EL PASO, Texas — Harrison Bailey is anticipated to begin at quarterback for Louisville within the Solar Bowl towards Washington, which implies there received’t be a ultimate journey to Texas for Tyler Shough earlier than he pursues an NFL profession.
Earlier than his ultimate school season with the Cardinals (8-4), Shough spent three injury-plagued years at Texas Tech following his switch from Oregon.
Shough’s opt-out of Tuesday’s sport towards the Huskies (6-6) opened the door for Bailey, who performed sparingly in coach Jeff Brohm’s first two seasons in a profession that began at Tennessee and continued at UNLV.
Whereas Louisville landed former Southern California QB Miller Moss within the switch portal, Brohm nonetheless sees the Solar Bowl as a 2025 audition for loads of his gamers.
“It’s important that they do play well if they want to get a position for next year,” Brohm stated. “They need to prove themselves in this football game, and we have to make decisions after that, according to how the game goes.”
The opposite key opt-outs for Louisville are 1,000-yard receiver Ja’Corey Brooks, defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte and Quincy Riley, who led the secondary with 9 go breakups and had two interceptions. They’re becoming a member of Shough in making ready for the NFL draft.
The portal didn’t have the identical influence on the Washington roster, however the Huskies did lose promising freshman linebacker Khmori Home, who transferred to North Carolina.
Freshman Demond Williams Jr. is anticipated to begin at QB for the Huskies after taking up for Will Rogers in a 49-21 loss to top-ranked Oregon within the regular-season finale.
“They are opportunities for players who gave a ton of blood, sweat and tears,” stated coach Jedd Fisch, who’s in his first season at Washington after main a turnaround at Arizona. “For some reason, we’ve decided that (bowls) are not as important, and I don’t agree. … If you have a chance to go play in a bowl game, it should be a championship mentality.”
Be careful for the run
With Shough and Brooks gone, Louisville is prone to lean on one of many nation’s prime freshman operating backs. Isaac Brown entered bowl season second amongst first-year backs with 1,074 yards to go along with 11 touchdowns. He has averaged 7.3 yards per carry. One other freshman, Duke Watson, has 514 yards and 7 TDs.
Offensively challenged
The Huskies entered bowl season a hundred and tenth nationally out of 134 groups by scoring a mean of twenty-two.5 factors a sport. However Williams, who got here with Fisch from Arizona, could have 1,000-yard rusher Jonah Coleman and Denzel Boston, who led Washington with 807 yards receiving. Coleman has 10 speeding TDs and Boston 9 receiving scores.
Historical past lesson
The primary assembly between Louisville and Washington can be the Cardinals’ first journey to the Solar Bowl because the college’s first-ever bowl sport in 1958, a 34-20 victory over Drake.
That was 5 years earlier than Solar Bowl Stadium opened, so the sport was at outdated Kidd Discipline on the UTEP campus. Kidd Discipline, which sits proper subsequent to the Solar Bowl, remains to be standing. It’s the house of UTEP observe and discipline.
Return to the Solar
The Huskies have been extra frequent contributors within the Solar Bowl however not since 2002, after they misplaced to Drew Brees-led Purdue 34-24. Washington has misplaced three consecutive Solar Bowl appearances since beating Texas 15-7 in its first in 1979.
