Free Week 8 Prediction: Eagles vs Cardinals Odds
Week 8 College football betting sees the Boston College Eagles taking on the Louisville Cardinals Saturday October 24th at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NCAA football season long so stay tuned for more FREE college football predictions.
Week 8
Boston College Eagles (3-4) vs. Louisville Cardinals (2-4)
Date: Saturday, October 24th
Time: 12:30 PM
Venue: Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in Louisville
NCAA Football Spread: Louisville -7.5
NCAA Betting Total: 37.0
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The Eagles will head to Louisville to try to pick up their first ACC win of the season despite playing competitively in all four conference games to date.
The Cardinals will look to take advantage of another inferior opponent after struggling through a difficult opening stretch of games.
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It won’t be easy for the Cardinals as Boston College has sported one of the top defenses in the nation – allowing just 11 points per game through 7 contests.
Boston College
The Eagles defense was so good in their first two games that it made their offense look pretty good as well. They put up 100 points in their first two games but have only scored 41 over their next five.
Their 20.1 points per game is skewed by those first two – against Maine and Howard – as their ACC games have shown what the offense is capable of.
This will be Boston College’s third road game of the year – losing their previous two to Clemson and Duke.
The Eagles have not fared well on the road historically – going 11-19 in road games over the last six years.
Their passing game has been atrocious – completing 42 percent of their passes for 741 yards through seven games.
The Eagles running game has been their saving grace as they have averaged 206.7 rushing yards per game – although that is skewed by the 551 rushing yards they put up in their first two games.
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Their defense has been stifling though averaging 11 points allowed per game and allowing their opponent to rush for just 1.7 yards per attempt.
They have sacked their opponent 19 times and forced 14 turnovers.
This includes games against Clemson and Florida State. Their defense will have to be everything it has been and more on Saturday as Louisville’s offense has seemed to find some rhythm under Lamar Jackson’s control.
Despite the loss last week to Florida State, Jackson threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns. Boston College will have to keep him under control in order to win this one.
Louisville
The Cardinals have won two of three and led the Seminoles last week at halftime. The wheels came off a bit defensively as they surrendered 35 second half points including two rushing touchdowns to Heisman hopeful Dalvin Cook.
The Cardinals have to be prepared for a heavy run attack from Boston College as the Eagles have only thrown the ball an average of 19 times per game over their first seven games.
When they do throw the ball, they have been highly ineffective – completing just 42.9 percent of their passes.
Given the Louisville defense’s playmaking abilities, expect the Eagles to throw the ball even less.
The Cardinals intercepted 9 passes through their first four games and haven’t gotten one in their last two so they will be hungry for some more.
The defense who has forced 20 turnovers so far this year will be eager to capitalize on any mistakes made by the struggling Boston College defense.
The Cardinal defense has created a lot of turnovers but has struggled overall in terms of stopping teams from scoring. They have given up 23.7 points per game over the first six games.
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The defense did look better in the first half last week though – giving up just six points to Florida State. The power of the Seminole offense became clear in the second half when they rattled off 35 points.
But the bright spot is that the Cardinal defense has played better in their past three games than they did in their first three.
Jackson has had his struggles this season but looked much better last week. If he continues to make plays with his arm and his legs, he will be difficult for defenses to contain.
NCAA Football Handicapping Trends
- The Eagles are 5-0 ATS in their last five games as a road underdog.
- The Eagles are 8-4-1 ATS in their last 13 games following a SU loss.
- The Cardinals are 5-9 ATS in their last 14 games as a home favorite.
- The Cardinals are 8-11 ATS in conference games since the start of 2013.
Free Week 8 NCAA Football Prediction
Jackson should do enough for the Cardinals to win this one but a lot of his production last week was when the Cardinals were trailing by a lot. If this game is close, he could be prone to turn the ball over once or twice.
4* Free NCAA Betting Pick: Boston College +7.5
The Boston College defense will hold up against an offense that has shown some inconsistency. Don’t expect many points in this one.
Week 8 Free Score Prediction: Louisville 17 – Boston College 14
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