Louisville Football: 3 reasons the Cardinals will beat Miami in Week 3
By Nick Fiore
In the biggest game of the season thus far, Miami faces off against Louisville football in a matchup that will have major implications on the ACC standings.
Every offseason, there’s a few constants in the world of college football. One of those is, “Is Miami back?” After being the face of college football for nearly two decades, Miami has largely been a disappointment for the past decade plus.
This year could be different as they finally have a legit threat at quarterback in Houston transfer D’Eriq King. Paired with King is new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee. We already saw the impact of Lashlee’s run heavy high tempo offense last week against UAB when the Canes ran 80 plays, 12 more compared to their 2019 average.
Miami dominated on the ground rushing for 337 yards. Cam’ron Harris led the way with 134 yards and two touchdowns. King didn’t make any mistakes throwing for 144 yards one touchdown and added another 83 yards and one touchdown on the ground. Pairing Lashlee and King with a Manny Diaz led Canes defense has Miami fans excited about this year.
Louisville opened up their season with a 35-21 win over Western Kentucky. The box score is a little misleading, Louisville really dominated and should’ve won by more. They out-gained Western Kentucky 487-248 and two of the Hilltoppers’ touchdowns came on short drives due to a muffed punt and a blocked punt. Micale Cunningham added his name to the Heisman conversation after throwing for three touchdowns and 343 yards and running for another score.
Head coach Scott Satterfield has done an incredible job with a quick turnaround from the last year of Bobby Petrino. Louisville has real aspirations of competing for a ACC title game berth.
This is a must watch for any college football fan. Two Heisman hopefuls face off in King and Cunningham, who both could put on an absolute show Saturday night.
Miami’s defense gets a real test against this explosive Cardinals offense. With the new format for the ACC this year with no divisions, where now the top two teams by winning percentage get to play in the conference championship game, every matchup is amplified; especially between teams that were rated close coming into the season.
In a high-scoring game, I think Louisville is able to pull out a close win. Here’s why.