Bowl Games

BELK BOWL PREVIEW: LOUISVILLE vs. NC STATE

Cardinals looking for 8th win of season

By Raphielle Johnson

The Big East makes its first foray into the bowl season on Tuesday night as tri-champion Louisville (7-5, 5-2) takes on NC State (7-5, 4-4 ACC) in the Belk Bowl (8 PM, ESPN) in Charlotte. Big East Rookie of the Year Teddy Bridgewater has had a month of practice with offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, who took over the play calling duties after the fourth game of the season, and the hope that the time to fine-tune that wasn’t there when the change was made will benefit the Cardinals offensively. Both teams enter the game having played solid football to finish the year, with Louisville winning five of their last six and the Wolfpack three of their last four games.

Common Opponents
Cincinnati (Louisville: L 25-16; NC State: L 44-12)
North Carolina (Louisville: L 14-7; NC State: W 13-0)

Louisville vs. ACC in bowl games: 1-1
W over Wake Forest in 2007 Orange Bowl
L to Virginia Tech in 2006 Gator Bowl

Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (Photo Credit: Chris O'Meara/Associated Press)

NC State vs. Big East in bowl games: 2-3
W over West Virginia in 2010 Champs Sports Bowl
L to Rutgers in 2008 Papajohns.com Bowl
W over USF in 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl
L to Pittsburgh in 2001 Visit Florida Tangerine Bowl
L to Miami (FL) in 1998 Micron PC Bowl*
* – member of the Big East at the time of the game

All-Time Bowl Records
Louisville: 8-7 (won three of their last four bowls)
NC State: 13-11-1 (won four of their last five bowls)

Fans of powerful rushing attacks? If so, this may not be the game you’re looking forward to as neither team was particularly good at running the football this season. Louisville, despite returning Victor Anderson and Jeremy Wright from last year’s backfield (anchored by Bilal Powell), finished the regular season ranked 94th in rushing offense. NC State was even worse as they finished 107th nationally with an average of 108.2 rushing yards per game.

Junior James Washington led the way with 852 yards on the ground with his per game average (71 yards) ranking eighth in the ACC. He’s the closest thing to a feature back that NC State has, with redshirt freshman Tony Creecy ranking second on the team in rushing. Louisville has been among the nation’s best in rushing defense this season, ranking 10th nationally. Senior linebacker Dexter Heyman has been one of the key factors in the Cardinal defense, leading the team in both tackles and tackles for loss.

Louisville will be without the services of defensive end Greg Scruggs due to disciplinary actions taken in light of a reckless driving charge, but they should be fine up front as he was listed second on the pre-bowl depth chart. The key for the Cardinals will be to pressure NC State quarterback Mike Glennon, a 6-6 signal-caller who’s got a gun for an arm. Glennon threw 28 touchdown passes (2nd in the ACC) and his 2.677 yards of total offense is a mark that ranks 7th in school history. The redshirt junior completed 62.4% of his passes with 11 interceptions, and he’s got some good weapons to get the ball to.

The most acclaimed of those weapons would have to be Second Team All-ACC tight end George Bryan, the school’s all-time leading pass catcher at the position. Bryan finished the season with 30 receptions for 302 yards and four touchdowns, ranking fifth on the team in receptions. Wide receiver T.J. Graham led the team in receptions and is a dangerous big-play threat, having scored five receiving touchdowns and averaging 16.4 yards per catch.

Washington tied with Graham for the most receptions (39) on the team, so the Louisville linebackers will need to be aware of him especially in the screen game and the same goes for Creecy (25 for 157, 3 TD). Assisting Graham at wide receiver are fifth-year senior Jay Smith (36 for 573, 4 TD) and redshirt junior Tobias Palmer (35 for 448, 4 TD). NC State wasn’t “great” throwing the football as they ranked 52nd in passing offense, but they’re good enough to make defenses pay if assignments are missed. Florida transfer Adrian Bushell has been solid this season but opposite him is a freshman in Andrew Johnson, so he may be the target early on for the Wolfpack. Heyman leads the team in interceptions with three, meaning that the pass rush (32 sacks) will need to be up to par.

Louisville linebacker Dexter Heyman (Credit: Associated Press)

Offensively things haven’t always been pretty for Louisville this season, but as the year has progressed they did a better job of limiting mistakes. Bridgewater’s completed 66% of his passes for 1,855 yards and 12 touchdowns with nine interceptions, completing 19 of 28 for 241 yards and three touchdowns (no interceptions) in the regular season finale against USF. The move to Watson has paid off for Louisville in that regard, and once Bridgewater truly figures things out he’s going to be scary.

The Cardinals are a young team all around, especially at wide receiver. DeVante Parker (17 receptions for 276 yards, 6 TD) leads the team in touchdown receptions and could assume a larger role with Michaelee Harris out due to injury, and freshman Eli Rogers was second on the team in receptions and receiving yards (behind Harris in both categories). Also factoring into the rotation are Andrell Smith and Jarrett Davis, and they will alternate at the position left open by Harris’ injury. But there is some experience to call on in the form of senior tight end Josh Chichester (27 for 365, 2 TD) and senior wide receiver Josh Bellamy (19 for 182, 1 TD). Nine players caught at least ten passes this season for Louisville, which could make things tough for the NC State secondary.

However the Wolfpack do have the nation’s leader in interceptions in Thorpe Award finalist David Amerson, who picked off 11 passes and returned one for a score. NC State has picked off 24 passes this season, a mark that ranked tops in the ACC by a wide margin. But they will give up yards, as their 219.5 yards allowed per game was seventh in the ACC. There are just two juniors in the NC State two-deep, and with the attacking style of defense that defensive coordinator Mike Archer (and linebackers coach Jon Tenuta) prefers it’s no surprise that NC State defensive backs get ample chances to pick off passes.

The experience for NC State can be found in the front seven, where senior middle linebacker Audie Cole leads the way. Cole was second on the Wolfpack with 98 tackles, and his per game average ranked tenth in the ACC. Terrell Manning has also played well this season, but outside of Amerson the strength of this defense lies in the middle of the field. Safeties Earl Wolff (99 tackles) and Brandan Bishop are two of NC State’s top tacklers, and up front senior J.R. Sweezy is a tough matchup for opposing linemen. NC State has racked up 33 sacks, a number that ranks third in the ACC, and this could be an issue for a Louisville offensive line that’s allowed 36 sacks in 12 games.

In addition to the sack issue for Louisville, they’ll need to avoid losing the turnover battle against a team that led the ACC in turnover margin with a plus-14. Tom O’Brien’s team also doesn’t kill itself with penalties, as they were tops in the conference in penalty yards per game (32.8) and third in total number of penalties (52). Louisville on the other hand was the third-most penalized team in the Big East, which may have had something to do with their youth. In Chris Philpott the Cardinals have a solid kicker and the same can be said for NC State’s Niklas Sade (10-15 FG). Look for turnover margin (and points off of turnovers) to determine the outcome in Charlotte, as this is a matchup that on paper either team can win.

Prediction: Louisville 27-24

BIG EAST ANNOUNCES 2011-12 BOWL MATCHUPS

Mountaineers Discover Orange Bowl Bound

Press Release

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – West Virginia will face Clemson in the 2012 Discover Orange Bowl, marking the Mountaineers’ first appearance in a Bowl Championship Series game since 2007 and highlighting five bowl appearances by BIG EAST teams to cap the 2011 season.

West Virginia won a share of its record seventh BIG EAST title Thursday as the Mountaineers finished in a three-way tie for first in the final standings. The Mountaineers tied Louisville and Cincinnati for the top spot, but were awarded the BIG EAST’s automatic BCS bid based on the league’s tie-breaking procedure. Each team went 1-1 against the other tied teams, giving the bid to West Virginia as the highest ranked of the three teams in the final BCS standings.

WVU quarterback Geno Smith (Photo Credit: Dan Friend/MSN SportsNet)

West Virginia will face Clemson, the ACC champion, Jan. 4 at 8:30 p.m. ET at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on ESPN. It will be the 31st bowl appearance for the Mountaineers, and their first trip to the Discover Orange Bowl. It is also will be just the second meeting between West Virginia and Clemson and their first since the 1989 Gator Bowl.

The Belk Bowl selected Louisville as this year’s BIG EAST representative, sending the Cardinals to Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., for the first time. Louisville went 7-5 overall and 5-2 in BIG EAST play, tying for the BIG EAST title. Louisville enters the postseason having won six of its last seven games. The Cardinals will face North Carolina State (7-5, 4-4 ACC) Dec. 27 at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Louisville is 3-0 all-time against the Wolfpack, though the Belk Bowl will be the first postseason meeting for the schools.

Rutgers returns to the postseason after a one-year absence as the Scarlet Knights were selected to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. The Scarlet Knights, who went 8-4 overall and 4-3 in the BIG EAST will make their sixth bowl appearance in the past seven seasons, after playing in just one bowl game in their history prior to the current stretch. Rutgers will face Iowa State (6-6, 3-6 Big 12) Dec. 30 at 3:20 p.m. on ESPN. It will be the first meeting between the schools.

Cincinnati, which went 9-3 and won a share of the BIG EAST title at 5-2, was chosen for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tenn. The Bearcats, who have won at least a share of three of the last four BIG EAST championships, will face Vanderbilt Dec. 31 at 3:30 p.m. on ABC. It will be the first meeting between those teams since 1980 as the Bearcats look to even the all-time series at 4-4.

Pittsburgh was chosen for the BBVA Compass Bowl at Legions Field in Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 7, when the Panthers will face SMU. Pittsburgh went 6-6 in the regular season and was 4-3 in the BIG EAST. The Panthers, who defeated Kentucky in Birmingham last year, look to extend the BIG EAST representative’s record to 6-0 in the BBVA Compass Bowl. The Panthers will face a Mustang squad that was 7-5 overall and 5-3 in Conference USA. The schools last met in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day in 1983.

The BIG EAST is a combined 20-8 in bowl games in the past five seasons. Visit www.BIGEASTBowlCentral.com for more information on the BIG EAST bowl lineup.

2011-12 BIG EAST BOWL SCHEDULE

Belk Bowl • Dec. 27
Louisville vs. North Carolina State 8 p.m.
Television: ESPN
Series: Louisville leads, 3-0
Last Meeting: Sept. 27, 2007 — Louisville, 27-10

New Era Pinstripe Bowl • Dec. 30
Rutgers vs. Iowa State 3:20 p.m.
Television: ESPN
Series: First meeting

AutoZone Liberty Bowl • Dec. 31
Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt 3:30 p.m.
Television: ABC
Series: Vanderbilt leads, 4-3
Last Meeting: Oct. 4, 1980 — Vanderbilt, 23-6

Discover Orange Bowl • Jan. 4
West Virginia vs. Clemson 8:30 p.m.
Television: ESPN
Series: Clemson leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Dec. 30, 1989 — Clemson, 27-7

BBVA Compass Bowl • Jan. 7
Pittsburgh vs. SMU 1 p.m.
Television: ESPN
Series: Tied, 2-2-1
Last Meeting: Jan. 1, 1983 — SMU, 7-3