GMAC Bowl Capsule
December 16, 2002 | Football
By PAUL MONTELLA
AP Sports Writer
GMAC Bowl
Wednesday, Dec. 18
ESPN2
Marshall (10-2) vs. Louisville (7-5), 8 p.m.
Series Record
Louisville leads 16-10
Last Meeting
1998, Marshall 48, Louisville 29
Bowl Records
Marshall 4-2; Louisville 4-4-1.
Last Bowl Appearance
Marshall beat East Carolina 64-61 2OT in the 2001 GMAC Bowl; Louisville beat BYU 28-10 in the 2001 Liberty Bowl.
Common Opponents This Season
None.
Coaches
Bob Pruett, seventh season at Marshall (79-13); John L. Smith, fifth season at Louisville (41-20), 110-59-0 (14 years) career.
What To Look For
An air show between Marshall's Byron Leftwich and Louisville's Dave Ragone. Ragone was the Conference USA offensive player of the year for the third straight season. Leftwich is the two-time Mid-American Conference player of the year. Ragone and Leftwich were their conference's top offensive threats, combining for 6,706 yards and 49 touchdowns this season. Both have 27 career wins as starters. This pair, may be the first two QBs selected by the NFL in April.
Streaks, Stats and Notes
The teams have not met since 1998 when Marshall won its first-ever bowl game with a 48-29 victory in the Motor City Bowl. ... Louisville has appeared in five straight bowl games. ... Marshall has won sixth straight Mid-American championships and makes its sixth straight bowl appearance. ... Marshall averages 34.9 points per game, while Louisville averages 29.9. ... Louisville ended the regular season Nov. 30 with a 27-10 loss at Houston. ... Ragone, the winningest QB in Cardinals history, completed 55 percent of his passes for 2,687 yards and a C-USA-high 23 TDs. ... Senior WR-PR Damien Dorsey earned All-Conference honors (52 rec., 753 yds., 7 TDs and 15.4 avg., 1 TD). ... Broderick Clark, a redshirt freshman, was named C-USA's Special Teams Player of the Year after leading the nation in kick return average (34.1). ... Senior S Curry Burns and junior LB Rod Day both topped the 100-tackle mark this season. ... Louisville had the No. 2 defense in the conference (317.5 ypg.) ... Marshall comes into the game having won its last four. ... Marshall has the second best offense (507.6 ypg.) and the third best passing offense (379.6 ypg.) in the nation. ... Leftwich, the nation's leader in total offense (365.8 ypg.), completed 309 of 447 passes for 4,019 yards and 26 TDs. He is ranked second in passing (159.8 points), behind Iowa's Brad Banks (166.1 points) in the country. ... Denero Marriott was the top receiver in receptions with 76 receptions (856 yds., 6 TDs). Just behind Marriott was Josh Davis (73 rec., 1,165 yds, 5 TDs) and Darius Watts (68 rec., 998 yds., 12 TDs). ... Marshall had the top rated passing defense (157.8 ypg., 9 TDs) and the second-best total defense (340. ypg.) in the conference.
