College Football: Week 1 Purdue vs Notre Dame - Sports Betting Odds

The much anticipated opening game of the Brian Kelly era at Notre Dame has finally arrived as the Fighting Irish will host the Purdue Boilermakers in week 1 odds. Kick-off is set for 3:30pm EST and online sportsbooks have opened with Notre Dame as an 11-point favorite in sports betting odds for the game that can be seen on NBC. Last year Notre Dame escaped with a 24-21 win at Purdue with a touchdown in the final seconds as Purdue head coach Danny Hope gave the Irish an extra time out that came back to burn him. Hope is in his 2nd year at Purdue after going 5-7 in college football betting spreads last year.

This could be a lean year looking at 2010 college football odds for the Boilermakers as they have just 5 starters back on offense and 6 on defense and a new starting QB with junior Robert Marve. All top ball carriers are gone but senior wideout Keith Smith returns after an 1,100 yard season in 2009. The defense allowed 29 PPG last year and may not be as good in 2010. Kelly arrives at South Bend after coaching Cincinnati to consecutive Big East titles and has plenty of skill position talent as he talks openly about his desire to “win now.” Sophomore Dayne Crist is the new QB and will benefit from Kelly’s reputation as a quick developer of signal callers.

The defense returns 9 starters but must shave the 26 PPG allowed from last year. Senior running back Armando Allen returns after leading the team with 697 yards but the Irish must replace receiver Golden Tate and his nearly 1,500 yards in 2009. Notre Dame has been a terrible overlay as a home favorite since 2006 with a mark of 6-15 against the sports betting spread. Kelly’s attitude has been infectious but the talk ends now and covering double digits in the opener remains a huge question mark.