Louisville Cardinals at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Betting Preview
It’s Friday Night lights from Atlanta – as the Louisville Cardinals take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. This is the first game for both teams and a conference game at that. The Louisville Cardinals, led by head coach Jeff Brohm, will take the field following their 8-5 season a year ago.
The Cardinals won the Fenway Bowl over Cincinnati and then lost Scott Satterfield to a new job. Now, they will look to improve on that in 2023. For Georgia Tech, they will also be under the leadership of a first full-season head coach.
Brent Key filled in last year as the interim head coach after the Yellow Jackets fired Geoff Collins. He went 4-4 during that time, as the Yellow Jackets finished the season 5-7.
Louisville comes into this game as the favorite. The Cardinals are listed at -7.5, while the total is set at 50 points.
Cardinals Seeking to Start Quick
The Louisville Cardinals have home games against Murray State, Indiana, and Boston College, so a quick start could lead to great things in 2023. The Cardinals were one of the best defensive teams a season ago, and on the offensive side, they ran the football down the teams’ throats.
Louisville rushed for over 200 yards per game while allowing just 20 points per game. Brohm will have a different method in 2023, as his teams at Purdue loved to use the passing game.
The Cardinals no longer have Malik Cunningham under center. The athletic quarterback rushed for nearly 600 yards a season ago, along with his 1,500 passing yards.
Jack Plummer appears to be the guy in charge of the offense now. Plummer will look to Jamari Thrash as the type of Rondale Moore, Charlie Jones role that Coach had at Purdue.
Jawhar Jordan returns as the lead running back. Many feel Jordan can get to 1,000 yards on the ground this season. Without Cunningham, he should get a heavy workload and was 185 shy a season ago.
Yellow Jackets Looking to Spring Upset
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are looking to spring a Week 1 upset. The Yellow Jackets should have the crowd in their favor, with the game in Atlanta. Georgia Tech saw the offense be all over the board a season ago.
The Yellow Jackets ran the ball well at times but then, at other times, could not move it at all. In 2023, the Yellow Jackets turn to quarterback Zach Pyron to anchor the load. Pyron completed just 49 passes a season ago.
The running game will feature Dontae Smith. Hassan Hall is gone after a season where he led the team in rushing yards with 521. Smith was second on the team with 420 but had five touchdowns to lead the way for Georgia Tech.
Finally, DJ Moore is going to be the top passing receiver, along with Dominick Blaylock in 2023. Neither were on the Yellow Jackets roster in 2022.
It will take some time for both teams to get their feet wet in this game. Both teams are starting a new system, but at least Georgia Tech has an idea of what their coach expects from eight games a season ago.
The Cardinals lost some talent, and that may take some time to replace. Taking the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at +7.5 is not the worst bet.
