King of Props: Estimating desire

Bringing in the New Year with a Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State left a sour taste in the mouth of Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. That was his first game at the helm following Brian Kelly’s unceremonious departure to LSU, and his team squandered a 21-point lead. As the Fighting Irish look to conclude 2022 with a better outcome against South Carolina in the Gator Bowl, we’re backing their bruising ballcarrier for our top prop:

The bet: Over 62½ rushing yards for Notre Dame running back Audric Estime (DraftKings)

Having lost a yard on his only carry of that bowl game, Estime has a score of his own to settle. He became Notre Dame’s leading ground gainer in his second season, rushing for 825 yards and 11 touchdowns despite sharing carries with fellow sophomore Logan Diggs and junior Chris Tyree.

But Estime produces a full yard more per carry than his backfield mates and only gets better as his workload increases. In the six games that he exceeded 10 attempts, he averaged 101 yards and always cleared this number.

South Carolina will be without two starting defensive linemen on a unit that ranks 112th versus the run, allowing 192 yards per game. Accordingly, nine of the Gamecocks’ opponents this season have rushed the ball at least 35 times.

With Irish quarterback Tyler Buchner playing his first game in more than three months and All-American tight end Michael Mayer preparing for the NFL draft, a run-heavy script is expected – and double-digit carries for Estime should get us home.