Virginia Cavaliers vs Louisville Cardinals Game Preview and Prediction - 10/09/2021

Game Time: 3:00 pm ET, Saturday, October 9, 2021

Venue:  Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, KY

Where to Watch:  ACC Network

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  UVA +2, Louisville -2; Over/Under:  67.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  UVA +2.5, Louisville -2.5; Over/Under:  67.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  UVA +2.5, Louisville -2.5; Over/Under:  67.5 points

 

Virginia Cavaliers:  3-2 (4th place, ACC Coastal)

Louisville Cardinals:  3-2 (4th place, ACC Atlantic)

 

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Virginia Cavaliers:  won on the road on Sep. 30 against the Miami-FL Hurricanes 30-28.

Louisville Cardinals:  lost on the road on Oct. 2 against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 37-34.

 

 

 

Virginia is coming into this game with a 3-2 record overall and they are 1-1 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their 4th conference matchup of the year and they are not off to a good start as they are 1-2 in their conference games this season. UVA's losses came against the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons while their 3 wins came against the William & Mary Tribe, the Illinois Fighting Illini, and against Miami in their last game. Brennan Armstrong played alright in their last game but he also struggled a lot at times as he completed 25/44 passes for 268 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Wayne Taulapapa led the team in rushing with 62 yards and 1 touchdown on 11 carries but they did not really get much of a run game going in that one. Billy Kemp led the receivers with 81 yards on 9 receptions while Dontayvion Wicks was right behind him with 75 yards and 1 touchdown on 2 receptions. Joey Blount led the defense with 6 solo tackles and 2 assisted ones. Mandy Alonso led the defense in sacks with 2 while Noah Taylor and Hunter Stewart both recorded 1 sack each in that game. No one on the defense came away with an interception though. They have scored 171 points in their first 5 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 138 points against them. Their offense is averaging 526 YPG while their defense is allowing 412.8 YPG. 

 

 

Louisville is coming into this college football game with a 3-2 record overall and they are 2-0 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their 3rd conference matchup on their schedule this year and they are currently 1-1 in their conference games this season. Their 3 wins came against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, the UCF Knights, and the Florida State Seminoles while their 2 losses came against the Ole Miss Rebels and against Wake Forest in their last game. That loss against WF snapped a 3 game winning streak that they were on. Malik Cunningham still played great in their last game as he completed 19/26 passes for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jalen Mitchell led the team in rushing with 89 yards on 17 carries while Trevion Cooley was right behind him with 61 yards on 11 carries. Tyler Harrell led the receivers with 75 yards and 1 touchdown on 1 reception while Jordan Watkins had 62 receiving yards on 4 receptions. C.J. Avery led the defense with 9 solo tackles and 3 assisted ones while Jack Fagot was right behind him with 7 solo tackles, 1 assisted one and 1 sack as well. Derek Dorsey also recorded 1 sack in that game and Qwynnterrio Cole came away with the only interception for them in that one. They have scored 161 points in their first 5 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 141 points against them. Their offense is averaging 443 YPG while their defense is allowing 435.6 YPG. 

 

Louisville is coming into this game as a 2.5 point favorite with the current betting odds and the point total is set at 67.5. They have been playing very well this year and their offense has been on fire. They have scored over 30 points in their last 4 games straight and they have scored over 24 points in all of their games this year. Virginia has been scoring a lot of points too this year but their offense can be hit or miss. They showed up in their last game against Miami but not in the one before that against Wake Forest. The one constant that Virginia does have is that their defense is bad and keeps allowing teams to score a lot of points on them. This game will come down to the defenses as the offenses are both really good and the fact is that Virginia's defense will not be able to get a stop when they need it most. The best bet to place in this game is on Louisville to cover the spread here as they will be able to keep scoring on this bad defense.

 

Virginia Louisville Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, October 9, 2021 (3:00 pm ET start time) is Louisville 45 Virginia 34.

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Virginia Cavaliers: 93-81 ATS as an underdog. 49-44 ATS as a road underdog. 123-139 O/U in all games. 71-89 O/U as an underdog. 71-105 O/U against conference opponents.

Louisville Cardinals: 168-175 ATS in all games. 108-112 ATS as a favorite. 76-92 ATS in home games.  93-103 ATS against conference opponents.

 

 

Virginia Cavaliers:  J. Woods (TE) Ques Sat - Leg injury. H. Stewart (LB) Ques Sat - Leg injury. J. Duenkel (K) Ques Sat - Undisclosed injury.

Louisville Cardinals:  M. Cunningham (QB) Ques Sat - Undisclosed injury. R. Brown (OL) Ques Sat - Knee injury. B. Smith (WR) out for season - Knee injury.

 

 

Virginia Cavaliers: Dontayvion Wicks is one player to watch here. He leads his team in receiving yards and in touchdowns scored. He is coming off of a quiet game so look for him to make up for that with a big game here. He is one of their best weapons on the field so look for him to get some looks and balls thrown his way. 

 

Louisville Cardinals: Malik Cunningham is one player to watch here. He leads his team in passing and in touchdowns scored this season but he also left their last game with an injury and is questionable for this game. If he plays, keep an eye on him to see if his injury flares up as he is an important piece to this offense if they are going to win. Watch for the quarterback position here if someone else is starting then it may not turn out as well for this Louisville team.

 

 

"We played together. We never backed down from anything." - Brennan Armstrong on the way he and his teammates played in their win against Miami-Florida.

 

 

"We made some plays. We still left some plays out there on the field." - Scott Satterfield after his team’s loss in a close game to Wake Forest.

 

 

 

WR Wicks, Dontayvion 

WR Henry, Ra'Shaun 

WR Kemp IV, Billy 

TE Woods, Jelani 

QB Armstrong, Brennan 

RB Taulapapa, Wayne  

 

WR Marshall, Justin 

WR Watkins, Jordan 

WR Johnson, Josh 

TE Melton, Dez 

HB Ford, Marshon 

QB Cunningham, Malik 

RB Mitchell, Jalen 

 

Passing: B. Armstrong (1973)

Rushing: W. Taulapapa (143)

Receiving: D. Wicks (535)

Touchdowns: D. Wicks (5)

Sacks: N. Taylor (3)

Tackles: J. Blount (30)

 

Passing: M. Cunningham (1307)

Rushing: J. Mitchell (331)

Receiving: M. Ford (241)

Touchdowns: M. Cunningham (10)

Sacks: Y. Abdullah (4)

Tackles: K. Duncan Jr. (26)

 

Coaches:

Virginia Cavaliers: Bronco Mendenhall (6th season)

Louisville Cardinals: Scott Satterfield (3rd season)

 

80 degrees F partly cloudy, 77% humidity, 0% chance of rain, up to 6 mph wind speeds S.