scott Satterfield’s initial season as Louisville’s head coach in 2019, the Cardinals have rushed for at least 200 yards on 19 occasions. Louisville is 10-9 in those contests.
During that span, the Cardinals have five games with at least 300 rushing yards and are 4-1 in those outings.
The Cardinals rushed for 384 yards in the win over Duke, its most since going for 411 against Syracuse on Nov. 18, 2017.
The Cards also piled up 370 yards and six touchdowns on 41 carries 9.0 avg.) in a 56-34 victory over Syracuse (Nov. 23, 2019) and the 331 yards versus Boston College on Oct. 23.
