While the Notre Dame Fighting Irish saw their 2018 season come to a crushing end because of their College Football Playoff blowout loss at the hands of eventual champion Clemson, the Fighting Irish will enter the 2019 season with some high hopes after recording a dozen victories for the second time under head coach Brian Kelly.
Whether you believe Notre Dame is going to be a legitimate championship challenger this coming season or you think the Irish overachieved a year ago and are due to take a big step backwards, there are a bunch of important things you need to know about the Independent title hopefuls before they take to the gridiron for the upcoming 2019 season.
Thanks to the expert betting information that you’re going to get in this 2019 betting guide on the Irish, you’re going to be able to maximize your chances of cashing in on Notre Dame all season long, With that thought in mind, let’s get started.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2019 College Football Season Betting Guide
Betting Statistics
- ATS: 12-1 (W-L) / 7-5-1 (ATS) / 4-3-0 (Home) / 3-2-1 (Away) / 3-1-1 (Grass) / 4-4-0 (Turf)
- O/U: 6-7-0 (W-L) / 2-5-0 (Home) / 4-2-0 (Away) / 3-2-0 (Grass) / 3-5-0 (Turf) / 49.6 (Total)
The Irish went a perfect 12-0 in the regular season a year ago before losing to Clemson in the CFP semifinals. Notre Dame posted a decent 7-5-1 ATS mark while covering the chalk four times at home and three times on the road. The Independent title hopefuls went a modest 6-7 against their Over/Under totals while playing under the total five times at home.
2018 Team Leaders
- Touchdowns: Dexter Williams (13)
- Rushing: Dexter Williams (995)
- Passing: Ian Book (2628)
- Receiving: Miles Boykin (872)
- Interceptions: Jalen Elliott (4)
A year ago, senior running back Dexter Williams rushed for a team-high 995 yards and 13 touchdowns while now, senior quarterback Ian Book passed for a team-high 2,628 yards in 10 games after taking over for former starter Brandon Wimbush. Senior wide receiver Miles Boykin recorded a team-high 872 receiving yards while now, senior safety Jalen Elliott recorded a team-high four interceptions. Unfortunately, both Williams and Boykin are now gone after graduating.
Offense
- Total Yards: 440.4 / Rank 32
- Passing Yards: 257.5 / Rank 38
- Rushing Yards: 182.9 /Rank 51
- Points Scored: 31.4 / Rank 42
- Field Goal %: 81.8 / Rank 27
The Irish were solid, if not overly explosive on offense in finishing 32nd in total offense, 38th in passing, 51st in rushing and 42nd in scoring (31.4 ppg).
Defense
- Total Yards: 347.4 / Rank 30
- Passing Yards: 207.9 / Rank 44
- Rushing Yards: 139.5 /Rank 36
- Points Allowed: 18.2 / Rank 13
- Field Goal %: 56 / Rank 12
While the Irish were rock-solid on offense, they were even better defensively in finishing the 2018 campaign ranked 30th overall, 44th against the pass, 36th against the run and a fantastic 13th in points allowed (18.2 ppg).
Outlook
With Ian Book under center, the Irish are set at quarterback seeing as how Book completed a blistering 68.2 percent of his passes a year ago with 19 TDs and just seven interceptions. Notre Dame also returns four starters along the offensive line and although they lost Dexter Williams to graduation, the Irish feel comfortable at the position with former receiver Jafar Armstrong and running back Tony Jones Jr. set to take major roles in 2019.
Notre Dame does have a lack of experience at the wide receiver and tight end positions, but they do have some elite talent returning on the defensive side of the ball, starting with defensive tackle Jerry Tillery and linebackers Drue Tranquill and Te’von Coney. Still, Kelly will have his hands full in trying to get his team’s inexperienced performers on the defensive side of the ball up to speed. The Fighting Irish have a pair of difficult home contests against USC and Virginia Tech and a trio of ‘super difficult’ road contests against Georgia, Michigan and Stanford in their regular season finale. Right now, I don’t see anyway Notre Dame finishes the regular season unbeaten and truthfully, I’m expecting the Irish to lose at least two regular season games in 2019 and quite possibly three.
