Louisville Football now has its bowl destination. The Cards will travel to Dallas to take on Air Force in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. This will be the first meeting between the schools.
See ya soon @FRBowl!
— Louisville Football (@UofLFootball) December 5, 2021
đź“°: https://t.co/M5Mo9WH3TY#GoCards pic.twitter.com/s5bIV7OgSM
The Falcons will enter the game 8-3 and are coming off a 48-14 victory in which they rushed for 511 yards. The Cards enter the game 6-6 and an unfortunate loss to their arch rival uk.
For the most part, UofL has done very well against primarily rushing teams. Against rush-heavy Syracuse, they held them to 138 yards rushing and trounced them 41-3. However, Air Force is a different animal. They are one of the few triple-option teams left in FBS football. With a few weeks to prepare, UofL should have a good chance to have the defense prepared to stop the Falcon’s offense.
Offensively, Louisville should be able to make some hay in the passing game. Air Force has been susceptible to good passing attacks and UofL has had a good one, for the most part, throughout the year. The Falcons also have issues with balanced offenses and give up some yards on the ground. Offensively, the Cards should be able to score against the Falcons defense.
The First Responder Bowl takes place in Dallas, TX takes place on December 28th. Kickoff is set for 3:15 pm from Gerald R. Ford Stadium. For more details on the bowl game and for information on tickets, read the press release below.
Press Releases From UofL Athletics:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville has accepted a bid to play Air Force in the 2021 ServPro First Responder Bowl in Dallas, Texas., on Dec. 28 at Gerald Ford Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 3:15 p.m. (EST) and will be televised by ESPN.
This will be Louisville’s first appearance in the First Responder Bowl. This will be Louisville’s first appearance in a bowl since defeating Mississippi State 38-28 in the 2019 Music City Bowl.
The Cardinals, who are 6-6 overall and 4-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, closed the 2021 regular season by winning two of their final three games, with wins coming over Syracuse and Duke.
The Cardinals have been one of the top offensive units in the country by displaying a balanced offense. On the ground, UofLenters the postseason ranked 20thnationally at 211.3 yards per game. The Cardinals have been solid through the air at 238.9 yards per game.
Collectively, the Cardinals rank 20th in the country in total offense at 450.3 yards per game, including a season best 687 yards in a win over Duke on Nov. 18.
The offense has been led by quarterback Malik Cunningham, who has accounted for an average of 308.2 yards per game of total offense and 37 touchdowns this season. The native of Montgomery, Ala., has rushed for 968 yards – the national best among quarterbacks — and 19 touchdowns and needs 32 yards to become the second quarterback in school history to reach the 1,000-yard mark. The redshirt junior has also passed for 2,734 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Tight end Marshon Ford, a third team all-ACC selection, led the Cardinals with 47 receptions for 530 yards and two touchdowns this season and enters the game by catching a pass in 22-straight games.
Defensively, the Cardinals have given up an average of 156.7 yards on the ground and 401.8 yards per game this season.
Outside linebacker Yasir Abdullah, a second team all-ACC performer, led the Cardinals with 9.0 sacks, the most by a UofLplayer since 2015. Linebacker C.J. Avery led the Cardinals with 87 tackles followed by safeties Qwynnterrio Cole and Kenderick Duncan, who have 78 and 77 stops respectively.
Louisville and Air Force will meet for the first time in school history when the two teams square off in postseason play. It will be the first game for the Cardinals against a military academy since facing Army in 2004.
The Falcons finished the regular season at 9-3 and 6-2 in the Mountain West Conference and enter the postseason on a three-game winning streak. Air Force leads the nation in rushing at 342.0 yards per game and has the nation’s 10th-best running back in Brad Roberts, who averages 107.0 yards per game.
Louisville has a rich bowl tradition. The Cardinals hold an 11-11-1 bowl record and are making their 19th postseason appearance over the last 24 seasons. Head coach Scott Satterfield, the 2019 ACC Coach of the Year, will lead a team to a bowl game for the sixth time in his career.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Tickets can be purchased immediately for the University of Louisville’s First Responder Bowl game versus Air Force on Dec. 28 in Dallas, Texas, at Gerald Ford Stadium.
Tickets in the UofL team allotment can be purchased for as low as $40 at https://uofl.me/2021FBBowlTIX. There are also tickets available for $60, $80 and $100.
Student tickets are priced at $20 and can be purchased athttps://uofl.me/2021FBBowlStudentTIX
Additional information for the game can be found at https://GoCards.com/Bowlcentral
The Cardinals finished the regular season at 6-6, while the Falcons come into the game at 9-3. Kickoff is slated for 3:15 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN.
