Purdue vs Notre Dame

  A classic battle will occur in South Bend on Saturday afternoon, between the visiting Purdue Boilermakers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Irish and Boiler Makers both enter Saturday undefeated on the short season at 2-0. This is a historic matchup dating back to the first meeting in 1896. Notre Dame leads the all-time series by a wide margin, 56-26-2. The Irish have had Purdue's number, especially the last decade; the Irish have been 12-3 vs. Purdue since 2000. Purdue had not defeated the Irish in South bend, dating back to 2004 when the Boiler Makers stomped the Irish 41-16.

The Irish are a 7 point favorite here at home. This season, Notre Dame is 0-2 ATS, pulling off an overtime win in Tallahassee over Florida State and a close call at home last week vs. Toledo. On the flip side, Purdue is 2-0 ATS covering against a couple of weaker teams as a 7 point favorite vs. Oregon State and covering as a 35 point favorite vs. Uconn. My play in this battle will fade these early trends and back the home favorite here in the Irish. I love this Irish team here who has been one of the best teams in the country at home. Notre Dame will put a 25 game win streak at home on the line Saturday behind the Irish faithful. This Notre Dame defense has severely underperformed in their first couple of games. This is a better defense than they have shown in the young season, and I believe Saturday, we will see them take advantage of this Purdue offense in a statement game for them. The Irish offense has looked great behind veteran QB transfer Jack Coan. The Irish also display one of the best running backs in the country in Kyren Williams Jr, who should have his way in this game. I favor Notre Dame heavily on both sides of the ball in this game despite them underperforming a bit early in the season. I believe that is why we see this as a -7 line vs. -10+, which is where I have this line. The Irish are also a friendly 5-1 ATS at home vs. a road team with a winning record. They have been one of the best home teams in college football the last few seasons, and I believe they will roll to victory on Saturday and cover this number.

Pick. Notre Dame -7 (-110)