Getty Jake Fromm of the Georgia Bulldogs throws the ball during the first half of the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the Texas Longhorns.
After a weak slate of games in Week 3, college football will be back on Saturday night when two top-10 teams faceoff in Athens. No. 3 Georgia will host No. 7 Notre Dame in a star powered matchup.
Both teams were big winners in Week 3 against cupcake schools. Georgia shutout Arkansas State 55-0. When you can play three quarterbacks, that means your team had a good day. Jake Fromm did not last long after he went 17-22 for 279 yards and three touchdowns.
Notre Dame welcomed New Mexico to town after a Week 2 bye. The Irish put up 66 points and it was a big stat pad game for Ian Book who threw for 360 yards and five touchdowns. They will be big dogs when they take the field on Saturday against a top-three team.
Notre Dame vs. Georgia Preview
This should be a personal matchup for Georgia. In 2018, Notre Dame was selected as one of the four teams to compete in the CFB Playoff. Georgia suffered one loss all season and it was in the SEC Championship Game against Alabama. This held them out of the playoff but everyone knew who the better team was. this game could get ugly for Notre Dame in a hurry.
Georgia was National Championship level good last season and they are again in 2019. Fromm has succeeded but has not been tested yet. He has thrown five touchdowns without turning the ball over. The Bulldogs once again play defense. They are allowing 6.9 points per game so far this season against lesser opponents.
“They have a lot of offense. You start looking at all the things they do, it’s hard to prepare for all of it in a week, in a week’s time,” Georgia head coach Kirby smart said of his upcoming opponent. “Then you throw in the fact they have the quarterback that he can make you right every play. The coach, he could call a bad call, the kid will bail him out and go scramble for it.”
Notre Dame has played two games thus far this season. In Week 1, Louisville game them fits. They allowed the Cardinals to run for 266 yards. New Mexico might have been watching because they had 12 players with a carry. book has been sensational so far. He is a smart quarterback who rarely makes the big mistake. For the Irish, it will come down to their defense. They will have to perform better than they did in their first two games.
“They’re doing a great job. The ball comes out so fast. It is most of the time under 2 seconds where the ball is coming out both against Louisville and New Mexico,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. “You know, we just got to clean up some of the penalties on the perimeter, but we’re getting exactly what we want in terms of pressuring the quarterback, making them get the ball out of his hands quickly. Those guys are doing a nice job for us.”
Notre Dame vs. Georgia Pick & Prediction
In 2017, No. 2 Georgia visited No. 11 Notre Dame and it was an instant classic. Georgia squeaked out a 20-19 win on the road led by true freshman Fromm. This time around, it will not be so difficult.
FanDuel Sportsbook has the Bulldogs as 14.5-point favorites in this game. That might not be high enough. That game in 2017 was at home for the Irish. We have seen time and time again that Notre Dame cannot compete with the teams in the country that are National Championship contenders. Most recently, it was last year against Clemson.
Notre Dame will need to prove they are a changed team in this one. Until they do, Georgia big.
PICK: Georgia -14.5
OVER: 58
SCORE PREDICTION: Georgia 41, Notre Dame 21
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