3 Things Bettors Should Know for Louisville vs. Ole Miss

If you're a fan of hard-nosed, defensive-minded slugfest-type college football games, you may look to do anything else with your time on Monday night when Louisville travels to Ole Miss at 7:00 pm ET on ESPN in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game. The projected total points in tonight's matchup sits at 74.5, one of the largest of this weekend's college football slate.

The Rebels are currently 8.5-point favorites at home at -110 odds (bet $110 to win $100) over at WynnBET Sportsbook. Initially, Ole Miss opened up as 10-point favorites before the line moved down a point and a half.

The likely reason for the drop for the Rebels is due to Lane Kiffin's positive COVID test from earlier in the weekend. Ole Miss had a 100% vaccination rate entering the season, but Kiffin's case ended up being a breakthrough one. He will not be available on the sidelines.

Before you head to WynnBET to place your wagers, here are three things you'll want to be aware of in the final college football matchup of opening weekend. For a full breakdown, BetSided's Peter Dewey takes a deeper dive, including a play on the game here.

Overs Hit a Combined 62% in 2020 During Louisville, Ole Miss Games

The Cardinals and Rebels were two of the betters teams in college football a season ago in delivering on the "over." Ole Miss finished 6-4-0 in their overs in Lane Kiffin's first season thanks in large part to one of the more dynamic offenses in the country. Heisman candidate Matt Corral thew for just under 30 touchdowns a season ago while completing 70% of his passes for 3,337 yards, which was good for seventh in the country.

For Louisville, the Cardinals hit their projected over 64% of the time in 2020. Quarterback Malik Cunningham finished 15th in the country in passing yards and threw for 20 touchdowns on the season. He also had 12 interceptions, which helped opposing offenses add a few more points on the board as well. Both teams' defenses didn't do their offense many favors either. Louisville gave up 369.1 total yards per game, whereas Ole Miss chalked up a whopping 519 yards; second-worst in the country.

The 74.5 Total Is the Highest on the Week 1 Slate

With one game left to go on this week's set of games, the highest total left on the board at WynnBET belongs to this evening's matchup.

Via TeamRankings, there have been 31 games in college football history that have closed at a total of 74.5 points. The over is 16-15-0, with the average final combined score 77.7 points.

Interestingly enough, if the game were to close at 75, in 25 games played, the over has only hit 29.6% of the time, with an average final score of 66.6.

Matt Corral Is in an Elusive Club in College Football History

Via ESPN's Chris Low, since 2015, Matt Corral is one of seven quarterbacks in college football to throw for more than 3,300 yards and rush for more than 500 in the same year. That list? Whoo, it's impressive:

Corral is also the fourth player in SEC history to finish as the leader in college football in total offense per game.

Both defenses should be improved from a season ago, but Week 1 is often a difficult task to show those said improvements. With Kiffin out, I was able to grab Louisville at +10.5 earlier in the week, but I like waiting for an in-game wager when it comes to the total in this game. The first quarter will set the pace for how this game will go, especially with Ole Miss' head coach unavailable.

What side are you taking for Louisville vs. Ole Miss? Are you feeling over or under the total?

Get in on the final day of Week 1 of college football on the brand new WynnBET app!