Louisville vs Virginia: TV Schedule, Odds, Point Spread and Preview
After winning two consecutive games to start the season, Louisville travels to Virginia on Saturday to meet an ACC counterpart. This is the first time that Louisville has to play against an ACC on the road.
The return of coach Bob Petrino is one of the primary reasons the Cardinals are back as contenders. Petrino’s insight of the game added enough balance to Louisville’s offense.
Louisville was successful in beating Miami, 31-13, in September 1 and Murray State, 66-21, last Saturday. Much of the success came from the running game of the Cardinals as they wracked up 603 yards of offense and scored on nine straight possessions.
“These games are sometimes hard to play, especially coming off a game like Miami where we had so much time to prepare and it was so intense,” coach Bob Petrino said.
Against Murray State, the Cardinals allowed quarterback Will Gardner to take the rest after they had the 28-7 lead on the second play of the second quarter. Dominique Brown was just allowed for five carries for 40 yards and a touchdown, because his team already controlled the game.
Much of the possessions of the Cardinals in the last game can be attributed to their second stringers. Petrino would do it differently against Virginia, which is a lot better than Murray State.
Backup quarterback Reggie Bonnafon entered the game and he compiled 112 yards and a touchdown in 8 of 11 passes. Freshman L.J. Scott rushed 11 times for 126 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Brandon Radcliff carried 15 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns.
Virginia has to meet another ranked opponent after losing to then-No 7 UCLA on August 30. At home last week, the Cavaliers pulled off a 45-13 win over Richmond. Though they had accumulated only 330 yards of offense, they were efficient on the defense forcing seven turnovers.
For Virginia to have a shot at Louisville, the Cavaliers have to play the right kind of defense, that is to contain and if possible to stop the opponent’s offense.
“We’ll go back and look at the negatives, and that’s one of them,” said coach Mike London, whose defense had been a bit more optimistic after limiting UCLA. “Louisville is a team that has a lot of great skill players, and we’ll definitely have to shore up what we’re doing from that aspect.”
Louisville vs Virginia football game info like kick off time, odds, point spread, tv schedule
Kick off time: 12:30 PM Saturday
TV Channel Schedule: ESPN3
Odds / Line / Point Spread
Louisville favorite -6.5
O/U 54
