Week 1: Syracuse vs Louisville 9/3/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Syracuse Orange and Louisville Cardinals square off Saturday in a week 1 ACC conference matchup in college football action from the Carrier Dome.

The Louisville Cardinals come into the 2022 season looking to take a step forward after a decent 2021 campaign, finishing the year at 6-7 overall, which included a 4-4 mark in ACC play before falling to Air Force in the First Responder Bowl by a final score of 31-28. Malik Cunningham returns for the Cardinals which is massive considering he’s the epitome of the dual-threat quarterback, throwing for almost 3,000 yards and 19 touchdowns with just 6 INTs while also rushing for over 1,000 yards and 20 touchdowns. Cunningham’s a key piece of the ground attack for Louisville, but Jalen Mitchell is back after leading all of the Cardinals’ running backs with 722 rushing yards and 5 TDs and Tiyon Evans is a nice get for Louisville from Tennessee. Braden Smith also returns in the Louisville receiving group after an injury-plagued 2021 season, while Dee Wiggins comes in from Miami and Tyler Hudson transfers in from Central Arkansas to make up a receiving corps with a ton of potential. On defense, the front seven has some solid pieces like Yassir Abdullah at linebacker and Ashton Gillette as a solid pass-rushing defensive end while Jermayne Lole transfers in from Arizona State and Momo Sanogo enters from Ole Miss to help the cause. Kei’Trel Clark is back in the Louisville secondary after leading the Cardinals with 3 INTs in an injury-shortened season while Kenderick Duncan is also back after posting 76 tackles. Chandler Jones is a solid veteran cover corner, while the Cardinals hit the transfer portal especially hard in the secondary, bringing in Jalen Alexander from Duke, Jarvis Brownlee from Florida State, MJ Griffin from Temple and Quincy Riley from Middle Tennessee.

The Syracuse Orange will try to take a step forward after finishing the 2021 campaign with a 5-7 record, including a 2-6 mark in ACC conference play. Garrett Shrader led the Orange under center as Syracuse’s dual-threat QB, throwing for 1,445 yards and 9 scores on just 53% passing while also rushing for 781 yards and 14 TDs. Sean Tucker also returns and is being heralded as one of the best running backs in the country, rushing for almost 1,500 yards with 12 touchdowns and 9 100-yard games last season. The Orange upgraded the relief for Tucker, bringing in Juwaun Price from New Mexico State after he rushed for 692 yards and ten scores last season. Courtney Jackson returns as Syracuse’s leading receiver after putting up 37 catches last season while Damien Alford chipped in over 19 YPC last season. On defense, the linebacking corps is the pride and joy of the Orange defense, with Stefon Thompson and Marlowe Wax combining for 11 sacks while Mikel Johnson had a team-high 110 tackles and 4 sacks of his own last season. In the secondary, Garrett Williams and Darien Chestnut make up a formidable of corners for Syracuse while Alijah Clark will come in from Rutgers and Bralyn Oliver will be switching sidelines, transferring in from Louisville to fill in at safety.

The over is 4-1 in Louisville’s last 5 games overall. Syracuse is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 home games and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 conference games while the under is 6-2 in their last 8 games in September. The favorite is 8-0 ATS in the last 8 meetings between these two teams while Louisville is 7-1 ATS in the last 8 meetings between these two teams.

These early season conference games can be tricky, as the early season matchups are tricky on their own, but an added wrinkle of a conference opponent adds a bit of weight to the matchup. That being said, Garrett Shrader is solid and Sean Tucker is one of the best running backs in the country, but the Cardinals have more continuity throughout the lineup and have had their way with Syracuse over the years. Malik Cunningham is a cheat code in his own right and I just think the Cardinals are more likely to come up with the big plays that are the difference in this game. I’ll side with Louisville at lay the points here.