Louisville Game Day - Russell Athletic Bowl

Dan E. Dangerously · Dec 28, 2013

After a four week layover, it's time for the 2013 Miami Hurricanes to wrap up their season against the Louisville Cardinals in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Get hyped.

For those of you who have no idea what a Russell Athletic Bowl (originally known as the Blockbuster Bowl) is, you might be surprised to learn that we've actually been in this bowl game several times before (in different stadiums even). In fact we've played in it three previous times before, but it was called something different each of those times. With this year being our fourth appearance, we are now second only to NC State (5) for most appearances all time in this particular bowl game. The last time was in 2009 when is was known as the Champs Sports Bowl. As you can see, they spared no expense on coming up with the new logo from the last time:

We lost to Wisconsin in that game 20-14 and it wasn't that close. Back in 1996 it was known as the Carquest Bowl, and we defeated UVA 31-21 behind the amazing play of Tremain Mack. Then two years later, with Edgerrin James playing in his final game, UM beat up on NC State 46-23 in the 1998 Micron PC Bowl.

Confession time:

I have to admit I was perfectly content with being a douchey mope throughout bowl season, signing day, and the entire offseason over the way the final month of the season went. That was until I saw this:

That is so friggin awesome. It brought me back into dopey fan mode again. It's little things like that which make me miss the Orange Bowl so much. Now I want to win more than anything. If they can switch out the midfield logo at Sun Life before every game, why can't they also switch out the endzone artwork as well? Another reason to quit being a mope is to acknowledge the fact that these guys have had to forgo multiple bowl opportunities for two years and now they finally get to enjoy themselves.

It's a mortal lock that Pat O'Donnell watched Captain Eo like six times this week. It's not just the players that have been making the most of their time in this bowl experience...the mascots of both teams have as well. Unlike the players who are being rewarded what they did on the field, I can't congratulate these exploits by Louie and Sebastian. I've seen funnier exchanges between Pat Collins and Pat Lawson Muse on my local NBC 4 station here in D.C. than that drivel passing as smack talk.

Where: Citrus Bowl

Who: Miami Hurricanes (9-3) vs. #18 Louisville Cardinals (11-1)

When: 6:45 pm/et

How:

Official message for this game:

Don't let these guys walk away Saturday night with a victory over Miami.

All Canes

I've seen it said over the past few weeks that no one player makes or breaks a recruiting class. That may be true. However, when those one or two players go to a team that you have to play against, and they play a big role in beating you, then that's a problem. Even more so when those players are local products in your back yard. I want these guys to walk away Saturday night feeling like the biggest chumps to ever walk the earth. Because if we don't beat them, then in their minds it validates everything that went into their decision making process to skip town. We need to get back to making kids regret not staying home. Otherwise the lame "join us or get beat by us" mantra people espouse is just some nonsensical thing losers who call into sports talk radio shows say.

Last time they met: September 16, 2006

[video=youtube;mOBsweq0ASU]www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOBsweq0ASU[/video]

What people were saying during the subsequent meltdown:

It looks like every Hurricane message board has buried this game away into the deep recesses of their minds just like I did. So I had to rummage through All Canes to find an old blog post to see what some of the initial thoughts were in the immediate aftermath from this game.

Canes305 said:
...If I could ask Larry Coker and Rich Olson a question today, it would be, “what was our game plan against Louisville?” This is the third week in a row I’ve watched the Canes and wondered what the **** that team is doing out there. You could SEE the Louisville game plan on both sides of the ball. Exploiting Miami’s man coverage on defense. Blitzing Kyle Wright from all angles – and mixing up which defenders they were going to rush. It kept a weak Hurricanes offensive line completely off balance. The Cards had a game plan, but a day later I still can’t tell you what Coker, Olson and Shannon drew up going into the biggest game of the season...

The last sentence tells you all you need to know about the Coker era.

Know your enemy: Card Chronicle

What they're saying:

Louisville's biggest advantages:

I couldn't find a defensive advantage for Miami. Technically the Hurricanes could find success in pass rush situations, where Teddy Bridgewater still takes some hits and ends like Anthony Chickillo, Shayon Green, and Ufomba Kamalu can get to the quarterback at times. But even that is a marginal advantage at best. The only thing stopping Louisville consistently will be Louisville, which has rather drastic advantages in most categories -- standard downs, passing downs, rushing, passing, and rushing line stats.

Louisville has suffered some injury issues at times on offense -- big-play receiver DeVante Parker missed a game and was limited in others, running backs Michael Dyer and Senorise Perry have been listed as questionable throughout December, and the right guard position has been shuffled all year because of injuries.

But it doesn't really seem to matter. Miami's defense has been an albatross all season, and if Louisville is protecting Bridgewater and getting anything out of the running game, the Cardinals will score into the 30s and, perhaps, beyond.

When Miami's offense fails, it fails quickly and drastically. For all of its explosiveness -- and make no mistake, Miami has a wonderfully explosive offense, even without Johnson -- the Hurricanes still have issues with three-and-outs (47th in First Down Rate) and turnovers (68th with 21 of them). If Louisville is able to stop Miami for some losses early in a set of downs, a flip of field position, either in the form of a quick punt or interception, could soon follow.

I sure hope this guy didn't spend too much time digging up stats to break down this game. He could've just read our board and come up with all that stuff.

Miami Notes

1. Morris wants to go out on top.
2. Miami is hoping for their first 10 win season in a decade.
3. Canes relishing every aspect of the bowl experience.

Louisville Notes

1. Louisville is anxious for this ACC preview.
2. The Cardinals' defense needs to prevent the big play.
3. Teddy Bridgewater is eager to face his hometown team.

Favorite Louisville related Image, Photoshop, Video or Gif:

Miami Roster Stuff

2 Deep Depth Chart (Has yet to release one)

[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #E0E0C7, colspan: 10"]Miami Injuries[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Date[/TH]
[TH]Pos[/TH]
[TH]Player[/TH]
[TH]Injury[/TH]
[TH]Status[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]12/25/13[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]WR[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Herb Waters[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Knee[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Doubtful[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12/10/13[/TD]
[TD]WR[/TD]
[TD]Phillip Dorsett[/TD]
[TD]Knee[/TD]
[TD]Probable
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]12/08/13[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]LB[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Alex Figueroa[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Arm[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Questionable[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12/08/13[/TD]
[TD]DB[/TD]
[TD]Ladarius Gunter[/TD]
[TD]Neck[/TD]
[TD]Questionable[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]11/26/13[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]DB[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Corn Elder[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Knee[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Out For Season
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11/25/13
[/TD]
[TD]DB[/TD]
[TD]Nate Dortch[/TD]
[TD]Knee[/TD]
[TD]Out For Season
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]11/03/13[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]RB[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Duke Johnson[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Ankle[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Out For Season[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]08/15/13[/TD]
[TD]OL[/TD]
[TD]Hunter Knighton[/TD]
[TD]Shoulder[/TD]
[TD]Out For Season[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Louisville Roster Stuff

2 Deep Depth Chart (Has yet to release one)

[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #E0E0C7, colspan: 10"]Louisville Injuries[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Date[/TH]
[TH]Pos[/TH]
[TH]Player[/TH]
[TH]Injury[/TH]
[TH]Status[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]12/27/13[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]LB[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]George Durant[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Undisclosed[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Doubtful[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]12/17/13[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]RB[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Michael Dyer[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Groin[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Out[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12/08/13[/TD]
[TD]DB[/TD]
[TD]Charles Gaines[/TD]
[TD]Knee[/TD]
[TD]Questionable[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]12/08/13[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]WR[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Kai De La Cruz[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Groin[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Questionable[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12/03/13[/TD]
[TD]LB[/TD]
[TD]Keith Brown[/TD]
[TD]Knee[/TD]
[TD]Out Indefinitely[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]09/03/13[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]RB[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Corvin Lamb[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Knee[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #FFFBF0"]Out Indefinitely[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]09/03/13[/TD]
[TD]TE[/TD]
[TD]Hunter Bowles[/TD]
[TD]Neck[/TD]
[TD]Out Indefinitely
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Game Day Character:

[video=youtube;1Vc_MNJj67A]www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vc_MNJj67A[/video]

Allons-y

Louisville Game Day - Russell Athletic Bowl

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