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No. 11 ASU hosts No. 8 Notre Dame Saturday
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 11/8/2014  at  5:50:00 AM
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NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (7-1)
at ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (7-1)

Kickoff: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Line: Arizona State -2.5, Total: 60

Two of the top teams in the nation, No. 8 Notre Dame and No. 11 Arizona State, do battle in the desert as they attempt to strengthen their playoff resumes.

The Irish have just one blemish on their season so far with a 31-27 loss against Florida State as nine-point underdogs a few weeks ago and have gone 5-3 ATS this year. They have played six of their first eight contests at home and will be playing their third straight road game when they head to Tempe this weekend. Last week, Notre Dame captured a 49-39 victory over Navy as a two-touchdown favorite when it came back from a 31-28 deficit heading into the final quarter, totaling 533 yards of offense for the game, while allowing the Midshipmen to run for 336 yards. The Sun Devils are 4-4 ATS and also have just one loss on their season when they were destroyed by UCLA (62-27) as 3.5-point underdogs in their fourth game of the year. They have covered in three of their past four contests, but could not do so when they were victorious against Utah last week with a score of 19-16 in overtime while favored by 6.5 points. Arizona State was unable to do much once it entered the red zone as it gained an impressive 444 yards of offense, but was forced to kick four field goals. These two programs met last season and played an exciting game with Notre Dame pulling out a 37-34 win while failing to cover the seven-point spread. The Sun Devils had a solid 362 passing yards in the contest, but turned the ball over three times while picking up a mere 65 yards on the ground, as the Irish totaled 424 yards. Bettors should know that ASU is a meager 6-16 ATS (27%) after having won six or seven of its past eight games since 1992 while Notre Dame is a putrid 1-10 ATS (9%) in road games after gaining 7.25 yards per play in their previous game over the same timeframe. On the injury front, LB Joe Schmidt (ankle) is out for the season for the Fighting Irish, while defensive teammate DB Austin Collinsworth is questionable with a shoulder injury. Arizona also has some key defensive players hurting too, as LB Jamal Scott (arm) and DB Ezekiel Bishop (knee) are both considered questionable.

Which school will earn its eighth win of the season on Saturday? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and bowl season. StatFox Gary is heating up with a 67% ATS mark (8-4) in Best Bets over the past four weeks.

Notre Dame has put together a balanced offense that excels through the air (228.9 YPG, 27th in FBS) while adding a solid 169.4 rushing YPG and scoring 35.4 PPG (30th in nation). QB Everett Golson (2,311 pass yards, 22 TD, 7 INT) was huge last week as he contributed 6 TD (3 passing, 3 rushing) and has thrown multiple touchdowns in every game this season while getting 300+ yards in four of the past five contests. He has also gone for 272 yards (3.5 YPC) with 7 TD when running the ball, and has had three rushing touchdowns in two different performances. HB Tarean Folston (532 rush yards, 3 TDs) has excelled in the past three games while averaging 122.3 YPG and has scored all three of his touchdowns. He has been able to contribute plenty to the strong passing attack too with 166 yards on 12 receptions (13.8 avg.) and one score. WR William Fuller (599 rec yards, 9 TD) has had at least one touchdown in all but a single game this season and has gone over 100 yards twice. Meanwhile, WR Corey Robinson (393 rec yards, 4 TD) has averaged 13.6 yards per catch while being a big threat in the red zone. The Irish defense has been quite impressive in most of its games, allowing the opposition to score an average of 21.6 PPG (29th in FBS) while holding opponents under 18 points in each of the first five games. LB Jaylon Smith (59 tackles, 2 sacks) will need to step up with LB Joe Schmidt (65 tackles) done for the year.

Arizona State has one of the better offenses in the nation while gaining 483.6 total YPG (22nd in FBS) with most of it coming from the passing game (291.1 YPG) as it is putting up 34.4 PPG. QB Taylor Kelly (1,010 pass yards, 9 TD, 2 INT) missed three games in the middle of the season and has a perfect record in his starts while being a dual-threat player. He has run for 230 yards (4.8 YPC) with two touchdowns on the season while getting between 180 and 240 yards passing in each of his five starts. HB D.J. Foster (701 rush yards, 6 TD) started out the year with three consecutive games gaining more than 145 yards on the ground, but has not gone over 60 yards in his past five contests. He is one of the better receiving backs in the league though, with 452 yards on 38 catches (11.9 avg) while collecting two scores. WR Jaelen Strong (821 rec yards, 9 TD) is averaging 14.4 yards per catch and is one of the best red-zone threats in the nation while grabbing at least one touchdown in each of the past four games. Their defense has allowed opponents to score 24.1 PPG against them behind the efforts of DBs Damarious Randall (73 tackles, 7.5 TFL), Jordan Simone (73 tackles, 2 INT) and LB Laiu Moeakiola (43 tackles, 4 sacks).


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