Louisville RB Jawhar Jordan, LB/S Benjamin Perry 'Game-Time Decisions' for Holiday Bowl
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Even though three weeks separate the end of college football's 2023 regular season and the start of bowl season, various teams across the sport will still be impacted due to injuries even with the extended rest. One of these teams could very well be the Louisville football program.
Head coach Jeff Brohm announced last Friday that both star running back Jawhar Jordan and starting linebacker/safety Benjamin Perry would be "game-time decisions" for the Holiday Bowl vs. USC due to unspecified injuries suffered in the ACC Championship Game vs. Florida State.
Offensive lineman Austin Collins, who was inserted as the starting right guard in the second half the season due to a season-ending injury to Renato Brown, is also questionable for the matchup due to an appendectomy.
"I know Jawhar Jordan and Ben Perry got nicked up in the last game, and will be game-time decisions for the bowl game, even with this type of rest," Brohm said. "Austin Collins had an appendectomy, and we're trying to get him back for the game if he's possible."
Despite being limited by a nagging hamstring injury in the second half of the season, Jordan still finished as one of the top running backs in the ACC. The 5-foot-9, 172-pound all-purpose back ran for 1,128 yards and 13 touchdowns on 181 rushes, while also catching 21 passes out of the backfield for 246 yards and a touchdown.
Jordan's rushing total and 1,374 yards from scrimmage ranked second in the ACC behind UNC's Omarion Hampton, while his rushing and total touchdowns were third behind Hampton and FSU's Trey Benson.
Perry was a critical piece to Louisville's success on defense in Jeff Brohm's first year at the helm. Starting all 13 games as the "STAR" in Ron English's defense, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound linebacker/safety logged the fifth-most tackles on the team with 56, while also finishing with the third-most tackles for loss at 6.5. Perry also collected a sack and four pass deflections.
Collins stepped up for the Cardinals when needed most. Playing in 10 games while starting the last seven at right guard, the 6-foot-3, 290-pound lineman gave up just one sack and 10 hurries in 296 pass block snaps and 578 total blocking snaps.
Kickoff against the Trojans is set for Wednesday, Dec. 27 at 8:00 p.m. EST from Petco Park in San Diego, Calif.
(Photo of Jawhar Jordan: Sam Upshaw Jr. - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)
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