Louisville football has a crucial Week 3 showdown today against SMU as the Cardinals eye a trip to Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game. While it is hard to say this will make or break Louisville’s season, since so much can still happen, this game could certainly skyrocket the Cardinals' ACC Championship dreams and give them a huge boost for the rest of the season.
Louisville football vs. SMU final odds and predictions
Right now, the Cardinals are 1.5-point favorites, according to FanDuel, and have a 53 percent chance of winning, according to ESPN metrics. This is expected to be a quarterback duel, as both Lincoln Kienholz and Kevin Jennings are elite QBs this year and rank among the top in total yards per game.
However, Louisville's blueprint to win isn’t necessarily through Kienholz. If Louisville wants to win this game, they need their star running back, Isaac Brown, and we believe he is due and will have his best game of the season.
Isaac Brown has the perfect opportunity to for a huge game against SMU
Entering the season, the Cardinals' biggest question was Kienholz, and their biggest star was Brown. Well, through two games, it feels like their biggest star is the QB, and now the big question is Brown.
Brown entered the year as a Preseason All-American and a top-five running back in the nation. ESPN ranked him as high as the 35th-best player in college football, but over two games, that hasn’t been the case. He is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry and has only 97 yards.
Jeff Brohm was asked about Brown’s slow start after the win over Villanova, and he had nothing but belief in his star running back.
“I think just have to work through it," stated Brohm last weekend. "Playing competitive sports at a high level isn’t easy. You have to put in the work. You have to grind. Some games come easy, some games don’t. But I think if he pushes through these last two days, then he’s got a great opportunity next week against a really good opponent, and I believe in him. We want to figure out ways to get him the ball in space and let him do his thing, but I think he will come through for us.”
Well, we believe that changes today. Brown is due for a breakout performance and a game where he takes over and leads Louisville to a victory, and we think that is today against SMU. In week 1, SMU gave up 199 rushing yards, including 116 yards to Ousmane Kromah and another 71 yards to Ashton Daniels.
Now, SMU's defense has to face this electric Louisville offense, and with Florida State showing the Cardinals a recipe for success through the run, we believe Brown will have one of those special games Louisville fans are so used to. Last year, he rushed for 100 yards or more in six of his eight games and averaged a dominant 8.8 yards per carry. And in his freshman season, he averaged 7.1 yards per carry and broke Louisville's freshman rushing record with 1,173 rushing yards.
Brown has the speed to break free at any point, and while he has struggled in the first two weeks, this game against SMU certainly looks and feels like the Isaac Brown game Louisville fans have been waiting for.
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