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USC vs Notre Dame College Football Betting Odds

Written October 15, 2009 by Kyle Hunter

Two of the biggest powers in college football collide when USC heads to South Bend this Saturday afternoon to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Notre Dame has been down in the past few years, but things appear to be improving. USC has been a national power for many years now, although this year they may have a little less firepower than normal. Both teams have proven they can beat solid competition already this season. Which one of them will step up in this game? If you plan to do any NCAA football betting this season, you need to take advantage of the best bonus in the business, a $500 match bonus from BetUS.

The USC Trojans have a true freshman quarterback in Matt Barkley. Barkley has been less than spectacular, but he has done the job well in leading the team to a victory in each game he has started. The Trojans biggest playmaker is in the backfield, Joe McKnight. McKnight is capable of breaking it every single time he touches the football and his average yards per carry sits at a very impressive 7.1 yards. The USC offensive line is tremendous, which helps give Barkley time to throw and McKnight lanes to run through. The real strength of the USC football team this year is probably the defense. The defensive leader is safety Taylor Mays. Mays is a hard hitting safety that reads coverages well and helps out in the run game when needed. The USC defense is allowing just 8.6 yards per game.

Notre Dame is now in the top 25 at #25, but man they have made it tough on their fans. Many sportscasters are calling them the cardiac kids because of their last minute victories. Three of their four victories have been games in which they were behind in the fourth quarter, but came back to win. Jimmy Clausen has become the real deal for Notre Dame, and the offense has improved by leaps and bounds as he has progressed. His 12/2 touchdown to interception ratio speaks to his ability to take care of the football. Golden Tate gives Clausen and the Irish a premier wide receiver who can beat one on one coverage almost every single time. The running game is still second fiddle to the passing attack, but it has definitely improved from last year. Armando Allen is averaging 5.1 yards per carry and provides the offense with a better balance than they have previously had. The defense is allowing opponents to roll up 403 yards per game and 24 points per game, so they are going to need to tighten up. The Irish have been very susceptible to a dynamic passing attack this season.

Looking at the latest NCAA football betting lines, the Trojans of USC head to South Bend as 10 point road favorites. The posted total for this game is 50 points. USC is 1-5 against the spread in their last 6 road games, while Notre Dame is 1-4 against the spread in their last 5 home games. The under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings between these two schools.

Expect Joe McKnight to get plenty of carries and even catch some passes in this one, as USC will want to get their main weapon the ball as much as possible. Jimmy Clausen will have to be able to throw the ball well because USC will probably stuff the run pretty nicely. USC is on a 7 game winning streak against Notre Dame and I would expect that to continue despite a valiant effort from Notre Dame. The better defense will win this game in the end.

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