The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have played a lot of football against a lot of teams during their 113 seasons of competition. They will face the Iowa State Cyclones for the first time when the two hook up in the Camping World Bowl. Both squads enter this matchup after disappointing campaigns. The Irish, one year removed from a College Football Playoff berth, finished the regular season at 10-2 and faded from the national spotlight despite winning five straight to end the season. Current college football odds have the Irish as a 3.5-point favorite to extend their streak. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. ET at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. The game will air live on ABC.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Notre Dame Fighting Irish -3.5
Iowa State Cyclones +3.5
Over/Under 54.5
Notre Dame vs. Iowa State Odds Analysis
There has been little movement on the line since hitting the board at Notre Dame -3.5. It spiked a half-point shortly after surfacing but has since been wagered back down. Notre Dame is a public play and we’ll likely get plenty of action before kickoff. Both teams average more than 34 points per game and the total opened at 57.5. However, there’s been a lot of action on the under pushing the number down to 54.5.
Notre Dame Odds
A harrowing 45-14 loss at Michigan in Week 11 ended any hopes the Irish had of returning to the playoff. It didn’t prevent them from finishing strong, though. After that setback they won five straight and easily covered in their last four winning those games by an average of nearly 30 points. Notre Dame proved to be a solid bet all season going 8-4 ATS.
The Irish didn’t get a lot of headlines this season. They played just four ranked teams beating fringe clubs Virginia and Navy at home while falling at Georgia and getting steamrolled by the Wolverines. They did win 10 games behind a dynamic offense led by Ian Book, who threw for 2,792 yards and 33 touchdowns with only six interceptions during the regular season. Notre Dame played over the closing total in two of their last three games, but the under was 7-5 for the year.
Iowa State Odds
The Cyclones were picked as a contender in the Big 12, but finished at 7-5 with losses in three of their last five games while going 1-4 ATS. Four of their setbacks were by a combined 11 points with two of those by a single point and another by two points. They dropped the season finale 27-17 to Kansas State as a 4-point favorite. Three of their five defeats came when the Cyclones played as a favorite and that resulted in just a 5-6-1 ATS ledger.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong for a team that entered the season nationally ranked and picked to finish third in the Big 12. One thing we can’t complain about is the play of Brock Purdy. The sophomore emerged this season with 3,760 passing yards and 27 touchdowns completing 66.3 percent of his throws. He added eight rushing touchdowns as ISU averaged 34.1 points per game.
Key Stats
There are only three postseason games that feature quarterbacks who threw and ran for a total of at least 3,300 yards with 35 combined touchdowns. This is one of them. Book and Purdy both had outstanding seasons leading their teams to more than 34 points per game, and the ability of both players to extend plays and frustrate defenses is a major reason. Book rushed for 537 yards and four scores to finish with 3,329 total yards. In an offense-happy Big 12, Purdy had 4,025 yards of total offense and accounted for 35 touchdowns. Both players finished second on their team in rushing. Statistically Notre Dame’s defense was better, but the Irish haven’t faced a dual-threat like Purdy over the last two months of the season. The college football betting line has the total at 54.5 and with two impressive quarterbacks at the helm the over has some value.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
