With Amari Odom out, Syracuse starts Malachi Nelson against Lincoln Kienholz and a Louisville attack ranked 12th nationally
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse is on its third quarterback option. Louisville has one of the most efficient passers in the ACC.
Louisville (3-3, 2-2 ACC) visits Syracuse (2-3, 0-3) at 7:30 p.m. ET on ACC Network at the JMA Wireless Dome. Syracuse quarterback Amari Odom is out with a shoulder injury, and Malachi Nelson, who was banged up at Virginia last week, will start, according to the Daily Orange. Steve Angeli is questionable.
Angeli has thrown for 731 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions this season. Nelson made five starts at UTEP last year. Syracuse's best weapon is receiver Umari Hatcher, who has 37 catches for 560 yards and six touchdowns. Tylik Hill leads the rushers with 405 yards, and Keyshawn Johnson has four sacks. Fran Brown is in his third season.
Louisville quarterback Lincoln Kienholz has completed 107 of 154 passes for 1,534 yards, with nine touchdowns and one interception. Isaac Brown has 557 rushing yards, and Tre Richardson leads the receivers with 445 yards. Clev Lubin has four sacks, and T.J. Capers has 48 tackles. ESPN's Football Power Index ranks the Cardinals' offense 12th in efficiency, against a Syracuse defense ranked 65th.
Louisville lost close games to Wake Forest (30-27) and NC State (31-28) before beating Florida State 44-20 on Oct. 9. Jeff Brohm is in his fourth season. The Cardinals are short-handed up front, with several players out.
Syracuse has lost three ACC games by a combined 23 points: 21-18 to Cal, 27-13 at Pitt and 28-25 at Virginia.
Louisville leads the series 12-8, according to Syracuse's official records. Syracuse won the last meeting, 31-7, in 2022.
Syracuse's history includes Ben Schwartzwalder's 1959 national title and Ernie Davis, who won the Heisman in 1961. Louisville's includes Howard Schnellenberger, Bobby Petrino and Lamar Jackson's 2016 Heisman.
The game is indoors, so the weather won't matter.
Louisville gets an open week before hosting Stanford on Oct. 31. Syracuse visits North Carolina.
Our score assumes Nelson starts, since Odom is ruled out. With Nelson, we see Louisville 35, Syracuse 22. If Odom were able to play, it would be closer to Louisville 34, Syracuse 23.
Our call: Louisville 35, Syracuse 22.