Safety Matt Elam and the Gators defense is one of the country's best. |
The 12 Days of BCS will provide you with everything you need to know for the five BCS games starting on New Year's Day. Each day will be a different subject finishing on New Year's Eve.
#3 Florida vs. #21 Louisville
A long, long, long time ago the Big East was a legitimate conference with such powerhouses as Virginia Tech, Miami and West Virginia, but since then they've not only fallen out of favor with the national voters, but with people in general. Louisville may be the class of the Big East, but they are barely so. Rutgers, Syracuse and Cincinnati all finished 5-2 in the Big East and Louisville happened to have the right tie breakers to get the conference's lone BCS berth.
The Cardinals are led by impressive sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who had a big season throwing for more than 3,400 yards and finished with a QB rating of 161.6. But outside of Bridgewater, Louisville doesn't present us with any other player that possesses a "Wow factor," no players that will scare Florida in anyway. That spells bad news against a freakishly good Florida defense and a team that may have been one victory over Georgia away from winning the SEC and playing in the National Championship.
Florida is good, very, very good. Its defense is probably the third best in the country and is laden with the same swarming athletes that Alabama has. Defensive tackle Shariff Floyd and safety Matt Elam have the potential to be seriously good NFL players, and the linebacking duo of Jelani Jenkins and Jonathan Bostic are big time play makers. This team allowed 20 points or more in only three of its 12 games and was tied for fifth in turnover differential.
Offensively they won't blow you away, but they benefit from a solid running game led by Mike Gillislee and quarterback Jeff Driskel. It's the sort of efficient offense that makes their great defense even more overwhelming. They only turned the ball over 12 times this season and rarely put themselves in bad positions.
I don't see how an untested Louisville team with a young quarterback can really compete with the likes of this complete Gators squad. Bridgewater will have his hands full in carrying this offense and I see the Florida defense making his life hell. Gators win big and, of course, they'll complain about why they should have been in the National Championship Game. Fortunately for them, this problem won't happen next year.
Gators 31, Louisville 3
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