Free NCAA Football Prediction: Bearcats vs. Fighting Irish Odds
Looking for Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish free picks? College football betting sees the Bearcats taking on the Fighting Irish on October 2 at Notre Damn Stadium in South Bend, IN. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NCAA football season long so stay tuned for more FREE college football game Week 5 predictions like this Cincinnati Notre Dame free pick.
College Football Handicapping Analysis: Week 5
Cincinnati Bearcats (3-0) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-0)
Date: Saturday, October 2, 2021
Time: 2:30 pm EST
Venue: Notre Dame Stadium
NCAA Football ATS Spread Odds: Cincinnati -2 / Notre Dame +2
NCAA Football Moneyline Odds: Bearcats -125 / Irish +110
NCAA Betting Total Odds: O/U 50.5
Week 5 college football sees the Bearcats and Fighting Irish meet at Notre Dame Stadium.
A pair of undefeated teams ranked in the top-10 clash on Saturday and the road team is favored in South Bend. The Bearcats are listed as the chalk laying a couple of points against Notre Dame, which may come as a surprise to many pundits in the industry.
Desmond Ridder is among the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy listed only behind Matt Corral of Ole Miss and Bryce Young with the Tide. Of course, Ridder led the Bearcats to a perfect regular season in 2020 and only a loss against Georgia in the Peach Bowl separated them from a perfect campaign.
At the same token, the Bearcats schedule has been full of shit programs that really don’t leave the best impression. Wins over Murray State, Miami, OH, and Indiana are certainly not going to impress the voters so the rest of the season will tell a bigger story. If you look at the Cincy schedule and what is ahead? This could be the only game that interrupts another perfect regular season. The Bearcats will certainly be favored from here on out against anything that they will face.
The Irish certainly feel disrespected and being home dogs under Brian Kelly is something we don’t see very often. Senior wideout Braden Lenzy was asked after practice the other day how the team felt about being home underdogs.
You can see his response to that question with that link. When you win 26 straight home games, you can see why this is going to be one helluva football game on Saturday in South Bend!
The Bearcats are favored by 2 points in this American vs. Independent Conference matchup.
Cincinnati Bearcats
The Bearcats are expected to get a win in South Bend according to the line setters and that has everyone wondering just how good this team is… again!
Last year is in the history books and none of that will help the Bearcats pick up a win in a place that road teams come to die! Make no mistake that being favorites is actually more concerning for Cincy because now the Irish and their fans will be rather pissed off and rather excited to prove why they should be the team with the expectation to win.
Desmond Ridder is certainly happy to have a balance on offense although the rankings don’t exactly point to anything that stands out other than the points they are putting up. Cincy ranks 10th in the Nation in points scored (43 PPG), but their rushing offense sits all the way back at 64th in the Nation while the passing offense is 49th in the land.
The defense is once again a key part of the Bearcats success as they rank 15th in the land only allowing 13 PPG. Again, that f**king schedule impresses me NONE, so of course, they are ranked up there with those 3 opponents.
You can be as impressed with the stats as you like, but stats barely help in this case with an FCS program and two other weak teams that account for this 3 – 0.
Jerome Ford will be seeing the lion’s share of the carries as usual with 300 rush yards and 6 trips to the end zone. The only other back with stats even worth mentioning is McClelland and Montgomery who basically just relieve Ford when he needs a break.
Desmond Ridder also contributes plenty to that run game production as he actually is 2nd on the team with 72 rush yards
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Irish will be dogs for only the 8th time at home in the 12 years under Brian Kelly, and the 5 – 2 record tells you a story. Dogs win games! Oh, I love saying that because I ran a forum called Thinkdog for 15 years, and if anyone knows about THINKING DOG? It is me without doubt and there is no argument about it either.
You either know the value of home dogs in college and NFL football, or you should stop betting on sports immediately, if not sooner!
Brian Kelly will certainly be reminding the boys that Cincy is better than them and they should lose this game at home!!! LOL
Oh, baby! Fire me up too, because those words scream effort and yell potential for an upset especially in a massive game with two teams in the top-10 of the rankings.
Ian Book is gone, and everyone thought his loss would take time to overcome. Jack Coan has put those concerns to rest for now although he uses his arm to do the damage. Coan is not the dual-threat guy Ridder is, but he doesn’t need to be that guy with this offense. Coan came out of the Wisconsin game banged up but he is expected to start this weekend.
Kyren Williams and Chris Tyree can certainly handle the load running the ball although the passing game is going to be featured heavily this weekend.
The Irish have 6 different receivers who have found their way to the end zone and tight end Michael Mayer is the go-to guy thus far. Mayer has nearly doubled the output of the receptions to leading WR Kevin Austin Jr., although they both have scored 3 times apiece.
NCAA Football Handicapping Trends
- Bearcats are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games as a road favorite.
- Fighting Irish are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games as a home underdog.
- Fighting Irish are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. AAC.
- Fighting Irish are 8-2 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
- Under is 4-1 in Bearcats last 5 road games.
- Under is 5-1 in Fighting Irish last 6 games as a home underdog.
Free Week 5 NCAA Football Pick
The Irish are beating teams like Wisconsin and Purdue, while the Bearcats have played 3 scrimmages practically… IMO! I just see that schedule as some weak shit that should not be conducive to Cincy being favored against the Irish
4* Free Week 5 NCAA Betting Pick:
THINK DOG! All-day and twice on Saturday! KEEP YOUR POINTS, WE DON’T NEED ‘EM!
4* Free Week 5 NCAA Betting Pick: Irish ML +110
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