The Fighting Irish had a nice bounce-back win over UVA last weekend after losing to Georgia two weeks ago. It was a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive and they succeeded. They got off to a slow start and were trailing at the half. After some second-half adjustments, they outscored the Cavaliers 21-3 after halftime and come out victorious.
Notre Dame’s defense came up big in the second half for the Fighting Irish and look for them to continue that this week as well. Also, look for Ian Book to be more aggressive downfield and to air the ball out for some big plays. He has the protection and the playmakers to take the shots and it is something that Brian Kelly wants to see from him. The Fighting Irish should win this game no problem at all so the main goal is to come out of this game healthy for next week against their rivals USC.
Bowling Green at Notre Dame
- Saturday, October 5th at 3:30 PM EST
- Game Spread: Opened ND -45 / Current ND -45.5
- Over/Under: Opened 60 / Current 60
- First Half: ND -28 / O/U 35
- Team Totals: ND 52.5 / BGSU 6.5
Bowling Green Falcons:
Bowling Green started their season off against a weak Morgan State opponent. After that game there was some hope, holding Morgan State to 3 points and just 70 yards of offense but after that it all went downhill. In there next three games, they got outscored 149-27, allowing over 49 points per game, 575 yards per game and 7.5 yards per play. Bowling Green was shut out on the road against Kansas State and only put up 7 points at home against Louisiana Tech. Besides that, there isn’t much to write about the Falcons here because there is no shot they win this game, they just have to hope they come out of this game alive. There is a reason why the ML is set at +49,900 for the Falcons.
The Betting Lines:
The lines were set as the Fighting Irish as 45-point favorites and there hasn’t been much movement since, only moving up a half-point to 45.5. The public is on Notre Dame with 61% of the bets and 68% of the money on them. The public is also all over the over with 85% of the bets and 86% of the money on it. The spread and the over/under are correlated lines, meaning if one of them hits there is a higher chance that the other will hit as well. So if you are on Notre Dame for the week, you should also be interested on taking the over and vice versa. Also, from looking at the team totals and the spread, Vegas is predicting this game to be 53-7. Bowling Green was shut out on the road against Kansas State and only put up 7 points at home against Louisiana Tech.
Bet of the Week (ND First Half -28):
If I had to place one bet for this week, it would be the Fighting Irish covering the first half spread of 28-points. Brian Kelly wants to see Ian Book be more aggressive and take more shots downfield so that’s exactly what I am expecting to see in the first half. The Fighting Irish will come out firing and then in the second half get some of their younger and less experienced players the ball. This game can only hurt the Fighting Irish if they don’t run up the score and put a beat down on the Falcons. My prediction for this game is 63-3 Notre Dame and the Fighting Irish keep the ball rolling for next week against the Trojans.
Most of the game will be played around 60 degrees. Flip a coin for the rain forecast.
BGC ’77 ’82