Connecticut Huskies vs. Louisville Cardinals
Oddsmakers currently have the Cardinals listed as 3½-point favorites versus the Huskies, while the game's total is sitting at 50.
Connecticut scored 24 points in the second and third quarters combined and held on for a 31-28 win over Baylor in Week 4.
Connecticut failed to cover the 13-point spread, while the 59 points made it OVER the posted total of 52.
Donald Brown carried the ball 34 times for 150 yards and two touchdowns to lift the Huskies.
Victor Anderson ran for 176 yards and three touchdowns as Louisville defeated Kansas State 38-29 in Week 3, as 5.5-point underdogs. The combined 67 points sailed OVER the posted total of 55.5.
Hunter Cantwell completed 22-of-33 pass attempts for 274 yards and two touchdowns for Louisville.
Current streak:
Connecticut has won 4 straight games.
Louisville has won 2 straight games.
Team records:
Connecticut: 4-0 SU, 1-2 ATS
Louisville: 2-1 SU, 1-1 ATS
Connecticut most recently:
When playing in September are 9-1
When playing on turf are 3-7
After being outgained are 5-5
When playing within the conference are 5-5
Louisville most recently:
When playing in September are 8-2
When playing on turf are 6-4
After outgaining opponent are 6-4
When playing within the conference are 6-4
A few trends to consider:
Connecticut is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Connecticut's last 5 games on the road
Connecticut is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Connecticut is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Louisville is 22-3 SU in its last 25 games at home
Louisville is 17-8 SU in its last 25 games
Next up:
Connecticut at North Carolina, Saturday, October 4
Louisville at Memphis, Friday, October 10
UConn at Louisville
By Brian Edwards
After hosting last week’s edition of “Friday Night Lights,” Connecticut (4-0 straight up, 1-2 against the spread) returns to the spotlight again this week. This time, however, the Huskies hit the road to face Louisville.
UConn stayed undefeated by holding off Baylor 31-28 last Friday, but Randy Edsall’s squad failed to cover the spread as a 13-point favorite. We backed the ‘over’ (52) for another Friday night winner, improving our season mark to 3-0-1.
UConn running back Donald Brown ran for 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead his team past the Bears. QB Tyler Lorenzen threw a pair of costly interceptions, but he made amends by rushing for two TDs, including a 34-yard QB draw that gave the Huskies a 24-21 lead.
The game had six lead changes, the last of which came on Brown’s three-yard scamper to paydirt with more than six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Brown is the nation’s leading rusher with 716 yards. He has 10 rushing TDs and a 6.3 yards per carry average.
It’s a good thing that Brown has been so effective because UConn’s aerial attack has been extremely shaky. Lorenzen had a solid, interception-free game in a 45-10 home win over Virginia on Sep. 13. However, the senior signal caller has an abysmal 1/6 touchdown-interception ratio for the season.
Louisville (2-1 SU, 1-1 ATS) started the year with a sobering 27-2 home loss to Kentucky as a four-point ‘chalk.’ Since then, Steve Kragthorpe’s team has responded with back-to-back victories. The Cardinals stroked Tennessee Tech 51-10 in a non-lined affair before beating Kansas State 38-29 last Wednesday.
They easily took the cash as six-point home underdogs, while the 67 combined points jumped ‘over’ the 56-point total.
Hunter Cantwell threw for 274 yards and two TDs to pace the Cardinals, who had 577 yards of total offense against the Wildcats. Doug Beaumont was Cantwell’s favorite target, hauling in nine receptions for 119 yards.
Freshman RB Victor Anderson erupted for 176 rushing yards and three TDs on 18 carries. Also, senior RB Brock Bolen had a workmanlike 104-yard performance on 23 rushes.
Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened Louisville as a 2½-point favorite with a total of 53. As of Wednesday night, most spots had the Cardinals adjusted to 3½-point ‘chalk,’ while the total had moved to 50. The Huskies are plus 145 on the money line (risk $100 to win $145).
Louisville will be looking to avenge a controversial 21-17 loss at UConn last season. The Cards had a 17-7 lead in the fourth quarter when UConn’s Larry Taylor returned a punt 74 yards for a TD.
But here’s the thing: Taylor had signaled for a fair catch, prompting Louisville’s punt team to pull up and initially not try to tackle Taylor. Kragthorpe called timeout before the PAT, but the officials ruled that fair catches weren’t reviewable.
After U of L failed to convert a fourth-and-three play at UConn’s 29 with 5:50 left, the Huskies produced a game-winning 71-yard drive. Andre Dixon capped the march with a five-yard TD run with 1:32 remaining.
UConn struggled in its first road game on Sep. 6, winning 12-9 at Temple in overtime. The Huskies failed to cover the number as 6 ½-point favorites. They are 4-11 ATS as road underdogs since 2004.
Louisville is an atrocious 1-5 ATS as a home favorite under Kragthorpe. For what it’s worth, though, the Cards went 15-2 ATS as home ‘chalk’ from 2004-2006 under Bobby Petrino.
ESPN2 will provide television coverage at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
--Duke hasn’t been favored in an ACC game since the 2002 regular-season finale against North Carolina. The Tar Heels won that game 23-21 as three-point road underdogs. The Blue Devils are seven-point home favorites Saturday against Virginia.
--If you discount Ron Zook’s first year at Illinois (2005) when he inherited a terrible team, his squads (at UF 2002-2004 and at Illinois 2006-2007) own an 8-2 spread record as a double-digit underdog.
--Although Phillip Fulmer is on the hot seat at Tennessee, we should note that he has the highest winning percentage (76%) of all active coaches.
VegasInsider.com