Big Game Hunting: Bad Notre Dame can’t win at Syracuse, but Good Notre Dame can

Take the points.

All of them.

That’s how ‘‘Big Game Hunting’’ is going to get out of a three-week slump. That’s how dignity will return to these pages. That’s how your favorite college football picks column shall become reacquainted with greatness.

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Come on, underdog lovers, let’s get right to the Week 9 picks.

Notre Dame (+2½) at No. 16 Syracuse (11 a.m., Ch. 7): The Orange are 5-0 at home, 6-1 against the spread and hosting the strangest team in all the land. The Irish played on almost equal terms with mighty Ohio State, physically dominated BYU, looked like Joe Montana’s 49ers against North Carolina, never got into gear against Stanford or Cal, embarrassed themselves against Marshall. Has there been a pattern to it? A predictability? Not really, aside from the broad observation that this is a subpar Notre Dame team.

The Irish must establish the run and lean into it against a defense that allowed Clemson to rush for nearly 300 yards last week, and they have to make Orange quarterback Garrett Shrader — the successor to Illinois’ fine transfer QB, Tommy DeVito — uncomfortable. Shrader, a transfer from Mississippi State, is having a pretty easy time in the Atlantic Coast Conference so far. He was much less effective — and unable to keep a starting job — in the Southeastern Conference. Rookie coach Marcus Freeman’s ‘‘D’’ needs to show up angry.

Bad Notre Dame can’t win at Syracuse, but Good Notre Dame certainly can. This is the most important game yet for Freeman, and it’s on him to put a team on the field that’s ready to rock and roll. Start fast, play well, get to 5-3 and — boom! — the season suddenly doesn’t look so bad. Irish, 24-20.

No. 2 Ohio State (-15½) at No. 13 Penn State (11 a.m., Fox-32, 780-AM): Just look at where the last five Ohio State teams to visit Penn State ended up: unbeaten (2012), as national champion (2014), in the College Football Playoff (2016 and 2020), in the Rose Bowl (2018). Holy powerhouse, that’s impressive. Those teams were 4-1 in Happy Valley — a heck of a feat itself — but none of them beat the Nittany Lions by a big enough margin to cover this huge spread. Buckeyes by 14.

Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images

No. 17 Illinois (-7½) at Nebraska (2:30 p.m., Ch. 7, 890-AM): We make fun of the Huskers a lot — who doesn’t? — but they really aren’t so bad and have been fun to watch since Scott Frost was fired and Mickey Joseph was elevated to interim coach. This offense is explosive. Casey Thompson is a talented thrower. Receiver Trey Palmer is one of the best players in the Big Ten. Illinois’ defense, despite all its fancy, best-in-the-land statistics, will be tested. Illini running back Chase Brown might go for 200 yards, though. Illini, 27-21.

Northwestern (+11) at Iowa (2:30 p.m., ESPN2, 720-AM): It’s never a bad idea to take the Wildcats when they’re away from sleepy Ryan Field. They beat Nebraska in Ireland. They hung tight at Penn State and, last week, at Maryland. Iowa, which has the worst offense in the country — a deep humiliation with no end in sight — isn’t as good as any of those teams. Warning: Looking directly into the screen at this game might cause permanent vision loss. Cats, 12-10.

Florida (+23½) vs. No. 1 Georgia (2:30 p.m., Ch. 2): Half the Cocktail crowd in Jacksonville, Florida, will be expecting a massive blowout. The other half probably will be expecting even worse. Even Gators fans have lost their edge. Bulldogs by a mere 21.

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

No. 9 Oklahoma State (+1½) at No. 22 Kansas State (2:30 p.m., Fox-32): The Big 12 has had some spectacular games lately, and this ought to be another one. No one has more of a knack for making the big throw than Oklahoma State QB Spencer Sanders. Pokes git ’er done.

No. 19 Kentucky (+12½) at No. 3 Tennessee (6 p.m., ESPN): The Vols are swimming in mojo, a beautiful thing. But the Wildcats are a tough-minded bunch, with an NFL QB in Will Levis, a dependable running game and a defense that won’t quit, no matter how tough the Vols are to stop. Orange 34, Blue 30.

Michigan State (+23) at No. 4 Michigan (6:30 p.m., Ch. 7): Jim Harbaugh is 3-4 against the Spartans and an unthinkable 1-3 against them in Ann Arbor. It’s a mismatch, but this game always is a bit bigger to Gang Green than it is to Big Blue. Wolverines stay unbeaten but — you guessed it — fail to cover.

Last week: 6-3 straight up, 3-6 against the spread.

Season to date: 43-26 straight up, 35-34 against the spread.