Big Red Louie
Fansided

Three things to like and dislike about Louisville football’s bowl match-up

By Presley Meyer

JACKSONVILLE, FL - DECEMBER 30: Dee Smith #11 of the Louisville Cardinals reacts after making a tackle for loss in the first half of the TaxSlayer Bowl against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at EverBank Field on December 30, 2017 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL - DECEMBER 30: Dee Smith #11 of the Louisville Cardinals reacts after making a tackle for loss in the first half of the TaxSlayer Bowl against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at EverBank Field on December 30, 2017 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
NASHVILLE, TN – APRIL 28: General view of the Nashville Downtown skyline during the St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Nashville on April 28, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images for Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon)
NASHVILLE, TN – APRIL 28: General view of the Nashville Downtown skyline during the St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Nashville on April 28, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images for Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon) /

Like: The perfect bowl game for Cards fans

I’ll repeat it ad nauseam over the next three weeks but there’s seriously not many better bowls out there than the Music City Bowl.

Nashville has been a fun destination for bachelorette parties, weekend getaways, and now for Cards fans. Louisville already played in the Tennessee Titans’ Nissan Stadium in a neutral site game in September and the men’s basketball team visited nearby Bridgestone arena in November. Both times, Louisville fans flooded Broadway before and after the games and made a great trip out of it.

Like Louisville’s trip to the Music City Bowl in 2015, some of the festivities will take place in the Broadway area and honky tonkin and bar hopping is bound to happen throughout the day.

If you live in the Louisville area, Nashville is about a 3-4 hour drive, meaning it’s feasible to make the journey there and back in one day. It’s cost-effective and a fun little trip.

I’ve attended nearly every one of Louisville’s bowl games in the 2000s and besides the BCS games, the Belk Bowl and the Music City Bowl felt like the most well-put-together events.

For Louisville to land in Nashville in the last year of the Music City Bowl’s ACC affiliation is huge.

Dislike: Mississippi State has a top 20 rushing attack

You don’t need me to remind you and you don’t want me to remind you but the last time Louisville took the field, they gave up 517 rushing yards to rival Kentucky, including 284 yards and 4 touchdowns by Lynn Bowden Jr.  I promise you I won’t ever remind you of that again. Let’s never speak of it again. Got it? Got it. Good.

I say all of that to bring up the fact that Louisville’s defense was terrible in their final regular season of the game stopping the run and in about 20 days they’ll have to get back out there and try to stop a top 20 rushing team.

Despite being 6-6, Mississippi State has the nation’s 18th best rushing offense in 2019 averaging 226.9 yards per game behind the 13th leading rusher, Kylin Hill. With dual-threat quarterback’s Tommy Stevens (a player I once thought would be a good fit at Louisville) and Garrett Shrader and the dominant Hill, head coach Joe Moorhead has nearly completely turned to the running game this season and it’s been effective.

While the team has struggled in other areas (particularly in the passing game), the Bulldogs have dominated the ground each and every contest, finishing the final stretch of the season with at least 210 yards or more three out of four times.

Louisville’s defense was truly atrocious in their last contest allowing big plays left and right, mostly allowed due to miss tackles and poor execution. By the time the game rolls around, they’ll have had nearly a month off to rest their team while having plenty of time to get younger plays on the practice field and game ready.

Mississippi State is 100 percent going to plan to run the football down Louisville’s throat. The question is, can Louisville punch back.

Home/Louisville Cardinals News