Louisville will face Mississippi State in 2019 Music City Bowl

After a season in which it established itself as one of the most pleasant surprises in all of college football, the Louisville Cardinals will end their 2019 campaign in the Music City Bowl.

After an initial report from Stadium’s Brett McMurphy that U of L’s opponent would be Tennessee, the official announcement about an hour later revealed the Cardinals’ opponent to be Mississippi State. Action between the Cards and Bulldogs will kick off at 4 p.m. inside Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on Dec. 30. ESPN will have the television coverage.

Mississippi State will enter the bowl game with an overall record of 6-6 and an SEC mark of 3-5. The Bulldogs won three of their last four games, including an eventful 21-20 win over arch-rival Ole Miss in the annual Egg Bowl game.

Louisville and Mississippi State squared off in the TaxSlayer Bowl just two years ago, with the Bulldogs pulling out a 31-27 win in what was Lamar Jackson’s final college game.

Louisville’s only other appearance in the Music City Bowl came in 2015, when the Cardinals defeated Texas A&M, 27-21. That victory remains U of L’s most recent in a bowl game.

Jackson, then a freshman QB, was named the 2015 Music City Bowl MVP after for throwing for 227 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 226 yards and another two touchdowns. He became just the third QB in college football history to throw and rush for over 200 yards in a bowl game, joining Vince Young and Johnny Manziel.

Great date, great location, SEC opponent; Not sure we could have asked for much more here outside of the initial announcement of Tennessee being accurate. See you in Nashville three weeks from tomorrow.