Louisville Football: Cardinals look to avoid ACC cellar vs Georgia Tech
By Zach Bigalke
Louisville football and Georgia Tech meet on Friday in a game featuring the bottom two teams in the ACC. Will the Cardinals or the Yellow Jackets get to .500?
Louisville and Georgia Tech enter their Friday night clash at Cardinal Stadium sporting identical 2-3 record. They have both started off ACC play in a two-loss hole that has the Cardinals and the Yellow Jackets sitting at the bottom of their respective divisions. One will end up getting their first conference win of the year, while the other will find themselves in a three-loss deficit.
The Cardinals have struggled to cope with the departure of former Heisman winner Lamar Jackson at quarterback. After featuring one of the more prolific offenses in the FBS the past few years, Bobby Petrino’s team now ranks 121st out of 129 FBS teams in scoring. As a result, a defense that is actually giving up one fewer point per game than last year’s unit is still allowing more than a touchdown advantage to opponents.
Georgia Tech, on the other hand, has better stats but a similar situation. The Yellow Jackets have been able to roll up the score on Bowling Green and FCS Alcorn State, but otherwise they have been unable to do much against stronger competition. Not only have they lost to Pitt and Clemson to start ACC play, but they also fell by 11 points on the road against Group of Five hopeful South Florida.
Paul Johnson‘s team, as always, relies on the triple-option for their offensive production. When it is working well, the Yellow Jackets are the second-best rushing team in the nation. Georgia Tech has been one of the best teams in the country at snagging turnovers. But they have also been skilled at giving away the ball to their opponents, negating the efforts of their ballhawking defense.
Both sides have their high points, and both sides have their glaring flaws. Which one will overcome their issues to move to .500 in the overall standings at the halfway point of the regular season? Find out live on Friday when the Cardinals host the Yellow Jackets in a prime-time thriller. Here’s how you can watch the Friday night game between Louisville and Georgia Tech:
Date: Friday, Oct. 5
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Venue: Cardinal Stadium
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN | FuboTV
Keys to Victory
To earn a victory on their home field, Louisville needs to seriously cut down on the number of yellow flags they see throughout the game. The Cardinals earn themselves an average of 7.4 penalties and 67 lost yards per game. Against a Georgia Tech team that has been more capable of putting points on the board, Petrino’s squad must avoid shooting themselves in the foot with costly penalties.
Georgia Tech, meanwhile, needs to perform much better in the red zone — on both sides of the ball — than they have through the first five games of their season. The Yellow Jackets walk away without points on more than one-fifth of their trips inside their opponent’s 20, while their competition scores on nearly 87 percent of their red zone trips. Flipping those numbers will be critical to claim a Yellow Jackets victory.
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of oddsshark.com
Point Spread: Louisville +4
Over/Under: 56.5
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Prediction
Though Louisville is at home, they enter the game as a four-point underdog against the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech will control the clock, punishing the weak Cardinals run defense, as they earn their first ACC win of the year. The hosts won’t cover the spread, nor will the two teams cover the total points, as this ends up in a lopsided win for the visitors.
Final Score: Georgia Tech 31, Louisville 19