To cap off a glorious first week of College Football, Ole Miss and Louisville square off on Labor Day in Atlanta. The Rebels will be without their head coach, Lane Kiffin, due to Covid protocols, but that should not be enough to stop this offense. Ole Miss returns their offensive line and star quarterback Matt Corral, who took major steps forward as a quarterback last season. They will be taking on a defense that is replacing a lot of production in Louisville. Six starters are gone from the back 8 of the defense. It’s a tough ask for an almost brand new defense to stop these Rebel’s first game of the year before anyone gets settles in. Fortunately for Louisville, the Rebel’s major area of concern is defense as well. Ole Miss was in shootouts for the majority of their games, but the defense looks to improve with the majority of their defense returning in the secondary and upfront. The Rebels are going to have to stop Louisville quarterback Malik Cunnigham. He is dynamic, but he isn’t getting a lot of help. If the Rebels can force him to throw on the run and not let him escape past the line of scrimmage it will set up a big day for the Ole Miss defense that needs some confidence.
Verdict: (Ole Miss -8) I laid down this bet about 3 weeks ago so I got this game early. Louisville is replacing too much on defense to contain this high-powered offense. The Rebel defense may struggle to contain Malik Cunnigham at first but as they settle in this one should be over early in the fourth quarter. The current spread is – 9.5. I’d still take the Rebels.