Head Coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish (1-1) are reeling following a 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois of the MAC. Coming off a Week 1 win at Texas A&M, the Irish fell to the Huskies on a 35-yard field goal with :31 remaining in regulation. Notre Dame was outgained 388-to-286 total yards on the afternoon. NIU played a clean game bolstered by a methodical ground attack that wore down ND to the tune of 45 rushes for 190 yards while also averaging 9.9 yards per pass attempt on the day. QB Riley Leonard has failed to invigorate the offense. He threw two interceptions last weekend. He is averaging just 5.1 yards per attempt this season.
Purdue (1-0) enters Year 2 of former Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters’ tenure and is coming off a 4-8 reset season following their 2022 Big Ten Championship appearance. They need to hit more big plays on offense, ranking 105th in marginal explosiveness, and finish drives more efficiently, ranking 121st in points per scoring opportunity last season. Defensively, it’s hard to imagine defensive guru HC Walters allowing over 30 points per game again after having a year to mold the roster in his visage. Purdue shutout Indiana State (FCS) in Week 1 in their lone game this season.
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– Date: Saturday, September 14th, 2024
– Time: 3:30 PM EST
– Place: Ross-Ade Stadium
– City: West Lafayette, IN
– TV/Streaming: CBS/Paramount
Want to check out the other games on the College Football schedule this week? We’ve got you covered right here on NBC Sports with all the matchup, venue, game-time and TV/streaming info so you won’t miss any of the action!
The latest odds as of Wednesday afternoon:
*odds courtesy of BetMGM
Notre Dame opened with the hook in place at -10.5, but that number has since dipped to an even -10 at BetMGM. The market is showing a range of 9.5-to-10.5 at time of publishing, so there’s an avenue to get on the right side of 10 no matter which side you like if you do your homework.
College Football talk is taking over Bet the Edge every Thursday throughout the season. Bet the BET THE EDGE is your source for all things sports betting. Get all of Vaughn Dalzell, Eric Froton, and Brad Thomas’ insights Thursdays at 6AM ET right here or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
Eric Froton (@CFFroton) is all in on Riley Leonard’s injuries hampering his stats Saturday.
“Riley Leonard is already banged up, with reports indicating he injured the posterior labrum on his non-throwing shoulder. Even though it’s non-throwing, it still hurts just as much getting tackled on your “non-throwing” shoulder and his availability could be very tenuous. With his line sitting at a staggeringly high 214.5 Passing Yards, hit that UNDER 214.5 Pass Yards as soon as you possibly can before it goes away.”
Line movement (Last Week to Now)
· Georgia +280 to +275
· Texas +850 to +550
· Tennessee +3500 to +2200
Highest Ticket%
· Ohio State 17.0%
· Georgia 12.1%
· Texas 9.1%
Highest Handle%
· Ohio State 19.3%
· Georgia 17.2%
· Miami 11.5%
Biggest Liabilities
· Ohio State
· Miami
· Tennessee
o Purdue: Former Texas four-star prospect QB Hudson Card transferred in last season to pair-up with OC Graham Harrell and take on the Big Ten while attending a fine engineering school. His accuracy left a little to be desired, ranking 76th out of 95 quarterbacks with 300+ dropbacks with a 58.6% completion rate. However it should be noted that Card was victimized by a leaky wide receiver corps that produced a dismal 10% drop rate, which was the ninth-worst among Power Five programs last season. The Boilermakers are banking on an improvement from both Card and the receiving corps in order to elevate their disappointing 24 points per game average from a year ago.
o Notre Dame: It’s been a bumpy start for Duke transfer QB Riley Leonard, who was brought in to replace hair-icon Sam Hartman. Leonard currently ranks dead last among Power Four signal callers with a brutal 55.2 PFF passing grade, and ranks second-to-last with a 60.6 overall grade. His 6.8 ADOT is the 10th-lowest among FBS quarterbacks and he’s currently sporting a 0-to-2 TD/INT ratio. Leonard is coming off an injury-marred 2023 campaign where he completed 57% of his throws and somehow only threw three touchdowns passes in 201 dropbacks, so his early season struggles are a continuation of his 2023 woes and reason for alarm.
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