Dayne Crist, Notre Dame Football: Irish QB Baffles Bettors

The No. 16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish dropped a rain-soaked 23-20 contest against the South Florida Bulls Saturday in South Bend, Ind., and share a dubious distinction with the No. 14 TCU Horned Frogs.

Notre Dame is one of two ranked teams to drop a Week 1 contest versus a non-ranked Football Bowl Subdivision opponent. The Fighting Irish were 10.5-point home favorites at Notre Dame Stadium at kickoff.

The first three days of the 2011 college football season have featured 15 such contests—with favorites outscoring the underdogs by a considerable 659-253 margin.

Granted—Notre Dame was arguably facing the toughest opponent of the lot—but it's still significant.

No. 21 Missouri was the only ranked team in this situation that failed to top Notre Dame's point total, tallying a 17-6 win over the Miami (OH) RedHawks as 19.5-point home favorites.

I guess I saw this coming in a previous article written on the quarterback competition on campus, as senior Dayne Crist finished with a 2-5-2 against-the-spread record in 2010.

Tommy Rees couldn't save the day—completing 24-of-34 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns, while also tossing a pair of interceptions. The damage had been done and the Irish turned the ball over five times.

Crist finished 7-of-15 for 95 yards and an interception and will likely never start another game for second-year head coach Brian Kelly.

It's a result that will baffle the minds of Irish faithful and bettors alike. 

When the final whistle blew, Notre Dame walked off with a 508-254 yardage advantage, but was undone by a minus-five turnover differential.

From a betting perspective, favorites were 8-7 ATS in this situation through Saturday's games and the "over" held a slight 8-7 advantage.