Florida International Golden Panthers at Louisville Cardinals
Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky
Friday, September 9, 2011, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN
Opening Line: Louisville -4 1/2
Current Line: Louisville -4
Opening Total: 49
Current Total: 48 1/2
Opening Money Line: Louisville -175 / Florida International +155
Current Money Line: Louisville -175 / Florida International +155
Coach Charlie Strong and the Louisville Cardinals host Mario Cristobal and the Florida International Golden Panthers. Both teams are 1-0 on the young season after beating inferior opponents last week. Florida International beat Sun Belt conference rival North Texas at home 41-16 last Thursday night. The covered the spread easily and the game went over the total. Louisville struggled in their 21-9 victory over Murray St, a game notable because it was the first official game of the 2011 season. The game kicked off at 6:00 pm last Thursday. Louisville didn’t cover the spread and the game went under the total. Louisville and Florida International have never played in football before.
FIU jumped out to a 28 point lead in the first quarter against North Texas and cruised to a 41-16 victory. The Panthers outgained the Mean Green 401-301. FIU had 208 rushing yards in the game. Quarterback Wesley Carroll was 16 for 22 for 193 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions. He also had 2 carries for 2 yards. Panther receiver T.Y. Hilton had 283 all purpose yards including 7 catches for 132 yards, including a 60 yard touchdown catch, along with 2 carries for 49 yards. He also had 2 kick returns for 92 yards. Running back Darriet Perry had 15 carries for 94 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kedrick Rhodes had 16 carries, 77 yards and 2 touchdowns as well. Kicker Jack Griffin made 2 field goals of 23 and 45 yards as well as all 5 of his extra points. Punter Jack Brisk had 5 punts with a 49.2 yard average with one touchback and one inside the 20.
Florida International held North Texas to 301 total yards including 204 passing yards. The North Texas offense didn’t score a point as the defense recovered 2 fumbles in the end zone and recorded a safety accounting for all 16 Mean Green points. The Panthers defense had 3 sacks and recovered one fumble. Linebacker Winston Fraser had 11 tackles in the game. Linebacker Greg Hickman had 2 sacks in the game.
Louisville also jumped out to an early 21-0 lead and held on for a 21-9 victory. The Cardinals outgained the Racers 385-291, including 226 passing yards for Louisville. The game was very sloppy on both sides with Louisville turning it over 4 times, including 3 fumbles and an interception, and Murray St threw three interceptions. Louisville also had 10 penalties for 65 yards. Quarterback Will Stein was 17 for 32 for 226 yards, and 2 touchdowns without an interception. He also had 6 carries for -2 yards. Freshman receiver DeVante Parker had 3 catches for 55 yards, including a 39 yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. No other Cardinal receiver had more than 4 catches or 39 yards receiving. Senior RB Victor Anderson had 9 carries, 61 yards, and a touchdown. Anderson had 3 catches for 23 yards as well. Kicker Chris Philpott had 2 carries for 48 yards but 40 of those came on one play. Philpott didn’t attempt a field goal but made 3 extra points.Punter Josh Bleser had 5 punts with a 35 yards average but did have 3 inside the 20.
Murray St was held to only 291 yards against Louisville after averaging over 500 yards a game last year.Race Quarterback Casey Brockman threw for only 148 yards and 3 interceptions with no touchdowns. Running back Mike Harris had 26 carries, 116 yards, and a late touchdown. Louisville linebackers Preston Brown and Dexter Heyman both had 12 tackles. Heyman also had one of the 3 interceptions.
FIU is 1-9 against the spread in their last 10 as an underdog of 3.5 to 10 points. The Panthers are 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 against Big East teams. Louisville is 4-1 ATS the spread in their last 5 after failing to cover the spread in the previous game. The Cardinals are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 home games and 2-8 in their last 10 Friday games as well. The over is 7-0 in FIU’s last 7 games as an underdog of 3.5 to 10 points, and 13-3 in their last 16 road games against teams with winning records.
Louisville needs to play much better against a dangerous FIU team than they did against Murray St, especially on offense. They need to cut down on the penalties and turnovers or they could be on upset alert against a team picked to win the Sun Belt Conference.
Check out our college football odds for the best line on every game. Our college football handicappers are crushing the bookmakers so far this season.
