The biggest game of the afternoon slate this coming weekend will take place in South Bend, Indiana, when the No. 15 Louisville Cardinals travel to face the No. 16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. A ranked showdown is always going to generate a large handle in the betting market, especially when it is the only ranked game in a given time slot, and this game will be no different. The Irish are favored here at home by 6.5-points, despite being the lower-ranked team in this game.
Louisville is 3-0 to start the season with wins against Austin Peay, Jacksonville State, and Georgia Tech. None of those teams even come close to the talent level that they will see this weekend, despite some struggles from the Irish. Last week against Georgia Tech was their toughest test so far, and they won 31-19 at home, but it wasn’t always pretty. They pulled away late, but the game was tied 17-17 in the third quarter.
QB Tyler Shough continues to impress, having 850 yards and eight touchdowns with no interceptions so far on the season. He will have to bring his very best here, as this will be by far the toughest defense he will face.
Notre Dame has truly had a crazy season to this point. They opened the year with a massive win at Texas A&M, and followed that up with the worst loss in program history in their home opener to Northern Illinois. They then blew out Purdue on the road 66-7, and followed that up with a shallow performance against Miami Ohio in a 28-3 win. It is hard to grasp what this team is, but we do know one thing: this is a defensive first team.
QB Riley Leonard has been a disaster so far, throwing for 587 yards and just a single touchdown, as compared to two interceptions. He has looked as bad as any signal-caller could be in college football to this point, and yet, they are 3-1 and still ranked. He’s quite familiar with this opponent as well. Leonard spent three years as Duke's quarterback and recorded an 0-2 record against the Cardinals. If he can figure something out and just be an average starter for this team, their defense is good enough for them to run the table.
These two teams played each other just last season, but in Louisville, where the Cardinals dominated the Irish 33-20 in an upset victory. However, the last time the Cardinals played in South Bend, they lost 12-7 in 2020. I would expect this to be a close game as it usually has been in the past.
At first glance, Notre Dame seems like the right side here. I expect the public to be on the ranked team that is getting points, especially after the Irish had a lackluster performance again last week against a MAC school. Make sure to keep watch of where the tickets and money go, but this seems like a good spot for ND.
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