The first round of the College Football Playoff has arrived and it begins with Indiana at Notre Dame on Friday night. Here are the best player props to consider for the matchup on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Notre Dame will be the first team to host a College Football Playoff game. Indiana’s Cinderella season will see them travel to South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish on Friday night. The winner of this game will take on the Georgia Bulldogs in the quarterfinals of the CFP. These teams are an interesting matchup for each other. Indiana has an elite passing offense but Notre Dame has an elite passing defense. Notre Dame has one of the nation’s best rushing attacks but Indiana leads the nation in rushing defense. These are two players that could break that deadlock.
Ty Son Lawton Anytime Touchdown Scorer (+110)
Ty Son Lawton and Justice Ellison make up the two-pronged rushing attack in the Indiana backfield. Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke has been the star of this Indiana offense but that running back duo is essential to making everything work for the Hoosiers. Indiana leads college football in offensive EPA/pass but Notre Dame has the best passing defense in the country by multiple metrics. However, the Notre Dame defense ranks 46th in defensive EPA/rush and 90th in defensive rushing success rate.
Indiana will need to move the ball on the ground if they want to win this game. They could hit some big passes because of how good their passing attack is, but Notre Dame’s secondary is too good to get thrown on all game. Indiana will lean on their running backs, especially inside the red zone. Lawton has been the better red zone back this season, especially in the past few weeks. Lawton has 12 rushing touchdowns in 12 games this season. Against the best defense Indiana faced this season, Ohio State, Lawton scored both of the team’s touchdowns. Lawton should be the go-to guy in the red zone against this Notre Dame defense as well and he will find the end zone.
Riley Leonard 2+ Passing Touchdowns (+135)
After a bit of a shaky start to his Notre Dame career, Riley Leonard has ended up having a great season. He is a tough quarterback to defend because of his great rushing ability. Between him and Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame has one of the best rushing attacks in the country. They rank 9th in the nation in EPA/rush as a team. That has actually led to Riley Leonard throwing more touchdowns later in the season. Teams have such a fear of the Leonard/Love zone read near the goal line that they are loading the box and Notre Dame is calling passing plays instead.
Riley Leonard has ten passing touchdowns over his past five games, averaging 2.0 passing touchdowns per game. In the seven games prior to that, Leonard had just six passing touchdowns, an average of 0.85 passing touchdowns per game. Leonard has really developed as a passer and improved his connections with his receivers. Indiana has one of the best run defenses in college football. They rank 1st in rushing yards allowed, 1st in defensive EPA/rush and 3rd in defensive rushing success rate. That should lead to Riley Leonard using his arm more often and he should throw 2+ touchdowns for the fourth straight game.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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