Time: Noon EST, Saturday
Spread: LOU -11
Total: 45.5
M/L: LOU -425, UCONN +355
Betting Odds from Bookmaker
Louisville was undefeated until their last game, when they dropped a contest to Syracuse. Two weeks ago, they lost 45-26 to the Orange. They’ll try to do the best thing they can next to an undefeated season, though, and take home the Big East championship.
Doing it without leading rusher Senorise Perry may be a bit tough though. However, even without Perry, the Cardinals are still 11 point favorites over UCONN according to college football oddsmakers.
In the loss last week to ‘Cuse, the Cardinals gave up 524 yards, which was almost 200 greater than their season average. The loss dropped them to No. 2 in the conference, and they are now a game behind Rutgers—who they will face next week.
“What’s important is that we now have two games left…this is a two game season and our players understand that,” Louisville coach Charlie Strong commented.
Louisville will have to avoid looking beyond this week, despite the fact that UCONN is not the greatest of challenges. The Huskies are just 4-6 and have won only one of their five games against Big East opponents this year.
Jeremy Wright will look to pick up the slack in the absence of Perry. Wright is the second best rusher on the team with 680 yards, but he struggled badly against the Orange last week, averaging just 2.9 yards per carry on 10 attempts. Strong expects the team to be “OK” running the football, but cites that the team will miss Perry “because he’s played so much.”
Louisville has outscored their opponents by an average of 14 points per game at home. UCONN has been especially bad on the road, too, and has averaged just 10.8 points during their four game losing streak away from Connecticut.
The one thing UCONN does have going for them is that they allow the least passing yards in the Big East, giving up just 188 per game. Louisville’s star player, Terry Bridgewater, may find it difficult to throw the ball against the Huskies, but it’s quite possible that he manages to dominate anyway, even without being able to rely on handing the ball off to Perry.
UCONN coach Paul Pasqualoni said “Louisville is (obviously) an excellent team” and that they have one of the top QBs in the nation. He also commented that it will be a “hostile environment” and “tough place to play.”
The Huskies, however, had won three straight against Louisville before losing their last two contests against them. The last was a 26-0 loss in Louisville in 2010. The Huskies have dropped eight straight games against ranked opponents by an average of 18.5 points per game.
UCONN BETTING TRENDS:
Huskies are 9-1-1 ATS in their last 11 in NOV, 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 following bye weeks, 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 conference games, 0-8-1 ATS in their last 9 following an SU win, 0-5 ATS in their last 5 on turf, and 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 on the road.
LOUISVILLE BETTING TRENDS:
Cardinals are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 following an SU loss, 10-2 ATS in their last 12 after allowing 40+ points the previous game, 20-8 ATS in their last 28 after accumulating less than 100 yards in their previous week, 2-5 ATS in their last 7 overall, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 on turf, and 1-8 ATS in their last 9 after allowing 200+ rushing yards previous game.
