The 7-0 Temple Owls play host to the 6-1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday, Oct 31, 2015 on the grass of Lincoln Financial Field in this week nine college football match-up. Kick-off time is scheduled for 8:00PM ET.
Betting Odds
Point Spread: Notre Dame -9.5
Total Line: 50
Temple is at 7-0 for the first time in school history and they are the 21st ranked team in the nation, but still 9.5-point home underdogs facing 9th ranked Notre Dame. This game will show if the Owls are for real or not. They have not faced one ranked team all season and while they are not in a power conference in the AAC there are 3 teams in that conference that are undefeated and ranked.
Temple has not played a tough schedule this season, but Notre Dame. Their only loss came to undefeated Clemson and they already beat a ranked team in Georgia Tech and they have wins over Texas, Navy, and USC.
These 2 teams met at Temple in the 2013 season where the Fighting Irish beat the Owls 28-6.
In their last games Notre Dame beat USC 41-31 and Temple beat East Carolina 24-14.
This season Temple is 3-0 at home and Notre Dame is 1-1 on the road.
Notre Dame is 6-1 ATS on the season with an O/U record of 4-3 and Temple is 5-2 ATS with an O/U record of 3-4.
This game pits Notre Dame and their 18th ranked offense facing Temple and their 14th ranked defense.
Notre Dame is coming off a bye week, so they will be well rested for this game.
Notre Dame has a balanced offense ranking 32nd in passing yards per game and 15th in rushing yards per game. QB DeShone Kizer is coming off a solid game in the win over USC when he passed for 227 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT. He had been picked off one time in each of his previous 4 games. Temple has to get to the QB and they really need to key on top WR Will Fuller, who has 702 receiving yards with 8 TD and is averaging 21.9 yards per catch.
C.J. Prosise leads the Fighting Irish rushing attack and he has rushed for over 125 yards in 4 of his last 5 games including 2 in a row.
Temple has a solid scoring offense, but they only rank 92nd in the nation in passing yards per game and 93rd in rushing yards per game. QB P.J. Walker leads the team and while he only has 2 TD in his last 2 games he only has 1 INT in his last 4 games.
The Irish have to keep Walker from making big plays and they really need to key on RB Jahad Thomas (822 yards 12 TD), who did not have a good game in the win over Eastern Carolina rushing for 66 yards and only averaging 3.3 yards per carry.
Notre Dame at Temple Betting Trends
Notre Dame is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games overall, 5-0 ATS vs. a team with a winning record, and they have an Over record of 5-1 in their last 6 road games.
Temple is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games overall, 8-3 ATS vs. a team with a winning record, and they have an Under record of 7-2 in their last 9 non-conference games.
Injury Report
Notre Dame
10/18/15 OL Alex Bars Ankle out for season
09/21/15 DB Drue Tranquill ACL out for season
09/15/15 TE Durham Smythe Shoulder out for season
09/13/15 QB Malik Zaire Ankle out for season
09/06/15 RB Tarean Folston Knee out for season
08/28/15 DL Ishaq Williams Eligibility out for season
08/27/15 DB Shaun Crawford Knee out for season
08/15/15 DL Jarron Jones Knee out for season
08/13/15 RB Greg Bryant Eligibility out for season
Temple
10/25/15 DE Sharif Finch Knee “?” Saturday vs. Notre Dame
10/25/15 S Will Hayes Hamstring “?” Saturday vs. Notre Dame
09/08/15 DL Jullian Taylor Undisclosed out indefinitely
08/24/15 DL Josiah Bronson Ankle out for season
Consensus Pick (ATS)
Notre Dame: 62%
Temple: 38%
Free College Football Pick
Laying 10 points on the road against an undefeated team at this point in the season may seem like a risky wager for some, but when you examine the teams that Temple has played you will understand that the line on the game is fair. Temple hasn’t beaten anyone recently of any merit, but they knocked off a very good Penn State team 27-10 to open the season and held Cincinnati’s above average offensive unto 26 points in a 34-26 victory. Since then the victories haven’t been against any quality teams unless you put the Pirates in that group. They have however after a close 25-23 victory over UMass beaten every opponent by 10 or more points. There is no denying that Notre Dame is a top quality team with a 2-point loss the only blemish on their record, but this on the road and the home side will be treating this like a championship game. ND will probably find a way to win, but this going to be a nail biter.
Take the Temple Owls +10 @ INTERTOPS – FUNDING YOUR NEW ACCOUNT COULDN’T BE EASIER!
