2014 College Football Week 1 Miami vs. Louisville Picks & Predictions
By Anthony Rome
LOUISVILLE, KY (ATS Consultants) - The newest Bobby Petrino era will begin tonight in Louisville when the Cardinals host the Miami Hurricanes at 8:00PM ET.
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetDSI, the Cardinals are 3.5-point home favorites over the visiting Hurricanes, while the over/under total is currently sitting at 54 points. Miami leads the all-time series 9-2-1, but Louisville has won the last two meetings between these two programs.
The big news for Miami is that true freshman Brad Kaaya has been named the team's starting quarterback for tonight's game. Kaaya beat out Kansas transfer Jake Heaps for the starting job after projected starter Ryan Williams suffered a major knee injury during the spring. Kaaya enrolled in May after earning four-star status from several scouting services. Of course, while all eyes will be on Kaaya, running back Duke Johnson remains the focal point of the Hurricanes' offense.
Louisville will also have a young signal-caller under center tonight after Petrino named redshirt sophomore Will Gardner the team's starting quarterback less than a week ago. Petrino noted that Gardner had "an outstanding camp" and "demonstrated good decision-making." Gardner has big shoes to fill after Teddy Bridgewater was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in May.
NCAA FREE PICK: Take the under. According to latest college football trends, the under is 5-1 in the Cardinals' last six games in September and 5-1 in their last six games overall. The under is also 4-1 in the Cardinals' last five home games, 5-2 in their last seven conference games and 7-3 in their lat 10 games on fieldturf. With two young signal-callers under center tonight, expect the offenses to sputter a bit.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 1 FREE PICK: LOUISVILLE/MIAMI UNDER 54