NCAAF Sports Betting – Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Pittsburgh Panthers (5-2 SU, 2-5 ATS) are coming off a huge loss to Rutgers this past weekend, and lost their national ranking for the second time. This coming Saturday they will suit up to play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-2 SU, 4-2 ATS) in NCAA college football sports betting action that is set to take place at 2:30 PM ET at Notre Dame Stadium (natural turf) in South Bend, IN.
Saturday, November 1
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: NOTRE DAME -5.5
Here are some of the NCAA college football sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* PITT has covered two of its last seven games
* PITT has won five of its last six games SU
* PITT has played nine of its last 13 games UNDER the total
* PITT has covered five of its last six road games
* PITT has won four of its last five road games SU
* PITT has played four of its last six road games UNDER the total
* ND has won seven of its last nine games SU
* ND has covered four of its last five home games
* ND has won its last five home games SU
* ND has played five of its last seven home games OVER the total
* ND has won and covered four of the last five meetings
Pittsburgh’s Panthers can’t be regarded as anything but an underachiever. Dave Wannstedt’s team lost its season opener to Bowling Green, then later beat South Florida and scored a three-touchdown win over Navy, but were literally flattened for a ten-count by Rutgers and quarterback Mike Teel, who threw for six touchdowns against a Pitt secondary that had allowed only six TD passes going in.
Is it fortuitous that they are facing Jimmy Clausen, who took it easy against Washington last week in the 33-7 win (201 yards), but had 730 in the previous two weeks? Probably not, but maybe their timing is worse in encountering freshman Jonas Gray, who could possibly provide some answers for the Irish after 6.1 ypc against Washington in his first action so far.
The really good news for the Panthers is that LeSean McCoy is coming on strong. The sophomore running back, who was offered some passing Heisman consideration at season’s start, had only 242 yards in his first three contests, but has risen to 11th in the nation’s rushing standings after ripping defenses for 593 yards and 5.9 per carry over the last four games. That seems to have made life easier for QB Bil Stull, who’s had to throw the ball less but is making those throws count (11.9 yds/attempt over last two games).
Pittsburgh’s stop unit has some work to do, as opponents have had to gain only 11.8 yards for every point scored. And Notre Dame has turned things around a bit at home, winning its last five games in view of Touchdown Jesus. But McCoy is the most consistent and explosive offensive weapon in this game, and Notre Dame, which is 113th in the country in tackles for loss, just doesn’t get a lot of penetration out of its defensive line. We’ll count on Jekyll-and-Hyde Pitt bouncing back, and we’ll take them with the 5.5 in the BetUS NCAA college football sports betting betting odds.
