Written by Garin Turner
The Louisville Cardinals (2-1) are set to take on the Kent State Golden Flashes (1-2) in Louisville for their second straight home game. The game starts Saturday at 11 am central time. The Cardinals are coming off a disappointing loss against defending national champion Clemson 47-21. Kent State lost to Marshall last week 21-0. Kent State leads the all-time series against Louisville 9-8. The last meeting was in 1973 which saw the Golden Flashes win 10-3.
Look for Louisville to go for the knockout punch early in this one. Their offense, led by junior quarterback and last year's Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson was held in check for most of the game against an excellent Clemson defense. Jackson for the season is 76-127 for 1088 yards passing with eight touchdowns and just one interception. Jackson is also the leading rusher for the Cardinals with 57 carries for 303 yards and three touchdowns. Jackson has outgained the entire Kent State offense by himself this year. Jackson has 1391 all-purpose yards on offense. Kent State has 584 for a difference of 807 yards. Junior wide receiver Jaylen Smith is Jackson's primary target. He has 22 receptions for 379 yards and two touchdowns. Louisville would like to get the run game going with somebody else other than Jackson. This could finally be the game where somebody steps up.
A bright spot for Kent State coming into this game is that Louisville has given up 36 points a game. The Golden Flashes haven't showed a lot of offense so far averaging 19 points a game. They'll want to keep their defense off the field as much as possible for them to have any chance in this one. Their lone win of the young season came against FCS opponent Howard 38-31. Against FBS competition, they've only scored one field goal.
The Louisville Cardinals (2-1) are set to take on the Kent State Golden Flashes (1-2) in Louisville for their second straight home game. The game starts Saturday at 11 am central time. The Cardinals are coming off a disappointing loss against defending national champion Clemson 47-21. Kent State lost to Marshall last week 21-0. Kent State leads the all-time series against Louisville 9-8. The last meeting was in 1973 which saw the Golden Flashes win 10-3.
Look for Louisville to go for the knockout punch early in this one. Their offense, led by junior quarterback and last year's Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson was held in check for most of the game against an excellent Clemson defense. Jackson for the season is 76-127 for 1088 yards passing with eight touchdowns and just one interception. Jackson is also the leading rusher for the Cardinals with 57 carries for 303 yards and three touchdowns. Jackson has outgained the entire Kent State offense by himself this year. Jackson has 1391 all-purpose yards on offense. Kent State has 584 for a difference of 807 yards. Junior wide receiver Jaylen Smith is Jackson's primary target. He has 22 receptions for 379 yards and two touchdowns. Louisville would like to get the run game going with somebody else other than Jackson. This could finally be the game where somebody steps up.
A bright spot for Kent State coming into this game is that Louisville has given up 36 points a game. The Golden Flashes haven't showed a lot of offense so far averaging 19 points a game. They'll want to keep their defense off the field as much as possible for them to have any chance in this one. Their lone win of the young season came against FCS opponent Howard 38-31. Against FBS competition, they've only scored one field goal.