Notre Dame football is officially just a day away from kickoff and Irish fans from all over are eager for the game to start. Notre Dame football will be wearing their iconic blue and gold uniforms in Notre Dame Stadium as they are set to face off against the Indiana Hoosiers Friday night under the lights at 7 p.m. local time.
Indiana and Notre Dame have been two of the nation’s most complete teams in this 2024 season. The Irish look to steam roll past the Hoosiers on their sold out home field and advance to the Sugar bowl to face Georgia. Irish and Hoosiers statistically rank in the nation top ten for many stats, but how true are some of these stats as the Hoosiers schedule shows that they truly haven't been tested.
Here are three glaring stats that shows why the Irish will cover the 7.5.
Notre Dame football dominance against the spread
Notre Dame football is 19-4 against the spread when the Irish rush for 100 yards or more since the 2023 season. The Irish is run game has been nothing but dominant in their 2024 season and it has led them to the CFP where they plan to lean on their rushing attack. The Irish have a dynamic duo of running backs in Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price and then have one of the nation’s best rushing quarterbacks in Riley Leonard.
Irish fans look to see similar results on Friday night in Love, Leonard and Price as they are top ten in the nation in rushing yards per game with 224.8 and have 40 touchdowns on the season that came from the ground.
Notre Dame leads the nation ATS under Marcus Freeman
Notre Dame is the best against the spread team in the country since Freeman became head coach in 2022. Notre Dame football have had some bad losses in this Freeman era, such as their lone loss vs Northern Illinois this year, or their loss to Marshall in 2022, but the Irish have the best FBS record against the spread since Freeman became head coach.
The Irish are 23-11-2 against the spread and is 9-3 against the spread this year. The Irish are dominating both sides of the ball as they rank top 10 in multiple categories. They have given up the fifth fewest number of touchdowns at just 20, but on the other side of the ball they are third in total touchdowns with 65. Irish are averaging a near 40 points per game, which ranks third, and are giving up just about 14 points per game, which ranks eighth.
Irish defense has been nothing but dominant under Marcus Freeman and this year he is led by All-Americans in Xavier Watts and Rylie Mills. Watts and Mills have caused chaos on the defensive side of the ball as they allow just a 30% conversion percentage on 3rd down and has the nation best passing efficiency on defense at 94.1.
Google it: Indiana doesn't win big games
The Hoosiers record on the road since 2022 is 4-10 and their record against the top 15 is 0-7, with three of those losses coming on the road. Since 2021 the Hoosiers are winless against the top 20 as they are 0-13 and have an average loss against the top 20 by 25.
Hoosiers only test this season was against Ohio State and Indiana would go on to have their worst game of the season and lose 38-15.
The Irish will begin their playoff run tomorrow and will try and claim themselves as a legit national contender. The Fighting Irish have won 10 straight by a margin, when you combine all the scores, 441-134. Notre Dame football looks to not only beat Indiana but make a statement win and se the tone for this playoff run.