SPORTS

Miami player says U of L disrespected Canes

Jeff Greer
@jeffgreer_cj
Louisville's Devante Parker stands over Miami's Artie Burns after scoring the Cards first touchdown in the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando.

Did Louisville disrespect Miami during the Russell Athletic Bowl at the end of last season?

That's what Miami cornerback Cornelius Elder told the Miami Herald for a story posted Wednesday on the Herald's website. Elder, who missed the bowl game with a torn meniscus in his knee, said the memory of U of L quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's throat-slitting motion and mocking "U" hand signal toward the Miami bench still stings the Hurricanes.

"Honestly, I just remember them trying to run the score up — just disrespecting us pretty much," Elder told the Herald. "I just feel like they were out there talking a lot of trash or what not because they've got a lot players on their team from here [in South Florida]. It's a competition thing."

Louisville had 23 players from the Palm Beach-Broward-Miami metro area on its roster last season, including Bridgewater, a Miami native. The Cards spoke at length in the build-up to the bowl game about playing the team many of them grew up watching.

Beating the Canes 36-9 in that game paired with a 33-23 win over Florida in the Sugar Bowl a season earlier gave Louisville back-to-back confidence-boosting bowl wins ahead of its move into the Atlantic Coast Conference.

And now, in the Cards' first ACC game, they get a rematch with the 'Canes.

"First game, they're new into the conference, we ended last year with a loss to them," Elder said. "Playing against the team you lost to in your last game — that's a good thing."

Miami linebacker Denzel Perryman had some choice words for Louisville during the ACC Football Kickoff last month, too.

"Nobody likes to be embarrassed," he said. "Just to start with them is going to be good. It's going to be great. It's a rematch. I'm 0-1 against those guys. I ain't going 0-2."

But this Louisville team keeps reiterating that everything is new and different. The Cards have a new coach in Bobby Petrino, a new quarterback in Will Gardner and 10 new starters.

Petrino was asked on Monday if he'd rather be coaching the team that lost the bowl game last winter.

"No, I'd rather be coaching the team I'm coaching right now," he said. "I wasn't part of that (bowl game), either. That's the thing we've tried to make sure -- these are two completely different teams. Different offense, different defense, different quarterback, they have the same defensive coordinator and some of the same guys back on defense, but it's a totally different team. It's going to be a battle."