Notre Dame has passed the grizzle of its schedule, those six opponents who had the previous week off before playing the Irish.
It caught a break at Virginia, when the sore ribs of outstanding quarterback Brennan Armstrong prevented him from playing. Now, Georgia Tech and Stanford should not present many problems. This is no time for the Irish to let up.
It’s on the brink of national-playoff candidacy. Georgia, Ohio State, and Alabama appear to be in a league of their own, with TeamRankings.com power ratings including Notre Dame in a clump with Michigan, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, and others for that fourth playoff spot.
The Irish are large favorites on oddsboards.
NCAAF · Sat (11/20) @ 2:30pm ET
| GTEC Georgia Tech | at | ND Notre Dame |
| Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame, Indiana | ||
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-7 SU, 4-6 ATS)
This would have been a Ramblin’ Wreck of a season for Tech, were it not for the 3-7 campaign of a year ago, or the 3-9 one before that. Coach Geoff Collins has been the architect of all of it.
Tech’s best attribute is averaging 4.9 yards per rush. And the cog of that attack is tailback Jahmyr Gibbs, with a 5.3-yard average and four touchdowns on 129 runs.
He’s the aerial threat, too, having nabbed 34 passes for nearly a 14-yard average and two TDs. Quarterback Jeff Sims and fellow tailback Dontae Smith have also scored four times running with the ball.
Everything else Tech does is either mediocre, poor or very poor. The Irish should not encounter much resistance.
No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-1 SU, 7-3 ATS)
The Irish are ranked sixth by TeamRankings, after being No. 9 in last week’s playoff picture. Oklahoma lost, and some others will have to experience bad fortune for Notre Dame to sneak into a national semifinal.
It must not take Georgia Tech for granted.
Tailback Kyren Williams might not flash the gaudy season-yardage statistics, but he might get the nod as the team’s MVP. The only game in which he hasn’t scored was against Wisconsin.
He has tallied eight rushing TDs over his past six games, and he caught TD passes in three games. My +30000 (300-to-1) Heisman ticket on him won’t bear fruit, but he might be the key Irish player.
Notre Dame is slipping into gear, as its points-per-play margin is an impressive 0.339 over its past three games. A national NBC television audience will see an Irish machine on offense.
Over that span, Oklahoma State (0.799) has been a steamroller, followed by Georgia (0.499), Wisconsin (0.449), Appalachian State (0.415), Western Kentucky (0.403) and Kansas State (0.386).
Georgia Tech At Notre Dame Sports Betting Odds
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Georgia Tech At Notre Dame Pick
Georgia Tech yields 469 yards per game, 17th-worst in the country. In South Bend, it figures to be 41 degrees with partly cloudy skies and a minimal chance of precipitation.
In other words, perfect football weather for the Irish to run roughshod over a weaker foe. Irish quarterback Jack Coan has been in a groove, with seven TD passes and only one pick in his past five games. That continues.
Without a conference-title game to give it an extra nod, Notre Dame will need two convincing victories. That means points, and we expect plenty of them in this one.
PointsBet, DraftKings, and FanDuel all had this total at 59.5 as of Tuesday morning. We liked the OVER at 56.5. Now that the market has moved in our favor and the number has been bet to 59.5, the value has been eroded.
Our Pick: Over 56.5 (-110)
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