EDITORIAL BY GRAYDON FOX

Overview:

On Saturday, November 3^rd, the (8-0) Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be on the road to take on the (5-3) Northwestern Wildcats.

The Crowd:

The Crowd projects a final score of Notre Dame 33.0 – Northwestern 24.2 with an over/under of 57.1.

Lou Holtz and Mark May:

Lou is predicting a final score of Notre Dame 34 – Northwestern 17.

Mark is predicting a final score of Northwestern 32 – Notre Dame 29.

2018-19 Statistics (130 total teams):

Passing offense: Northwestern 280.1 YPG > Notre Dame 258.8 YPG

Rushing offense: Notre Dame 188.5 YPG > Northwestern 91.1 YPG

Scoring offense: Notre Dame 34.0 PPG > Northwestern 25.1 PPG

Scoring defense: Notre Dame 19.1 PPG > Northwestern 23.6 PPG

Passing defense: Notre Dame 194.4 YPG > Northwestern 220.8 YPG

Rushing defense: Northwestern 146.0 YPG > Notre Dame 146.9 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: Notre Dame +0.4 > Northwestern -0.4

Summary:

Notre Dame is a perfect (8-0) with wins over #14 Michigan, Ball State, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, #7 Stanford, #24 Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, and Navy.  Notre Dame is coming off a decisive 44-22 victory over Navy in which they piled up nearly 600 yards of total offense.  The Fighting Irish rank 35^th in points per game (34.0) and 21^st in scoring defense (19.1 PPG).  Quarterback Ian Book has completed 76% of his passes for 1,481 yards with 13 touchdowns to 4 interceptions.  Dexter Williams and Tony Jones Jr. have combined to rush for 838 yards and 10 touchdowns.  Miles Boykin leads the team in receiving with 570 yards and 6 touchdowns.  The Fighting Irish defense ranks 32^nd against the pass (194.4 YPG) and 53^rd against the run (146.9 YPG).  Notre Dame ranks 39^th in turnover margin (+0.4).

Northwestern is (5-3) with victories over Purdue, #20 Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, and #20 Wisconsin.  They suffered three straight losses to Duke, Akron, and #14 Michigan in weeks 2-4.  Northwestern’s defense stepped up big time in their 31-17 upset over #20 Wisconsin last week.  The Wildcats rank 99^th in points per game (25.1) and 46^th in scoring defense (23.6 PPG).  Quarterback Clayton Thorson has completed 60% of his passes for 2,072 yards with 10 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.  Running the football has been a problem all year for Northwestern as they are averaging only 2.6 yards per carry.  Flynn Nagel leads the team in receiving with 711 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The Wildcats’ defense ranks 58^th against the pass (220.8 YPG) and 50^th against the run (146.0 YPG).  Northwestern ranks 90^th in turnover margin (-0.4).

Bottom Line:

Notre Dame has been a completely different team since Ian Book took over at quarterback averaging 40.4 points per game.  Northwestern is coming off a huge win over #20 Wisconsin but keep in mind they were without their signal caller Alex Hornibrook.  Northwestern’s issues with ball security and running the football will ultimately prove to be their downfall once again.

Notre Dame wins 31-20

Contest Rules:

To be eligible to win a prize in any contest at The Crowd’s Line, you must be at least 18 years old and a resident of the United States or Canada. You must also submit your score prediction on our official prediction tool (blog widget), and include a valid email address. Contest winners are determined according to The Crowd’s Line scoring methodology. If more than one entrant has the same winning score, final contest rankings and prize winners are selected by random draw. Only one entry per person is allowed for each contest; multiple entries from a single player will be deemed invalid. There are no prize substitutions or exchanges available from The Crowd’s Line.

All prizes will be sent by e-mail within two weeks after the conclusion of each contest.