By Derek DeBurger

Louisville puts the finishing touches on their 2024 season with a victory over the Washington Huskies in the Sun Bowl.

Louisville is now 2-0 all-time in their Sun Bowl appearances, and 2-0 against the Big Ten in bowl games.

The biggest story going into the game was the opt-out of star quarterback Tyler Shough. In his place, Harrison Bailey made his first start since 2020.

In addition to Shough, Quincy Riley and Ashton Gillotte also opted out of the matchup.

Shaking off the rust

Louisville got the opening kickoff, and the offense looked rough. Bailey threw two incompletions that easily could have been intercepted as the Cards only managed a three-and-out.

When Washington’s offense first hit the field, they had very similar woes. After a short run, a false start penalty and an incompletion, Demond Williams Jr. threw a pick on third down to Tahveon Nicholson.

Nicholson only had to go 21 yards to return the pick for a touchdown, putting Louisville up 7-0.

The Huskies then went three-and-out again, with Nicholson coming up with a huge tackle on third down. Unfortunately, Louisville’s offense was still asleep and went three-and-out again.

Washington then put together a quick drive of just three plays, but this time it ended with a 40-yard touchdown by Giles Jackson to tie the game. On the play, Jackson landed on top of Nicholson, knocking him out of the game.

The injury left the Cards down to their fourth- and fifth-string cornerbacks.

Louisville finally picked up their first first down of the game, but the drive still stalled and they were forced to punt. However, the defense held and Washington was forced into yet another three-and-out.

The offense for the Cardinals finally got going with Isaac Brown seeing some success in the running game. After getting down to the redzone, Caullin Lacy had an amazing nine-yard receiving touchdown to put the Cards back up by seven.

Louisville forced a punt on the Huskies’ next drive, and moved the ball well. But they got stopped on third down at midfield, and a failed run on fourth-and-one gave Washington the ball.

The Huskies then scored just one play later on a 49-yard touchdown from Williams Jr. to Jackson.

Louisville responded by continuing their ground attack, kicking their drive off with a 26-yard run by Brown. On a third-and-four, Bailey threw a great pass to Antonio Meeks to put the Cards back up 21-14.

Too bad for Louisville, the nerves had subsided and the points kept coming. Washington put together a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a rushing touchdown by Williams Jr.

That would be the final score of the half, and the game would be tied 21-21 at the break.

Back to basics

Washington received the second half kick, and put together a nice drive to start. However, Louisville was able to stop them after five minutes of moving the ball down the field.

Once they got the ball back, Louisville ate up over five minutes of their own on an 87-yard drive that was polished off with a wide open 21-yard touchdown catch from Nate Kurisky.

Washington failed to do anything their next drive, and the Cards took no time to grab control of the game with a two-play drive that involved a 54-yard run by Duke Watson and an eight-yard touchdown run by Lacy.

With Louisville now up 35-21, they entered a battle with the clock. Washington got a massive 42-yard gain to put them into field goal range on the first play of their drive, but the stalled out in their next three plays. To make matters worse, a needless unsportsmanlike penalty by the Huskies brought them back 15 yards and took them out of field goal range.

Good old-fashioned mayhem

The Cards got the ball at the start of the fourth quarter for their next drive, and while they didn’t score, they killed five minutes. Once they punted the ball back to Washington it was downed at the three-yard line with only 10 minutes for any comeback to take place.

Louisville then entered prevent defense to keep the ball in front of them and keep the clock moving.

It worked for a while, as the Huskies only reeled off small gains and lacked a sense of urgency. Then, on what was almost a major sack for the Cardinals defense, Williams Jr. made a miraculous play to avoid defenders and find Rashid Williams for a 19-yards gain.

Just one play later, Jackson would enter the endzone for his third touchdown of the game.

The Cards used their next drive to kill the clock, but a Washington timeout and an incomplete pass on third down saw only one minute run off the clock.

Washington started their final drive on a great note, picking up almost 15 yards on the punt return. The Huskies then quickly moved the ball down the field, getting into a goal-to-go situation with just over a minute left.

Louisville’s defense held, though, as they stopped Washington on four attempts to score, turning them over on downs with just under a minute left. But Louisville was called for a pass interference penalty, so Washington had a fresh set of downs.

Louisville’s defense again got into a fourth-and-goal situation, but the eighth attempt for the Huskies was the charm as Jackson caught his fourth touchdown of the game to bring the score to 35-34.

Washington head coach Jedd Fisch decided to win the game in regulation, calling for a two-point play.

Washington ran a similar play to the one that saw them score, but Antonio Watts made a phenomenal play by abandoning his man and swatting away the pass.

What ensued next was an explosion from the Louisville players, so much so that two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties were called on the Cards and enforced on the kickoff. This put the ball at Louisville’s own 35-yard line for the onside try, and a Washington recovery would instantly put them in position to kick a game-winning field goal.

On the onside try, the ball was skied into the air, bobbled and ultimately knocked out of bounds giving Louisville the possession and securing the victory.

Louisville walked away with a 35-34 win and the Sun Bowl trophy.

Still matters

While the value of bowl games may have changed, there’s not a soul among the Cardinals faithful that didn’t want this win badly.

Louisville ended their season on a high note after starting the year 4-3, going on a 5-1 run including Jeff Brohm’s first bowl win as Louisville’s head coach.

The win also gives some hope for the future, as the Cards were able to win the game with a large portion of their reserves starting. This shows the leaps and bounds the coaching staff has taken in increasing the team’s depth, and bodes well for the health of the program going forward.

However, there is clearly still work to do as the secondary has been gashed for the second bowl in a row. With a lot of corners and safety leaving the program, the staff will have a lot of work to do in the portal.

But for now, Bailey showed he can be a serviceable backup, throwing for a career-high three touchdowns.

Brown and Watson did what they’ve done all season long, combining for 182 yards on the ground.

Louisville ends the year at 9-4, and gathered 19 wins through Brohm’s first two seasons at the helm.

Photo Courtesy // Taris Smith, Louisville Athletics