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A new season of Thursday night college football gets underway this week and one of the featured matchups available on ESPN 3 pits the Charlotte 49ers out of Conference USA against the ACC’s Louisville Cardinals, who will start the new season ranked No. 19 in the AP’s Top 25. Game time from Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
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Charlotte at Louisville Game Overview
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Give credit to Charlotte for scheduling such a tough season opener against a major program considering that it is still a few seasons away from being competitive in its own Mid-Major conference. The 49ers’ first season in C-USA in 2015 was a learning experience to say the least. They went 0-8 straight-up in conference play as part of an overall record of 2-10.
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It is pretty obvious that this team has nowhere to go but up starting on Thursday night. The 49ers averaged just 17.5 points a game last season while allowing an average of 36.3 points on defense. The one lone bright spot was a running game that pounded out 163.1 yards a game led by Kalif Phillips. As a junior he ran the ball 190 times for 961 yards and five touchdowns. He is back for his senior year and should once again be a big part of this offense.
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Louisville is one of four nationally ranked teams in the ACC heading into the 2016 season. It went 8-2 SU in its last 10 games in 2015 following a tough 0-3 start. The Cardinals closed as double-digit favorites in five games last season and they went 4-1 SU with a 2-3 record against the spread. The total went OVER in three of those five games.
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While this game should be nothing more than a brisk scrimmage for an offense that rolled up an average of 406.3 yards and 30.3 points a game last season, the Cardinals know they cannot get caught looking ahead to a huge showdown against No. 4 Florida State on Sept. 17. Lamar Jackson is back at quarterback and he left everyone with a lasting impression in Louisville’s 27-21 win against Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl. He passed for 227 yards and ran for 226 yards to help pace that win.
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Charlotte at Louisville Game Betting Trends
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This will be the first meeting between these two teams.
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The 49ers are 1-3-1 ATS in their last five road games and they went 0-4-2 ATS in their last six games overall. The total has gone OVER in four of their last five games on the road.
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The Cardinals are 15-3 ATS in their last 18 games against C-USA and they are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games in September. The total has gine OVER in four of their last five games.
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