NCAA Football Game of Week 1: Ohio State 17-point favorite over Notre Dame

Not only is it rare that Notre Dame is a monster underdog, but it is nearly as uncommon that one top-5 team in the country is favored by more than two touchdowns over another.

Such will be the case Saturday night when the No. 5 Irish travel to Columbus to face No. 2 Ohio State in one of the marquee matchups of the season.

Here are the betting lines and tidbits on each team, as we preview our college football game of the week.

No. 2 NOTRE DAME at No. 5 OHIO STATE

Site: Columbus, Ohio

Time/TV: 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC

Caesars Sportsbook lines/total (as of Aug. 31): Ohio State -17. Money lines, Ohio State -800; Notre Dame +550. Over/Under 59.

NOTABLE

• This is only the fourth time in 45 years one team in the top 5 has been favored over another in the top 5 by as many as 17 points. The last time it happened, Alabama defeated Notre Dame in a playoff game in 2021 … by 17 points.
• This will be the seventh meeting between the two schools, and Ohio State has won four in a row – all by 13 points or more. The last meeting came following the 2015 season in the Fiesta Bowl, as the Buckeyes won 44-28. It was the final collegiate game for then Ohio State and current Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott.
• Under Coach Ryan Day, Ohio State is 34-4 overall in six seasons and 18-1 at home.
• Notre Dame is playing its second game under new coach Marcus Freeman after former coach Brian Kelly left for the same position at LSU. Kelly had spent 12 seasons leading the Irish and went 92-39 there. Freeman is the 30th head coach in school history and was the team’s defensive coordinator the past four seasons. In Freeman’s first game as Notre Dame coach when he was serving in an interim capacity, the Irish lost to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl.
• Freeman was a starting linebacker at Ohio State, playing there from 2005 through the 2008 seasons. After he spent a short time in the NFL playing for the Bears, Bills and Texans, he became a graduate assistant for the Buckeyes in 2010.
• The Irish have a new starting quarterback in Tyler Buchner, who in limited action as a freshman in 2021, completed 21 of 35 passes for 298 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
• Conversely to Notre Dame, the Buckeyes have the preseason favorite to win the Heisman Trophy at quarterback in sophomore CJ Stroud, who completed 71.9 percent of his 441 passes last year for 4,435 yards with 44 touchdowns and only six interceptions. In three previous starts against top-10 teams, Stroud has thrown 14 touchdowns and one pick.
• Notre Dame has multiple injury issues at skill positions, including the loss of sixth-year senior receiver Avery Davis, who will miss the season due to a torn ACL. Running back Logan Diggs, the team’s leading returning rusher who prepped at Rummel, tore his labrum in April and immediately had surgery to repair it. He appears to be ready to play, but possibly in a limited capacity. No. 1 RB Chris Tyree has played in 12 games and has 222 yards rushing.