Big East Football Previews – Murray State Racers vs Louisville Cardinals
The Murray State Racers and the Louisville Cardinals have the honor of being the first game on the schedule to kick-off the 2011 Division I college football season in this Thursday night matchup at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Game time is set for 6 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Date/Time: Thursday, Sept. 1 6 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, KT
Broadcast: ESPNU
Racers at Cardinals Lines by BetOnline.com
Pointspread: Cardinals -30
Over/Under: OFF
Click here for the ATS Gambling Report for this game!
Murray State, out of the Ohio Valley Conference, is coming off a 6-5 overall campaign in 2010, but it was just 1-2 straight-up in non-conference play.
The Racers started the season with three straight losses but were able to go 5-1 down the stretch to get over .500 for the year.
Casey Brockman will lead a Murray State offensive attack that leans heavily on the pass. He is easily the best quarterback in the OVC and potentially one of the best in the nation in Division IAA. As a four-touchdown plus underdog, you can expect the Racers to come out throwing the ball on just about every play.
Louisville turned to Charlie Strong as its new head coach last season and the change paid immediate dividends with a 7-6 record in his first season including a 31-28 victory over Southern Miss in the Beef O’Brady Bowl. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The Cardinals lost both starting quarterbacks and running back Bilal Powell, who rushed for 1,400 yards last season, but Strong is confident the there is enough talent in his roster to fill the void. Will Stein should get the start at quarterback against the Racers, but Teddy Bridgewater remains in the mix after competing with Stein in summer camp for the starting role.
Victor Anderson will team with sophomore tailback Jeremy Wright to replace Powell in the running game.
Louisville’s defense returns a solid core of players from last season including Randy Salmon and Jamaine Brooks up front, linebackers Dexter Heyman and Daniel Brown, and safeties Shenard Holten Hakeem Smith in the secondary. This unit finished the 2010 season ranked 18th in the nation in points allowed, giving up just 19.4 a game.
Murray State was 0-2 against the spread last season in its only two games with posted lines, while the Cardinals went 7-6 ATS with the total going ‘over’ in seven of the 13 games.
Look for Louisville to take full advantage of an opportunity to open the season on a strong note with a big win, but it fails to cover the 30-point spread.
Betting Trends:
Murray State is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games
Murray State is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Pick: Louisville 31 vs. Murray State 16
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