Two ranked college football teams square off for the first time this season when No. 17 Miami travels to No. 18 Louisville on Saturday night. It’s a quarterback duel with two of the best in the nation taking the field for the ACC matchup.

In the latest college football odds, Louisville is a -2.5 home favorite behind junior quarterback Malik Cunningham, who passed for 343 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-21 win over Western Kentucky last week. He also added a rushing score.

Miami fans are fired up with Houston transfer quarterback D’Eriq King under center this season. He entered the season with plenty of hype and looked solid in the opener against UAB. King completed 16 of 24 attempts for 144 yards and one passing touchdown. He ran for 83 yards and another touchdown on 12 attempts.

King gives hope for the Hurricanes to revive an offense that finished 10th in the ACC last year with just 25.8 points per game. They got things going in the second half against UAB and saw a promising performance from Cam’Ron Harris. The junior running back went for 134 yards and two touchdowns on just 17 carries.

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Louisville Brings It On Offense

The Hurricanes are looking to move fast and the defense stepped up to the challenge in the opener, holding UAB to just 285 yards. But they’re dealing with a different beast this week in a Cardinals offense that finished second in the ACC in scoring last season.

Louisville has high hopes with 15 returning starters and an experienced, balance offensive attack. The defense needed big improvements after finishing last in the ACC a year ago and got off to a good start in the opener, holding Western Kentucky to just 248 total yards.

The Cardinals covered the -11.5 spread in the opener against the Hilltoppers in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the 35-21 final score suggests. Western Kentucky took a 7-0 lead after recovering a botched punt at the Louisville 1-yard line. It recovered a blocked punt at the Louisville 4-yard line for its second touchdown early in the third quarter, then scored again late in the fourth quarter after taking over at the Louisville 37 yard-line.

Louisville obviously needs to clean up those special teams miscues, which aren’t uncommon in the opener even with regular offseason prep and a full training camp. But the defensive showing was a great sign, and Cunningham looks like the real deal.

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Louisville-Miami Prediction

These are two rising programs in similar situations. That’s why the point spread is less than a field goal with oddsmakers expecting a tight primetime matchup. We give the advantage to the Cardinals due to their balance on offense and Cunningham living up to the preseason buzz early on. We advise those who enjoy betting on college football to do the same at DraftKings.

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Miami could have a highly-productive offense by season’s end, but its attack looked like a work in progress at times last week. Right now, we’ve got Louisville as the better-prepared team. We’re expecting plenty of offense and big plays, with the Cardinals outlasting the Hurricanes to win by a touchdown.

Louisville covers the -2.5 spread at DraftKings and moves to 2-0 ahead of a brutal three-game road stretch at No. 25 Pittsburgh, at Georgia Tech and at No. 7 Notre Dame.