The Duke Blue Devils and the Louisville Cardinals meet in week 9 college football action from Cardinal Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Duke Looking For Consistency

The Duke Blue Devils look to find some consistency after alternating wins and losses in each of their last four games after a 38-20 loss to Florida State last time out. Riley Leonard has thrown for 981 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions on 60.6% passing while also rushing for 339 yards and 4 touchdowns. Jordan Waters leads Duke in rushing with 465 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns while Jaquez Moore has 390 rushing yards and 3 TDs. Jalon Calhoun has a team-high 379 receiving yards with a pair of touchdowns while Jordan Moore has a team-high 27 receptions for 348 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two more Blue Devils have 100+ receiving yards as well on the year. On defense, Tre Freeman has a team-high 56 total tackles while Aeneas Peebles has a team-high 3 sacks.

Duke Blue Devils Team Facts

• Duke has lost nine of its last 10 games against AP-ranked teams.
• Duke has failed to cover the spread in seven of its last eight October games as a road underdog.
• Duke has won the first quarter in each of its last three games against conference opponents.
• Duke has won the first half in seven of its last nine games against conference opponents.
• Twelve of Duke’s last 13 games against AP-ranked teams have gone UNDER the total points line.

Louisville Falls To Pitt

The Louisville Cardinals are coming off of their bye week, but prior to that, Louisville took their first loss of the year in a 38-21 loss to Pitt to fall to 6-1. Jack Plummer has thrown for 1,901 yards, 13 touchdowns and 8 interceptions on 63.5% passing while Jawhar Jordan has a team-high 661 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns. Jamari Thrash has a team-high 39 receptions for 639 yards and 6 touchdowns while two Cardinals have 200+ receiving yards and another four Cardinals have 100+ receiving yards. On defense, TJ Quinn has a team-high 54 total tackles while Ashton Gillotte has a team-high 6.5 sacks and Devin Neal has 3 interceptions. As a unit, Louisville’s defense has combined for 15 sacks and 8 interceptions this season.

Louisville Cardinals Team Facts

• Louisville has won each of its last eight games at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium.
• Louisville has covered the spread in each of its last eight games at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium.
• Four of Louisville’s last five games at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium have gone UNDER the total points line.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Louisville are one of only six FBS teams undefeated in home games this season (3-0).
• Louisville rank T28th among FBS teams for points per game this season (34.1).
• Duke rank 5th among FBS teams for points allowed per game this season (13.9).

Chris’ Pick

I get the case to be made for Duke as an underdog, but I’d feel a lot better about the Blue Devils if I knew if Riley Leonard would be playing as the Blue Devils are much more effective with him in the starting QB role. Louisville was due for a letdown against Pitt, but I think the bye week was good for Louisville to refocus and re-establish the task at hand. I think Louisville comes out with purpose and wins this one by a touchdown, so give me Louisville laying the points here.