"Floored" ida. Cards upset #3 Gators in Sugar Bowl 33-23

THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Louisville's fast start leaves Gators toothless

It is the biggest victory in Louisville football history.



The champ.

Just as Muhammad Ali shocked the world with a knockout over Sonny Liston in 1965 to claim the heavyweight boxing title, another Louisville legend -- the Charlie Strong coached Louisville football team -- shocked the world (as least the college football world) with a 10-point win over #3 Florida in Wednesday night's Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Make that Lou Orleans.

Ali was on hand to see the win. So was a 5 year old cancer patient from Louisville who wanted to see this game with only months possibly left in his young precious life. The champ is smiling. The young man has his belief renewed that miracles can happen.
 

Scoring on the first play from scrimmage in each half, the Cards dominated the air game behind the heroics of Teddy Bridgewater. The Cards shut down the Florida offense for the majority of the contest and pulls off the biggest BCS bowl upset quite possibly in history. They moved the unmovable object. They danced past the gator pit unscathed.  

A 14-point underdog, the #21 ranked Cards proved the Vegas odds-makers wrong...holding off a desperate Florida rally in the fourth quarter. Gator bait? Not tonight.

Sugar Bowl champs. Right here in Derby City.

Charlie wears a Sugar Bowl confetti wig.

A win that proves the ACC chose the right school. Another notch in the totem pole for the best college town in America. A righteous justification for the coach who had been a bridesmaid so very often in the quest for a head coaching job. A testimony that there is no better athletic director in college sports than Tom Jurich. 

Louisville Cardinals. L1C4. Big East 1 - SEC 0.

We'll return to our usual coverage of UofL women's sports Friday. Today's column is for Teddy Bridgewater and his mom, a breast cancer survivor. For Eli Rogers and his mom, an 11-year AIDS survivor. For the 20,000 fans who made the trek to New Orleans and for those who watched on TV or listened on radio. For an athletic director who gave a man a chance. For a coach who urged fans to "get on the train." A coach who believes that when you give your word, you keep it. A guy who turned down the money and the SEC. A guy who kept pointing to the Louisville fan section and telling the world that "this one is for those people up there" -- dressed in red and black.

Strong? Yeah, you betcha.

Arlo Guthrie wrote a song years ago about a train that rode the rails to New Orleans. "Riding on the City of New Orleans" came true tonight. And, to paraphrase Aerosmith...the train kept a rollin' all night long. Ozzy Osbourne sang about riding on the rails of a crazy train. The Cards have done all that and more with this win. The Cardinal Cannonball.

Down goes Frazier? How about down goes Florida? Gators, you just been "Carded"?

Teddy hits the deck on first UofL offensive play
but Florida ends up on mat in the end.

A win that few...except Cardinal fans...expected. A win that had ESPN announcers stunned, stammering and shuffling for material. A win for a young team that the pundits claimed achieved false success against a weak schedule. A team that would not be able to withstand Florida's vaunted defensive pressure according to the experts. Big East beating the SEC? Impossible...

How does 33 points taste, Florida?

Have some.

A win for the ages. And a victory for underdogs everywhere. A Sugar Bowl shocker.

The team will arrive at 3:30 today back at PJCS. IF you aren't working, go to greet them. A larger celebration is needed. Maybe over the weekend in the house where it started. The pizza oven.

Sugar?

How sweet it is.
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