The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (13-1) face off against the Penn State Nittany Lions (13-2) on Thursday, January 9th. This game will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and televised on ESPN. Both team’s come into this one having won their previous games. Kickoff is set for 7:30 ET.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Penn State Nittany Lions

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Notre Dame Offense Breakdown

Notre Dame’s offense ranks 4th in points per game, scoring 37.7, and is 14th in our offensive power rankings heading into the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl. Their rushing attack is their strength, averaging 218.6 yards per game, 6th best in the nation.

Jeremiyah Love leads the ground game with 1,076 rushing yards, 16 touchdowns, and an impressive 7 yards per carry. Quarterback Riley Leonard has thrown for 2,383 yards and 18 touchdowns, with a passer rating of 95.

Penn State Offense Breakdown

Penn State’s offense has leaned heavily on their ground game, ranking 8th in the nation with 203.5 rushing yards per game. They also rank 8th in rushing attempts, averaging 37.8 per game. Kaytron Allen leads the team with 1,026 rushing yards, averaging 5 yards per carry and scoring 8 touchdowns.

Quarterback Drew Allar has thrown for 3,192 yards, completing 67.4% of his passes with 24 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Penn State ranks 20th in scoring, averaging 33.7 points per game, but they are 8th in our offensive power rankings heading into the College Football Playoff Semifinal against Notre Dame.

Notre Dame Team Defense

Notre Dame’s defense has been impressive this season, ranking third in the nation by allowing just 13.6 points per game. In their recent win against Georgia, they gave up only 10 points, holding the Bulldogs to 62 rushing yards on 29 attempts and 234 passing yards.

Opposing quarterbacks have struggled against Notre Dame, posting a passer rating of just 58.4, the second-lowest in the country. The defense has allowed only 167.4 passing yards per game (11th) and a completion rate of 50.4% (4th).

Notre Dame Team Defense

Heading into their matchup with Notre Dame, Penn State’s defense ranks 11th nationally, allowing just 15.8 points per game. They’ve been particularly strong against the run, giving up only 103.1 rushing yards per game, the 14th-best mark in the country.

In their latest game, a 31-14 win over Boise State, the defense allowed 14 points and forced three interceptions. They held Boise State to 108 rushing yards on 40 attempts but gave up 304 passing yards.

Notre Dame vs Penn State Trends

• Across their ten previous road games, Notre Dame has an ATS mark of 8-2. Their straight up record in these matchups was 8-2 while averaging 36 points per game.
• When looking at their past three home matchups, Penn State has an ATS record of 1-2 while averaging 31 per game. The team went 2-1 overall in these games.
• Going back to their previous five games as the underdog, Penn State has an ATS mark of 1-4 while going 0-5 straight up.
• Spanning across their last ten games as the betting favorite, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have gone 10-0 vs the spread. Their overall record in these games was 10-0.

Fighting Irish vs Nittany Lions Prediction

We have Penn State as the slight +1.5 point underdogs at home in this week one matchup vs. Notre Dame. Our projected final score is 27-25 in favor of Penn State, making them a good bet to win straight-up and cover the spread.

With the over/under line sitting at 45.5 points, our projection of 52 total points suggests that taking the over is the best play in this matchup.

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All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

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* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.