Strong declares Bridgewater a go for Louisville vs. Rutgers

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Fans of the Louisville football program can finally and officially breathe a huge sigh of relief.  Probably.

Star quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a wrist injury in Saturday’s loss to UConn, the Cardinals’ second loss in a row after beginning the season 9-0.  Even as he returned to the triple-overtime defeat after injuring the wrist, there was some concern that injury would have an impact in Bridgewater’s availability for the game against Rutgers Thursday, which will decide the Big East’s representative in a BcS bowl game.

During the Big East’s weekly teleconference, head coach Charlie Strong shot down the speculation concerning his starting quarterback.

“Yes, Teddy will play,” Strong said. “It’s nothing different. He finished the game against Connecticut so there’s nothing different. …

“We just know that Teddy is tough. He’s a true competitor. So we’ll be able to go with him.”

The fact that the injury was to Bridgewater’s left (non-throwing) arm will aid the player’s status greatly, although Strong did allow that he “[doesn't] know how close he is to 100 percent” and the coaching/medical staff is “just going to monitor him this week.”

If Rutgers’ wins Thursday, the Scarlet Knights would claim an outright Big East title and play in a BcS bowl.  If Louisville wins, and Cincinnati wins Saturday, it would create a four-way tie.  The tiebreaker would then become where the teams place in the final BcS rankings.  The team with the highest ranking in that last release next Sunday would earn the BcS bid; barring something unexpected, that would be Louisville.