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Pittsburgh at Louisville Football Odds & Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd

pitt lville 92909 The Pittsburgh Panthers take on the Louisville Cardinals at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium under the Friday night lights on ESPN 2 in a Big East battle. The college football odds makers have spoken, listing Pittsburgh as the 6.5-point road favorite.

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Heading into the season, most experts expected the strength of the Pittsburgh Panthers to be its defense. Most of those experts might be recanting their thoughts on the Panthers after watching them give up 500 yards for the second time in three weeks. Last week’s loss to North Carolina State was Pitt’s first defeat of the season, but there will be a lot more to follow if it doesn’t get some kinks worked out defensively. Pittsburgh was especially torched through the air with N.C. State QB Russell Wilson throwing for 322 yards and four scores. Russell had been sacked 11 times in his first three games, but Pitt was only able to sack him once.

Offensively, Pitt looks strong behind QB Bill Stull, who threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns last week. Freshman tailback Dion Lewis was also a big contributor with 95 yards rushing and two scores. If the defense continues to struggle, Pitt will have to continue to hope Stull and company can outscore Louisville this week. It is worth noting that the Louisville Cardinals are 0-5 against the number in their last five conference games. If you expect Louisville’s against the spread winless streak to continue in conference play, bet Pitt at -6.5 at BetUS.

The Louisville Cardinals have been plagued early on by making costly mistakes, which is something they are going to want to eliminate against a Pitt team that has had trouble stopping its opponents. Three turnovers and a blocked field goal attempt led to a 0-20 deficit against Utah before the Cards even knew what hit them.

Defensively, Louisville does have to feel good about its pass rush. Prior to its game with Utah the Cards had only recorded two sacks on the season, but they came up with three sacks against the Utes. Getting pressure on Stull will be a major key for Louisville this week. One player Louisville can count on to come up big is linebacker Chris Campa, who has 20 tackles in his last two games.

The Cardinals have the potential to be a pretty good running football team with tailbacks Victor Anderson and Darius Ashley, who figures to see an increased role as the season goes on. But the running game got nothing against Utah last week, gaining only 80 yards on 35 carries. Anderson gained only 22 yards after racking up 93 and 110 yards respectively in Louisville’s first two games. Louisville is going to need a bounce back game from Anderson if they hope to be in this one. It is worth noting that the Pittsburgh Panthers are just 5-12 against the spread in their last 17 games as a favorite and the Cardinals are 8-0 against the spread in their last eight games after gaining less than 275 total yards in their previous game. If you think the Cards have what it takes to take Pitt down to the wire at home, bet Louisville at +6.5 at BetUS.

Jimmy Boyd crushed the books on the college gridiron last week and he’s ready to do it again. Make sure you consult his expert football picks before you make a single move!

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