| Louisville Hosts West Virginia In Big East Showdown |
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Wednesday, 01 November 2006
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West Virginia holds a 6-1 all-time lead in the series, including last season’s 46-44 triple overtime thriller in Morgantown. Louisville held a 24-7 lead in the fourth quarter before the Mountaineers scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. The Cardinals and Mountaineers are both 7-0 and 2-0 in the league after winning league games last weekend. Bet on College Football at BetRoyal Get the latest college football lines here.
The contest will feature two of the most explosive offensive units in the nation, as well as, two of the nation’s top defensive squads. Louisville ranks second in the nation in total offense, fifth in scoring offense, seventh in rushing offense and 10th in passing. West Virginia is first in rushing offense, second in scoring offense and fourth in total offense. Furthermore, both defenses are ranked in the top 10 in the nation in scoring defense and in the top 20 in total defense.
The Cardinals always do a good job of spreading the football around to different wide receivers, but they’re getting the ball more in the passing game to the running backs. Senior Kolby Smith and George Stripling have combined to catch 21 passes for 337 yards and are averaging 16.0 yards per catch.
The Cardinals needed a big spark to their running game, and received it from senior running back Kolby Smith in the win over Syracuse. Limited to just 23 yards in the last two games combined, Smith exploded for a career-best 165 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. Smith’s 165 yards was the highest by a Cardinal running back this season and was the first 100-yard game of his career. Smith’s previous-high was 96 yards against the same Syracuse squad last season when Bush was also out of the lineup. Smith leads the team with 451 yards rushing for a team-high six touchdowns.
The statistics might not suggest it, but the past two games were big ones for Louisville's Brian Brohm. Brohm, a 6-foot-4, 224-pound junior quarterback, completed 20-of-37 passes for 324 yards with one touchdown and one interception in a 23-17 win over Cincinnati two weeks ago. Then, he connected on 18-of-26 passes for 203 yards with no scores and one pick in a 28-13 victory over Syracuse last week. Those games were his first in four weeks, thanks to an injury that required surgery to repair. Brohm tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb in the third quarter of a 31-7 win over Miami on Sept. 16.
West Virginia’s best weapon against Louisville may be the feet of quarterback Patrick White. The Cardinals had trouble handling White’s scrambles in last year’s game in Morgantown. White ran for a Big East-quarterback-record 247 yards against Syracuse a couple of weeks ago and has had nine runs of 30 yards or longer.
What a difference a year makes. Heading into last year’s Louisville game West Virginia was averaging 24.2 points, 351.8 yards, 220.8 rushing yards and 131.0 passing yards per game. This year, WVU is averaging 40.9 points, 459.3 yards, 319.0 rushing yards and 140.3 passing yards per game. You think Patrick White and sophomore Heisman candidate Steve Slaton have had something to do with that?
Slaton is the frontrunner for the potent Mountaineer ground attack. He ranks fourth among NCAA rushers this season at 151.3 yards per game and sixth in NCAA all-purpose yardage (163.7/gm).
Louisville is favored with a –1.0-point chalk at both offshore and Las Vegas books.
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 01 November 2006 ) | |||||||
In one of the most anticipated games of the 2006 college football season, fifth-ranked Louisville (7-0, 2-0 BE) host’s third-ranked West Virginia (7-0, 2-0) in a battle of unbeaten teams on Thursday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. before a nationally televised audience on ESPN. This will be the eighth meeting between the two schools.