NCAA Week Six – Stanford Cardinal at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Stanford Cardinal (3-2 SU & ATS), brimming with confidence after two straight victories, rolls into South Bend on Saturday to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (3-1 SU, 2-2 ATS) in NCAA football action that is set for a 2:30 PM ET kickoff at Notre Dame Stadium (natural turf).
Saturday, October 4
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: NOTRE DAME -7, Total 49
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* STAN has won and covered four of its last six games
* STAN has lost 17 of its last 25 games SU
* STAN has played four of its last five games OVER the total
* STAN has played 18 of its last 25 games UNDER the total
* STAN has lost four of its last five road games SU
* STAN has covered one of its last five road games
* STAN has played nine of its last 12 road games UNDER the total
* ND has covered four of its last six games
* ND has won five of its last six games SU
* ND has lost 12 of its last 18 games SU
* ND has played 12 of its last 17 games UNDER the total
* ND has covered five of its last 16 home games
* ND has won four of its last five home games SU
* ND has played four of its last five home games UNDER the total
Also….
* ND has covered five of the last seven meetings
* ND has won the last six meetings SU
* Five of the last seven meetings have gone UNDER the total
Hey, even if you are a classic Notre Dame hater, you have to concede that the Irish are a lot more feisty this season, simply based on their wins over Michigan and Purdue. Jimmy Clausen, who came in last year as the nation’s most highly-touted freshman but took some lumps in ND’s lousy season, threw three touchdowns and remained mistake-free. And oh by the way, Golden Tate caught another score. But Clausen WILL make the mistake, if you give him enough time to do so; in each of the first three games, he tossed two picks.
And the Irish are lacking in some other fundamental areas that deserve noting. Although they are doing a much better job of protecting Clausen (only four sacks), the offensive linemen are still not opening holes for the running game, which has averaged only 3.4 yards a carry. And Notre Dame just does not pout enough pressure on the opposing passer, registering just one sack all year.
That is, of course, good news for Tavita Pritchard, who has often been jittery in commandeering Stanford’s offense, throwing four interceptions to go with his four touchdowns. At Washington last weekend he showed signs of real progress, however, with 222 yards, three touchdowns and no pickoffs – probably his best outing as a collegian. And Stanford looks forward to having star running back Toby Gerhart (421 net yards) available.
There’s not enough to lay the points with Notre Dame, which may have won the last six meetings but is still just 5-11 ATS in the last 16 games in South Bend. In a small recommendation, we’ll back Stanford, the seven-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.
