The college football weekend gets started on Friday night with an ACC clash between the Florida State Seminoles and the Louisville Cardinals.
The Cardinals have topped the Seminoles in back-to-back seasons and won four of the last six head-to-head meetings in this series. However, Florida State is a 2.5-point road favorite on Friday, with the over/under set at 57 points.
The Seminoles have gotten off to a promising start this year, which is a good thing with Mike Norvell already on the hot seat entering his third season. Florida State had an easy opener against Duquesne before pulling off a surprising win over LSU. That 24-23 win has raised expectations for the Seminoles, who face a challenging schedule in the ACC.
Louisville, meanwhile, is already 0-1 in ACC play after the Cardinals lost their season opener to Syracuse 31-7. The good news is the Cards bounced back last week, overcoming a 14-7 halftime deficit to beat Central Florida on the road.
But Louisville’s schedule doesn’t get any more forgiving, as the Cards still have five ranked teams left to play, putting pressure on them to win their home opener on Friday.
The Cunning Man
Most of Louisville’s hopes this year are on the shoulders of quarterback Malik Cunningham, who began the season as one of the best and most experienced quarterbacks in the ACC.
Throwing the ball has been a struggle for Cunningham thus far, as he doesn’t have a touchdown pass and is averaging under 200 passing yards per game. However, he’s still one of the most dangerous running quarterbacks in the country and is getting plenty of help from feature back Tiyon Evans, who is averaging 5.1 yards per carry.
On the other side of the ball, the Louisville defense is fresh off a strong performance last week, keeping a shutout in the second half against UCF.
The Cards also had a strong second half in the loss to Syracuse, as the only two touchdowns they gave up after halftime came soon after turnovers by the offense. Of course, the biggest challenges the Louisville defense will face this season are still ahead of them.
Ground Jordan
Jordan Travis had trouble holding onto the starting quarterback job last season, although that doesn’t look like it’ll be an issue this year. He was instrumental for the ‘Noles in their win over LSU, throwing for 260 yards and two touchdowns.
But it’s been the FSU rushing attack that has led the way through two games, averaging 5.8 yards per carry, with Travis contributing to that.
Defensively, the early returns have also been positive for FSU. The Seminoles lost some talent from last year’s roster, but there are still eight upperclassmen starting for the Florida State defense with NFL-caliber talent at all three levels. Outside of a late rally from LSU, the Seminoles have been solid on that side of the ball through the first two games of the season.
Home Cooking
While Florida State is trending in the right direction, the Seminoles still have some work to do. The Louisville defense should be at its best in the team’s home opener, while Cunningham is always a handful. That makes Louisville the best value pick in this game as 2.5-point home underdogs.
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