Notre Dame vs North Carolina Picks and Odds: Oct 30

Notre Dame vs North Carolina Betting Preview

WagerTalk college football handicapper Tony Finn offers his Notre Dame vs North Carolina college football Week 9 betting preview for Saturday, October 30 from Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. At the time of posting, the Fighting Irish are -3.5 home favorite over the Tar Heels with the total sitting at 62 points.

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Notre Dame vs North Carolina Predictions

Notre Dame Fighting Irish -3.5 vs North Carolina Tar Heels
Total: 62 Points
North Carolina’s games have averaged 66.3 points per game this season.
Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton, an Irish captain and All-American candidate, suffered a knee injury last week against USC.

The North Carolina Tar Heels take a road trip to South Bend, Indiana, to satisfy a scheduled matchup against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday night. Notre Dame Stadium, in cooperation with NBC Sports, is a College Football Saturday event that won’t fail to entertain. The ACC Tar Heels have had two weeks to prepare for the No. #11 ranked Fighting Irish and this Saturday’s College Football under the lights matchup is set up for big plays and an abundance of scoring.

Notre Dame Stadium will be filled with fans and football talent on Saturday night. The South Bend faithful will welcome a large contingency of the Tar Heel fanbase that always travels well. UNC has had added prep time for this Week 8 showdown with the Irish. The ACC Coastal Division squad earned a “Dub” in Week 6 with a start to finish high-flying and hard-fought win over the Miami Hurricanes in Chapel Hill.

Sam Howell threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more as North Carolina ended a late drive by the Canes with a Cedric Gray interception with six seconds left in regulation, resulting in a 45-42 victory for the Heels. North Carolina’s Josh Downs found paydirt again in the victory over Miami of Fla. Down has a touchdown reception in every game this season, including the team’s first score on Saturday against the Canes with a 45-yard TD reception. He has an eight-game touchdown streak dating to last season.

It shouldn’t surprise that the Irish conquered another longstanding rival this past Saturday. Notre Dame backup tailback Kyren Williams in combination with the rebuilt Irish offensive line headlined the Notre Dame 31-16 victory. Williams danced for two short touchdown runs and a season-high 138 yards on 25 carries behind an offensive line that has finally found their way. Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan completed 20 of 28 passes for 189 yards and one TD in a second straight victory after falling to Cincinnati on the first Saturday of October.

With fellow running back Chris Tyree sidelined by a turf toe, Williams had two short touchdown runs and a season-high 138 yards on 25 carries for coach Brian Kelly’s 6-1 team, and after the game saluted his offensive linemen for his performance.

Sophomore Andrew Kristofic, a 6-5, 300-pound offensive lineman, addressed the media after the team’s win over the Trojans this past Saturday. “It’s been a lot of hard work… switching positions down to center and guard, so it’s just been a lot of hard work and preparing for a long time now… no matter what capacity it’s in, if it’s coming in relief or if starting just going out there, trying to help our team win in any way possible.” Kristofic went on to say, “as the ‘next man in,’ you’re preparing to play the whole game anyways.”

Kristofic explained the Irish offensive linemen are making the effort to make the chemistry on the offensive line more cohesive and said, “We always talk about raising the standard, too, with each year of play, so it was a good step in the right direction, but we’re nowhere near where we want to be right now, so we’re gonna keep working.”

Kelly’s staff has been vocal about the growth of the offensive line. After replacing four starters from last year’s team, it took longer than the coaches would have liked by the unit that has received raved reviews now since the loss to Cincinnati in Week 5. When North Carolina doesn’t record three sacks or more in a game, the defensive secondary scuffles to keep in touch with quality receivers that are capable route runners. North Carolina welcomes Notre Dame Stadium. Meet TE Michael Mayer and wideouts Kevin Austin Jr and Avery Davis.

The Irish played much of the game without All-American safety Kyle Hamilton, who was helped to the sideline in the first quarter of the South Bend victory over the USC Trojans. Hamilton suffered a sprain in his right knee as the first quarter ended. Hamilton, who has three interceptions this season, did not return and has been ruled out for Saturday’s tilt against North Carolina.

There wasn’t a large population of college football pundits who believed this Brian Kelly Fighting Irish squad was made of national championship DNA. Despite being 6-1 overall with their lone loss against the now-No. #2 ranked Cincinnati Bearcats, this Notre Dame team has zero chance of being one of the January Four.

The Tar Heels entered the 2021 season with unrealistic expectations. After two crazy-good campaigns under the leadership of the Prodigal coach, Mack Brown, the Tar Heels were doomed to disappoint. The team is talented and as dynamic as any in the college ranks. Inconsistency rules gameday for the 2021-22 Tar Heels.

The Sam Howell passing attack will get theirs on Saturday night. After finding the mustard to win a high-scoring game against the Hurricanes a week ago, Howell and the offense are a confident bunch. Without All-American safety Kyle Hamilton the Heels won’t feel the need to dink and dunk on the Irish secondary but rather stretch the defense making the rushing attack as dangerous as Howell and his receivers.

Expecting the Sam Howell and Jack Coan show on Saturday night is not just reasonable; it should be expected. A few key injuries on both sides of the Notre Dame Stadium field make the offensive units dangerously explosive.

Circa of Las Vegas opened the total in this Notre Dame Stadium matchup at 62.5 points. A Monday morning push on the Over resulted in the Freemont bookmaker moving the number to 63. There haven’t been any reports of sharp groups showing overwhelming interest in the over-under in the game. Circa made an adjustment on Wednesday afternoon, moving the total south by a point to 62.

Notre Dame has had a lot of 15-minute moments on gameday, finding the end zone in situations one would have thought automatic for a Brian Kelly-led offense. However, the conditions and the matchup in this Independent vs ACC offense contest scream points. A play to Over the Total in South Bend on Saturday night is a profitable way to close your Week 8 college football portfolio.

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Notre Dame vs North Carolina Analysis from The GoldSheet

Notre Dame is coming off a satisfying home win against familiar inter-sectional rival USC last week, but it didn’t come as easily as the score might indicate, with the Trojans outgaining the Irish by 41 yards and the Domers needing a couple of USC turnovers and nine USC penalties to help put together the 31-16 final score. Disappointing North Carolina has given up 32 points per game and 197 rushing yards per game over the Tar Heels’ last four contests. Opposing quarterbacks have completed 66% of their passes when the Tar Heels go on the road this season. Howell seems to have totally zoned in on WR Josh Downs, who has 60 of his 129 completions (next most is Kamari Morales with 16, and he’s caught just one the last two games), while obviously missing some of last year’s supporting weapons who have moved to the NFL. North Carolina has failed to cover five-straight following a bye week.

Notre Dame vs North Carolina Video Preview

Notre Dame won at North Carolina when the Fighting Irish were adopted into the ACC for one season. Can the Tar Heels return the favor in a non-conference game this season? WagerTalk college football handicappers Drew Martin, Tony Finn and Rob Veno offer their Notre Dame vs North Carolina predictions.

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