The No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats (-17) aren’t traveling far to battle the Louisville Cardinals at Cardinal Stadium. Kickoff for this game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET and ESPN2 will broadcast the action.
Kentucky Wildcats at Louisville Cardinals Betting Preview
In this Saturday game, Kentucky is getting picked as the heavy favorite and is currently giving up 17 points. If they want to take the moneyline, gamblers would currently have to lay down $1,400 in order to net $100 back on the Wildcats (-1400). The Cardinals are getting +780 moneyline odds. Should one side catches a lucky break early it will generate a worthwhile live betting opportunity. Vegas has determined the over/under (O/U) to be 51 points.
The surprising Wildcats have gained 9.6 units this season and are 4-7 against the spread (ATS). They’ve been a good under bet and have posted an O/U record of 3-7. The hapless Cardinals have lost 6.5 units this year. They’re 1-10 ATS and own an O/U record of 7-4.
The Wildcats are 8-3 straight up (SU) in 2018 while the Cardinals are 2-9 SU.
The Wildcats hope to make it two in a row 34-23 victory over Middle Tennessee last week where their defense let the Blue Raiders throw for 293 yards and three touchdowns. Chaton Mobley shredded the defense in that one with 98 rushing yards on 19 attempts, along with 62 yards and a score on five catches. Offensively, Terry Wilson completed 10-of-14 passes for just 121 yards and one touchdown. Benny Snell (116 rushing yards on 26 attempts, two TDs) provided the ground attack in the win while C.J. Conrad (four receptions, 51 yards, one TD) and Isaiah Epps (three catches, 24 yards) handled the receiving duties.
Louisville most-recently fell convincingly 52-10 to North Carolina State. The defensive unit let the Wolfpack pass for 354 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 164 yards and three scores. Kelvin Harmon put up a solid outing for North Carolina State, recording 100 yards on seven catches. As a group, the Cards collectively completed 13-of-25 passes for 157 yards and one interception. Malik Cunningham went eight-for-14 for 90 yards while Jawon Pass was five-of-11 for 67 yards and one interception. Cunningham (100 yards on 14 rush attempts, one TD) and Jeremy Smith (74 yards on 10 carries) mounted the ground game in the defeat as Smith (three receptions, 56 yards) and Hassan Hall (two catches, 28 yards) led the pass-catching attack.
Kentucky has run the ball on 63.5 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Louisville has a rush percentage of 49.7 percent. The Wildcats have produced 189 rush yards/game and have 20 touchdowns via handoffs this year. The Cards are totaling 134 rushing yards per game and have 17 total rush TDs.
Judging by the results this season, the Wildcats may hold an edge in all aspects of the ground game, as their backfield has generated 4.6 yards per carry while their defense is allowing 3.9 YPC to opponents. The Cardinals have ran for 3.9 yards per carry and given up a YPC of 5.9 to opponents.
The Wildcats offense has tallied 156 yards/contest in the air overall and has 11 passing scores so far. The Cards have recorded 223 pass yards per outing and have 10 total pass TDs.
Defensively, Kentucky has allowed opponents to rush for an average of 138 yards and pass for 191 yards per game. The Louisville defense has given up 201.3 yards per game to opposing passers and 271.5 yards per game to opposing runners. The Wildcats are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of just 4.95 to opposing QBs, while the Cards have given up a staggering 8.71 ANY/A.
Offensively, Wilson has amassed 1,335 passing yards on the year, and has connected on 133-of-196 attempts with seven scores through the air and six interceptions. Wilson has a 5.05 adjusted net yards per pass attempt, including 4.41 over the last two outings.
Look for a balanced approach offensively from Kentucky in this one. Benny Snell, C.J. Conrad and Lynn Bowden have combined to account for 391 total yards and four touchdowns over the last couple of outings.
In the other locker room, Jawon Pass has completed 149-of-275 passes for 1,764 yards, seven TDs and 11 INTs. Pass’ ANY/A stands at 4.17 for the season and 4.05 across his past two outings.
We also expect the Louisville offense to mix things up this Saturday. Malik Cunningham (344 rushing yards, four rush TDs, zero receiving yards this season), Colin Wilson (132 rush yards) and Seth Dawkins (252 receiving yards, one receiving TD) have combined to account for 357 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns over the past couple of games.
These two programs faced off a year ago with the final result being a 44-17 victory for Louisville.
RELATED: Week 13 College Football Betting Odds and Predictions
Free Prediction: Kentucky Wildcats at Louisville Cardinals
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Notes
Team Betting Trends
The Over/Under for Kentucky’s last game going into it was 48.5. The over cashed in the team’s 34-23 win over Middle Tennessee.
Kentucky has produced 3.3 yards per carry across its past three contests and 3.7 over its last two.
Louisville has averaged 4.8 yards per carry over its last three outings and 5.9 over its past two.
Louisville has lost 10 fumbles this season while Kentucky has lost eight.
Over its last three matches, Kentucky is 0-3 ATS and the over cashed in two of those three.
The O/U for Louisville’s last matchup was 66.5. The under cashed in the 52-10 loss to North Carolina State.
In its last three matches, Louisville is 0-3 ATS and the over cashed in two of those three.
The Wildcats offense has produced five pass plays of 40 or more yards, while the Cardinals have put up six such plays.
The Kentucky defense has allowed three pass plays of 40 or more yards, while Louisville has given up seven such plays.
The Kentucky offense has created 19 rushing plays of 20 yards or more, while Louisville has created 16 such runs.
The Wildcats defense has allowed 13 rushing plays of 20 yards or more, while the Cardinals have given up 26 such runs.
The Kentucky defense has three times as many sacks as Louisville this year (30 versus 10).
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