Charlotte Louisville Odds

The Charlotte 49ers, in just their second year as a FBS program, has a difficult week 1 matchup as they take on the #19 Louisville Cardinals Thursday night. The game kicks off from Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky at 7:00 pm ET. The game can be seen on ESPN3. Louisville is a hefty 39.5 point favorite with the over/under set at 59.5 points. This marks the first ever meeting between the two schools.

Charlotte struggled to make the transition to the FBS level last season. The 49ers finished the year 2-10 overall and went 0-8 in Conference USA.  Louisville went 8-5 last season to ring up their sixth straight season with a winning record. The Cardinals capped the season off with a 27-21 win over Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl.

Charlotte has posted a 12-22 record in Brad Lambert’s three seasons at the helm. The 49ers had dismal quarterback play last year. The team’s three quarterbacks combined to complete only 52.3 percent of their throws for 2,072 yards with 12 touchdowns against 23 interceptions. Charlotte’s quarterbacks posted a QBR of 16.9 and the team committed 35 turnovers, which was the second most in FBS last season. On the bright side, the 49ers return 16 starters from a year ago, which gives them plenty of experience to draw from.

Louisville got off to a slow start in 2015 as they couldn’t settle on a quarterback. After an impressive stretch run to close out the year, there is no question mark as to who is under center this year. Lamar Jackson, a dual threat that can beat you as easily with his legs as he can with his arm, is the #1 man at QB for coach Bobby Petrino. Louisville started the year 0-3 but won eight of their final 10 games. Three of their losses were by seven points or less.

Early Lean On Charlotte +39.5

The biggest reason to lean on the underdog here isn’t because there’s a ton of reasons to like Charlotte. The major issue is the fact that Louisville has a dangerous schedule over the next few weeks. The Cardinals have to battle Florida State in week 3 of the season and then battles Clemson in week 5. Those are a pair of daunting foes to deal with in conference play. Louisville can’t afford to risk any injuries to their starters before heading into those games.

Louisville was 5-2 at home last season, putting up 447.4 yards of offense per game while averaging 27 points a contest. The Cardinals were prone to turning the ball over on their own field though as they committed 2.6 turnovers a game compared to 1.5 as the visitor. Louisville was better defensively at home, allowing 318.3 yards per game while forcing a pair of takeaways per contest.

Charlotte averaged 346 yards of offense on the road. The 49ers did turn the ball over an average of three times a game on the road. Charlotte was 1-5 as the visitor last season with their lone victory a three point overtime win over Georgia State. The 49ers are expected to be better than last year’s team with a flood of transfers adding more players that have FBS experience to the mix.

The 49ers will give the ball a fair amount to Kalif Phillips, who led the team in rushing last season. He ran for 967 yards and five scores a year ago. If he can set the tone early by moving the sticks, it will eat some clock and keep the Louisville offense off the field. The less pressure that Charlotte puts on whoever is under center is a bonus. Louisville wins straight up but the line is too much to overlook here.

The over is 4-1 in Charlotte’s last five games on the road. The over is also 4-1 in Louisville’s last five games overall.

 

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