It’s an ACC showdown Saturday night when the #18 Miami Hurricanes head to Louisville to play the No. 16 Cardinals. Both squads got off to a 1-0 start in week one, with Miami taking down UAB and Louisville getting the win over Western Kentucky. The last time these two faced off was in November of 2019 and Miami throttled the Cardinals, 52-27.
The Hurricanes actually come in to the 2020 meeting as 2.5 underdogs. Oddsmakers don’t think Miami can handle the electric offense of Louisville and Micale Cunningham. The Cardinals quarterback threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns in the season opener.
Hurricanes Ready To Storm Cardinals
The Miami Hurricanes are heading into Louisville with the same mindset from 2019, run the ball and control the clock. In the last meeting between these two, the Hurricanes ran for 197 yards. The biggest difference from a year ago to today is that Jarren Williams is no longer the starting QB for the Hurricanes, instead D’Eriq King helms the offense.
King only threw for 144 yards in the Miami win over UAB and clearly isn’t as much of a downfield thrower as Williams. Miami will focus on running the ball more on Saturday night, if anything to keep Louisville’s QB Cunningham off the field. If the Miami defense can do their share and prevent explosive downfield plays, the Hurricanes should be in good shape for an outright win.
Cardinals Looking For Redemption
Conference games are always entertaining, but Louisville had a tough time dealing with Miami’s running game the last time these teams met up. The passing game for the Cardinals is key on Saturday night, especially in downfield throws. Last week the Cardinals took to the air against Western Kentucky with Cunningham throwing three touchdowns and running one in as well.
Louisville will have to find a way to keep pressure off of Cunningham. One way they can do that is by establishing the run game early and then letting Cunningham find his receivers down the field.
Betting Pick
If Jarren Williams were still the starting QB for Miami I’d lean more towards the Hurricanes in this one. However D’Eriq King doesn’t seem to pass down the field too often and that could come back to bite Miami late in the game if Cunningham lets loose.
That being said, the defense of the Cardinals will have to stop the production of Miami’s running game, which ran for over 300 yards against UAB. Look for Louisville to edge this one out by just enough to cover this spread, Louisville Cardinals -2.5.
