College football Week 4 betting guide: New QB gives Irish hope

Drew Pyne. Tyler Buchner. Jack Coan. Ian Book. Brandon Wimbush. DeShone Kizer. Malik Zaire. Everett Golson. Tommy Rees. Dayne Crist. Jimmy Clausen.

The list of Notre Dame’s starting quarterbacks over the past 15 years doesn’t exactly wake up the echoes.

But with super senior Sam Hartman leading the offense, the No. 9 Fighting Irish appear to be live as 3-point home underdogs against No. 6 Ohio State in one of several marquee college football matchups Saturday.

“I’m anxious to see Hartman play,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “Notre Dame has had their struggles against Ohio State in the past. It just seems this year, the schools that have a quarterback are the teams that really are able to move up and down the field.

“He adds a new dimension the Irish haven’t had for a while now.”

Hartman, who transferred after playing five seasons at Wake Forest, has thrown for 1,061 yards with 13 touchdowns and has yet to be intercepted.

The Fighting Irish (4-0) didn’t cover in a lookahead spot as 34½-point favorites last week against Central Michigan, while Ohio State is coming off a 63-10 thrashing of Western Kentucky.

The game has the second-largest handle at Caesars Sportsbook behind the Colorado-Oregon clash. Bettors backed the Buckeyes (3-0) early in the week, Esposito said.

“Ticket count is probably a little over 3-to-1 in favor of Ohio State at this point,” he said Thursday.

Caesars lead college football oddsmaker Joey Feazel said both teams will remain in the race for the College Football Playoff regardless of the outcome.

Ohio State has home games remaining against Penn State and Michigan along with a trip to Wisconsin. The Irish have Duke, Southern California and Clemson left on their schedule.

“The loser of this game doesn’t completely end their chances,” Feazel said. “I’d say the team that’s best to recover is Ohio State. Obviously they still have a chance with the Big Ten championship game. Anybody who wins that Big Ten East is going to be playing on New Year’s Day.”

Hunter’s value to Buffs

Colorado’s Travis Hunter was a long shot to win the Heisman Trophy. But his chances are all but over now that he is expected to miss at least three games with a lacerated liver suffered on a late hit in Saturday’s win over Colorado State.

Circa lists Hunter at 100-1 to win the award, and he is off the board in that futures market at the Westgate SuperBook.

The Buffaloes were 14-point underdogs against Oregon on the lookahead line at Caesars, and the sportsbook adjusted to Colorado +18 after failing to cover against its in-state rival. Since news broke that Hunter was out, the line climbed to Colorado +21.

“It looks like Hunter is worth three points to this Colorado team,” Feazel said.

The Colorado-Oregon game has twice as much handle at Caesars as the next-closest game. Feazel reported that while public money is still rolling in on the Buffaloes on the money line, there is more two-way action on the spread.

Loaded schedule

After a dud in Week 3, Saturday’s slate features six games with top-25 teams facing off. That doesn’t include the clash between No. 4 Florida State and unranked Clemson for supremacy in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Caesars Sportsbook vice president of trading Craig Mucklow reported heavy betting action on the Florida State money line. Georgia Tech-Wake Forest over 59 and Cincinnati +14 against visiting Oklahoma also were popular plays.

It’s the second straight week bettors pounded Cincinnati, Mucklow said. The Bearcats lost outright in overtime at home to Miami (Ohio) last week.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.