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Louisville football: Game-by-game predictions for 2020

By Jacob Lane

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - OCTOBER 05: Louisville Cardinals on the field before a kick off in the game against the Boston College Eagles at Cardinal Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - OCTOBER 05: Louisville Cardinals on the field before a kick off in the game against the Boston College Eagles at Cardinal Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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Louisville football wide out Seth Dawkins
SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 09: Seth Dawkins #5 of the Louisville Cardinals runs with the ball during the first half against the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome on November 9, 2018 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

Week 9: Syracuse

Date: 11/20 (Coming off bye)

Finally, a much needed bye means that Syracuse will be getting a fresh Cardinals team coming off winning six out of their first seven games. If Louisville is able to win that many games against the quality of opponents they face, it means we could be talking about a very special team.

Louisville will come out with fresh legs and put the pedal to the medal against a defense that couldn’t stop anyone last season. The Orange finished 115th nationally in total defense and gave up three games of 55-plus points, including one to Louisville late in the 2019 season.

Just two seasons go, Syracuse was the talk of the ACC after their best finish in over 15 years, going 10-3. However, they weren’t able to carry that over, even with a ton of hype and a top 25 ranking to start the season, and it resulted in a disastrous 5-7 (2-6) record.

Dino Babers will need his group to bounce back if he wants to keep his job, as the further away we get from 2018 the more of a fluke it looks like. At this point we’ll likely know who Syracuse is, and my guess is they look pretty similar to what we saw last year.

Babers hired two new coordinators with two new systems and because of the ongoing pandemic it could make things more challenging for the players as they try to learn on the fly. On offense, Babers will return Tommy DeVito, a tested veteran, but there’s no guarantee he’ll take the jump they need. The rest of the offense will be a big question mark as Syracuse loses their leading rusher, Moe Neal, and top receiver, Trishton Jackson.

If  Louisville can do what they did last year, which was put a ton of pressure on DeVito and force him into quick throws underneath where the defense can swarm to the ball, then I think they’ll be able to win pretty easily. The running attack will mostly be made up of inexperienced ball carriers which should allow the defense to feast.

Offensively, Syracuse won’t be able to contain Louisville and because of it expect an equally impressive performance as they did in 2019 when they finished witha season high 378 rushing yards (including 222 yards from Javian Hawkins) as well as another 225 passing yards and multiple touchdowns.

Syracuse lost a ton from last year’s defense and the new guys who will have to step up will need time to develop and get used to the new system. By this point in the season that probably won’t be the case, so I have Louisville winning big.

Score: Louisville 51, Syracuse 27

Record: 8-1 (7-1)

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