Florida State and Louisville will kickoff in primetime on Friday night at Cardinal Stadium.
Louisville has won the last 2 meetings in this series, but Florida State is 16-6 all-time against the Cardinals. The Atlantic division foes have split the previous 8 meetings since Louisville joined the ACC.
The Seminoles are 2-0 on the season and hoping to move to 3-0 for the first time since 2015. That was also Florida State’s most-recent 10-win campaign. Louisville is 1-1 and is looking for its first win in ACC play.
Florida State vs. Louisville preview
Florida State is coming off perhaps the best win of the Mike Norvell era 2 weeks ago against LSU. FSU had an open date in Week 2, meaning it has had 2 weeks to prepare for the Cardinals.
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FSU’s offense will be looking to maintain some of the rhythm it established against the Tigers. Quarterback Jordan Travis threw for 2 touchdowns and 260 yards in that game.
Louisville’s defense is coming off an excellent Week 2. The Cardinals gave up a pair of early touchdowns to UCF in Orlando last week, but then shutout the Golden Knights in the second half. They allowed John Rhys Plumlee to throw for just 131 yards on 34 attempts. Travis will be need to be significantly better than that in order to pick up a win.
Travis is a former Louisville transfer and ex-teammate of Cardinals quarterback Malik Cunningham. Both Travis and Cunningham served as backup quarterbacks on Louisville’s 2018 team. Travis then transferred to Florida State while Cunningham won the starting job at Louisville the next season.
Cunningham is the engine of Louisville’s offense and is coming off a great performance vs. UCF in Week 2. He rushed for 121 yards and 1 score in Louisville’s upset victory over the Golden Knights.
However, Cunningham has struggled to throw the ball to start this season. Through 2 games, he has completed just 58.8 percent of his passes for 347 yards, 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He’s also averaging a career-worst 6.8 yards per attempt.
Florida State’s defense played well against a similar player in LSU’s Jayden Daniels back in Week 1. The Noles limited Daniels to just 209 yards on 35 passing attempts. The majority of that yardage came on LSU’s final drive when Florida State was playing prevent defense.
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CLAIM OFFERDespite Cunningham’s troubles as a passer to start this season, he has proven to be capable of using his arms to beat teams in the past. Over his last 2 performances vs. Florida State (both wins), Cunningham has thrown for 542 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
Florida State vs. Louisville prediction
Louisville’s defense looked dominant a week ago, but Travis is a lot more efficient than Plumlee. The Cardinals likely won’t have as much success defensively, and their offense hasn’t proven to be effective so far in 2022. Florida State seems focused on avenging its last 2 losses vs. the Cardinals — and getting Travis a win against his old team.
Prediction: Florida State 31, Louisville 24
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
