Louisville at Syracuse 9/3/22 College Football Picks and Prediction

The Louisville Cardinals and the Syracuse Orange face off on Saturday in a Week 1 college football showdown at the Carrier Dome. The last three games between the two teams have been won by Louisville. 

Louisville finished last season with a 6-7 record overall but they return a lot of talent from last season. The biggest player back is Malik Cunningham who at times makes questionable decisions. But he is a threat at any time to get the ball into the end zone. Last season Cunningham threw for almost 3,000 yards and added another 1000 on the ground. The running back room again will be strong with Jalen Mitchell back leading the group. On defense, there are more question marks. But there are still some solid pieces. Momo Sanogo comes in from Ole Miss and he should be an instant playmaker. 

On the other side of this matchup is Syracuse and they finished last season with a 5-7 record. Even though they didn’t have a great season, there is a reason for some optimism around this team. Garrett Shrader is back under center, but he was a bit inconsistent and they need him to be good in this game. Syracuse is going to lean on the running game here and that group is led by Sean Tucker. Last year he rushed for 14 touchdowns, and he should get plenty of touches here. On defense, there are also plenty of question amrks, but the strength will be with the linebackers.