Louisville Football v Duke: Final Score Predictions

#18 Louisville and #20 Duke Faceoff in Ultimate ACC Showdown

Louisville and Duke is the biggest ACC matchup for the Cardinals this season, and both teams are in need of a win after coming off losses. If the Cardinals find a way to win this game then it will put them at 4-1 in the ACC and putting them just a little closer to making the championship game in Charlotte. Duke is coming off a loss to Florida State, so a loss will most likely put them out of the ACC championship conversation and put a bit of a damper on their great start to the season.

Duke and Louisville injury questions:

Duke also has some injury problems they are looking at going into this week. Star quarterback Riley Leonard was injured at the end of the Notre Dame game, and although he played the first 3 quarters of the FSU last week he didn’t return in the 4th quarter. He is listed as questionable for the game against Louisville and it is up in the air of he plays or not. Duke has been very keen on not throwing the ball much when Leonard is out, so if he is out Duke will seem to be very one dimensional. Even if Leonard does play, he will not be 100% and drag the Duke offense down a little bit.

Louisville has Jawhar Jordan and Jarvis Brownlee listed as questionable for today’s game, but in Brohms weekly presser it seemed as if they would be able to play by gametime. It is something to keep an eye on.

Gameplans For Louisville and Duke:

Duke will want to run the ball and hold the time of possession as much as possible, especially if QB Riley Leonard is out. Duke wants to limit Louisville’s possessions and try to muddy up the game, make it physical, and win it in the trenches. If the Cardinals can get up early and make the most of their offensive possessions then Louisville will be in a good spot to win this game.

Another important part of the game Louisville needs to focus on is turnovers. The Cardinals turned the ball over 3 times in the red zone against Pitt, that will not win you football games. If Jack Plummer turns the ball over early and Duke capitalizes with points it will be hard to get back into the game. If Duke gets up 13-3 or 17-7 they will run the ball and drain the clock to keep end the game early and not give Louisville a chance to win.

Jeff Brohm knows this is a big game and will do everything he can to lead his team to a win. It will be interesting to see how Louisville comes out to start the game, and how the Cardinals will react to coming off a loss and a bye week. I have faith in Brohm and his ability to lead Louisville to a huge ACC win, the players just need to execute the game plan.