It feels like it was only yesterday that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Florida State Seminoles were both perennial contenders for the National Championship. They played in games that swayed the course of the title race in both 1993 and 1994, once right here at the Florida Citrus Bowl. That's where the two teams will meet on December 29th in Champs Sports Bowl betting action.
The Seminoles come into this game hoping to finish up the year ranked in the Top 25. They started off as a preseason Top 10 team in both polls, but they almost immediately fell flat after losing QB EJ Manuel to an injury that cost him the end of the game against the Oklahoma Sooners, the entire game against the Clemson Tigers, and most of the game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. FSU lost all three games, and it was only beaten one other time on the season.
That being said, this offense has been fairly brutal over the course of its last two games. The team struggled to move the ball against the Virginia Cavaliers, and it literally had more penalty yards than offensive yards against the Florida Gators. Still, the potential is absolutely there, and with a few extra weeks of practice, you can bet that offensive guru Head Coach Jimbo Fisher is going to have some quirks added to his offense to get points on the board.
Notre Dame too, was a bit of a disappointment this year. Many have questioned Head Coach Brian Kelly for starting QB Dayne Crist in the first game of the season, one that was ultimately lost to the South Florida Bulls, who aren't even bowl eligible. The Irish blew a game that they had won at the Michigan Wolverines and were terrible in losses to both the USC Trojans and Stanford Cardinal.
This offense has also struggled down the stretch, putting just a total of 30 points on the board in failed cover attempts against the Boston College Eagles and Stanford.
The Irish are only 2-6 ATS in their last eight bowl games, while Florida State has gone a whopping 6-0-1 ATS in its last seven bowl games. That's why the garnet and gold are laying three points at Bookmaker Sportsbook on the Champs Sports Bowl odds. With both offenses struggling of late, the 'total' is only set at 47.
