College football player prop: Cardinal virtues

The first bowl game featuring a ranked team kicks off on Wednesday when No. 15 Louisville tangles with USC in the Holiday Bowl. It was a rough back half of the season for the Trojans, who lost five of their final six games after starting 6-0. Last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Caleb Williams, has opted out to prepare for possibly being selected first overall in the draft, but it’s the deficiencies on the USC defense that point us to our top prop:

The bet: Over 93½ rushing yards for Louisville running back Isaac Guerendo (DraftKings)

An explosive role player during his four seasons at Wisconsin, Guerendo delivered long touchdown runs against Eastern Michigan (82 yards), Purdue (54) and Maryland (89). However, he largely served as a complement to two-time 1,200-yard rusher Braelon Allen.

Transferring to Louisville landed Guerendo behind another star back in Jawhar Jordan, who ran for 1,128 yards and 13 TDs this season but has likewise opted out of the Holiday Bowl. Guerendo seized his opportunities as the campaign went on, topping 90 yards in each of the Cardinals’ last three victories. His best performance came in a dominant 34-3 win over Virginia Tech, when he set career highs with 146 rushing yards and three scores.

USC already had a porous run defense, surrendering 184 yards per game and ranking 113th out of the 130 teams in the FBS. Now the Trojans will be without defensive lineman De’Jon Benton, linebacker Tackett Curtis and cornerback Domani Jackson, all of whom have entered the transfer portal.

Likely getting more carries than he has seen in any game this season, Guerendo figures to flirt with the century mark.