A lot of things have changed for Jeff Brohm and the Louisville Cardinals as they head into the 2024 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. He’s having to compete against Jedd Fisch and the Washington Huskies without having the services of several key players, including his starting quarterback (who threw for over 3000 yards this season) and his team’s leading wide receiver who had over 1,000 receiving yards.
The Cardinals (and generally most of Brohm’s teams) are known for the offense that they have. They score a lot of points, are fun to watch (assuming you’re not rooting for the defense that is trying to slow them down), and they make things challenging for opposing teams.
The ACC has really experienced that the past couple seasons as Brohm has accumulated an overall record of 18-8.
But, as the Cardinals get set to take on Washington, they’ll be approaching this bowl game with a slightly different offensive identity. More than likely, it seems as if the Cardinals are really going to rely upon their running game to keep the offense rolling right along.
Washington Huskies defense will need to watch out for Louisville running back Duke Watson during 2024 Sun Bowl
And while we’ve already discussed one huge element in Louisville’s rushing attack in Isaac Bruce, we haven’t spent enough time talking about the danger that Duke Watson can pose to the Huskies run defense.
Watson has been a dynamic runner who is terrifying to try to stop. He’s gained 514 rushing yards on the season and has managed to score seven touchdowns. That’s great for a team to have as a second option when it comes to running the ball.
Oh, and it’s worth noting that Watson has accomplished all of that on just 57 carries this season.
Watson hasn’t been the feature back for the Cardinals and he hasn’t seen the sort of usage that he probably deserves given the logjam of offensive talent that Louisville has had this season. But given the way UL’s offense has lost some key contributors, it seems more than plausible that Watson will play a huge role in the Cardinals game plan against Washington.