The Marshall Thundering Herd take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Check out our college football odds series for our Marshall Notre Dame prediction and pick.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish took on the toughest assignment of any particularly good team in Week 1 of the college football season. (Oregon is not a particularly good team, in case you're thinking about playing Georgia. The Ducks have to earn their status under new coach Dan Lanning. We digress.) Notre Dame brought a top-10 ranking into the regular season and took on the challenge of facing a top-five opponent at night on the road. Notre Dame's defense realistically could not have been better against Ohio State in Columbus. The Irish tied the Ohio State offense in knots inside the Shoe, limiting C.J. Stroud and the rest of an explosive attack to just 21 points. What adds to the impressive nature of the Notre Dame defense's performance is that the Irish offense provided absolutely no help. Notre Dame's defense was on an island, trying to win the game by itself. Reality and the laws of averages suggested that the Irish were never going to win this game 10-7. They were going to need to score more points, and they never did.
Notre Dame therefore moves into Week 2 knowing its defense is the real deal, and its offense has a lot to work on. The biggest point of concern is, as you might expect after a meager 10-point showing in Week 1, the quarterback. Tyler Buchner was so bad against Ohio State that he completed only two passes after halftime. That's remarkable. Quarterbacks can throw dump-offs, screens, checkdowns, quick hitches, short slants, and all kinds of very short, very safe, very easy passes to get yards on what are essentially extended handoffs. The passing game becomes the running game.
Nope. Buchner couldn't even load up on those kinds of completions against Ohio State. Coordinator Tommy Rees and the rest of the Notre Dame offense, up against Marshall this Saturday in South Bend, need to fix the offense and return it to full (or at least mostly restored) health. Buchner needs to have a good passing game in which he gets into a rhythm and stays in a rhythm. He needs to establish connections with various receivers so that future Irish opponents won't be able to lock in on one target and take him away. Notre Dame needs Buchner to have several options so that film study won't give defenses an easy line of attack.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Marshall-Notre Dame College Football odds.
College Football Odds: Marshall-Notre Dame Odds
Marshall Thundering Herd: +20.5 (-110)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish: -20.5 (-110)
Over: 50.5 (-105)
Under: 50.5 (-115)
Why Marshall Could Cover the Spread
The Notre Dame offense is not good. Tyler Buchner is not good — at least not now. He has to prove he can be a leader and a producer within the framework of the offensive system. If Notre Dame fails to score 30 points, Marshall would need only nine points to cover the spread.
Why Notre Dame Could Cover the Spread
After losing to Ohio State, the Fighting Irish — even though this is a paycheck game — are going to be highly motivated. Tyler Buchner is going to come out firing and have a big first quarter, setting the tone for what should be a productive day for coach Marcus Freeman's crew.
Final Marshall-Notre Dame Prediction & Pick
The fact that Notre Dame lost last week should prevent the Irish from taking it easy on Marshall. Notre Dame's defense should hold Marshall to fewer than 10 points, which suggests the under is a good play. Notre Dame 38, Marshall 7 sounds about right.
Final Marshall-Notre Dame Prediction & Pick: Notre Dame -20.5, Under 50.5
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