No. 19 LSU and No. 15 Louisville meet in the Citrus Bowl early on New Year’s Eve.
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Louisville didn’t turn the ball over until the game was well in hand, but turnovers killed the Cards all season.
His performance was eclipsed only by the overpowering performance of the Tigers defense that completely shut down Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals. The Tigers also managed to contain Lamar Jackson and hold him to just 10-27 for 153 yards through the air and 33 yards rushing on 26 attempts.
Defensive end Tashawn Bower led the way defensively with three sacks, while linebacker Duke Riley had a team-high eight tackles with a fumble recovery. They were in the playoff conversation every week: Would U of L rise above Clemson, responsible for its only loss?
LSU: Now that the bowl season is over, the Ed Orgeron era begins in earnest.
“I didn’t get frustrated”, Jackson said. “They were working hard. That’s all I have to say about that”. LSU quarterback Danny Etling completed all three passes on the Tigers’ first scoring drive and finished it off with a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colin Jeter. UofL, one of the national leaders in third down conversions, was 0-for-13 on third downs going into the fourth quarter.
“When you give (defensive coordinator) Dave Aranda three weeks to prepare, he’s going to prepare”, said Orgeron once he stopped shaking it down with his players celebrating his first bowl win as permanent head coach. “And we got to do a better job”. ESPN is broadcasting the game, and had a graphic revealing that two of the players are out due to gunshot wounds. LSU was more physical, played with more goal and the Tigers were more prepared.
Louisville Football lost its first 3 games of 2015….and the last 3 games of 2016.
For LSU, this season was never truly about Leonard Fournette, who was hobbled with an ankle injury throughout the campaign.
“LSU is Army U so when one man goes down you’ve got to step up”, said Guice, who averaged 5.3 yards per carry.
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“They didn’t show us anything that we hadn’t seen on film, so we were really prepared for it”, senior defensive back Tre’Davious White added after his final game as a Tiger while donning a white, black and citrus-colored hat with “Champs” written across the front. Even when he got the offense moving, the Cardinals stalled inside the 10, as the Tigers kept coming up with goal line stands. A big part of that pass rush was LSU star sophomore Arden Key, who broke LSU’s single-season sacks record with his 12th.
