University of Georgia Athletics
Richt, Bulldogs Excited to Face Louisville in Belk Bowl
December 07, 2014 | Football
ATHENS, Ga. --- On Sunday, the University of Georgia accepted an invitation to play Louisville in Charlotte's Belk Bowl on December 30. The No. 13 Bulldogs will face No. 20 Louisville for the first time in school history.
"We're thankful for an opportunity to play," head coach Mark Richt said on Sunday evening. "We're thankful to the Belk Bowl for giving us the opportunity, and we're looking forward to the opportunity to compete."
This will be Georgia's first trip to the Belk Bowl. Richt is excited about the "new experience" the bowl and city of Charlotte will provide. Apart from the game, highlights for the players will include attending a Hornets game and driving a racecar at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Louisville enters the game with a 9-3 record on the year and boasts the nation's sixth-ranked defense in the country. Their rush defense, ranked No. 3 nationally, has allowed only nine rushing touchdowns all year and an average of 93.7 rushing yards a game.
"We've got an awful lot of respect for Louisville and their program, and we know the great job that Coach (Bobby) Petrino is doing there in his second stint," Richt said. "We're certainly looking forward to the challenge of competing. From what I've seen of them, they've been outstanding. And when you do look at the statistical data, (it is) just very, very impressive. So they do a super job of a lot of things besides stopping the run."
Louisville's defensive coordinator, Todd Grantham, served in the same role for the Bulldogs from 2010-2013. He is in his first season at Louisville.
"I think it's going to be a great challenge to compete with Louisville, period," Richt said. "Certainly Todd has done a very, very good job there and the rest of his defensive staff. We're looking forward to the game."
Although facing off against a familiar coach will provide an extra element of competition, Richt said the team is excited to get back to studying film and preparing for one final game this season, regardless of the opponent.
"One thing we've done is we've competed extremely well every game," he said. "We're going to expect that from our guys and they expect it too. They like to play football and we're getting another chance to do that. Doing it in a great city like Charlotte will be a great experience for our guys."
The game will be broadcast on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. on December 30. This will be Georgia's 50th bowl game—sixth most of any team in the country. The Bulldogs' all-time bowl record is 27-19-3.
