Football Countdown to Kickoff
December 29, 2017 | Football
The Cardinals and Bulldogs take the field for Saturday’s matchup at noon.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Louisville football wraps up the 2017 campaign with postseason play, taking on Mississippi State on Saturday in the TaxSlayer Bowl at noon in EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.
Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino and student-athletes Lamar Jackson and Chucky Williams spoke with the media on Friday to preview the matchup.
The teams are meeting for the fifth time in series history, with both programs winning two games apiece. Louisville and Mississippi State first met 1973, and the Cardinals have won the past two contests, most recently in 1976.
ESPN (Tom Hart, Jordan Rogers, Cole Cubelic) is broadcasting the game, while Louisville Sports Properties radio coverage on WHAS 840 AM begins at 10:30 a.m., featuring Paul Rogers, Alex Kupper, and Jody Demling.
Now that you have the details, it's time to start the Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – Jon Greenard is a half tackle for loss away from tying for TENTH (Dexter Heyman, Donovan Arp) on the school's single-season list. He currently has 15.5 tackles for loss in 12 games.
9 – Jaylen Smith is averaging 97.0 receiving yards per game, ranking NINTH nationally in the category. The junior has 53 catches for 873 yards and six touchdowns.
8 – Louisville is playing in its EIGHTH-consecutive bowl game, a streak that started in 2010. It is the second-longest streak in school history (1998-06).
7 – Louisville has won SEVEN of its last nine games played in Florida, included a 31-28 victory earlier this season over Florida State.
6 – Saturday marks Louisville's SIXTH postseason appearance in Florida, boasting a 3-2 mark in those bowl games (Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Gator Bowl, Orange Bowl, Russell Athletic Bowl).
5 – Louisville's defense has forced 20 turnovers this season, including 10 in the last FIVE games.
4 – Blanton Creque, who has 187 points, is FOUR shy of moving into fifth on the school's career list for points by a kicker.
3 – Louisville needs one rushing yard to crack the 3,000-yard plateau in a season for the THIRD time in school history. Notably, the Cardinals are 150 rushing yards shy of setting the school's single-season rushing record.
2 – Lamar Jackson needs 26 rushing yards and 129 passing yards to become the SECOND quarterback – joining Nevada's Colin Kaepernick (2007-10) in NCAA history to have career totals of 4,000 rushing yards and 9,000 passing yards.
1 – Louisville is the ONE school in the country that ranks in the top 15 in both rushing offense and passing offense. The Cardinals are averaging 310.6 yards in the air and 249.9 yards on the ground.
Enjoy the game and return to GoCards.com afterward for complete postgame coverage.
