Football Sports Betting – Pittsburgh vs Notre Dame

One of the most exciting matchup’s in this weekend’s football sports betting comes to us from South Bend, IN.

That’s where Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame squad will look to get back to .500 as they host the Pitt Panthers.

Saturday, October 9: 3:30 p.m. NBC

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Pittsburgh Panthers (2-2 SU, 1-2-1 ATS)

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-3 SU, 2-3 ATS)

NCAAF Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh: +6

Notre Dame: -6

After a rough start to the season, Notre Dame bounced back nicely last weekend, in a dominating 31-13 road victory over Boston College. Everything seemed to finally click for Kelly’s crew, in the new coach’s fifth game in South Bend. The Irish put up 21 first quarter points, and held Boston College scoreless for the final 30 minutes in victory.

The key to victory this weekend, will be continued improvement from Notre Dame’s defense, and offensive production from quarterback Dayne Crist. Crist, a redshirt sophomore seems to be getting better every week, and he was effective last Saturday, throwing for 203 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Armando Allen Jr. provided balance to this offense, with 90 yards on the ground.

However, football sports betting experts also believe that Pittsburgh is a viable team to win this game. Much like Notre Dame, the Panthers seem to have finally asserted themselves on offense, and it’s behind the running game. But their star back isn’t who you might think.

Dion Lewis entered 2010 as the nation’s leading returning rusher, but with nagging injuries limiting him, Lewis appears to have been replaced by fellow sophomore Ray Graham. Graham burst on the scene three weeks ago, and put himself on the All-American watch list last weekend. That’s when he rushed for a staggering 277 yards, averaging over nine yards a carry and scoring three touchdowns in the process.

But as good as Graham has been, the Pittsburgh passing game has been equally abysmal. Because of that, take Notre Dame as this weekend’s football betting pick.

While Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri looked good last weekend (15 of 23 passing), he has been completely and totally average otherwise this season, and still appears to be the Panthers Achilles heel. Look for Notre Dame to load the box to stop the run, and force Sunseri to beat them with his arm. He hasn’t proven capable of doing that yet.

At the same time, this Notre Dame isn’t nearly as bad as their 2-3 record might indicate. Yes they got beat up by a really good Stanford team two weeks ago, but their two other losses came by a combined seven points to Michigan and Michigan State, each of which is undefeated right now. Just as easily as Notre Dame is 2-3, they could be 4-1.

Finally, the Irish’s defense is getting better every game. Last week it all came together beautifully, as Notre Dame got up early on offense, and their defense held serve from there. Boston College finished with 277 yards, which is pretty good. What’s even better is that the Irish held the Eagles to five yards rushing. That’s right, FIVE total yards on the ground!

Brian Kelly is a great coach, and finally seems to be getting through to his new team in South Bend. Look for them to improve to 3-3 this weekend, as there’s no doubt that Irish should be one of your football sports betting picks this weekend.

Football Sports Betting Pick: Notre Dame -6

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