Larry's 10* Conf Game of Month (17-7 LY with 10*s)
(NCAAF) Louisville vs. Syracuse, 09/03/2022 8:00 PM, Score: 7 - 31
Point Spread: -4.50 | -114.00 Louisville (Away)
Result: Loss
My 10* ACC Game of the Month is on Louisville at 8:00 ET.

Louisville (6-7 in 2021) will square off at Syracuse (5-7) Saturday night in the season opener for both teams. Both teams are hoping to break through in the ACC Atlantic Division in 2022. Louisville hasn't done much lately, although the Cardinals did go 9-4 in 2016 and 8-5 in 2017 behind QB Lamar Jackson (Jackson won the Heisman in 2016). That said, Louisville begins this season just 20-29 (.408) the last four seasons. Syracuse is only 29-43 in six seasons under Dino Babers, with just 11 wins in the past three years. Syracuse won just five games last season, but it was a rebound campaign from the forgettable 2020 season (1-10).

The Orange's Sean Tucker, was the top rusher in the ACC last season, setting a school-record with 1,496 rushing yards. However, Syracuse had the ACC's worst passing offense last season. QB Garrett Shrader struggled at times after taking the starting job late in the season. He's back, but the team is thin at QB after former starter Tommy DeVito left and won the starting job at Illinois. The Syracuse defense continues to struggle, having allowed 30 or more points in FIVE of the last seven seasons. Returning to Louisville, the Cardinals are led by dynamic QB Malik Cunningham, the ACC's top rushing QB. Cunningham returns after becoming the second QB in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards. He rushed for 1,031 yards (6.0 YPC / 20 TDs), while passing for 2,941 yards (19 TDs and 6 INTs.

The bottom line is that Louisville has dominated Syracuse by going 7-1 SU and ATS in the last eight meetings between these two teams, with an average margin of 31.0 PPG. What changes here? NOTHING!

Good luck...Larry