Coming into the season, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were a trendy pick to win the national championship. As SB Nation’s Bill Connelly pointed out, if they got past Michigan in their season opener, they would likely be favored per the CFB betting odds in every game for the remainder of the season. After defeating Michigan 24-17 in the opener, the Irish are now likely to be double-digit favorites on the CFB betting line in every game until a September 29 home tilt against Stanford.
Of course, there’s still the matter of winning all those games. The Ball State Cardinals are looking to shock the world and show that they are the best team in the state of Indiana. If they could somehow pull off a historic upset in this Week 2 matchup, they could make that claim.
Watch this Week 2 matchup live on Saturday, September 8, 2018, at 3:30 p.m. ET at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Ball State +34.5
Notre Dame -34.5
Over/Under 62.5
Odds Analysis
This will be the first meeting ever between Ball State and Notre Dame. The Irish opened as a 35-point favorite on the NCAAF betting line, but that price has dropped a tad since that point. Notre Dame is listed as a 34.5-point favorite as of Wednesday, and it’s unlikely we will see that number change too much except for weather playing a factor.
The total has seen some action though. The over/under initially came out at 58.5 per the NCAAF betting odds, but that has since moved to where it currently sits at 62.5.
Matchup to Watch
Notre Dame wants to keep the ball on the ground and run behind its big boys up front as much as possible. The Fighting Irish have one of the better offensive lines in the country, even without Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey. The interior of the line is rock solid with Sam Mustipher, Tommy Kraemer, and Alex Bars leading the charge, and they will be playing against one of the few 3-4 defenses in the country.
There is some size up front for Ball State, but the Cardinals don’t have much depth. They just moved from a 4-3 to a 3-4 this offseason in order to alleviate some of those concerns along the offensive line, but that will put pressure on the linebackers to make plays. There isn’t a lot of experience in the linebacking corps, but there is some talent.
That being said, it’s likely to be a great day on the ground for Brandon Wimbush, Tony Jones Jr., and Jafar Armstrong. The three will be looking to get going after Notre Dame was held to under three yards a carry against Michigan in the opener.
Player to Watch
Riley Neal is back to provide stability to a quarterback position that was decimated by injuries last year. Neal led Ball State to a 2-1 start last season, but he suffered a season-ending injury in the third game of the year and that sent the program into a tailspin. Back-ups Jack Milas and Zach Blair suffered injuries too, forcing freshman Drew Plitt to take over by the end of the year. As a result, Ball State was housed over its last nine games, losing every single one by 12 points or more.
With Neal back in action, there is a good deal of optimism around Ball State this season. He looked solid in the opener against Central Connecticut State, and he has some very good weapons in Justin Hall and Riley Miller. Neal will need to be on his game for the Cardinals to keep this one close.
Free ATS Pick
I have enough faith in Neal that I think Ball State will cover the number here. Notre Dame may look past Ball State a little bit after such a big win over Michigan in the opener, and Brian Kelly might run a vanilla gameplan to not tip anything to future opponents.
College Football Odds: Notre Dame 45, Ball State 17
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