By Missy Grimes
LOUISVILLE, Ky. –After an 8-4 season, which was highlighted with wins over Clemson and Kentucky, the University of Louisville will square off against the University of Washington in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in Sun Bowl Stadium on Dec. 31. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. ET on CBS.
This will be the second trip for the Cards to the Sun Bowl after beating Drake 34-20 in the 1958.
The Cardinals and Huskies will face off for the first time in school history. Washington finished the year at 6-6 in its first season in the Big Ten Conference.
The Huskies were led by quarterback Will Rogers, who threw for 2,514 yards and 14 touchdowns.
The Huskies will be making their 43rd bowl-game appearance, dating back to their first, the 1924 Rose Bowl. The Huskies have appeared in 16 different bowl games all-time and, over their last 13 bowls (counting this year’s Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl), have played in 11 different bowl games (UW twice played in the Alamo and Las Vegas Bowls during that span).
The Cardinals finished the regular season at 8-4 and closed the year with two wins over Pittsburgh and Kentucky. Louisville snapped its five-game losing streak to UK with a 41-14 win at Kroger Field.
Louisville opened the season with three-straight wins and finished at 5-3 in the ACC, which was highlighted by its first-ever win over Clemson in Death Valley.
The Cardinals were led by the three-headed monster of quarterback Tyler Shough, running back Isaac Brown and wide receiver Ja’Corey Brook, who became only the third trio in school history to pass for 3,000 yards, rush for 1,000 yards and total 1,000 receiving yards.
Shough, who is in his seventh season, threw for a career high 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns in all 12 games as a starter. He passed for over 300 yards four times and tossed multiple touchdowns in eight contests.
Brown, who was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie and Offensive Rookie of the Year, rushed for 1,074 yards and 11 touchdowns, becoming the first true freshman to run for over 1,000 yards in school history and broke Lamar Jackson’s freshman rushing record. The native of Homestead, Fla., recorded five 100-yard games and was named the Most Valuable Player after rushing for a career high 178 yards in the win over Kentucky.
A transfer from Alabama, Brooks became the 11thplayer in school history to record over 1,000 yards receiving after totaling 1,013 yards and nine touchdowns on 61 receptions.
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The Washington football team will play Louisville in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, Dec. 31, in El Paso, Texas, the Sun Bowl committee announced today.
The game will kick off at noon Mountain Time (11:00 a.m. Pacific) and will air on CBS television.
The Huskies will be making their fifth appearance in the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in the country. Washington and Louisville have never before met on the gridiron.
Washington first traveled to El Paso for a bowl game in 1979, when the Huskies beat Texas, 14-7. Following the 1986 season, the Dawgs lost to Alabama, 28-6, in El Paso. In 1995, the Huskies fell to Iowa, 38-18, and in the 2002 Sun Bowl, Purdue handed the Huskies a 34-24 loss on New Year’s Eve, reversing the score from the UW win over the Boilermakers in the Rose Bowl two seasons earlier.
The Huskies will be making their 43rd bowl-game appearance, dating back to their first, the 1924 Rose Bowl. The Dawgs have appeared in 16 different bowl games all-time and, over their last 13 bowls (counting this year’s Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl), have played in 11 different bowl games (UW twice played in the Alamo and Las Vegas Bowls during that span).
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