Louisville vs. USC Prediction: Do Jack Plummer, Cardinals Have the Edge in DIRECTV Holiday Bowl?
The USC Trojans and Louisville Cardinals square off in the DIRECTV Holiday Bowl tonight. Do Jack Plummer and the Cardinals have the edge over USC? Ben Rajavuori answers.
Ben Rajavuori - December 27, 2023, 4:35 PM EST
5 minLouisville vs. USC Prediction: Do Jack Plummer, Cardinals Have the Edge in DIRECTV Holiday Bowl?
The USC Trojans and Louisville Cardinals square off in the DIRECTV Holiday Bowl tonight in San Diego. The Cardinals had an excellent season, finishing No. 15 in the nation after a 10-3 season, although they fell in the ACC Championship to Florida State. USC did not have the season they wanted, as preseason playoff aspirations turned into a 7-5 season. With all the opt-outs, what is the best play in this game?
Louisville vs. USC Date, Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: December 27, 2023
- Game Time: 8:00 pm ET
- Where to Watch: FOX
Louisville vs. USC Prediction
The Louisville Cardinals exceeded expectations this season and nearly won the ACC. They were un-ranked to start the season and finished the regular season 10-2, earning them a top-15 spot in the rankings. The Louisville offense just could not get the ball moving against Florida State in the ACC Championship, as they fell 6-16 to the Seminoles. That marked back-to-back losses for the Cardinals, and they look to end their season with a bowl win without some key players.
Starting running back Jawhar Jordan will not play for the Cardinals tonight. The running back led the team with 1,128 rushing yards, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. He also had 14 touchdowns. Leading receiver Jamari Thrash has also opted out to prepare for the draft. Thrash had 858 receiving yards this season, which doubled any other Cardinals receiver's yards on the season. However, Jack Plummer, the Cardinals starting quarterback, will be playing, and Isaac Guerendo, the backup running back, had 649 on 6.0 yards per carry this season, so the Cardinals should still be able to move the ball on an awful USC defense.
USC definitely has the more concerning opt-outs in this game. The star of this USC team, Caleb Williams, is expected to be the first overall pick in the 2024 draft, and missing a player of that caliber in this game is massive. Along with losing Williams, the Trojans will be without starting running back Marshawn Lloyd, who had 7.1 yards per carry this season, one of the best among running backs. Wide receiver Brenden Rice will also opt out, and he was second on the team with 791 receiving yards. Therefore, it will be Miller Moss for the Trojans, who saw some action in blowouts this year, but has never started a game. That's a tall order against an excellent Louisville defense that ranked 12th in pass success among college football defenses this season.
The Cardinals are just more well-suited to win this game. They have a much better defense. Louisville ranked top 20 in both rush success and pass success on defense, and USC basically has no defense. Only Vanderbilt and Stanford had worse defensive metrics in FBS this season. Not a great sign for this bowl game when your offense is missing its core with Williams and Lloyd out. The Cardinals should be able to just run the crap out of the ball and use time of possession and a potent defense to overwhelm the Trojans.
Louisville vs. USC Pick
Pick: Louisville -6.5 -110 Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
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