Ohio State ATS Pick vs Notre Dame in Top-10 Clash

· Sep 21 - 5 minutes read

It doesn’t get much bigger than this with a pair of top-10 ranked teams meeting in South Bend. For the Ohio State vs Notre Dame NCAA football best bets, much of the money this week has been landing on the visiting Buckeyes.

Ohio State is listed as a three-point favorite according to the college football picks after the line opened with the Buckeyes favored by seven points earlier this month.

Ohio State ATS Pick vs Notre Dame in Top-10 Clash

Before Ohio State’s 21-10 win over Notre Dame in 2022, with the Fighting Irish covering as a 17-point underdog, the last time these teams met was in 1995.

Ohio State is fourth in the coaches’ poll and sixth in the Associated Press poll while Notre Dame remained ninth in the AP poll and moved from 11th to ninth in the coaches’ poll.

When looking at the college football odds, Ohio State (+1000) is third in the odds of winning the national title with Notre Dame (+1600) tied for sixth in the championship odds.

Notre Dame Secondary to be Tested by Dynamic Ohio State WR

The one difference between last year’s Ohio State-Notre Dame matchup and this year’s showdown is that this time around, it could be argued that Notre Dame has the better quarterback. That was not the case in 2022 when C.J. Stroud was at QB for the Buckeyes.

Wake Forest transfer Sam Hartman is third nationally with a 217.8 passer rating for Notre Dame. Ohio State’s Kyle McCord comes in 12th with a rating of 183.2.

Notre Dame did a solid job on Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.. The player who is considered to be the most talented WR in college football had five catches for 56 yards.

Keep an eye on Harrison’s props as game-time approaches as this is a week where he can make or break his Heisman Trophy dreams.

Go With Odds for Scoreless Quarter

The defense has been a concern for Ohio State in recent years as the Buckeyes have rolled out offenses loaded with future NFL stars. Ohio State hasn’t ranked in the top five in total defense in the Big Ten since the 2019 season. Ohio State is currently second only to Michigan when it comes to the fewest yards allowed among Big Ten teams.

The Buckeyes held Indiana to 154 yards in the season opener. Things will be significantly more challenging this week.

Notre Dame is off to a strong start defensively as well – the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish rank third and fourth in total defense going into the game. Keep that in mind when making college football scores predictions.

While there will be some playmakers capable of taking the game over for both teams, don’t be surprised to see a scoreless quarter on Saturday. According to the sportsbook, there are +250 odds for that to happen.

College Football Pick: There Will be a Scoreless Quarter (+250)

Take Ohio State on the Road

This is just the fourth time since the start of the 2020 season that Notre Dame is an underdog at home. If the line had remained at -7, it would be an easy choice to go with the visiting Ohio State Buckeyes college football picks. With the line moving to -3, things are a little more challenging.

Even though Notre Dame played North Carolina State and Ohio State faced Indiana, there are a lot of questions about both teams coming into this game. More will be known about both of them by the time this much-anticipated matchup finishes.

Hartman makes Notre Dame a much more explosive offense. However, Ohio State has Harrison, fellow receiver Emeka Egbuka and running backs TreVeyon Henderson, Chip Trayanum and Miyan Williams. Notre Dame’s tackles for loss numbers are down a bit last year.

Tight end Mitchell Evans is expected to play for Notre Dame after missing the last game due to a concussion.

Linebacker JD Bertrand, who has 13 tackles and three quarterback pressures in three games, is questionable for the Fighting Irish. That would leave a huge hole in the Notre Dame defense if he is unable to go or is limited during the game.

Can the Fighting Irish exploit a rebuilt Ohio State offensive line that saw both starting tackles leave for the NFL? This is also a game where QB Kyle McCord gets to show what he is made of and if he is ready to lead Ohio State to a national title.

Ohio State has covered in just three of its last nine games. The Buckeyes have covered in four of the last five games against Notre Dame. Only the results from 2022 are relevant when looking at this year’s matchup.

This will be a huge test for second-year Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman to prove that his Fighting Irish team can follow the tradition at Notre Dame of rising to the challenge against the top teams. It is hard to go against the talent that Ohio State can put out on the field.

College Football Pick: Ohio State -3 (-110)