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Notre Dame vs Wisconsin Opening Odds — Badgers Listed as 6-Point Favorites vs Irish for Week 4 Game at Soldier Field

Jack Magruder

by Jack Magruder in College Football

Updated Sep 19, 2021 · 12:47 PM PDT

Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams running in for a touchdown during a football game.
Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams (23) runs in for a touchdown against Purdue during the first half of an NCAA college football game in South Bend, Ind., Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
  • No. 18 Wisconsin is listed as a 6-point favorite over No. 12 Notre Dame
  • The game will be played at noon ET Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago, traditionally an Irish stronghold
  • Notre Dame QB Jack Coan left Wisconsin after being beaten out by Graham Mertz last season

No. 18 Wisconsin (1-1) opened as a 6-point favorite over Notre Dame (3-0) for their neutral-site game at Solider Field in Chicago at noon ET on Saturday, but the line jumped to 6 within 30 minutes of its posting. The total also dropped from 48 to 46.5

No. 12 Notre Dame  (3-0) covered for the first time last week in a 27-13 victory over Purdue. Chicago is traditionally a Notre Dame stronghold. Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan left Wisconsin after being beaten out by Graham Mertz last season.

Notre Dame vs Wisconsin Odds

Team Moneyline Spread Total
Notre Dame Fighting Irish +195 +6 (-110) 46.5 (Over -110)
Wisconsin Badgers -240 -6 (-110) 46.5 (Under -110)

Odds as on September 19th at DraftKings.

Notre Dame is 10-0-2 at Soldier Field, the most recent appearance in a 41-3 victory over Miami, Fla. in 2012, in the fourth of five so-named Shamrock Series games, which designates an Irish neutral-site game.

The Irish won its their first two games over Florida State and Toledo by three points apiece, needing overtime to beat the Seminoles. Wisconsin is 1-1 ATS. The Badgers were off last week after opening the season with a 16-10 loss to Penn State and a 34-7 victory over Eastern Michigan, both in Madison.

Irish Eyes Smiling

Notre Dame halfback Kyren Williams had a big game against Purdue, rushing for a 51-yard touchdown also scoring on a 39-yard, fourth-down pass play. He had 138 yards total offense and added 30 yards on two punt returns.

Safety Kyle Hamilton had 10 tackles and his third interception of the season against the Boilermakers, who outgained the Irish 348-343. Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly got his 105h victory, tying Knute Rockne for the most in school history.

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A Chance for Revenge

The game offers an opportunity for Irish quarterback Jack Coan to stick it to Wisconsin after the Badgers chose freshman Graham Mertz over him last season, prompting Coan to transfer for his senior year.

Coan has completed 62 of 99 passes for 828 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions this season. He was 15 of 30 for 222 yards and two touchdowns against the Boilermakers and was sacked four times.

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Irish freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner played briefly for the second straight week against Purdue, throwing an incomplete pass and rushing for 24 yards on three carries before being sidelined by a hamstring injury.

Sputtering Badgers

Wisconsin played the game coach Paul Chryst to play against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 11, rushing for 352 yards and four touchdowns and controlling the ball for 40 minutes, four seconds against the Eagles in a physical mismatch.

Running back Chez Mellusi. a Clemson transfer who won the starting spot in fall camp, had 144 yards on 20 carries and scored a touchdown, and No. 2 halfback Jalen Berger had 62 yards on 15 carries.

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The Badgers did not need to relay on Mertz against the Eagles after Mertz struggled in the 16-10 loss to Penn State in the season opener.  Mertz, a workmanlike 14 of 17 for 141 yards against Eastern Michigan, threw two interceptions and was sacked twice by Penn State while throwing for only 185 yards.

Wisconsin similarly out-gained the Nittany Lions,  365-297, and had the ball for more than 42 minutes, but did not score on three trips inside the Penn State 10-yard line. Mertz threw interceptions on the Badgers’ final two possessions and has yet to flash the flair he showed after beating out Coan. He was 20 of 21 for 248 yards and five touchdowns in a 45-7 victory over Illinois in the 2020 season opener.

Schedules Diverging

Notre Dame is beginning a testing stretch in which it plays play four of five games against current AP Top 25 teams, although Virginia Tech  could drop out soon. The Irish play host to No. 8 Cincinnati next week, a game the Bearcats will see as a path to the FBS playoff.

Wisconsin, which has perhaps the easiest schedules in the Big Ten, plays host to Michigan next week. The Badgers’ only remaining game against a currently ranked opponent the rest of the way is against No. 5 Iowa on Oct. 30 in Madison.

By the Numbers

Notre Dame has an 8-6-2 series edge, but the teams have not met since 1964, when the Irish won 31-7 in Madison in Ara Parseghian’s coaching debut.

The pick: Notre Dame +6 (+110). 

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