Florida vs. Louisville – 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
The Gators were one of the nation’s biggest surprises this season.
They followed up a 7-6 mark in coach Will Muschamp’s debut season with an 11-1 record in 2012, highlighted by victories over Texas A&M, South Carolina, LSU and Florida State. And if USC had upset Notre Dame, Florida could possibly be playing for the national title.Florida’s turnaround was led by a smothering defense, which isn’t surprising considering Muschamp’s background. The Gators rank in the top six nationally in total defense, rush defense and scoring defense and have allowed opponents to throw just five touchdown passes. Safeties Matt Elam and Josh Evans, defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd and linebacker Jon Bostic have had career years. The Gators have one of the most productive rushing attacks in the country, led by Mike Gillislee. The senior running back has 1,104 yards on the ground and 10 touchdowns, averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Louisville linebackers will have to stop the screen passes from QB Jeff Driskel to Gillislee, as Gillislee has the speed to break short passes for a huge gains. Florida prides its self as a defensive team, and one of the major factors its secondary will face will be the difficult task of containing Bridgewater. Junior Matt Elam is a quick, hard-hitting safety that will try to stop Louisville's big plays. Elam was named to the Walter Camp Second-Team All-American Defense after he recorded 65 tackles, four interceptions and one sack this season. Florida will be without outside linebacker Jelani Jenkins, who went through surgery on his right foot after breaking a bone during the last game against Florida State.
There is one player on the Cardinals that would put fear in any team—Teddy Bridgewater.
Bridgewater has thrown for 3,452 yards with 25 touchdown passes. He is ranked sixth in the country in passing percentage at 69 percent. The
6'3" sophomore quarterback has had several Heisman-like performances
this season. Whether playing hurt or under pressure, there isn't a
quarterback in the country that has the poise like Bridgewater. Although
he will have a broken wrist on his non-throwing arm, the Gators will do
everything they can to contain the young quarterback. Louisville went into its regular-season finale at Rutgers without many
people giving the Cards much of a shot to win. Rutgers jumped out to a
14-3 lead. But Bridgewater refused to be denied. Playing through his
injuries, he led Louisville to a 20-17 comeback win to clinch the BCS
spot. Bridgewater ended up throwing for 3,452 yards, 25 touchdowns and
seven interceptions on the season and was one of the most efficient
quarterbacks in the entire nation. He may have been an unknown outside
the Big East before the season began; that is no longer the case. Bridgewater allowed his team to survive the loss of leading rusher Senorise Perry,
who tore his ACL against Syracuse and is out for the season. He allowed
his team to win games it struggled in for a large chunk of time. And he
allowed his team to survive some pretty shaky play on defense. It’s
safe to say that many expected Louisville to be better than it was
defensively this season, particularly up front. But for a majority of
the season, the Cardinals had a hard time consistently stopping the run
or consistently getting a pass rush going.I have a hard time thinking the Cardinals can pull this off, the Gators have survived the SEC and exceeded expectations this year. It could be a long night for Charlie Strong and his Cardinals.
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