Saturday, September 20, 2014

FIU Stadium in Miami

For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here

Louisville (2-1) has had an up and down go of it so far in 2014 and we're only in week 4 of the season. Coach Bobby Petrino will look to get his quarterback play right as the team goes on the road for the second straight week to match up with Florida International. FIU is in danger of falling to 1-3 early in the young season as they are huge home underdogs for this 3:30 ET Saturday matchup.

Whereas the QB is usually the star in a Petrino system, sophomore signal caller Will Gardner was the scapegoat in the Cardinals last game, a 23-21 loss in Virginia. Gardner threw two interceptions and was benched for a portion of the game before returning and leading consecutive scoring drives. To be fair, the real blame for the loss came from when two Cardinals bumped into each other resulting in a muffed punt with under 7 minutes to play and Louisville up 21-20. The loss shows just how fragile a season can be as there's a big difference between 4-0 and 3-1, provided Louisville takes care of business against FIU.

Florida International has played solid defense thus far in 2014 but are victims of their own offensive inefficiencies in starting 1-2. FIU has largely been unable to get a ground game going in their two losses, tallying just 43 yards rushing in a 12-14 loss to Bethune Cookman and only 57 in a 25-42 loss to Pitt. The Golden Panther offense is a young bunch led by the freshman Alex's, QB McGough and RB Gardner but that is a bad combination when the defense is ready to win now. The FIU defense has held opponents under 100 yards rushing 2 of 3 times and has allowed less than 20 PPG yet the Golden Panthers find themselves with just a 1-2 record to show for it.

Louisville is a well-balanced team that should find themselves contenders for the ACC crown as December approaches. For that to happen, these business trip games can't be ignored. The Cardinals will aim to go to Florida, get a win, and escape injury free but as the FIU young guns on offense gain experience, that could be harder than expected.

Louisville Cardinals Betting Trends

Louisville Cardinals are 2-1-0 Against the Spread

Louisville Cardinals are 0-2-0 against the Over/Under

Florida International Golden Panthers Betting Trends

Florida International Golden Panthers are 2-0-1 Against the Spread

Florida International Golden Panthers are 1-1-0 against the Over/Under

Injuries to Watch

Louisville Cardinals

09/14/14 RB Michael Dyer Quad "?" Saturday vs. Florida Intl
08/25/14 WR DeVante Parker Foot out indefinitely
08/04/14 DB Jermaine Reve Knee out indefinitely

Florida International Golden Panthers

No injuries to report at this time

Guy's Pick: Take Louisville

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