Louisville Cardinals at Syracuse Orange

#24 Louisville	26
Syracuse	45

Cardinals Orange Game Recap

Syracuse 45, No. 10 Louisville 26: Ryan Nassib threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns and the Orange rushed for 278 yards in handing the visiting Cardinals their first setback.

Jerome Smith rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown and Prince-Tyson Gulley carried it 15 times for 98 yards and a pair of scores for Syracuse (5-5, 4-2 Big East), which scored on three straight possessions in the second quarter to jump out to a big lead.

Teddy Bridgewater went 36-of-49 for 424 yards and three touchdowns for Louisville (9-1, 4-1), which will have to wait to secure its first 10-win season since 2006. The Cardinals dropped into second place in the Big East behind Rutgers.

The game was tied at 10-10 heading into the second quarter, when the Orange began to turn it on. Nassib hit Alec Lemon with touchdown passes of 13 and 37 yards before Gulley broke free for a 55-yard scoring burst to turn it into a 31-10 advantage with 2:13 left in the half.

Smith broke for a 35-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Nassib’s 3-yard pass to Lewellyn Coker made it 45-19 with 11:14 left in the contest. Lemon finished with nine catches for 176 yards.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Nassib (738) passed former Rutgers QB Ryan Hart for the Big East record for completions. … Louisville had its six-game road winning streak and a three-game winning streak in the series come to an end. … Cardinals leading rusher Senorise Perry (leg) was injured on the opening series and did not return. Louisville finished with just 48 yards on 17 carries.

Preview: Louisville Cardinals at Syracuse Orange

Teddy Bridgewater and No. 10 Louisville have cruised through the Big East but have yet to wrap up first place and the automatic BCS bowl bid that goes with it. The Cardinals need to be aware of the dreaded “trap game” over the next two weeks before a showdown with Rutgers on the final weekend of the regular season. The team looking to spoil Louisville’s perfect season this week will be Syracuse, which welcomes the Cardinals into the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon. The Orange need only look back to last season to believe they can knock off a top opponent and will be playing their final home game on Saturday while trying to keep their bowl hopes alive. Syracuse shocked No. 11 West Virginia last season and has won its last three at home. The Orange will take aim at Louisville’s suspect rushing defense with junior Jerome Smith, who has gone over 100 yards on the ground in each of the last three contests.

TV: 12 p.m. ET, ABC. LINE: Louisville -3.

ABOUT LOUISVILLE (9-0, 4-0 Big East): The Cardinals are up to No. 9 in the BCS standings and will be looking for their first 10-win season since the glory days of Bobby Petrino in 2006, when they last made a BCS Bowl. Charlie Strong has taken Louisville to a bowl game in each of his first two seasons but is breaking through in his third behind Bridgewater, who piled up five touchdowns last week in a rout of Temple. The sophomore has thrown 18 touchdown passes and four interceptions and ranks in the top 10 in both quarterback rating and completion percentage. The 45-17 victory over the Owls snapped a string of close games for the Cardinals, including an overtime win at home over Cincinnati and a 27-25 home win over South Florida. The Louisville defense has not done Bridgewater many favors, surrendering an average of 148.0 yards on the ground and more than 22 points per game.

ABOUT SYRACUSE (4-5, 3-2): After getting to .500 for the first time this season with a tight win at South Florida, the Orange fell at Cincinnati last week due to a slew of mistakes that have plagued the team all season. Syracuse committed 12 penalties and was terrible on special teams, missing two field goals and fumbling a kickoff. Quarterback Ryan Nassib has seven touchdowns and no interceptions in the past three games but was let down by drops in the loss to the Bearcats. Taking a lot of the pressure off Nassib has been Smith, who has averaged at least 4.5 yards per carry in each of the last seven games. Syracuse leads the Big East in total yards but is only fourth in scoring due to turnovers.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Nassib needs 13 completions to pass former Rutgers QB Ryan Hart (735) for the Big East record.

2. Louisville has taken three straight in the series, including a 28-20 victory at the Carrier Dome in 2010.

3. The Cardinals have won six straight on the road dating to last season.

PREDICTION: Louisville 38, Syracuse 27

Away Spread Consensus 73% Cardinals (-1.0) Home Spread Consensus 27% Orange (1.0)

Total Over Consensus 52% Over (58.0) Total Under Consensus 48% Under (58.0)

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Wagering Trends

Orange are 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 games as a favorite of 0.5-3.0.
Orange are 0-4 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
Orange are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games after allowing more than 200 yards rushing in their previous game.
Orange are 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games in November.
Cardinals are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as a road favorite of 3.5-10.0.
Cardinals are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a ATS win.
Cardinals are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog of 10.5 or greater.
Cardinals are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games as a road underdog of 10.5 or greater.
Cardinals are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games as a road favorite of 10.5 or greater.
Cardinals are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games after allowing less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.
Over is 4-0 in Cardinals last 4 games after allowing less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.
Over is 4-0 in Cardinals last 4 games as a road underdog.
Under is 4-0 in Cardinals last 4 games as a road favorite of 10.5 or greater.
Over is 4-0 in Cardinals last 4 games as an underdog.

#24 Louisville

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Syracuse