Louisville Cardinals vs UCF Knights Prediction, 9/9/2022 College Football Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Louisville Cardinals vs UCF Knights

Date: Friday, September 9, 2022

Location: Bounce House in Orlando, FL

TV: ESPN2

Odds/Point Spread: Knights (-6)

Total/Over-Under: 61.5

The UCF Knights (1-0) are hosting the Louisville Cardinals (0-1) at Bounce House on Friday. Louisville opens as 6-point underdogs. The total is 61.5.

The Louisville Cardinals come into this game with a record of 0-1 for this season. The last time they took the field, the Cardinals played the Syracuse Orange and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 31-7. Tiyon Evans was the rushing leader for the Cardinals with 13 carries for 89 yds (6.8 yds per attempt). Malik Cunningham connected on 16/22 with 152 yds through the air. He had a QB rating of 112.6 and ended the game with 2 interceptions. When it came to stopping the run, the Cardinals gave up 207 yds on 40 tries, which averages out to 5.2 yds per run surrendered. Louisville gave up 19 pass completions on 26 tries for 242 yards, and a completion percentage of 73.1%. In the game, they had 54 plays which gave them a total of 334 yds. The Louisville Cardinals ran the football 31 times and compiled 137 yards, which earned them an average of 4.4 yds per carry.

Concerning putting the ball in the endzone, the Louisville Cardinals held an average of 31.6 points per contest. As a unit they maintained an average of 210.2 yards in the run game, which was 22nd in Division 1. The Cardinals tallied 5,807 total yards for the prior campaign. Louisville amassed 21 touchdowns via the pass and 29 touchdowns on the ground. Louisville accumulated 274 1st downs as a team, and they were flagged for 81 infractions for 719 yds. They gave the ball to the opposition 13 different times.

The Cardinals sat in 77th in D-1 regarding the opposition scoring, conceding 27.3 points per contest. They allowed teams to run for an average of 4.4 yards per rushing attempt and 158.1 rushing yards per contest throughout last year. In total, they gave up 2,055 yards via the running game in 13 outings. Regarding passing yardage, the Cardinals gave up 3,193 yards which had them ranked 102nd in Division 1. Over the course of their 13 games played, they gave up 245.6 yards per game via the pass and relinquishing a completion percentage of 65.4%. They allowed 403.7 yards per game which ranked them 84th in the country. They granted 20 touchdowns through the air in addition to 23 touchdowns via the ground game.

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The Knights come into this matchup with a record of 1-0 this season. In their last game, the Knights went home victorious with a score of 56-10 against the South Carolina State Bulldogs. John Rhys Plumlee carried the ball 16 times for 100 yards, finishing the contest with 6.3 yds per carry for UCF. John Rhys Plumlee (4 touchdowns) ended the contest with 308 yds on 20/31 through the air while his QB rate was 190.6. He didn't throw any interceptions and his average yards per attempt was 9.9. UCF relinquished 33 attempts on the ground for 35 yards (1.1 yards per rush). The Knights secondary conceded a completion rate of 30.4%, relinquishing 56 yds on 7 out of 23 passing. The Knights finished with 605 yards while they ran 81 plays (7.5 yds per play). UCF ran for 6.1 yards per attempt, finishing with a total of 297 yds on 49 attempts.

Regarding putting points on the board, the Knights were 38th in the country averaging 31.9 points per outing. Last season, the Knights compiled 2,681 passing yards along with an average of 206.2 throwing yards per outing, ranking them 91st in college football. The UCF Knights averaged 402.9 yards per outing, which had them sitting 66th in college football. The UCF offense totaled 686 yards of penalties on 81 infractions, which was good for 57th in the nation in terms of giving up free yards.

The Knights surrendered 24.5 points per game, which put them in 49th in D-1. UCF surrendered a total of 2,077 yards on the ground (159.8 yards per game) and 23 touchdowns by way of the ground game last season. Last season, they conceded 319 points in total. They yielded 12 touchdowns via the pass in addition to 210.1 yards/game, which had them in 35th in D-1. The Knights defense took the field for 943 plays, which had them ranked 112th in the country.

Who will win tonight's Cardinals/Knights college football game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take the Cardinals +6

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