The Notre Dame football team has its biggest game of the year on Saturday night against the BYU Cougars. The Irish need to win, and they need to do it convincingly, even if they have to do it in Provo, Utah.
One of the most interesting aspects of today's matchup is that, despite both teams ranking in the Top 10 (Notre Dame at No. 2 and BYU at No. 8), the spread is rather high, or at least it has been all week. Of course, it's also gone down a bit since the line opened with the Golden Domers as 12.5-point favorites.
Final Notre Dame vs. BYU: Odds, spread and total
While Notre Dame football opened as a near-touchdown favorite over BYU, the line has narrowed slightly. According to the DraftKings Sportsbook, the Fighting Irish are currently 10.5-point favorites over the Big 12 team that is expected to compete for a conference title.
Beyond the wide point spread, the total shows DraftKings expects a defensive slugfest. That's hardly surprising given that the Irish and Cougars have two of the best defenses in the country. The total, set at 46.5, suggests oddsmakers believe the first team to 20 points likely wins.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
Notre Dame football vs. BYU prediction
With Leonard Moore and Jason Onye expected to be back for Saturday night's game, the Irish defense will only get better. It's not as though the Golden Domers have had any problem stopping people without him.
Notre Dame has allowed more than 20 points just once all season. That was in a less than inspired outing in Chapel Hill. Granted, North Carolina followed its 37-26 loss to the Irish with an upset win over then-No. 25 Pitt.
BYU, meanwhile, has a strong defense but has struggled offensively against Power 4 opponents. In three Big 12 games, the Cougars have scored over 24 points just once. The Cougs will also miss their best running back, LJ Martin. BYU was also without Martin last week against Iowa State and scored just 17 points.
So how exactly will the game, at 7:30 pm on ABC play out?
Prediction: Notre Dame 31, BYU 14
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