A TRUE ACC TEST: LOUISVILLE VS SMU GAME PREVIEW

Louisville and SMU enter Saturday’s matchup with legitimate playoff hopes. The Cardinals proved their worth with an impressive week one performance against a playoff team from a year ago.

Louisville lost to Ole Miss 41-38 and showed life while doing so. new QB and Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz has electrified the offense.

Kienholz joins returning RB Isaac Brown in the backfield. Brown has tallied 2000+ yards in his career and is a dark-horse to be drafted high in next years draft. Kienholz and Brown give the Louisville backfield an athletic upside that the group has not had in years.

However, despite the hope shown by Kienholz and the rest of the offense against the Rebels. Louisville still has a problem; they are just 1-1.

Entering conference play with a loss means that if the Cardinal want any chance to make the CFP playoff with an at-large bid, they will likely have to finish the year 9-1. The path to 9-1 starts Saturday in a must-win against SMU to keep playoff hopes alive.

The Mustangs on the other hand enter the matchup with a quiet confidence as they trot out superstar QB Kevin Jennings for his third year as a starter in Dallas. Jennings threw for a whopping 430 yards against Florida State and has climbed to the top of many Heisman leaderboards.

What to Expect:

Quite simply, expect a shootout, but it might not be through the air.

Florida State’s run-first offense kept the ball out of Jennings hands, and he still put up 400+ yards in just week two. Louisville on the other end, with the backfield duo of Isaac Brown and Kienholz, should have no troubles scoring points either.

Keys to the Game:

For both teams, the quarterback run game will make or break offensive production.

Louisville’s defensive line held star Ole Miss RB Kewan Lacy in check with just 60 yards on 19 carries in week one, but allowed QB Trinidad Chambliss to match that rushing total of 60 on just 9 carries.

Chambliss, who is not exactly a run-first type of quarterback, ran all over this Louisville defense.

Kevin Jennings and SMU had to have a smile on his face watching that film.

Expect SMU and Kevin Jennings, who has made his name based on his explosive ability on the ground, to heavily lean on the QB run game with designed runs, read options, and more.

Jennings has rushed for 1100+ yards in three seasons in Dallas and I expect him to run the ball a lot against this Louisville defense that has already shown that defending the QB run can be a weakness.

On the flip side for SMU, the Mustangs have their own QB run game to worry about. Although the sample size is small with just 2 career starts, Kienholz has made his name on the ground as a recruit, backup in Columbus, and against Ole Miss as a rush-first, athletic QB. Kienholz rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown against the Rebels in week one.

For an SMU defense that let FSU QB Ashton Daniels run successfully on them a week ago, expect more of the same from the Cardinals offense.

Another interesting matchup will be the Louisville front 7 vs the SMU offensive line. Both groups lead their respective teams returning production rates, and serve as the strength of each team. The Cardinals return nearly 70% of their front 7 production from a year ago while the Mustangs return three starters along the offensive line.

This will be a high scoring game featuring two secondaries that have struggled to start the year, but at the end of the day will come down to SMU’s ability to protect Kevin Jennings, and Jennings ability to gain yards through for the ground in the same way Chambliss did two weeks ago.

Expect Kevin Jennings to run wild in a close SMU victory; and expect a lot of points scored on Saturday afternoon between two ACC playoff hopefuls.