This game looks like a low-scoring affair as the Louisville Cardinals (3-4) meet the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-5). While this season hasn’t gone as hoped for Louisville, it has shown signs of life in recent weeks, winning three of its last five. The game starts at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct 30 and will air on ESP2.
Wake Forest was defeated by North Carolina State 35-17 last week. Kendall Hinton had a solid outing passing the ball in the loss, completing 12 of 22 passes for 107 yards. He did some damage on the ground, running for 75 yards and two TDs on 13 attempts. Louisville is hoping for another victory like last week’s performance, when it won a close one over Boston College 17-14. Jamari Staples had a good game for the Cardinals, registering four receptions for 96 yards. Javonte Bagley finished with 69 receiving yards on three receptions.
Louisville is a nine-point favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is presently unavailable.
The Demon Deacons enter the game with a record of 3-5 Straight Up (SU) and Against The Spread (ATS) this season. In the past five games, Wake Forest is 1-4 SU and 2-3 ATS. The Cardinals could have a difficult time throwing the ball against the 17th-best pass defense in the nation. The Demon Deacons give up 176.1 yards per game through the air.
On the other side, the Cardinals have 3-4 SU and 4-3 ATS records this season. The Cardinals went 3-2 for both SU and ATS over the last five games. The Cardinals are playing better defense than they have all year, only allowing 18 PPG over their last five games, which is well under their season average of 22.3 points. Stopping the run doesn’t have to be Louisville’s first priority. Wake Forest ranks 116th in the nation with an average of 119.5 rushing yards per game. The Cardinals need to capitalize on opportunities against the porous pass protection of Wake Forest, which ranks 122nd in the country in sacks allowed with 3.4 per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – Louisville, ATS Winner – Louisville
Notes
Wake Forest is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games.
Wake Forest is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Wake Forest’s last 9 games.
Wake Forest is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Wake Forest’s last 6 games at home.
Louisville is 3-2 SU when leading at the half this season. Wake Forest is 1-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Louisville is only 1-2) SU in games where it comes out ahead in the turnover battle, yet 2-1 SU when losing the turnover battle.
Dating back to last year, Wake Forest is only 2-11 SU against ACC opponents, while Louisville is 7-5 SU against in-conference foes.
The Louisville rush defense is ranked 27th in the country, and will look to contain the 116th-ranked ground attack of Wake Forest.
