College football betting odds for the Pittsburgh vs. Notre Dame game opened at -7 and had moved all the way down to -4 ½ in favor of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish by game time. This one was set to go off at 2:30 pm EST.
"Pittsburgh's Panthers can't be regarded as anything but an underachiever," commented Charles Jay, betting analyst for BetUS.com. "Dave Wannstedt's team lost its season opener to Bowling Green, then later beat South Florida and scored a three-touchdown win over Navy, but were literally flattened for a ten-count by Rutgers and quarterback Mike Teel, who threw for six touchdowns against a Pitt secondary that had allowed only six TD passes going in.
"The really good news for the Panthers is that LeSean McCoy is coming on strong. The sophomore running back, who was offered some passing Heisman consideration at season's start, had only 242 yards in his first three contests, but has risen to 11th in the nation's rushing standings after ripping defenses for 593 yards and 5.9 per carry over the last four games."
Pittsburgh is 2-5 Against The Spread despite being 5-2 Straight Up.
Notre Dame has turned things around a bit at home, winning its last five games. They are 8-2 in this series and 4-1 in the last five head-to-head matchups. All of the Fighting Irish's wins against the Panthers have been by more than the 4 ½ point spread found at BetUS.com.
Pittsburgh is 4-9 ATS in their last 13 games following a ATS loss and are 16-37 ATS in their last 53 games following a S.U. loss. They are also 1-5 ATS in their last 6 non-conference games.
The Fighting Irish are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a S.U. win but are also 4-14 ATS in their last 18 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Gambling911.com does pick Notre Dame to cover by 4 ½ points in this one.
Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
