Clemson Tigers vs. Louisville Cardinals Predictions, Picks, Odds and NCAA Football Week Three Betting Preview – September 16, 2017

Clemson Tigers vs. Louisville Cardinals Betting Preview

Where: Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium – Louisville, KY

When: Saturday, September 16, 2017 – 8:00 PM ET

Line: Clemson Tigers (-3) vs. Louisville Cardinals (+3) – view all NCAA Football odds and lines

TV Broadcast: ABC

Betting on the Clemson Tigers

Point Spread: -3

The defending national champs will enter Saturday’s matchup 2-0. It’s a pretty balanced two games for the Tigers, as they have used offense to trounce Kent State, and defense to edge Auburn.

First time starter, Kelly Bryant, is 35-for-51 for 417 yards on the season, with one touchdown and interception. Like his predecessors (Tajh Boyd and Deshaun Watson), he has arm and mobility in his arsenal. The junior is gaining 68 yards per game on the ground on 5.2 yards per carry, and currently has three rushing TDs.

His scrambling abilities should continue to come in handy with his trio of talented pass-catchers – Ray-Ray McCloud, Deon Cain, and Hunter Renfrow. The three, as expected, are the early leaders of the team in receiving yards, with Cain’s big-play tendencies again taking over most of the highlight reel. He has 97 yards and one TD in just four receptions this season (24.3 yards per catch).

On defense, another “Bryant” is spearheading Clemson – Austin Bryant. The junior edge rusher will be fresh off the game of his life, where he powered through Auburn’s offensive line for four sacks and four tackles for loss. Look for him to keep being aggressive against Louisville.
Bryant and the entire stop unit have only allowed nine points and 237 total yards in their last two games.

The Tigers have not dropped a road game in two years (10-0 SU and 5-5 ATS). They are also 3-0 (2-1 ATS) against the Cardinals all-time.

Betting on the Louisville Cardinals

Point Spread: +3

Louisville is also standing at 2-0. They won a down-the-wire contest against Purdue in the opener, and then prevailed in a high-scoring affair over North Carolina this past Saturday, 47-35.

As always, the Cardinals’ offense has “Lamar Jackson” written all over it. He has accounted for 1,010 yards (771 passing and 239 rushing) and eight TDs (five passing and three rushing) in just two games, and should be expected to keep piling numbers up.

Jackson had a 295-yard-, one-TD, one-INT  performance in his first start versus Clemson last season, and added 162 rushing yards and a pair of running scores.

We should see junior Jaylen Smith and key freshman Dez Fitzpatrick as Jackson’s top two reads. The potentially-lethal receiving duo collectively has four TD receptions on the season, and they collectively gain 18.9 yards per catch.

The offense will have to try and do a lot, because the defense – as a whole – isn’t looking like a competitive bunch as of the moment. The D surrendered 31.5 points and 338.5 passing yards per game playing a couple of inferior teams, so now that it’s an elite opponent, we could probably be looking at a boatload of offense being given up.

The Cardinals went 5-1 at home last season (3-3 ATS).

Writer’s Prediction

Clemson (+3) earns a hard-fought win, 34-30.

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