The Louisville Cardinals have struggled on defense this season, and NC State has excelled on offense. It should be as simple as that when the Pack travel to Louisville, Kentucky to take on the Cardinals at 12:20 p.m. on Saturday.
The Cardinals (2-8, 0-7 ACC) are still searching for their first ACC win of the year. With the Pack (6-3, 3-3 ACC) being their last chance to do that, the Cardinals will find themselves at the bottom of the ACC.
The run defense has been a huge question mark for the Cardinals. They rank in the bottom three in rushing yards allowed per game in all of FBS. Although rushing isn’t NC State’s strength, glimpses of production have happened throughout the season, and it should have no problem getting something going on Saturday.
Running backs senior Reggie Gallaspy Jr. and freshman Ricky Person Jr. will look to continue their production that had increased from the beginning of the year until the matchup against Wake Forest.
Both have shown the ability to switch roles at any time to feed the hot hand, as each have games with significant yard production. Normally it is Gallaspy who gets the red zone carries and, in turn, the touchdowns, but against Florida State, Person had two touchdowns, while Gallaspy had more yards.
Like most games, NC State will use the ground game to set the tone early and open up the passing game late. However, the Pack may not need a lot from graduate quarterback Ryan Finley to win this one.
Despite Louisville’s struggles this season, its pass defense is actually quite good, giving up 186 passing yards a game, ranked at 22nd in FBS. Just last week, Syracuse beat Louisville 54-23 with 326 rushing yards. The Orange threw for over 400 yards against the Pack but was still forced to do most of its damage on the ground.
As Gallaspy and Person start to find holes, Finley should be able to open up the secondary and find his plethora of receivers, but most of the production and big gains will come on the ground. Either way, the Pack will have no trouble getting on the board and pulling away from Louisville.
