Louisville Cardinals wide receiver DeVante Parker (9) and running back Corvin Lamb (20) celebrates a touchdown against the Florida Gators during the second quarter of the Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. (Photo: Crystal LoGiudice, USA TODAY Sports) NEW ORLEANS - The last three BCS bowls Charlie Strong coached in as the Florida defensive coordinator his units gave up 14, 14 and 24 points with a pair of national titles in 2006 and 2008. On Wednesday, Strong gave it his first try as a head coach - and reminded the Gators how much he enjoys big games. The same is true for Cardinals quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who completed 20 of 32 passes for 266 yards and a pair of TD passes to lead the Cardinals to a 33-23 win against Florida in the Sugar Bowl. BOX SCORE: Louisville 33, Florida 23 It was the most points the Gators have given up in this season and the most allowed in a bowl game since a 41-35 loss to Michigan in the Outback Bowl after Tim Tebow's 2007 Heisman Trophy season - also the last time UF lost a bowl, coming into Wednesday with a four-year winning streak. Cards fans chanted "Charlie, Charlie'' and "overrated, overrated'' in the closing seconds. It wasn't just that Louisville won, it was the shocking fashion in which the Cards, representing the Big East but headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference most likely by the 2014 season, dominated the game. The only real highlights for Florida came late in a game that didn't really reflect how lopsided it was on the scoreboard. A 100-yard kickoff return by Andre Debose in the fourth quarter with the game well out of hand, the longest return in Sugar Bowl history, and a late drive finished off by a 5-yard pass from Jeff Driskel (16 of 29 for 175 yards) to Kent Taylor with 2:13 left in the game. GATORS: Tebow on sidelines for Sugar Bowl Louisville (11-2) on the other hand struck fast and hard. The Cards scored two of their touchdowns in the first 15 seconds of the first half and the first eight seconds of the second half. Those 23 seconds produced enough points for a victory. The remaining 59-plus minutes produced mostly a lot of celebrating by the Cardinals' fans that dominated the Superdome all night. Louisville, which did not punt until 6:07 was left in the game, couldn't have asked for a better start - taking a page out of Florida's playbook for coming up with huge defensive plays. On the first play from scrimmage, Driskel's pass was tipped by Debose into the hands of Cardinals defensive back Terrell Floyd, who ran 38 yards untouched for the opening touchdown just 15 seconds into the contest. And Louisville was ahead to stay. Floyd's third interception of the season was also the first defensive score of the year for Louisville. The score was also the first time the Sugar Bowl opened with a defensive score on the first play since Fordham's 2-0 wih against Missouri in 1942. Disaster came in many ways for UF. BOWL SCHEDULE: Full list of dates, times and results Trailing 24-10 at the half, Florida (11-2) tried an onsides kick to open the third quarter and it was more disaster. Louisville's Andrell Smith fell on the ball at the UF 49 for the Cards. But UF's Loucheiz Purifoy was called for a personal foul on the play and the Gators picked up a second 15-yard penalty when special teams standout Chris Johnson threw a punch at the end of the play and was ejected from the game. The two penalties gave Louisville the ball at the Florida 19 and Bridgewater hooked up with Damian Copeland on the very first play for his second touchdown pass of the game, and 27th of the season, that made it 30-10. It only got worse for Florida. Purifoy was taken into the locker room with a leg or ankle injury on the ensuing kickoff. The Gators managed just 11 yards in the the third quarter as Driskel was pounded when throwing and the running game was shut down as well. Florida finally got inside the red zone early in the fourth quarter only to have Driskel, who was intercepted three times all season, threw his second pick of the night. It was a game where the team that looked like it should have been considered for a spot in the national title game was actually Louisville, not the Gators _ No. 3 in the BCS rankings when bowls were announced. The Cardinals, after taking the 7-0 lead at the outset, came right back with an 83-yard drive that took 12 plays and just over six minutes to get another score on Jeremy Wright's 1-yard score. Florida came into the night as the nation's top-ranked team in total defense and had allowed 40 points in the first quarter of its first 12 games. But it was 14-0 with 6:47 left in the first quarter. The Gators had not allowed a first quarter touchdown since the 17-9 loss to Georgia on Oct. 27. Florida, which is worst in the SEC in yards penalized this season with 66.4 per game, ran into the issue again in the first half. The Gators got to the Louisville seven but five-yard flags for illegal formation and offsides moved the ball back to the 15 and Driskel threw incomplete on third down. That forced UF to settle on a 33-yard field goal by Caleb Sturgis, his 24th to set a single-season school mark. Louisville responded with another drive, however, and John Wallace's 27-yard field goal made it 17-3 at the 8:39 mark in the second quarter. Another penalty hurt Florida. A facemask call on Dominique Easley helped the Cardinals drive for one final score before the half, a 15-yard pass to Devante Walker from Bridgewater that made it 24-3. It was the most points the Gators have allowed this year in the first half, giving 17 to Texas A&M and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel on Sept. 8. UF shut the Aggies out in the second half to win that game, 20-17 after being down 17-10 at the break. Florida finally got a touchdown in the final seconds of the first half when Matt Jones scored on a fake field goal. Gator players raised a few eyebrows when the compared Bridgewater to Manziel. Bridgewater was 12 of 17 for 180 yards in the first two quarters. But Louisville, which had 117 yards on the ground combined in its last three regular season games, managed just five yards on 15 rushing attempts. The Cards, however, didn't have a turnover against one of the nation's best at forcing opposing offenses to make mistakes. Penalties (5 for 48 yards) and the huge turnover on Driskel's interception throw were also huge factors in the Florida's struggles. And the second half would look like more of the same. Jones writes for Florida Today. PHOTOS: BOWL GAMES Story Highlights
