Predicting the Final Score of Georgia vs. Louisville in the Belk Bowl

The Georgia Bulldogs meet the Louisville Cardinals in the Belk Bowl on December 30 in Charlotte.

This game will be a matchup of Top 25 teams, with Georgia ranked 13th and Louisville 21st in the country.

These two teams finished their season playing home games against their arch rivals. While that is similar, the results were very different.

Georgia saw its arch rivals, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, tie the game on a last-second field goal before winning in overtime. Louisville saw its arch rivals, the Kentucky Wildcats, take a second-half lead on them before the Cardinals were able to prevail.

Now, the two teams are set for postseason play. Georgia (9-3) relies on its solid running game with freshmen Nick Chubb and Sony Michel carrying the load in place of the injured Todd Gurley.

Quarterback Hutson Mason was efficient this season, with 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions. Chris Conley led the team in receiving yards (577) and receiving touchdowns (seven).

For Louisville, head coach Bobby Petrino prefers a high-powered passing attack that wins high-scoring games. But the Louisville defense has been outstanding for most of the season, led by cornerback Gerod Holliman, who has 14 interceptions on the season, which leads the nation.

The Cardinals had to go to their third quarterback, Kyle Bolin, to beat Kentucky. It’s unclear at this time whether Bolin or the previous starter, Reggie Bonnafon will start in the bowl game.

Whoever starts behind center for the Cardinals should get the ball to standout wide receiver DeVante Parker, who caught 35 passes for 735 yards and five touchdowns in an injury-shortened season.

The challenge for Louisville will be to stop the Georgia running game. If they can shut down Chubb and Michel and make Mason throw, it will be to their advantage. But at this point, that doesn’t appear likely.

Final score prediction: Georgia 38, Louisville 31

Tim Letcher is a contributing writer for www.RantSports.com and a member of the Football Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.