The Louisville Cardinals have lost some of their mystique, but they remain the favorites of people betting on college football to defeat the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday, October 22nd at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in Kentucky. Here are the NCAA football betting odds for the game:
NC State +19 (-110) 65 (-110) +750
Louisville -19 (-110) 65 (-110) -1165
The Wolfpack (4-2) went toe to toe – or rather paw to paw – with the Clemson Tigers, and while they still fell short 17 to 24, NC State played well enough – or made Clemson look bad enough, if you will, allowing 397 yards and turning the ball over four times – that the Tigers actually dropped one spot in the AP Poll. As far as moral victories go, that’s not too shabby. Wolfpack kicker Kyle ‘La’ Bambard was one 33-yard field goal away from stealing the win at Memorial Stadium and making a few people betting on college football very happy, but he pushed the kick right. As a result, the game went into overtime, during which Clemson wisely stopped pushing its luck and went to work to remain undefeated.
By the way, the Cardinals known what it feels like to lose to the Tigers, and after a week off were ready to tear through the Duke Blue Devils. A task that proved much easier said than done. The Blue Devils were clearly not impressed by Lamar Jackson, and look determined to use every second of regulation to get away with the victory. Fortunately, a late Duke penalty gave Jackson opening he needed to score on a two-yard run with 1:32 left on the clock to keep the Blue Devils at bay 24-14. Louisville was the heavy favorite of people betting on college football, but as head coach Bobby Petrino said, “our objective is to go win, keep ourselves in (playoff consideration), and I think we did that.” Sure, what does he care about spreads and totals.
Even if Lamar Jackson underperformed against Duke, he still had 325 yards of total offense and two scores, and he remains a strong Heisman trophy candidate as well. Then again, opposing teams have been doing their homework, and NC State has a wealth of experience – both first- and second-hand – that they can draw from. For starters, the Wolfpack faced the Cardinals last season in a 13-20 loss. On that occasion, Jackson went 10 of 27 but Louisville still gained 203 rushing yards on the then-No. 3 defense. Moreover, the Blue Devils put on a seminar on how to slow down the Cardinals offense. One would expect NC State’s head coach Dave Doeren to have been paying close attention. At the end of the day, the Wolfpack may have gone through a reprise of the game against Clemson, which for Louisville means they will more than likely get the straight up win but might not necessarily cover the spread. Of course, coach Petrino pays no heed to such things, does he? To him, winning is all that matters.
