By: Dory LeBlanc

With the No. 3 ranking in the country and a Vegas spread of 14, the Florida Gators were poised to beat the Louisville Cardinals in the SEC's home BCS bowl, the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

As it turned out, Louisville easily looked like the third ranked team in the nation as head coach Charlie Strong led the Co-Big East champs into the SuperDome and handed his former employer a super beatdown.

The Cardinals scored on the opening play as Terell Floyd intercepted Jeff Driskel as Gator receiver Andre Dubose tipped the ball right into the cornerback's hands.

After Florida went three-and-out on their second possession, the Big East Offensive Player of the Year, Teddy Bridgewater marched the Cardinals 83 yards down the field and RB Jeremy Wright ran it in from the one to put Louisville up 14-0 early in the game.

Florida could not get anything going offensively until the beginning of the second quarter as Caleb Sturgis kicked a 33-yard field goal to put the Gators on the board.

After 10 answered Louisville points, Florida got back on the scoreboard with :10 left in the first half to bring the score to 24-10 Cardinals.

In an interesting coaching decision, Will Muschamp had Sturgis attempt the Gators' first onside kick of the season which was recovered by Louisville and had 15 yards tacked on as Florida RB was flagged, then ejected, for a personal foul penalty.

Starting with great field position on the Florida 34, Bridgewater found Damian Copeland in the end zone with five seconds expired in the third quarter.

On the ensuing Gator drive, Driskel was sacked and fumbled the ball which was recovered by Lorenzo Mauldin at the Florida four yard line. Luckily for UF, Louisville missed a 42-yard field goal to keep the game within 20.

The scoring came to a screeching halt until halfway through the fourth quarter when Louisville's John Wallace nailed a 30-yard field goal to extend the Cardinals' lead to 33-10.

However, Dubose gave the Gators some life on the following kickoff and set a Sugar Bowl record, with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to bring Florida within 16 points.

Florida came storming back on their next possession as Driskel found freshman tight end Kent Taylor, who had only one reception on the year before entering the game, for a five-yard score. The Gators missed the two-point conversion leaving the score 33-23, and again failed to execute an onside kick giving Louisville the ball on the Florida 45 with 2:13 left in the contest.

After getting a first down, Bridgewater took a knee as the Louisville Cardinals handed the Florida Gators the biggest upset of the 2012 bowl season, and captured the biggest win in Louisville's program history.