Louisville Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2017

The Murray State Racers are another “cupcake” game for the Louisville Cardinals. They are an FCS squad, part of the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Racers went 4-7 in 2016, getting off to an 0-4 start before getting their first victory. On the bright side, the team returns nine starters on defense and eight starters on offense. They have no starting quarterback at the moment, so that edge easily goes to the Louisville Cardinals.

The Murray State quarterback last season, K.D. Humphries, led the OVC in passing yards (3,116) and passing touchdowns (23). Senior wide receiver Jordon Gandy caught 976 receiving yards to lead the OVC and was second in the conference in receiving touchdowns with 11. The Racers will need to replace the offensive production of Humphries to have a fighting chance against the Cardinals.

The last time the two teams met was during the 2014 season. Louisville won that game 66-21, leading 45-7 at halftime. They accumulated over 603 total yards of offense and held the Racers offense to just 292 total yards.

The Cardinals may be able to duplicate that again against one of the weaker FCS squads. It also gives them more time to gel together on both sides of the ball. By Week Five, Lamar Jackson should have established new targets in the passing game and a new leading rusher should have emerged out of the backfield.

It should give the Louisville Cardinals a boosted sense of confidence heading into three conference road games in the next four weeks.

Final: Murray State 24, Louisville 63 (5-0)