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Louisville at Rutgers. Nov. 29, 2012. New York Giants cornerback Logan Ryan remembers it – and Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater – well.
Bridgewater played with a broken left wrist in that game and a severe ankle injury that caused him to hobble on the field. He could only take snaps out of the shotgun. He didn’t even start the game for Louisville but came in off the bench when the Cardinals saw their offense stall.
And yet Bridgewater, standing on one leg with one arm battered, led Louisville to a 20-17 victory and a BCS bowl berth. Ryan played in that game for Rutgers.
Ahead of Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos – Bridgewater is the starting quarterback for the Broncos after winning a training camp battle with Drew Lock – there are still stinging memories for Ryan of the gutsy performance put in by the then Louisville quarterback.
“I’ve been watching him over these last couple of days off. He’s a very smart quarterback, man. He beat me in Louisville- Rutgers nine years ago. He took a broken wrist, broken leg, whatever he had, he took a Sugar Bowl berth from us,” Ryan said on Monday when asked about the Broncos starting quarterback.
“Very smart guy, very cerebral, protects the ball I think a little better than Drew Lock, obviously, and I think that’s why he won the job. I think he’s going to protect the ball. They have good playmakers. I think his job is to distribute the ball to the playmakers and I think he has to do a good job of protecting the ball. I think he does that, cerebral guy, been in the league eight years. I’ve got a lot of respect for him going back to college.”
Bridgewater was a staggering 20-of-28 for 263 yards with two touchdowns in that game, which gave Louisville a share of the Big East title and a berth in the Sugar Bowl off tiebreakers.
Louisville beat No. 4 Florida 30-23 in the Sugar Bowl. They finished the season at No. 13.
The Scarlet Knights finished the season 9-4 after losing 13-10 to Virginia Tech 13-10 in the Russell Athletic Bowl.
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