The Florida State Seminoles (+18) are set to pay a visit to the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-18) at Notre Dame Stadium. NBC has the TV rights and kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Florida State Seminoles at Notre Dame Fighting Irish Betting Preview
In this Saturday game, Notre Dame is labeled as the heavy favorite and the team’s currently giving up 18 points. In order to take the home favorite, moneyline bettors would currently have to wager $1,500 to win $100 back on the Irish (-1500). The Seminoles are getting +810 moneyline odds. Vegas has set the over/under (O/U) at 55 points, and should one side can find paydirt early, it would likely create a reasonable in-game betting scenario.
The less-than-stellar Seminoles are 3-6 against the spread (ATS) and have lost 5.0 units so far. The team has recorded an Over-Under mark of 6-3. The Fighting Irish have been a pleasant surprise for moneyline bettors this season, gaining 6.3 units. They’re 4-4-1 ATS and own an O/U record of 5-4.
The unblemished Seminoles have gone 4-5 straight up (SU) in 2018 while the Fighting Irish are 9-0 SU.
The Seminoles lost to North Carolina State 47-28 in a blowout where their defense allowed the Wolfpack to kill the clock by rushing for 177 yards on 49 attempts, including two rush TDs. On the offensive side, James Blackman completed 29-of-46 passes for 421 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. The Seminoles rushed for just 24 yards as a team in the defeat.
Notre Dame just earned a 31-21 win over Northwestern. Ian Book completed 22-of-34 passes for 343 yards and two touchdowns. Dexter Williams (56 yards on 19 rush attempts, one TD) and the signal-caller Book (56 yards on 11 carries, one TD) spearheaded the running attack while Chase Claypool (eight receptions, 130 yards) and Chris Finke (five catches, 45 yards) led the pass-catching attack in the win.
Florida State’s run the ball on 46.3 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Notre Dame has a rush percentage of 57.7 percent. The Seminoles have rushed for 77 yards per game and have seven scores on the ground this year. The Irish are putting up 181 rushing yards per game and have 22 total rush TDs.
It appears that the Irish could hold an edge when it comes to quarterback protection, as their offensive line has yielded just 14 sacks while the D-line has logged 22 sacks. The Seminoles O-line has given up 28 sacks and their defense has logged only 24 sacks.
The Noles offensive scheme has averaged 283 yards in the air overall and has 18 passing TDs so far. The Irish have recorded 268 pass yards per outing and have 16 total pass scores.
Defensively, Florida State has allowed opponents to run for an average of 111 yards and throw for 283 yards per game. The Notre Dame defense has allowed 188.4 yards per game to opposing passers and 142.6 yards per game to opposing runners. The Irish are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of just 3.92 to opposing QBs, while the Seminoles have given up a 6.40 ANY/A.
Offensively, Blackman is up to 422 passing yards on the year, and has connected on 64 percent of his 47 attempts with four scores through the air and one interception. Blackman has an 8.12 adjusted net yards per pass attempt, including 9.23 over the last two games.
Expect Blackman to attack all areas of the Notre Dame secondary. Tamorrion Terry (3 receiving yards and seven touchdowns), D.J. Matthews (306 yards, one TD) and Keyshawn Helton (3 yards) have all been heavily involved recently.
Ian Book has completed 125-of-171 passes for 1,494 yards, 13 TDs and three INTs for Notre Dame. His ANY/A sits at 8.73 for the year and 10.57 over his last two games.
Dexter Williams, Chase Claypool and Jafar Armstrong have combined for 559 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns as a trio over the last two outings.
Free Pick: Florida State Seminoles at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
SU Winner – Notre Dame, ATS Winner – Notre Dame, O/U – Over
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Notes
Team Betting Notes
Florida State has rushed for 1.6 yards per attempt over its past three games and 0.1 over its last two.
Notre Dame has averaged 3.8 yards per carry over its last three contests and 4.5 over its past two.
The Notre Dame offense has lost three fumbles this season while Florida State has let 11 get away.
Florida State has lost four of its last five games SU, with a 21-point victory over Wake Forest on October 20th representing the only win over that span.
Both passing attacks have produced five pass plays of 40 or more yards. The Seminoles have have made 19 pass plays of 30+ yards while the Fighting Irish have accounted for 14 such plays.
The Florida State defense has allowed 12 pass plays of 40 yards or more, while Notre Dame has given up two such plays.
The Florida State offense has created four rushing plays of 20 yards or more, while Notre Dame has created 14 such runs.
The Seminoles defense has allowed five rushing plays of 20 yards or more, while the Fighting Irish have given up nine such runs.
The Florida State defense has 24 sacks on the year while Notre Dame has 22.
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