Bet On Football – Pittsburgh vs Notre Dame

Those who bet on football know that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have not been able to put together two wins in a row for almost a year, so they are most definitely searching for some consistency.

On Saturday, Brian Kelly’s team takes to the field against the Panthers of Pittsburgh in an NBC-televised game that is set to get underway at 3:30 PM ET. In the college football odds on this game, the Irish are favored by 6.5 points, with a total of 49.5 points.

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We will make our recommendation on how to bet on football based on those numbers.

Pittsburgh Panthers (2-2 SU, 1-1-1 ATS) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-3 SU, 3-2 ATS)

Live at Notre Dame Stadium
South Bend, IN
Saturday, October 9 — 3:30 PM ET
TV: NBC

Bet On Football Lines:

Notre Dame -6.5
Pittsburgh +6.5
Total 49.5

Key stats for Pittsburgh — The Panthers are 15th in the nation in rushing defense, and they have done that while playing two of their four games against nationally-ranked teams. Pittsburgh is also ranked #1 in the NCAA statistics in net punting, with an average net gain of almost 45 yards a kick in field position.

Key stats for Notre Dame, as we bet on football this Saturday — The Irish are 17th in the nation in passing offense. Quarterback Dayne Crist is ranked 59th in the country in passing efficiency, and he has completed 58% of his passes with ten touchdowns.

Notre Dame, however, has not moved the ball on the ground as well as it had hoped. The team is averaging only 111 yards a game, and that is good for just 97th in the country.

Here are some of the trends as they may impact the way we bet on football in this game:

• Pittsburgh has won 12 of its last 17 games SU
• Notre Dame has lost seven of its last nine games SU
• Notre Dame has played four of its last five games UNDER the total
• Notre Dame has covered one of its last seven home games
• Notre Dame has lost four of its last five home games SU
• Notre Dame has played six of its last seven home games UNDER the total
• Notre Dame has covered five of the last seven meetings

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Under coach Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh has been the kind of team that has come up short when facing first-rate opposition. Does Notre Dame qualify under that category? Well, in the three straight games it lost (against Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford), the Irish had a lot of trouble corralling the other team’s ground game.

While outside of the game with Michigan, they were not porous in terms of the yards per carry,. what people who bet on football need to know is that they did allow the opposition to run it often, not forcing them to go to the air.

That’s the dilemma, in my mind, that they face when they go against Pittsburgh, because the Panthers are going to run first and make the other team stop it. I mean, wouldn’t you do the same if you had Ray Graham and Dion Lewis carrying the rock?

Graham was a monster last week, with 277 yards against FIU, and he’s averaged nine and a half yards per carry this season. Lewis, who had such a huge freshman year, is returning from a shoulder ailment.

QB Tino Sunseri is not a difference-maker, but he is adequate enough (63%, 4 TD’s) to help Pitt keep this one within the number. Our bet on football will be to take the points with the Panthers, the 6.5-point underdog.

JAY’S PLAY: PITTSBURGH +6.5 **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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