Notre Dame and Purdue met every year for 69 straight years before taking a break for the last seven. They reunite Saturday.
Notre Dame has seemed well on its way to making its supporters happy each of the last two weeks, only to need dramatic closing moments to hold onto the win. Will the Irish finally put together a complete game against 2-0 Purdue?
Here are our free college football picks and predictions for Purdue at No. 12 Notre Dame on Sept. 18, with kickoff set for 2:30 ET.
Purdue vs Notre Dame odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Notre Dame has consistently been a touchdown favorite this week, though the line flirted with a move to -7.5 in the middle of the week. The total, however, wavered regularly, opening at 59.0 before bouncing back and forth with 58.5, eventually falling to 57.0 for a moment and now settling at 58.0.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.
Purdue vs Notre Dame picks
Picks made on 9/17/2021 at 2:30 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Purdue vs Notre Dame game info
• Location: Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, IN
• Date: Saturday, September 18, 2021
• Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC
Purdue vs Notre Dame betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key injuries
Purdue: Zander Horvath RB (Out), Garrett Miller TE (Questionable), Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen WR (Questionable)
Notre Dame: Michael Carmody LT (Questionable), Blake Fisher LT (Out), C’Bo Flemister RB (Out), Prince Kollie LB (Out), Shayne Simon LB (Out), Paul Moala LB (Out), Marist Liufau LB (Out), Kevin Bauman TE (Out)
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Notre Dame has won 25 straight at home and 34 straight against unranked opponents. Find more NCAA betting trends for Purdue vs. Notre Dame.
Purdue vs Notre Dame predictions
Notre Dame -7.0 (-118)
The Irish offense found some version of balance via a two-quarterback system last week, thus reducing the need to force plays that led to turnovers.
Notre Dame shot itself in the foot last week with those turnovers, particularly with one of them being an easy pick-six for Toledo. The Irish held the Rockets largely in check otherwise, giving up two chunk gains that accounted for 133 of Toledo’s 353 total yards.
Purdue receiver David Bell will inevitably break such a big play, but he may be alone in that regard. Purdue will struggle to maintain a balanced offense with leading rusher Zander Horvath out for the next 4-8 weeks (broken fibula). Without Horvath, the Boilermakers lack a speed option out of the backfield, will likely turn to Bell to create one, and thus remove him from his preferred space on the perimeter.
If the Irish avoid those turnovers, then they should finally notch an ATS win this season.
Under 58.5 (-110)
Remove last week’s gift of a pick-six from Coan to Toledo and the Irish are holding opponents to 30 points per game, which includes blowing an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter at Florida State. The loss of Horvath will hamstring Purdue, and if Notre Dame can build a two-score lead, it will be thrilled with a chance to improve upon its run game in live competition.
Putting faith in the Irish defense is bold, but as long as it gives up only one explosive play for a score, it should keep the Boilermakers near or below 20 points, and asking Notre Dame’s offense to find enough rhythm to score 38 points would be even bolder.
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