It is an ACC battle on Friday night as Louisville faces NC State. It is time to continue our College Football odds series with a Louisville-NC State prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

Louisville enters the game at 4-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference play. They started the Jeff Brohm era with a conference win. It was a 39-34 defeat of Georgia Tech to open the year. Down at halftime, Lousiville came back in the second half, scoring 26 points before allowing a touchdown with just 1:07 left. They would hold on and take a 39-34 win. The next week it was a win over Murray State and then a seven-point victory over Indiana, before their second ACC match-up of the year. This time it was Boston College. Louisville wasted no time getting a lead in the game. They scored twice in the first quarter, and then four more times in the second to take a 42-14 lead into the half. They would go on to win 56-28 in a blowout of Boston College.

NC State enters the game at 3-1 in the season. It was a less-than-impressive opening win, managing just 24 points against UCONN, but taking the 24-14 victory. The next week they faced Notre Dame. Sam Hartman would throw four touchdown passes for the Irish on the way to a 45-24 victory for Notre Dame. NC State would rebound though. First, it was a 45-7 trashing of VMI. Then, they would pull off a win over Virginia. It was not dominating, but Brennan Armstrong would take a 24-21 victory in his return to UVA as NC State allowed UVA to tie the game with just 36 seconds left, but drive the field for a game-winning field goal as time expired.

Here are the college football odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

College Football Odds: Louisville-NC State Odds

Louisville: -3.5 (-104)

NC State: +3.5 (-118)

Over: 55.5 (-104)

Under: 55.5 (-118)

How to Watch Louisville vs. NC State

TV: ESPN

Stream: ESPN App

Time: 7:00 PM ET/ 4:00 PM PT

*Watch college football LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why Louisville Will Cover The Spread

Jack Plummer is coming in off one of the best games of his career. In the game with Boston College, he went 18-22 passing for 389 yards and five scores. While he did throw two turnover-worthy passes in the game, he did have five big-time throws according to PFF. He also dealt with pressure fairly well. In the game, he was pressured on nine of 27 dropbacks. He was sacked twice and scrambled for positive yardage three times. Plummer did a much better job of taking care of the ball through the air. It was the first game this year he has not thrown an interception. It was not a perfect game though. Plummer did have his second fumble on the season in the game.

Meanwhile, Jamari Thrash is becoming a big play receiver for the Cardinals. This year he has brought in 19 of 26 targets for 400 yards and five scores. He has 211 yards after the catch, good for 11.1 yards after the catch per reception. He has been elusive after he catches the ball, causing 11 missed tackles this season. Ahamri Huggins-Bruce is also having a good year. He has brought in 11 of the 14 targets thrown his way for 173 yards and two scores.

On the ground, Louisville is also getting a great year out of Jawhar Jordan. On the season, Jorda has run 50 times for 478 yards and six touchdowns. He is getting solid blocking, with nearly 4.5 yards of running room before first contact on average this year. Jordan has made people miss too, causing 12 missed tackles this year. He has been a big play threat, with eight runs over 15 yards this year, and 314 yards worth of breakaway yardage according to PFF. Jordan is also doing it as a receiver, bringing in six of seven targets for 133 yards.

Louisville also has had some stud performances on defense. It starts with Ashton Fillotte. He has 25 quarterback pressures already this year. He has come away with two sacks as well. Meanwhile, the team has 92 quarterback pressures on the season. Further, the run defense has been solid. This year, Louisville has 60 stops for offensive failures on run plays on just 98 rushes against them. They have also forced two fumbles this year.

Why NC State Will Cover The Spread

Opposite Jake Plummer will be Brennan Armstong for NC State. The transfer quarterback has been good at times but also had some troubles. On the year he is 81-136 passing or 859 yards. Armstrong has five touchdown passes this year as well. Still, he has thrown four interceptions and five other turn-over-worthy passes. Further, he is not getting a lot of help around him. He has dealt with ten dropped balls on on-target throws. He has also been pressured 46 times on 165 dropbacks. This has led to just four sacks though, as Armstrong has scrambled away for positive yardage 25 times this year.

Armstong has been solid on the ground this year too. He has 159 yards in scramble yardage and another 91 yards on designed runs. That has led to him scoring on the ground three times this year. Joining him in scoring on the ground this year has been the short-yardage back Delbert Mimms III. He has 27 attempts for 84 yards this year and four touchdowns. The other primary backs have been Michael Allen and Kendrick Raphaeo. Both of them have over 20 carries and over 100 yards on the ground this year. They have gotten some solid blocking as well, but more impressively, have been forcing missed tackles and getting good yards after first contact.

On defense, NC State is going to have to put pressure on Jake Plummer. They have done a solid job of that so far this year. Louisville has 62 pressures on the quarterback this year while converting 13 Sacks. Davin Vann has 17 of those pressures and two sacks, while Red Hibbler has gotten home four sacks this year. They are also going to need to cover well in this game. While NC State does have four interceptions this year, nine pass breakups, and a dropped interception, they have allowed seven touchdowns through the air. Three of their top four defensive backs have allowed completion percentages over 54 percent this year and three of them are allowing over 10 yards per reception after the catch. As a hole, Louisville has given up 423 yards after the catch this year, with just 417 yards in air yardage.

Final Louisville-NC State Prediction & Pick

In this game, Jake Plummer will be the start. Shyheim Battle will most likely draw the assignment of guarding Jamari Thrash. This year he has allowed six of 16 passes to be completed when he is targets. The issue is, he has allowed 77 yards after the catch in those situations. Thrash is a big yards after the catch guy and can turn a short pass into a long completion in a hurry. He is going to do that in this game. Louisville is going to have no problem moving the ball through the air and they will take a convincing win over NC State in this one.

Final Louisville-NC State Prediction & Pick: Louisville -3.5 (-104)