No. 21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Purdue Boilermakers
Saturday, 9/14/13, 8:00 PM EST
Opening Point Spread: Notre Dame -23
Current Betting Line: Notre Dame -20.5
Opening Total: 50.5
Current Total: 49
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
Notre Dame will look to bounce back from a 41-30 setback to the Michigan Wolverines as 4.5-point road underdogs last Saturday, as it lost the statistical battle by 50 yards, while going OVER the betting total of 48. The Fighting Irish had all kinds of trouble on the defensive end, as they allowed 460 total yards—the most allowed by that particular unit in their last 20 regular-season games. “Last year we had to rely on our defense to win football games,” commented Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly. “I think there are going to be some times when our offense has to win some ballgames.” Notre Dame is 5-1 SU and 2-4 ATS as road favorites since 2011, with the UNDER going 4-1-1 in that situation.
The Fighting Irish are definitely trying to strike down field in the passing game with quarterback Tommy Rees, as they’ve already registered five completions of at least 32 yards through two games. Notre Dame is 56-26-2 all-time in this series, including a 22-5 advantage over the last 27 meetings. Since 2006, Kelly has compiled the fifth-most wins of any active FBS coach, which means that a bounce-back performance is likely Saturday.
Purdue is coming off its first win of the Darrell Hazell coaching era, as it picked up a 20-14 victory over Indiana State as 17.5-point home favorites last Saturday, but it was outgained by 11 yards in that affair. The Boilermakers are definitely in a rebuilding mode, as Hazell comes over after spending the previous two seasons at Kent State, which is important to consider when making your college football expert picks. The team will play its 35th night game in program history—compiling a 16-18 record in that situation. Purdue is 3-12 SU and 6-9 ATS as underdogs the last two-plus seasons, with the OVER going 7-5-3 in that situation.
The Boilermakers are going to have a hard time moving the football against a defense that’s angry from its performance last week, especially since quarterback Rob Henry has thrown two interceptions and no touchdowns through the first two games of the season. Purdue entered the season returning 39 starts on the offensive line and 34 on the defensive line.
Sports bettors will likely play the total, as the UNDER is 3-0-1 in the last four meetings in this series.
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