Louisville vs Kentucky NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping
The No. 8 ranked Louisville Cardinals arrive in Lexington looking to notch their third win of the season when they face in state rival Kentucky on Saturday.
No. 8 Louisville (2-0) vs. Kentucky (1-1)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013
Time: 12 p.m. EST
Venue: Commonwealth Stadium
City: Lexington
O/U Odds: 59
Spread: Louisville -13
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Louisville is coming off a dominating win over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 44-7, while the Wildcats got their first win of 2013 campaign with a 41-7 pounding of Miami (OH).
The Cardinals will however, face a much tougher Kentucky team this weekend, after making quick work of the Colonels, who already trailed 37-0 just midway through Saturday’s contest.
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Louisville was led by quarterback and Heisman candidate Teddy Bridgewater who played lights out, going 23-for-32 for 397 yards and four touchdowns, including a pair of TDs to wideout DeVante Parker, who finished the game with five receptions for 134 yards.
The ground game was not as impressive, however, with leading rusher Senorise Perry collecting just 36 yards and one TD.
Defensively, the Cardinals front seven dominated Eastern Kentucky all by shutting down their rushing attack. The Cardinals finished with 475 yards of offense to Eastern Kentucky’s 206. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Meanwhile, the Wildcats high-octane offense tuned in an impressive performance against the Redhawks, in the wake of a brilliant display by quarterback Maxwell Smith, who connected with three different receivers for a trio of touchdowns including an 88-yarder.
Smith finished the day with 310 yards and no interceptions.
The Kentucky defense in the meantime, was much better than its outing just one week earlier, when it surrendered a bunch of yards and 35 points to Western Kentucky. Instead, they held Miami (OH) to just 122 yards of offense — something they will need replicate on the field against Louisville on Saturday.
Matt’s Prediction
On paper, this game has all the right ingredients for becoming a shootout, with the deciding factor being which defense can continually force the opponent’s offense to a 3-and-out.
With that being said, I think Louisville has the advantage in this one. The Cardinals are deeper and have more talent at the skilled positions, besides having arguably the best quarterback in the country.
So while Kentucky’s defense looked fantastic last week, they are sure to get a lesson this week.
I expect the game to stay close in the first half with the Cardinals pulling away in the third quarter to cover the spread.
Louisville 40 – Kentucky 20
