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The Louisville Cardinals are one of those teams that will likely fly under the radar a bit in 2013 and contend for a national title. Charlie Strong‘s squad has one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in Teddy Bridgewater and he gets to face off a spotty Ohio Bobcats defense.
Bridgewater was a gem for the Cardinals last season, passing for over 3,700 yards, 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing over 68 percent of his passes. The guy can flat-out play and is sure to be in Heisman contention by season’s end.
On the other side of the ball, Ohio features a potent offense led by one of the best quarterbacks in the MAC in Tyler Tettleton who is a senior this season. He’s returning one of his favorite targets from a season ago in Donte Foster who caught 59 passes for 659 yards and six touchdowns. This offense has all the makings of potential potency, but putting it all together will be the tricky part.
Although the Louisville Cardinals have one of the top defenses in the nation, they will likely give up a few points to a solid Ohio offense.
Watch out for this game to be relatively high-scoring while both teams rack up the yards with their starting quarterbacks both contending for their respective conference player of the year awards.
The running game is sure to be solid on both sides as Beau Blankenship returns to the Bobcats having racked up over 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground last year while Louisville returns Senorise Perry who racked up 705 yards in 2012. Oh, and don’t forget former Auburn Tigers running back Michael Dyer who just transferred to the school this offseason.
Ohio will be traveling to Louisville to take on the Cardinals at 3:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, Sept. 1. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN.
PREDICTION: Ohio 23, Louisville 34
Connor Muldowney is a columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connormuldowney, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google. You can also reach him at .
