Free Rose Bowl Prediction: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Alabama Crimson Tide Odds
Looking for Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Alabama Crimson Tide free picks? 2021 Rose Bowl betting sees the Fighting Irish taking on the Crimson Tide on Friday, January 1st at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NCAA football season long so stay tuned for more FREE college football bowl game predictions like this Notre Dame – Alabama Rose Bowl free pick.
College Football Handicapping: 2021 Rose Bowl
(10-1) Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Alabama Crimson Tide (11-0)
Date: Friday, January 1st, 2021
Time: 4:00 pm EST
Venue: AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas
NCAA Football Spread: Alabama -20
NCAA Betting Total: O/U 65.5
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The College Football Playoff kicks off on New Year’s Day with the #4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish taking on the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl from AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas. This is the first playoff matchup in the day with the winner of this game taking on the winner of Ohio State/Clemson in the championship.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame will try to reach the CFP National Championship for the first time since its installment in 2015. The Irish had a chance in 2019 to reach the championship game but they were steamrolled by Clemson 30-3 in that game.
Senior QB Ian Book leads the fighting Irish offense that averages 35.2 points per game. Book has thrown for 2600 yards to go with 15 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He also has rushed for 430 yards and eight scores. Book is a quarterback that works best when establishing balance and leaning on a run game initiated by Kyren Williams.
Sophomore RB Kyren Williams is the Fighting Irish’s lead back. He has rushed for 1061 yards and leads Notre Dame in touchdowns with 13 this season.
Notre Dame is going to need their defense to create some turnovers if they want to be able to stay in this game. The Irish average 1.5 takeaways per game and are going to need some against the Tide. They surrender an average of 18.6 points per game which ranks 18th in the FBS. They are giving up 224.4 passing yards and 110.5 rushing yards per game. Slowing down Najee Harris is also going to be key for the Irish as he could easily take over the game with his legs.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Nick Saban is gunning for his fifth National Championship appearance in seven years since the FBS moved to the four-team format. Alabama has only lost one semi-final game it was to Ohio State back in the inaugural year of the CFP. Hopefully, the defense can hold up against this Notre Dame offensive attack because they looked very vulnerable at the end of the SEC Championship game.
Heisman Trophy finalist Mac Jones guides the Alabama offense that averages 49.7 points per game. He has thrown for 3739 passing yards to go with 32 touchdowns and four interceptions. He leads in the nation in completion percentage at 76.5%. It will be interesting if Notre Dame will force Jones out of the pocket as he has rushed for -9 yards this season.
NFL products Najee Harris and Devonta Smith highlight Jones’s weapons on offense. Harris has over 1500 yards from scrimmage this season and leads the country in touchdowns with 27 this season. Devonta Smith is also another Heisman candidate and was most recently named the AP’s college player of the year. He caught 98 balls this season to lead the country for 1511 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns this season.
Opposing offenses are only averaging 3.2 yards per carry and 107.6 total rushing yards against Alabama’s defense this season. The Crimson Tide is giving up an average of 19.5 points per game which ranks 17th in the FBS. They surrender an average of 243.5 passing yards and are giving up just 1.3 touchdowns per game.
NCAA Football Handicapping Trends
- Notre Dame is 16-1 SU in their last 17 games.
- Notre Dame is 10-1 SU in their last 11 games this season.
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Notre Dame’s last 5 games against an opponent in the Southeastern Conference.
- Notre Dame is 1-8 SU in their last 9 games played in January.
- Alabama is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games.
- Alabama is 10-0 SU in their last 10 games.
- Alabama is 11-0 SU in their last 11 games this season.
- Alabama is 9-2 SU in their last 11 games against an opponent in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Free Rose Bowl NCAA Football Pick:
I think Notre Dame has the defense to be able to contain Mac Jones and keep this game close until down the stretch.
4* Free NCAA Betting Pick: Notre Dame +19.5
I like the Irish to be able to hang around with the Tide in this game. Alabama looked vulnerable in the second half against the Gators and allowed Florida to put up over 300 yards of offense in that second half alone. Notre Dame is averaging 35.2 points per game and after putting a goose egg basically against Clemson I’m sure the team is going to be motivated to score some points as well. The hope is for the defense to step up to the point where the offense won’t have to ditch the run game completely. Of course, that’s easier said than done with the way Alabama has been roasting opposing teams. Give me Notre Dame and the points to cover.
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