Louisville-Miami Postgame Notes - 2013 Russell Athletic Bowl
December 28, 2013 | Football
Dec. 28, 2013
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Florida Citrus Bowl - Orlando, Fla.
#16 Louisville 36, #25 Miami (Fla.) 9
LOUISVILLE TEAM NOTES
- Louisville game captains were senior wide receiver Damian Copeland and senior safety Hakeem Smith.
- Saturday's official attendance at the Russell Athletic Bowl was 51,098.
- With the win, Louisville improved to 12-1 overall matching the school record for wins in a season first accomplished in 2006.
- The Cardinals have won back-to-back games against the Hurricanes by a combined score of 67-16. Overall, Louisville trails 9-2-1 all-time in the series with Miami. The two teams are slated to play as ACC foes in 2014.
- Louisville has won four of its last five bowl games and is 9-8-1 all-time in bowl games.
- The 27-point margin equaled the largest bowl victory in Louisville history matching the 34-7 win over Alabama in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl.
- The Cardinals are 3-1 in bowl games under the guidance of head coach Charlie Strong, including back-to-back wins over opponents from the Sunshine State. Strong is the first Louisville coach to earn three bowl victories.
- Louisville is 3-1 in bowl games played in the state of Florida with wins in the 2010 Beef `O' Brady's Bowl (31-28, Southern Miss) and 2007 Orange Bowl (24-13, Wake Forest).
- Louisville did not allow a first quarter touchdown in any of its 13 games this season. Overall, the Cardinals finished 2013 with a 102-8 scoring advantage in the first quarter.
- The 554 yards of offense is the second highest total of the season for Louisville trailing only the 615 yards against Ohio in the season-opening win over Ohio.
- One of the nation's best teams against the run this season, the Cardinals limited Miami to only 14 yards (on 28 carries), a season-low for the Hurricanes. It marked the third time this season Louisville has held an opponent to less than 15 yards on the ground as a team.
- The 45 pass attempts for Louisville was a season-high and the most overall since throwing it 65 times in a triple overtime loss to UConn on Nov. 24, 2012.
- Entering the bowl season leading the nation in sacks with 39 and sacks per game at 3.25, Louisville had four on Saturday night.
- The 174 yards of offense for Miami was the third fewest total yards allowed by Louisville in a game this season and the fourth time the Cardinals have held an opponent to less than 200 yards.
LOUISVILLE PLAYER NOTES
- Junior quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was named as the Most Valuable Player of the Russell Athletic Bowl after throwing for a career-best 447 yards (third career 400-yard passing game) on 35-of-45 passing and three scoring throws. He also ran for a touchdown. It was the second time Bridgewater has been honored as the top performer in a bowl game after being chosen as the MVP of last season's Sugar Bowl victory over Florida.
- The 447 yards passing for Bridgewater ranks as the eighth best single game passing total in school history and most since Brian Brohm threw for 467 against Utah in 2007.
- With his 24-yard touchdown pass to Senorise Perry in the third quarter, Bridgewater set a new Louisville record for single season touchdown passes with 31 surpassing the previous record of 30 set by Brohm in 2007.
- Bridgewater also set a new career high for single season passing yards finishing 2013 with 3,970 yards, the third highest total in school history.
- Bridgewater threw for more than 300 yards for the seventh time this season and the 13th time in his collegiate career.
- The 35 completions for Bridgewater were a season high and just one shy of his career best of 36.
- Senior safety Hakeem Smith made his school record setting 51st consecutive start breaking the previous Louisville record of 50 straight starts by Travis Leffew (2002-05).
- With his 21-yard reception in the first quarter of Saturday's game, senior Damian Copeland has caught a pass in 26 straight games dating back to the start of the 2012 season. He finished the game with six catches for 90 yards
- With his three first half field goals, sophomore John Wallace moved from fifth place to a tie for third place on the Cardinals' career made field goals list with 36 (on 45 attempts). He surpassed David Akers (1993-96), who was fourth with 34 made field goals and equaled Ron Bell (1987-90).
- Wallace also set a Louisville bowl record with his three field goals surpassing his previous school record of two in last year's Sugar Bowl win over Florida.
- With his 26-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter, junior DeVante Parker equaled the school record for touchdown catches in a season with his 12th matching the total first set by Ibn Green in 1998.
- Parker earned his fifth 100-yard receiving game of the season finishing with a season-high 142 yards on nine catches.
- With 1,920 career receiving yards in his three seasons, Parker is ranked ninth on the Cardinals' career leaderboard.
- With two sacks on Saturday night, senior defensive end Marcus Smith moved into sole possession of seventh on the Cardinals' career sacks leaderboard with 24 overall. The 24 career sacks for Smith surpasses the 23 for Marcus Jones from 2001-04.
- Senior linebacker Preston Brown had a team-high seven tackles to lead the Cardinals and finishes his Louisville career with 301 tackles overall. He led the Cardinals in tackles in 2013 with 95 overall.
Players Mentioned
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