Army Black Knights vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
Saturday, November 20, 2010, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: NBC
Opening Line: Notre Dame -7 1/2
Current Line: Notre Dame -8
Opening Total: 50
Current Total 50
Money Line: Notre Dame -330 / Army +265

At the beginning of the season who would have thought that Army would have been bowl eligible before Notre Dame. These two long time foes renew their rivalry at Yankee Stadium. Despite West Point being less than 50 miles from Yankee Stadium, Notre Dame is listed as the official home team. Though the configuration is similar to Wrigley Field for today’s Illinois-Northwestern game, Yankee Stadium does not have the same safety concerns as Wrigley. Notre Dame and Army used to be the preeminent rivalry in college football but that was during World War II. They met at Yankee Stadium numerous times during the 40’s 50’s and 60’s but haven’t played their since 1969. Notre Dame leads the series 37-8-4. They are 15-3 straight-up vs independents in their last 18 meetings. The last time Army beat Notre Dame was in 1995. Notre Dame is 2-11 as a favorite in the last two seasons.

For the first time ever all three service academies, Army, Air Force, and Navy are bowl eligible in the same season.   Army got there with a 45-28 victory at Kent St last week. Like Air Force and Navy, Army runs the option. The Cadets are outscoring opponents 31-24 and they average 355 yards a game, including 273 yards a game.  They only give up 329 yards a game, with 140 yards on the ground per game. Army has a turnover margin of +12 and they have 22 sacks for the season. Army does tend to struggle with the kicking game as they have only converted 12-19 field goals. Army only averages 82 yards a game passing but the quarterback is Trent Steelman. He has thrown for 5 touchdowns and 1 interception. Like most option quarterbacks, Steelman is more dangerous with his legs. Steelman has 154 carries for 596 yards, and 11 touchdowns. Wideout Austin Barr has 3 touchdown catches. Eight Army running backs have a touchdown run, but Jared Hassin is the teams leading rusher with 150 carries, 858 yards, and 9 touchdowns. Patrick Mealy and Malcom Brown also get significant carries. Keep an eye on Brian Cobbs. He only has 42 carries but he has 5 touchdown runs.

Notre Dame is coming off a 28-3 victory over then #15 Utah in South Bend. Notre Dame must either beat Army or USC to become bowl eligible. In other words, they need to beat Army rather than taking a chance of having to win in L.A. next week where the Irish will most certainly be a significant underdog. Notre Dame is outscoring opponents 26-23. The Irish are averaging 387 yards a game, including 273 yards a game passing. Take that with a grain of salt as most of those numbers were put up by quarterback Dane Crist who is out for the season with a knee injury. Quarterback Tommy Rees hasn’t been bad in replacing Crist. Rees has thrown for 542 yards, 7 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Rees still has talented wideout Michael Floyd who leads the Irish with 59 catches, 767 yards and 9 touchdowns. Six other Irish receivers have at least on touchdown catch. The Irish only average 114 yards a game on the ground led by Armando Allen Jr. He has 107 carries, 514 yards, and 2 touchdowns. The Irish only have 8 rushing touchdowns on the year and Crist had 4 of those. Defensively, the Irish give up 380 yards a game, including 155 per game rushing. The irish do have 19 turnovers for the season and have a turnover margin of -1. They have forced 26 sacks on the season.

Temps for this game should be in the high 30’s with an 11 mile an hour wind from the Northwest. Army’s defense is pretty good and the strength of the defense is forcing turnovers. Notre Dame struggles sometimes to protect the ball. Notre Dame was decimated by  a Navy team last month that ran for 367 yards in a 35-17 victory for the Midshipmen. I only mention that because both Army and Navy run the option. This game actually means something to both teams for the first time in who knows how many years.

Our college football handicappers are red hot this season and have tons of winners. take advantage of this bounty of winners and really have a great holiday season!