Stanford at Notre Dame Football Betting Lines
Written October 2, 2008 by Jimmy Boyd
A pair of programs which were down and out early last season have already appeared to have turned a corner this season. The 3-2 Stanford Cardinal takes on the 3-1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana this Saturday on NBC. Odds makers have given Notre Dame the touchdown advantage at home and have set the total at 49. Jimmy Boyd weighs both sides and lets you make the decision in this article.
Stanford is coming off a hard-fought 35-28 win over the Washington Huskies in Pac-10 play, marking the first time in three seasons that the Cardinal has posted back-to-back wins. A win this week gives Stanford its first 4-2 start since that 2005 season and will have them well on their way to a bowl game in head coach Jim Harbaugh’s second season at the helm.
Notre Dame is off to a fast start at 3-1, taking advantage of its home field with all three of its wins coming at home. Last weekend, the Irish busted out for 38 points in a 17-point victory over Purdue to match their win total from the 2007 season. The Irish will look to take advantage of another home game before playing four of their next five on the road.
It is unclear at this point if Stanford’s leading rusher, Toby Gerhart, will be able to play this week after suffering a concussion against Washington. The good news is that Anthony Kimble stepped in last week and rushed for 157 yards and two scores. QB Tavita Pritchard was very efficient in the win, landing 16 of 24 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns.
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Stanford will likely need to be better on the defensive side of the football to come away with a win this week. Last week, the Cardinal allowed 377 yards and 28 points to Washington. Opponents are racking up 27.6 points per game and 387.2 yards per game on Stanford this season. However, the Cardinal has done a good job at coming up with big plays, posting 15 sacks and eight takeaways. If you think the Cardinal can avenge last season’s home loss to Notre Dame, bet Stanford at +7 at Bookmaker.
Last season, Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen took his lumps and criticism as the freshman QB during one of the team’s worst season’s in history. There have been a lot more smiles already this year. Clausen was great against Purdue last week, connecting on 20 or 35 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns. Michael Floyd was on the receiving end of six Clausen passes for 100 yards.
The running game is stronger than we have seen in quite sometime as well, providing the Irish with a nice balanced attack. Armando Allen rushed for 134 yards and a score last week, leading a rushing attack which racked up over 200 yards on Purdue.
Clausen has thrown for 901 yards and nine touchdowns in just four games.
Like Stanford, the Irish know they need to improve on the defensive side of the football as well. The Boilermakers racked up 462 yards on the Irish. Notre Dame is allowing 385.2 yards per game but it has fortunately only given up 18.5 points per contest. That is very fortunate considering that the Irish are allowing 4.6 yards per rush and 11.3 yards per pass. If you think the Irish can defend their home field once again and cover the spread in the process, bet Notre Dame at Bookmaker and receive up to a 20% cash signup bonus.
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