Louisville football is coming off a historic win on Saturday, when the Cardinals defeated the SMU Mustangs for the first time in program history. Louisville beat SMU 41-31 after Keyjuan Brown rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns, and Lincoln Kienholz added three touchdowns and no turnovers.
Latest AP Poll has Louisville football in prime position for a CFP run
Now, the Cardinals are ranked No. 16 in the nation after the AP Polls were released on Sunday. Louisville is trending as a major threat in the ACC and looks like maybe the biggest threat to Miami’s hopes of winning the ACC crown. The two don’t play each other this year in the regular season, but Miami just defeated Wake Forest 33-20, and now Louisville gets the Demon Deacons next.
The Cardinals and the Demon Deacons will kick off this Saturday at noon local time on ESPN at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Louisville will look to improve to 3-1 and 2-0 in conference play, but the Demon Deacons showed against Miami that they are no cupcake. So, let's break down the early odds and make some predictions.
Louisville vs Wake Forest odds
As of Monday, September 21, the Cardinals are the dominant favorites in this ACC showdown, while Louisville opens as 12.5-point favorites. Right now, the over/under is 58.5, with Louisville at +520 to win on Saturday. ESPN Analytics gives Louisville an 80.1 percent chance of winning and Wake Forest just a 19.9 percent chance of pulling off the upset over the Cardinals on Saturday.
Odds courtesy of FanDuel, and as of 6am ET on Monday, September 21th.
Spread: Louisville -12.5
Over/Under: 58.5
Moneyline: Louisville -520 Wake Forest +385
Big Red Louie Predictions
Louisville had a massive win on Saturday, but now Jeff Brohm has to make sure the Cardinals show up this weekend against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons tried to make it interesting last week against Miami, going down 31-7 but bringing it back to 31-20 in the fourth quarter. Wake Forest ultimately lost 33-20, but they showed they could hang around with one of the top teams in the country.
Wake Forest QB Gio Lopez has thrown for 887 yards and seven touchdowns through three games, while his No. 1 wide receiver, Carlos Hernandez, has 322 receiving yards and two touchdowns. As for the Demon Deacons defense, linebacker Vincent Firenze leads them with 26 tackles, while defensive lineman Langston Hardy leads Wake Forest with 2.0 sacks.
However, we predict this one to be about the Cardinals and Brohm leading Louisville to a 3-1 start. Lincoln Kienholz and the Cardinals' rushing attack will be too much for this Demon Deacons defense, ultimately opening up the passing attack. We predict Kienholz to throw for over 300 yards, Isaac Brown to lead the team in rushing with his first 100-yard game, and Lawayne McCoy to score his fourth touchdown in four games.
Prediction: Louisville 38 Wake Forest 24
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