2 p.m. | CBS
Sun Bowl El Paso, Texas
Louisville Cardinals Notes
STORYLINES
Cards To Make Second Sun Bowl Appearance:
The University of Louisville will make its second appearance in the Sun Bowl when the Cardinals take on Washington on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. at Sun Bowl Stadium. Louisville played its first bowl game at the Sun Bowl in 1958 when the Cards defeated Drake 34-20. Louisville reached the 2024 Sun Bowl after an 8-4 season, which ended with two wins in a row over Pitt and Kentucky to close the season.
Brown First True Freshman to Rush for 1,000 Yards in a Season:
Issac Brown broke UofL’s single-season freshman rushing record and became the first true freshman to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. Brown concluded the regular season with 1,074 yards, breaking Lamar Jackson’s freshman rushing record of 960 yards set in 2015. Brown enters the bowl season 30th in the nation in rushing and fourth in the ACC, while having the second-most yards by a freshman in the nation. The native of Homestead, Fla., was a second-team All-ACC running back after totaling five 100-yard rushing games, including a career best 178 yards and two scores in the 41-14 win over Kentucky. Brown recorded 11 rushing touchdowns, which ranked fifth in the ACC and totaled four games with multiple touchdowns, including two each in the last two contests. The rookie ranks 12th nationally in yards per carry at 7.31 and second nationally with six rushes of 40 or more yards. Brown also added 11 runs of 20 or more yards.
Defense Looking to Continue Trend:
The UofL defense has been up-and-down over the course of the season but has looked to establish its footing over the last two wins. In victories over Pittsburgh and Kentucky, the Cardinals are allowing 11.5 points per game after holding the Panthers to nine points and Kentucky to 14. In a 37-9 win over Pitt, the Cardinals held the Panthers to 265 yards of offense, which included 75 yards on the ground. Louisville limited Kentucky to 328 yards of total offense, which included 173 yards through the air. Over the two wins, the Cardinals recorded six interceptions — three coming in each of those games. Linebacker Stanquan Clark registered his first two career interceptions in the win over Pitt. Another linebacker, T.J. Quinn was credited with 13 tackles over that span.
MISSING CARDINALS
• The Cardinals will be without 22 players who have either opted out or entered the transfer portal in the Sun Bowl versus Washington. • Wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks, Ashton Gillotte, cornerback Quincy Riley and quarterback Tyler Shough all opted out to prepare for the NFL Draft. • Louisville has had 18 players enter the transfer portal this winter, three of which were considered starters in DL Jared Dawson, TE Jamari Johnson and S Devin Neal. • QB Brady Allen, RB Keyjuan Brown, WR Jimmy Calloway, DL MJ Campbell, RB Donald Chaney. OL Joe Crocker, DL: Ared Dawson, WR Jahlil McClain, LB Ben Perry, DL MAson Reiger, OL Madden Sanker, TE Jaleel Skinner, DB Jaiden Spearman, WR Jadon Thompson, RB Maurice Turner and CB Aaron Williams all entered the transfer portal this winter.
VERSUS THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE
• While Louisville has never faced Washington in football, the Cardinals have taken on several of the current members of the Big Ten Conference. Most obviously, the Cardinals have a long history against Big Ten foe Rutgers, which were members with the Cardinals in the Big East Conference. Louisville is 6-7 against the Scarlet Knights. • Louisville is 13-21-1 all-time against the current configuration of the Big Ten Conference and will face a Big Ten for the second-straight season. Louisville defeated Indiana 21-14 last year at Lucas Oil Stadium. • Louisville is 2-3 against Illinois; 1-2 vs. Indiana; 1-3 vs. Maryland; 0-2 vs. Ohio State; 0-2 vs. Penn State; 1-0-1 vs. Purdue and 0-1 vs. USC.
BOWL GAME DIVERSITY
• The Cardinals will play in the Sun Bowl for the second time in school history and the first time 1958 — the school’s first-ever bowl appearance. Louisville defeated Drake 34-20 in El Paso. • The Cardinals are making their 27th bowl appearance and are 12-13-1 all-time in the postseason. The Cards are 5-5 in their last 10 bowl games after dropping a 42-28 decision to USC in last season’s Holiday Bowl. • Louisville has appeared in 20 different bowl games, with the Liberty Bowl being the most attended bowl games at four. Louisville has been to only bowl games two or more times five times (Liberty, 4, Belk, 2, Gator 2, GMAC 2, Music City, 2). • Washington will be the 24th different bowl played during the bowl season and just the second against teams from the Big Ten Conference. Louisville defeated Michigan State 18-7 in the 1993 Liberty Bowl. • Since 1998, the Cardinals have been to a bowl game every year except five seasons (2007-09, 2018 and 2020.
SECOND SUN BOWL TRIP
• The Cardinals are making their second trip to the Sun Bowl when they face off against Washington on Dec. 24. Louisville’s first bowl appearance was the 1958 Sun Bowl game, which resulted in a 34-20 win over Drake. Louisville’s Ken Porco carried the ball 20 times for 119 yards and one touchdown in an MVP effort, after Lenny Lyles (their lead rusher of the season) was injured on the first play. The contest was played at Kidd Field in El Paso, Texas. Louisville rushed for 228 yards in the contest and was helped by a pair of Drake fumbles.
10TH SEASON IN ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
• Louisville finished its 10th season in the ACC, joining the league for the first time during the 2014 season. • Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014, the Cardinals have posted a 49-41 overall record, with a pair of 7-1 seasons over the course of its 10 seasons in the league, The Cards went 7-1 in 2016 under the prowess of Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson and in 2023 when the Cards advanced to their first ACC title game. Louisville fell 16-6 to Florida State in Charlotte, • The Cardinals are 29-16 all-time at home in the ACC and had won eight consecutive league games at L&N Stadium before losing back-to-back games to SMU on Oct. 5 and Miami on Oct. 19. • Louisville is 21-25 on the road in ACC games after winning four of its last five league road games after the disappointing 38-35 loss at Stanford. The Cards are 3-1 in ACC play this season on the road. • The Cardinals are 5-15 against ranked teams from the ACC. Louisville’s last ACC win over a ranked opponent was a 33-21 win at Clemson on Nov. 2
CARDS HAVE FACED THE NATION’S BEST
• Louisville finished the regular season at 8-4 despite facing one of the nation’s most difficult schedules. Louisville faced a slate that features four teams currently ranked in the top 20 nationally, including two programs in the top 10. Notre Dame is ranked fifth in the College Football Playoff Rankings and SMU is 10th. • Miami is ranked 13th and Clemson is 16th. The Cards defeated Clemson and lost one-score games to Notre, SMU and Miami. • Louisville played five teams that won nine or more games and three who have at least 10. • The combined record of Louisville’s FBS opponents was a solid 85-51 and three squads that were selected to the College Football Plays in Notre Dame, SMU and Clemson.
LOUISVILLE AGAINST RANKED FOES
• After Louisville defeated Clemson on Nov. 2, Louisville improved to 21-65-1 versus AP Top 25 teams, including an 11-18 record at home. Louisville is 5-38-1 against teams ranked in the top 25 on the road. • The Cards are 8-29-1 versus AP 10 top programs, posting a 6-10 record at home. The last win over a top 10 program was the 33-20 win over No. 10 Notre Dame last season. • Last season, the Cardinals defeated two AP ranked opponents in the same season for only the second time in school history when they knocked off No. 10 Notre Dame 33-20 and No. 20 Duke 23-0. • The shutout over Duke marked the first over a ranked opponent in school history.
Washington Huskies Notes
CARDS HAVE FACED THE NATION’S BEST
• Louisville finished the regular season at 8-4 despite facing one of the nation’s most difficult schedules. Louisville faced a slate that features four teams currently ranked in the top 20 nationally, including two programs in the top 10. Notre Dame is ranked fifth in the College Football Playoff Rankings and SMU is 10th. • Miami is ranked 13th and Clemson is 16th. The Cards defeated Clemson and lost one-score games to Notre, SMU and Miami. • Louisville played five teams that won nine or more games and three who have at least 10. • The combined record of Louisville’s FBS opponents was a solid 85-51 and three squads that were selected to the College Football Plays in Notre Dame, SMU and Clemson.
LOUISVILLE AGAINST RANKED FOES
• After Louisville defeated Clemson on Nov. 2, Louisville improved to 21-65-1 versus AP Top 25 teams, including an 11-18 record at home. Louisville is 5-38-1 against teams ranked in the top 25 on the road. • The Cards are 8-29-1 versus AP 10 top programs, posting a 6-10 record at home. The last win over a top 10 program was the 33-20 win over No. 10 Notre Dame last season. • Last season, the Cardinals defeated two AP ranked opponents in the same season for only the second time in school history when they knocked off No. 10 Notre Dame 33-20 and No. 20 Duke 23-0. • The shutout over Duke marked the first over a ranked opponent in school history.
UW VS. THE ACC:
While Washington has never faced Louisville in football, the Huskies have taken on a number of the current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Most obviously, the Huskies have a long history against ACC newcomers California and Stanford, as Washington spent more than a century in the same conference as those two schools. But the Huskies have faced a number of longer-tenured ACC teams. In all, of the 17 current football-playing members of the ACC, the Huskies have faced seven (including Stanford and Cal). In all, Washington is 112-92-8 all-time vs. current ACC programs. Of those 212 all-time games, 197 are vs. the Cal and Stanford.
BOWL GAME DIVERSITY:
Washington will be playing in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl for the fifth time. However, it has been 22 years since the Huskies last traveled to El Paso. Since that time, Washington experienced a bowl drought (2003-2009) that ended in 2010, when the Huskies beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl. Dating back to and including that Holiday Bowl, Washington has played in a bowl game in 13 of the last 15 years (all but 2020, when UW was eligible but opted out due to health reasons, and 2021, when the Huskies went 4-8). Over those 13 bowl games (including this year’s Sun Bowl), Washington has appeared in 11 DIFFERENT games, an unusual amount of diversity, given that most bowls have been tied to a given conference over that entire span. The Huskies have been to only two bowl games more than once in that stretch (Las Vegas following 2012 and 2019 seasons; Alamo following 2013 and 2022 seasons). Other bowl games in that stretch: Holiday, Fight Hunger, Cactus, Heart of Dallas, Peach, Fiesta, Rose, Sugar, and Sun.
