Cincinnati Bearcats vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Prediction, Odds and Preview - 10/02/2021

Game Time: 2:30 pm ET, Saturday, October 2, 2021

Venue:  Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, IN 

Where to Watch:  NBC

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Cincinnati +3, Notre Dame -3; Over/Under:  51 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Cincinnati +2.5, Notre Dame -2.5; Over/Under:  51 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Cincinnati +2.5, Notre Dame -2.5; Over/Under:  51 points

 

Cincinnati Bearcats:  3-0 (3rd place, AAC)

Notre Dame Fighting Irish:  4-0 (2nd place, FBS Independents)

 

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Cincinnati Bearcats:  won on the road on Sep. 18 against the Indiana Hoosiers 38-24.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish:  won on the road on Sep. 25 against the Wisconsin Badgers 41-13.

 

 

 

Cincinnati is coming into this game with a 3-0 record overall and they are 1-0 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their last non-conference game of the regular season as their conference schedule will be starting after this. Their 3 wins came against the Miami-OH RedHawks, the Murray State Racers, and Indiana in their last game. They had last week off on a bye so they have had 2 weeks to prepare for this game. Desmond Ridder played alright in their last game as he completed 20/36 passes for 210 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. Their run game was weak in that one as Jerome Ford led the team in rushing yards with 66 yards and 2 touchdowns on 20 carries. Alec Pierce led the team in receiving with 86 yards and 1 TD on 5 receptions but no one else really did much for the receiving corps in that one. Deshawn Pace led the defense with 9 solo tackles and 1 assisted one while also coming away with 1 interception in that game. Bryan Cook and Arquon Bush also both had 1 interception each while Darrian Beavers had the only sack for his team in that one. They have scored 129 points in their first 3 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 45 points against them. Their offense is averaging 420.3 YPG while their defense is allowing 298.7 YPG.

 

 

Notre Dame is coming into this game with a 4-0 record overall and they are 2-0 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. Their 4 wins came in matchups against the Florida State Seminoles, the Toledo Rockets, the Purdue Boilermakers, and the Wisconsin Badgers in their last game. Quarterback Jack Coan played a good game until he had to leave the game due to an injury. He completed 15/29 passes for 158 yards and 1 touchdown before leaving the game. Drew Pyne had to step in and he played well completing 6/8 passes for 81 yards and 1 touchdown. They did not really get a good run game going in that one as Kyren Williams led the team in rushing with 33 yards on 18 carries. Kevin Austin led the receivers with 76 yards and 2 touchdowns on 6 receptions while Michael Mayer also had 7 receptions for 61 yards. JD Bertrand led the defense with 7 solo tackles and 1 assisted one while Jack Kiser was right behind him with 6 solo tackles and 1 interception. Drew White also had 1 interception in that game and Jayson Ademilola had the only sack for them. They have scored 141 points in their first 4 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 93 points against them. Their offense is averaging 407.7 YPG while their defense is allowing 381 YPG. 

 

This will be a big game for both of these teams as both have them have their eyes set on an undefeated season and a chance to play in the college football playoff. Cincinnati have been playing really well on offense this year as they have scored at least 38 points in all their games so far. Notre Dame have also been scoring points in their games as they have scored at least 27 in each of their games and are coming off of a game in which they scored 41 points. Both of these teams are likely to put up a lot of points here so the best bet to make in this one is on the over.

 

Cincinnati Notre Dame Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, October 2, 2021 (2:30 pm ET start time) is Notre Dame 38 Cincinnati 34.

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Cincinnati Bearcats: 17-10 ATS in all games. 80-66 ATS as an underdog.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 172-181 ATS in all games. 113-134 ATS as a favorite.

 

 

Cincinnati Bearcats:  None.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish:  J. Coan (QB) Prob Oct 2 - Undisclosed injury. C. Flemister (RB) day-to-day - Undisclosed injury. M. Carmody (OL) day-to-day - Ankle injury.

 

 

Cincinnati Bearcats: Desmond Ridder is one of their starters to watch here. He is the quarterback and the leader of this offense. He can be really good when he is on so look for him to make the big throws and do what he needs to do in this game to win it.

 

Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Michael Mayer is one player to watch here. He leads his team in receiving yards and in touchdowns. He will have to step up here and make some big plays with Jack Coan injured so look for him to carry his team a bit in the receiving game here.

 

"This is huge. I feel like it's a weight lifted off our shoulders. People talk about checklists and what you've got to do and that's a check mark off the list." - Desmond Ridder after a win against Indiana.

 

 

"We got a long way to go still, but they're getting better each week. I'm having fun coaching them. They're not perfect by any means, but they're going to be better in November." - Brian Kelly on the way his team is playing and improving each week after a win against Wisconsin.

 

WR Pierce, Alec 

WR Scott, Tyler 

WR Young Jr., Michael 

TE Whyle, Josh 

QB Ridder, Desmond 

RB Ford, Jerome 

RB      McClelland, Charles 

 

WR Austin Jr., Kevin 

WR Lenzy, Braden 

WR Davis, Avery 

TE Mayer, Michael 

QB Coan, Jack 

RB Williams, Kyren 

 

Passing: D. Ridder (748)

Rushing: J. Ford (300)

Receiving: T. Scott (172)

Touchdowns: J. Ford (6)

Sacks: D. Beavers (1.5)

Tackles: D. Pace (15)

 

Passing: J. Coan (986)

Rushing: K. Williams (244)

Receiving: M. Mayer (267)

Touchdowns: M. Mayer (3)

Sacks: I. Foskey (3.5)

Tackles: J. Bertrand (28)

 

Coaches:

Cincinnati Bearcats: Luke Fickell (6th season)

Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Brian Kelly (12th season)

 

73 degrees F partly cloudy, 62% humidity, 0% chance of rain, up to 10 mph wind speeds N.