Sun Bowl: Washington will clash with Louisville on Dec. 31 in El Paso

SEATTLE – Jedd Fisch doesn’t understand when — or why — people stopped caring about bowl games.

“For some reason recently, we’ve decided they’re not as important,” the UW coach said on Sunday. “I don’t agree.”

Washington will play ACC-opponent Louisville in the 2024 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas on Dec. 31, the Sun Bowl committee announced on Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. and the game will be broadcast on CBS. It’s the 43rd bowl selection in program history and the first meeting between UW and Louisville on the football field.

“Our goal is to go into that bowl game and win,” Fisch said. “Our goal is to go into that bowl game and compete at the highest level, play our absolute best, practice our hardest.”

This will be the fifth time Washington has played in the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in the country. The Huskies (6-6) haven’t been selected for the Sun Bowl since 2002, when UW lost to Purdue 34-24.

Washington currently has a 1-3 record in the Sun Bowl. UW’s lone victory came during the team’s first appearance in 1979, a 14-7 win against Texas. Washington also lost to Alabama 28-6 in the 1986 Sun Bowl and was defeated by Iowa 38-18 during the 1995 Sun Bowl.

“These are opportunities for players to play in a postseason game,” Fisch said. “They’re opportunities for players who gave a lot of blood, sweat and tears — in spring football, in training camp, during the season, during 6 a.m. workouts, lifting all throughout November and December — to play in one more game.”

Fisch has repeatedly said bowl eligibility was important for Washington to get extra bowl-game practices in before the offseason starts. On Sunday, however, the UW coach also stressed playing in a bowl game will be a final opportunity to send off departing players — seniors and players who are transferring elsewhere — with a celebration.

The UW coach reiterated that players who decide to enter the transfer portal will be allowed to participate in the bowl game, but must keep up with their academics and don’t miss practices to take visits to other programs.

Junior punter Jack McCallister, for example, announced he will transfer for the upcoming season on Dec. 2, but Fisch declared McCallister will be the team’s starting punter for the Sun Bowl. The transfer portal window opens on Monday, but once a player enters their name they have no deadline to join another program.

Fisch said it was an accomplishment for this UW team to reach bowl eligibility after dealing with extreme turnover and uncertainty following former coach Kalen DeBoer’s departure for Alabama during the past offseason.

Washington also faced a challenging conference schedule, one that Fisch noted included nine Big Ten games as opposed to the eight games teams in other conferences like the SEC play.

“For our team to be there, we’re very grateful,” Fisch said. “We’re very appreciative. We’re going to live it up.”

The Washington coach also said he intends to approach the Sun Bowl and the Cardinals (8-4) as seriously as he and his staff prepared for the 2023 Alamo Bowl with Arizona. Fisch added that the Wildcats looked at the Alamo Bowl like it was a championship game, which he said helped Arizona beat Oklahoma 38-24 to win the bowl for the first time in program history.

At Washington, Fisch said he expects his players to prepare for the Sun Bowl in a similar manner. He said they will spend two weeks game planning for Louisville and about another 10 days focused on general team improvement.

While he’s excited for his team to get one more opportunity to play together, Fisch acknowledged this is a launching point for his program, rather than a target.

“We’re going to make it an incredible experience for the kids,” Fisch said. “We’re going to celebrate going to a bowl game. We’re going to have parties. We’re going to do some amazing things for the kids. We’re going to include all the families.

“And we’re going to make sure that our players understand that this is a great accomplishment, and it’s just the beginning of where we want to be.”