Rutgers vs Louisville Preview

Although both teams boast 8-0 records, and Rutgers has the home field advantage, the Cardinals go in as 6.5 point favorites.

Louisville disposed of one undefeated rival last week with a 44-34 win over West Virginia, and face another opponent in top form tonight. The BCS Poll has seen Louisville climb to third place, behind only Ohio State and Michigan, with Rutgers further down the list at 13th.

With four games remaining, the Cardinals have a hard run home, playing three opponents with winning records as they chase a place in the championship game. This game however, is by far their toughest test left.

Rutgers made the post-season last year for the first time since 1978 with a 7-5 record, but they are a far more polished outfit this season, as their results show.

Their go-to guy is tailback Ray Rice, who sent a scare through the camp when he injured his ankle in last week’s scratchy 24-13 defeat of Connecticut. Rice, the nation’s sixth leading rusher with over 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns, is expected to be passed as fit to play.

If Rice isn’t 100% healthy, fullback Brian Leonard, a consistent performer who has played in his shadow this season, will need to step up.

One place Louisville has the edge is in the battle of the quarterbacks. Brian Brohm looks fully recovered from the thumb injury that caused him to miss two games earlier this year. He was the star of last week’s landmark win over West Virginia, throwing for a massive 354 yards, including one touchdown.

That makes his tally for the season, 1,623 passing yards and five touchdowns, with many experts seeing Brohm as a future NFL starter.

His counterpart, the unpredictable Mike Teel, has thrown for six touchdowns, but he is well down on yardage in comparison (1,016) and has thrown eight interceptions to Brohm’s three.

Brohm has plenty of help on offense, with running backs Kolby Smith and George Stripling rushing for 11 touchdowns between them already this season. And then there’s exciting wide receiver Mario Urrutia, who looks certain to add to his tally of five touchdowns in the coming weeks.

Rutgers can’t boast the same offensive power as Louisville but will base their game plan around a busy defense that is conceding less than 10 points per contest.

Game Summary

The Cardinals have the edge in experience, with 19 of 24 starters returning from last year, when they led the Big East in both scoring and total offense.

While the Scarlet Knights have had a great season, they could struggle against Louisville’s ruthless attacking arsenal. The Cardinals won last year’s game 56-5, with the one certainty that it will be a lot closer this time around.

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