Taking ND +10.5 to the bank after my interest kicks in a couple times. This line is a complete over-reaction to ND squeaking by BYU + Oklahoma trouncing super crappy Texas while they were still ranked high. It is painfully obvious that every team in the Big 12 is a complete fraud besides Oklahoma and Kansas State. And I'm not entirely convinced of either of those teams, although I think Oklahoma is better and just had their letdown game against KSU. WVU, Texas Tech, Texas, Baylor, TCU, etc. are all bad teams getting props for lighting up the scoreboard.
As vulnerable as our secondary might be, the simple fact is that NO ONE in that conference plays defense like Notre Dame. Nobody has a front 7 like we do. Nobody in that conference can even tackle. These offenses are not nearly as prolific as one would have you believe... they are predicated on big plays, quick strikes, and lots of volume. What happens if we get the ball first and take a 7 minute drive down the field for a TD? What happens when the mighty Belldozer runs into Louis Nix? I've seen Oklahoma time and time again over the past decade run into a team that can play defense and just implode. Just implode and get totally blown out. The problem is that the Sooners are playing pretty darn good defense themselves right now and our offense is, at best, inconsistent.
No, I don't think we win this game and we very well might lose by 2 scores. But there is no way on paper that we are 10+ point dogs. No way.