The Miami Hurricanes were able to run for nearly 350 yards in their season opener against the UAB Blazers. They were led by their transfer quarterback D’Eriq King in the 31-14 win. Some think King could be a dark horse in the running for a Heisman Trophy. They head into this week with a matchup against a high-powered Louisville Cardinals team, which figure to offer a much tougher test.
With so few teams playing, this is actually a matchup of the No. 17 (Miami) and No. 18 (Louisville) teams in the country. Who’ll have the upper hand? The Cardinals are a field goal favorite in the sportsbook.
Miami Hurricanes at Louisville Cardinals
Date: Sept 19 – 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Cardinal Stadium
NCAAF Odds: Louisville -3
NCAAF Odds And Analysis
The under is 6-0 in the Hurricanes’ last six games coming in as the road underdog and 5-1 in their last six when facing a team with a winning record. Miami is 4-1 ATS when playing a team with a winning record and 25-10 in its last 35 after allowing less than 20 points to their opponent in the game prior.
For Louisville, the over is 6-0 in their last six games overall and 5-0 in their last five games as the favorite in the matchup. The Cardinals are also 4-0 ATS in their last four home games and 5-1 ATS in their last six games when coming in as the favorite. They are 4-1 ATS in their last five matchups against the Miami Hurricanes as well.
Miami Hurricanes
Although the season is young, the Hurricanes showed a lot of promise. They ran for 337 yards, which was their second-most against an FBS opponent back to 2004. This squad has been running a far faster tempo on the offensive end due to new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee and so far, so good. Miami was able to run 13 plays more than its average for 2019 in the season opener.
Miamis also has improved upon its penalty issue after averaging over seven penalties a game last year. In last week’s matchup, the Hurricanes were penalized three times. This team looks a lot different with King under center and it already seems like its paying dividends.
Louisville Cardinals
The Cardinals demonstrated how fast they can score during last week’s 35-21 win over Western Kentucky. They scored in four plays or less multiple times, with each of those drives going more than 85 yards. Quarterback Micale Cunningham had a career day, throwing for 343 yards with completions of 70 and 63 yards. However, this team still has some work to do. They had multiple special-teams mistakes that directly led to points for Western. One of those mistakes was a fumbled snap on a punt during the opening possession and the other was allowing a blocked punt. The Cardinals will need to clean up silly mistakes if they want to win this week. Their defense had only allowed 129 yards passing last week as well, but they are now going up a much steeper task in King and the Hurricanes.
Prediction: Miami 34, Louisville 31
