Notre Dame at Michigan Odds


September 11, 2009 | Posted By Larry Cook

There’s no second-guessing which premier matchup takes the cake in college football’s second week. Southern Cal goes to Ohio State to face off against the Buckeyes at the Horseshoe, so there will be plenty of media attention on this great matchup. Get signed up for the college football picks offered by http://www.infoplays.com/sportscapping.php?capper/capper/301/AF12_8 and cash in big this weekend. If you are going to do any football betting on this game, then take a look at the FREE $500 bonus over at BetUS.

Even with that game on the board, we’re going to take a peek at another big tilt, our game of the week is the Fighting Irish facing off against the Wolverines. Both Notre Dame and Michigan looked great in their first games of the season, and now the heat is on for the two prestigious programs to see which can keep their progress heading in the right driection by picking up the win here.

Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis likely couldn’t have expected a better start to the season against Nevada. Of course, Nevada couldn’t put upt any points throughout the contest, but it was the coherent and deadly aerial attack that boomed under quarterback Jimmy Clausen. The junior, who is ready to be the standout player he was prospected to be tossed for 315 yards on 15-of-18 and four touchdowns. His wideouts Michael Floyd and Golden Tate are potentially a fairly high impact pair, while tight end Kyle Rudolph is athletically talented enough to reign at both catching passes and blocking. The running game, however, still appears questionable, and 178 rushing yards against a wobbly Wolf Pack defense still doesn’t prove much. Still, Notre Dame was able to cover as 14.5-point chalk in front of their home faithful.

The Maize and Blue, also suprised their audience, but it was the new faces that were able to charm the allure of the Michigan supporters. True freshman quarterback Tate Forcier tossed three scores and led the offense for the majority of the game, not producing any errors. Another rising star coming on strong is the speed merchant Denard Robinson, who got some headlines in the preseason for not tying his shoes when playing. Apparently he doesn’t need to, as a sizeable 43-yard scramble and score displayed he knows precisely how to make things happen when he has the football. Just like Notre Dame, the Wolverines covered the spread, as a 31-7 win outperformed the 13 points they were favored at home to Western Michigan.

Now breaking down this game. And the determining component with two offenses that can both light up the scoreboard should be the defenses and which outfit is more effective when called upon. Personally, and this is with my pro-Michigan hat off, the Wolverines have a swifter and sounder defensive unit. I think they will be able to get in the backfield, and the secondary appears more likely to slow down the passing game. And that will be the determining factor, as Weis will surely be aggressive in marching down the field and see how effective Clausen can be in tearing up the back four of Michigan for some yards through the air.

The Fighting Irish come in as 3.5-point road favorites. However the football odds can be found at a field goal if you compare between books. I would think the consensus number will stay between 3 and 3.5, and that could be important, as this should be a tight game all day up in Michigan. The underdog has profited all but two of the past 10 games in this series, but Notre Dame is 7-3 ATS in the past 10 vs. the Wolverines. Notre Dame’s last victory in Michigan was in 2005, and Michigan has won all but one of the past five in the Big House over Notre Dame. No total has been issued yet, but if I had to put out a guess, I would judge around 44 or 45.

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