U of L's Dyer ruled ineligible for Belk Bowl

The University of Louisville football team will be without running back Michael Dyer when it takes on Georgia next week in the Belk Bowl, the school announced Tuesday night.

Dyer, a senior who's second on the team in rushing yards, is not academically eligible to play in the Dec. 30 bowl game in Charlotte, N.C.

The change in Dyer's status hurts Louisville's offense. Dyer had 110 carries for 481 yards this season despite missing the first three games of the season because of a thigh bruise.

He scored five rushing touchdowns and ran for 100-plus yards in back-to-back games against NC State and FSU, but he'd seemingly lost some of his momentum in the final three games of the regular season.

Sophomore Brandon Radcliff, the team's leading rusher, took back the lead rusher role in Dyer's place.

The news also derails what had been Dyer's most successful year since transferring from Auburn to Arkansas State after the 2011 season.

He missed most of the 2013 season at U of L because of nagging injuries, and he was dismissed from Arkansas State before the 2012 campaign began.