The No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish will head to Raleigh for a date with the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday, and I’ve got to say, I’m impressed by what I’ve seen from quarterback Sam Hartman thus far. Every week, I’ll post my top college football picks by Monday and provide an update before each game — you can check out all of my college football Week 2 picks here. Let’s dig into today’s Notre Dame-NC State betting odds as we make our predictions and pick the best college football Week 2 bet!
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Notre Dame-NC State Pick & Betting Prediction | College Football Week 2
Notre Dame-NC State Betting Odds
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
Notre Dame: -300 | NC State: +240
Notre Dame -7.5: -104 | NC State +7.5: -118
Over 50.5: -115 | Under 50.5: -105
Expert: Isaiah Sirois
Notre Dame-NC State Pick & Prediction
The No. 13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish will visit the NC State Wolfpack early on Saturday in a matchup that bodes poorly for the host. Led by Wake Forest transfer Sam Hartman, Notre Dame has notched a pair of impressive blowout wins to start the season, beating Navy by 39 and FCS Tennessee State by 53. In contrast, NC State barely escaped the UConn Huskies with a 10-point win. They briefly trailed in the first quarter and failed to cover the 14-point spread. I’m not sure why the markets aren’t higher on the Irish, so we’re locking them in at the current number.
The quarterback disparity between these teams is massive. Hartman ranked 15th in passing efficiency last year with a 159.4. NC State’s new quarterback, Virginia transfer Brennan Armstrong, ranked 101st with a 109.4. While some of the blame for Armstrong’s struggles falls squarely on the Virginia program he has since departed, he got off to an uninspiring start for NC State against UConn, recording a 115.5 after completing 65.4% of his passes for six yards per attempt but no touchdowns. His primary contributions were as a runner — he tallied 96 yards and two scores on 19 carries.
The only argument for backing the Wolfpack is that they tend to play tough defense, but I’m not sure they’ll be good enough to limit Hartman this year. He is only 1-2 as a starter against the Wolfpack, although he has far more resources in South Bend than he did in Winston-Salem. Last year, NC State took down Hartman’s Deacons by picking him off three times and sacking him another four. However, defensive back Cyrus Fagan is gone, as is pass rusher Drake Thomas. Those two combined for one pick and two sacks against Hartman last year. Thomas led the Wolfpack in total sacks with 7.5, while Fagan ranked second in total interceptions with three.
Hartman may have a losing record as a starter against NC State, but with a better supporting cast around him, he should notch his second win against his old ACC rival. The Fighting Irish have played lights out defensively so far this season, allowing only three yards per play to Navy and 2.7 to FCS Tennessee State, which will afford Hartman some slack to make mistakes. Hartman looked unstoppable in those two games and currently owns an elite passing efficiency grade of 225.5. Let’s trust the Irish to win this one by multiple touchdowns as they look to exorcise the demons of their recent past.
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We got our action down on Notre Dame -7 in the early week column, a line that is no longer available on FanDuel. Fortunately, not all books have crossed the key number — although you’ll be hard pressed to find them at this point in the week. Your best option is likely to find a book that has the juice stacked on NC State to cover the 7.5, which is exactly the case at FanDuel but virtually no other books. The price of -104 (51%) is reasonable enough for me to risk losing the push, but I probably won’t be buying any more shares of this one.
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Notre Dame-NC State Week 2 Pick: Notre Dame -7.5 -104 at FanDuel
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