To make its postseason return, Miami won’t have to travel too far.
Same goes for a slew of families who want to see their kids play.
The Hurricanes (9-3) accepted an invitation to face Louisville (11-1) in the Russell Athletic Bowl, just 240 miles away at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. The game, Miami’s first bowl appearance since 2010, will kick off at 6:45 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28 and will be televised on ESPN.
“We’re excited to play so close to home and look forward to Hurricanes fans painting Orlando orange and green,” Miami athletic director Blake James said.
It should also be cardinal red and black. Louisville, which has 15 Miami natives on the roster, has almost as many South Florida-raised players (26) as the Hurricanes (39).
The most prominent of those: Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, a junior who threw for 3,523 yards and 28 touchdowns and one of the top prospects for the upcoming NFL draft. Bridgewater once gave his verbal commitment to former UM coach Randy Shannon while playing for Miami Northwestern High, but he backed off once Shannon was fired.
On Saturday, before his team’s bowl destination was known, Miami quarterback Stephen Morris and several teammates said they’d be excited about facing the Cards.
“It would be a great game,” said Morris, a Miami-Monsignor Pace grad who said he knows Bridgewater from high school all-star games. “Obviously, Louisville is a great program. Teddy’s a great quarterback as well. I think it’d be a big opportunity for two Miami kids to shine on the big stage.”
Speaking on a conference call Sunday evening, Louisville coach Charlie Strong said the number of South Florida players in the game was one of the many selling points. Strong spent three stints as an assistant coach at Florida, most recently from 2002-09.
“Playing a quality opponent in Miami is great for us,” Strong said. “We recruit that area heavily. … We’re trying to get to where Miami is at, when you talk about all the national titles.”
Strong’s defensive line coach, Clint Hurtt, is a former Hurricanes assistant who in October was penalized by the NCAA for his misdeeds while a UM assistant from 2006-09.
The on-field matchup will be a pairing of two potent offenses, but the defenses are a different story.
UM ranks 24th in the nation in points scored, while Louisville is 29th. But the Cardinals allow the nation’s third-fewest points (12.4) while the Hurricanes have given up more than double that. Miami is 77th overall in yards allowed, while Louisville is second.
The Cardinals scored a decisive 33-23 win over Florida in last season’s Sugar Bowl and appeared in position to return to a BCS bowl this year. Those hopes crashed Oct. 18 when they lost 38-35 at home to UCF.
Louisville, which joins the ACC next season, is scheduled to host the Hurricanes next fall. The Hurricanes and Cardinals are the only two teams scheduled for both a bowl and a 2014 regular-season game. UM, 9-1-1 all time against Louisville, was ranked 15th when it fell to 12th-ranked U of L in the teams’ last meeting (2006).
Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich called the bowl “a jump-start on the ACC” for his program.
Miami’s last trip to Orlando was for the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl — a 20-14 loss to Wisconsin. That game drew 56,000 for the third-highest attendance in the bowl’s history.
The Citrus Bowl, which has hosted high school state championships since 2007, holds 70,229. Last year’s game, in which Virginia Tech beat Rutgers 13-10 in overtime, drew 48,129 fans to the stadium and 3.9 million TV viewers.
The lowest ticket price Sunday evening on RussellAthleticBowl.com was $35.
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