The Georgia Bulldogs and Notre Dame Fighting Irish meet in Athens on Saturday for a crucial top-10 college football matchup with playoff implications.
Week 3 of college football had to die for the sins of Week 4, which offers a boatload of high-quality matchups — and the headliner goes down in Athens on Saturday night in primetime. The Georgia Bulldogs, the No. 3 team in the country, will host the No. 7 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a massive matchup that has viable College Football Playoff stakes.
Neither Georgia or Notre Dame has really been tested through the first three weeks of the season. Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs beat Vanderbilt in the first week of the season, then followed that up by playing Murray State and Arkansas State. Brian Kelly’s Fighting Irish aren’t much better, playing Louisville in the opener, taking a week off then trouncing New Mexico.
Having said that, both of these teams have looked impressive. UGA has looked predictably explosive on offense with veteran quarterback Jake Fromm at the helm and running back D’Andre Swift is ready to breakout against real competition. Freshman wideout George Pickens has also stepped up, as has a young defense against inferior competition.
As for the Golden Domers, Ian Book continues to look like the real deal at quarterback with weapons like Chase Claypool still at his disposal. However, the performance of their defense led by Julian Okwara makes them an interesting group as they go on the road for this top-10 contest.
How to watch and bet on Notre Dame vs. Georgia
Date: Saturday, Sept. 21
Start Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Location: Sanford Stadium – Athens, GA
TV Info: CBS
Live Stream: CBS All Access
Point Spread: Georgia -15
Moneyline: Georgia -700, Notre Dame +450
Over/Under: 57.5
(Odds via Bovada)
Considering this is a matchup between top-10 teams, it’s crazy to see the line this high. At the same time, though, we saw what happened to Notre Dame last season in the College Football Playoff when they played a top-four team. And with UGA at home, I’m taking the Bulldogs against the spread and moneyline while going with my gut of Over with the point total.
Prediction: Fromm and the Bulldogs have looked like perhaps the best iteration of this team over their recently successful run. This, however, is their first big test to prove that, a test they’ve failed in recent years. Against the Fighting Irish, though, my belief is that Notre Dame just can’t hang with Georgia in this game and the better team playing at home wins emphatically on Saturday night.
Score: Notre Dame 24, Georgia 41