UCF Football: 3 reasons the Knights will beat Louisville in Week 3

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Sep 6, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Louisville Cardinals quarterback Malik Cunningham (3) throws a pass against the Mississippi Rebels in the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Louisville is not equipped to win a shootout

A year ago or even two, I would have felt good about picking Louisville to hang with a team like UCF in a shootout. The Cardinals had plenty of talented pieces on offense like Javian Hawkins, Tutu Atwell, and Dez Fitzpatrick, but all of those guys are gone now and Malik Cunningham can’t do it all on his own.

When Cunningham tries to do too much, that’s when he makes mistakes. That’s what will happen on Friday night if he tries to carry the weight of the Cardinals.

Louisville will have to rely on Cunningham to have his best game of the season if it’s going to pull off an “upset” at home on Friday. The Cardinals could do it, but I just don’t think their defense will make the stops necessary and we saw what Matt Corral did to them in the opener.

And I’m sorry, Louisville fans, but your team is just not equipped to win a high-scoring game like this. Tutu and Javian aren’t walking out of that tunnel.

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