Defenses front and center as Toledo, Louisville tangle in Boca Raton Bowl

Two of college football's top defenses will be on display Tuesday in South Florida when the Louisville Cardinals and Toledo Rockets square off in the Boca Raton Bowl.

The Rockets (8-4), who have won four straight, ranked third nationally among Football Bowl Subdivision schools at the start of bowl season in allowing just 247.8 yards per game. The other teams in the top six made the College Football Playoff.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals (8-4) give up 300.3 yards per game, 15th best in FBS. Louisville is one of five teams to have defeated two CFP qualifiers.

Coach Jeff Brohm's Cardinals were among the teams battling for a playoff spot when the initial rankings came out in early November. However, a three-game losing streak quickly eroded those chances. The Cardinals did rebound in their regular-season finale, beating rival Kentucky 41-0 on Nov. 30.

Toledo lost at Kentucky 24-16 in its season opener on Aug. 30.

The Cardinals also weathered injuries to several key offensive players, such as running backs Isaac Brown (782 rushing yards, 8.6 yards per carry), Keyjuan Brown (592 yards, 7.3 ypc) and Duke Watson and wide receiver Chris Bell (72 catches, 917 yards) all missed games. The two Browns, both sophomores who are not related, top the ACC squad's depth chart heading into the bowl game. Watson and Bell, a senior who tore his ACL a month ago in the loss to SMU, are not listed.

Even starting quarterback Miller Moss (2,526 passing yards, 64% completions and 14 touchdowns) missed the SMU game because of a foot injury but returned the following week against Kentucky. The former Southern Cal signal caller remains listed as the starter on Louisville's depth chart, and Brohm told reporters on Wednesday he anticipates the senior playing.

Defensively, Rene Konga and Wes Bailey, two linemen who started all 12 regular-season games, opted out. However, other key players remain on the depth chart, including senior linebacker TJ Quinn (87 tackles, three sacks, two interceptions) and senior safety D'Angelo Hutchinson (79 tackles, five passes defended).

"It really doesn't matter who's in there," said Brohm. "We want to play a good brand of football and not beat ourselves and really be sound in what we're doing."

The key to winning may be whether Louisville's running game can succeed against a Rockets defense that gives up just 89.3 yards per game on the ground, eighth-best nationally. The Cardinals average more than five yards per carry and have racked up more than 200 yards rushing four times this season.

Toledo will be without head coach Jason Candle, who left to take the UConn job Dec. 6 after 11 seasons over which he had an 81-44 record.

Robert Weiner will serve as the Rockets' interim coach for the bowl game.

According to The Toledo Blade, three defensive starters - safety Braden Awls, linebacker Chris D'Appolonia and defensive end Malachi Davis - have opted out of the game. The paper also reported safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren (73 tackles, two interceptions), who earned placements on several All-America teams, has a leg strain, although he said he expects to play.

"I just want to finish the season with the guys. ... This is going to be my last game at Toledo, so I want to make it a memory and go out with a win," he told the newspaper.

The Rockets, who have won the Boca Raton Bowl in 2015 and 2022, may play redshirt freshman Kalieb Osborne (260 passing yards, 205 rushing yards in six games) at quarterback after senior Tucker Gleason (2,515 yards, 21 TDs) sustained an injury in the last game, a 21-3 win against Central Michigan on Nov. 29.

-Field Level Media