Tulsa at Notre Dame
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Saturday the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will look to bounce back from a disappointing loss when they host the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. After rolling off three straight wins, the Fighting Irish stunk it up last week against Navy, losing 35-17. The Golden Hurricane are coming in off big 52-24 win over Tulane and have now won three of their last four. If you are thinking about betting on the game this weekend, the current odds have the Fighting Irish favored by 8.5-points over the Golden Hurricane at home.
Tulsa (4-3, 2-2 C-USA): The Hurricanes could easily be 6-1 and undefeated in conference play, as they have lost two conference games by a total of five points. Tulsa has struggled away from home this season, losing three of four, including a 65-28 loss to Oklahoma State.
Offensively the Golden Hurricanes are pretty solid, as they come into the game this weekend averaging just over 38 points a game, and are 12th in the country averaging 222 yards a game on the ground. The passing game isn’t all that bad either, as they average 270 yards through the air.
In their last game against Tulane, quarterback G.J. Kinne threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns, while JaTerian Douglas and Damarias Johnson combined for 151 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. The concern comes on the defensive side of the football, where the Hurricanes have really struggled this season.
Notre Dame (4-4): The Irish had no answer for Navy’s rushing attack last week, as the Midshipmen racked up 367 yards on the ground. Notre Dame really struggled to stop Navy on third down, as the Midshipmen completed 10 of 13 attempts for first downs, which led to Navy controlling nearly 10 more minutes of the clock.
Notre Dame had just 106 yards on the ground, and starting quarterback Dayne Crist really struggled to find his rhythm against the Navy defense. Crist was just 19 for 31 for 178 yards with a touchdown and two costly interceptions. It didn’t help that Notre Dame was without their two top receivers in Michael Floyd and Theo Riddick. While Riddick will be out again this week, Floyd is expected to be back in the lineup, and should have a big day against a soft Tulsa secondary.
Looking at the Odds: I know Notre Dame didn’t look good at all last week, but I think there is excellent value on the Fighting Irish this week. Tulsa isn’t going to run the triple option and run for 300+ yards on the ground, nor are they going to convert 77% of their third downs. Notre Dame’s offense is going to light up the scoreboard against Tulsa’s defense, and I honestly don’t think this game will be all that close by the time its over. My final score prediction is Notre Dame 48, Tulsa 31.
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