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The premier game for Week 3 will be when the Louisville Cardinals and the Clemson Tigers square off with first place in the ACC Atlantic on the line. These teams played an instant classic last season and the Tigers win ended up propelling them towards a national championship. This season, Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals are looking to do the same thing. They have home field advantage, but the defense has been very shaky through the first two games of the season.
This contest in Week 3 of the regular season will go down Saturday, September 16, 2017, at 8
p.m. ET at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. This game will be broadcast on ABC.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Clemson -3
Louisville +3
Over/Under 56
Odds Analysis
The Tigers are hungry for another win over the Cardinals. They have been phenomenal on defense so far this season, holding Kent State to three points and Auburn to six points in two wins that also ended up covering the spread. The defense led to last week’s game against their fellow Tigers going under the total by 35 points.
Louisville has been the mirror opposite of Clemson. The Cardinals defense has not been good and that has led to a lot of points being put on the scoreboard. They allowed 28 to Purdue and 35 to North Carolina and that led to Louisville barely covering the number against the latter and not coming close to covering against the former.
Last Year’s Meeting
This game had it all last season. Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson were unstoppable after some early errors in a roller coaster ride of a game.
Both teams topped 500 total yards of offense as Watson threw for 306 yards and five touchdowns, but with three interceptions, and added another 91 yards on the ground. Jackson was even more spectacular and stamped his Heisman candidacy with 295 yards through the air and 162 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Perhaps most amazingly, these were both good defenses that got shredded by the opposition. Clemson’s defense was superb in 2016, but was no match for Jackson, while Louisville’s defense was an above average unit that forced a lot of turnovers.
Matchup to Watch
There’s no doubt what’s going to determine the winner of this game. How will Jackson fare against the Tigers defense this time around?
Clemson’s defensive line is absurd. This is the best front four in the country as the defensive ends have stepped up alongside the two mammoth men in the middle. Austin Bryant had four of Clemson’s 11 sacks against Auburn last week, while Christian Wilkins disrupted things in the middle all night long. This unit covers up a lot of the inexperience in the back half of the defense.
Meanwhile, we all know about Jackson at this point. He continues to put up huge numbers every week and has to be considered one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy once again. Jackson has torched almost every defense he has faced over the last year and a half, but has struggled at times. Notably, he was unable to get any real traction against LSU last season and Clemson may want to take a page out of that gameplan.
Free ATS Pick
The Cardinals haven’t been great on defense this season, especially in the secondary. They have been without All-American cornerback Jaire Alexander, but he may be able to play against Clemson. Keep an eye on his status as his return would be a huge boost for Louisville.
Kelly Bryant isn’t Watson, but has been good enough for Clemson. He was alright against a very good Auburn defense and can use his feet to move the chains as well. Bryant will be able to continue that trend and lead Clemson past Louisville in a close one on Saturday night.
College Football Odds: Tigers 31, Cardinals 27
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