2012 College betting: Miami Hurricanes against No. 10 Michigan State Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago

Miami Hurricanes vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish

While Miami has seemingly mastered the art of winning in dramatic fashion, No. 10 Notre Dame has made it a habit lately of crushing its opponent’s will with incredible defense.

The Fighting Irish, off to their best start since 2002, held their second straight ranked opponent out of the end zone in a 13-6 victory over then-No. 17 Michigan last weekend, seven days after a dominating 20-3 road victory over then-No. 10 Michigan State.Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago, however, Notre Dame figures to be tested by the aerial attack of Miami, which has won three straight games for the first time since 2009.

The Hurricanes enter ranked 15th in the country in passing after Stephen Morris torched Georgia Tech for 436 yards on Sept. 22 in a wild 42-36 overtime victory and then set school and ACC records with his 566-yard passing performance in the 44-37 comeback win over North Carolina State last week.

Miami Hurricanes(4-1): In addition to his record-setting performance against the Wolfpack, Morris threw for 271 yards in the first quarter alone. Twelve of the Hurricanes’ 26 scoring drives this season have required less than two minutes, including five that took less than 60 seconds.

Miami has recorded more than 400 total yards of offense in three straight games, thanks in part to the work of freshman running back Duke Johnson, who ranks fifth in the conference with 101.2 scrimmage yards per game.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish(4-0): The defense has taken a big step forward this season, ranking ninth in the nation in sacks (3.5 per game) and pass efficiency defense (96.79). With eight interceptions, the Irish defense has already matched its season total from 2011.

The 36 points allowed are the fewest by a Notre Dame defense through four games since 1975. Notre Dame, ranked third in the country in scoring defense, is the only FBS team that has yet to trail in a game or allow a rushing touchdown.

1. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 16-7-1, but Miami has won five of the past meetings.

2. The Hurricanes have overcome a deficit of at least seven points in each of their wins.

3. The Fighting Irish are 9-0-2 all-time at Soldier Field, but have not played at the facility since 1994.

Vegas Prediction: Notre Dame 34, Miami 20

Tags: 2012 College betting, Miami Hurricanes, Notre Dame Fighting Irish

This entry was posted on October 5, 2012 at 9:56 pm and is filed under NCAA Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.