College Football Week 1 Predictions: Louisville vs. Purdue 9/2/17
Will Louisville steamroll Purdue tonight when the two teams open their regular season at 7:30PM ET?
The Matchup: Louisville vs. Purdue, 7:30PM ET, Lucas Oil Stadium
According to oddsmakers, the Cardinals are 25.5-point favorites versus the Boilermakers this evening. As for the total, the number currently sits at 67.5 points.
In terms of line movement for this matchup, Louisville opened as a 24.5-point favorite before the number was bet up a full point. The total, meanwhile, hit the board at 69.5 before dropping a full two points to 67.5.
Louisville Cardinals
Bobby Petrino enters his eighth year at Louisville, albeit in two different stints (2003-2006; 2014-present). He’s 67-22 with the program and is coming off a 9-4 finish in 2016.
The Cardinals will welcome back reigning Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson under center. With him touching the ball every snap, the team’s offense remains as explosive as ever, although UL’s offensive line got overwhelmed by good defensive fronts a year ago. Will they be any better this season? That remains to be scene.
Bottom Line: The Cardinals will once again be fun to watch but the question is how they’ll fare against top defense. They fell apart last year and there’s no guarantee they’ll be any better against top fronts this season.
Purdue Boilermakers
Jeff Brohm enters his first year with the Boilermakers and if healthy, the team’s defensive front seven will be a true strength. That said, the receiving corps has a major learning curve and the offense could struggle to move the football.
While Brohm was an excellent hire for Purdue, this could be a long season for the Boilermakers.
Our Prediction
It’ll be extremely difficult for Purdue to hang with Jackson and this UL offense for four quarters. The Boilermakers might come out hyped and keep the team in the game defensively, but at some point they’re going to wear down.
While the Cardinals are 5-0-1 against the spread in their last six games in the month of September, the Boilermakers are just 1-4 against the number in their last five non-conference games.
College Football Week 1 Prediction: Louisville Cardinals -25.5
