The Notre Dame Fighting Irish look to stave off an upset bid from the Vanderbilt Commodores as they welcome the SEC foes to South Bend.
After the first week of the 2018 college football season, many were touting the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Despite only beating the Michigan Wolverines by seven points, they put forth an impressive performance against a ranked opponent that the score wasn’t fully indicative of. However, the touting has ceased a bit after the Irish followed that up by beating Ball State by just eight points.
Now gearing up for their third game of the season, the Irish will be playing in South Bend for the third-straight week and will welcome the Vanderbilt Commodores, who are also unbeaten in the young campaign, to town. This might not look like the most intriguing matchup, but it has the chance to be one of the most fascinating games of Week 3.
We’ll certainly see a strength of Vanderbilt up against a strength of Notre Dame when it comes to the Commodores offense taking on the Fighting Irish defense. Quarterback Kyle Shurmur has been battle-tested and is an underrated player at the position in the national landscape. And he’s started off 2018 with solid play that he looks to continue.
Having said that, he’ll be up against a Fighting Irish defense that is tough at every level. A defensive line led by Jerry Tillery can get after it on every single play and they have a secondary led by Julian Love that can make plays at any given moment. Thus, how Shurmur handles that will be interesting and certainly key to determining the outcome.
However, the biggest matchup of this game is Brandon Wimbush and the Notre Dame offense against Vanderbilt’s defense. Last week, the Commodores quietly held Nevada to 10 points in one of the most impressive defensive performances of the week. Simultaneously, Wimbush’s turnovers and inaccuracy ultimately were the primary reason they were even close with Ball State. Subsequently, if Vandy’s defense can be at that level, they have the talent to really stifle what the Irish can do.
Details for Saturday’s Game
Date: Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018
Start Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Location: South Bend, IN
Stadium: Notre Dame Stadium
TV Info: NBC
Live Stream: FuboTV, NBC Sports Live
The Fighting Irish are almost two-touchdown favorites in this game, which seems like a lot of respect after last week against Ball State. That makes taking Vandy and the points quite a tasty option.
Betting Odds (Courtesy of Odds Shark)
Point Spread: Notre Dame -13.5
Moneyline: Notre Dame -550, Vanderbilt +375
Over/Under: 52
Prediction
I’m calling for the upset in South Bend this week — and taking the under. Notre Dame is going to ugly this game up and Kyle Shurmur isn’t going to throw all over them by any means. However, I don’t like where the Fighting Irish offense is, have little faith in Brian Kelly (always) and think that this is a talented Commodores team that’s ready to make a statement.
Final Score: Vanderbilt 20, Notre Dame 14