A battle of Top 25 teams in college football takes place Saturday between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on NBC. Currently the odds for the game have the Yellow Jackets favored to pick up the victory on the road.
Notre Dame was favored when the line opened up, but the status of quarterback Malik Zaire has really put a damper on their season. Zaire will miss the rest of the regular season and now true freshman DeShone Kizer will have to lead the way for Notre Dame. He led the Irish back to a victory with less than a minute remaining in the game over Virginia last week and a full week of practice with the first team reps should help him.
Stopping Georgia Tech’s ground game will be a challenge for the Irish. The past two games they’ve played against a triple option team (Navy), Notre Dame has given up massive amounts of yards. Justin Thomas is an awesome quarterback in that system for Georgia Tech, combining for five touchdowns through the opening two games. The Yellow Jackets have been awesome on the ground so far this year as well, piling up 915 yards through two games and averaging 8.5 yards per carry. They have 15 touchdowns, led by Patrick Skov’s four scores. Nine other players have also found the end zone with the run game and Notre Dame is going to have some problems trying to slow that attack down.
Through the air the Yellow Jackets have been solid as well, but Thomas has thrown just 13 passes on the year, three of which went for touchdowns.
Notre Dame, dealing with injuries, is going to want to get the football to Will Fuller as much as possible. Fuller is an excellent offensive player and already has caught four touchdowns. He’s averaging better than 22 yards per reception as well, making him arguably the best overall player on the field.
If Notre Dame’s defense can’t stop the Yellow Jackets on a consistent basis, it’s going to be a long game for them. They’ll have to force turnovers to gain some extra possessions, but note that Georgia Tech is +3 in turnover differential this season.
This has the makings of a good game, but if it’s sloppy and the Irish have to rely on the ground game most of the game it’s going to favor Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are the better team as Notre Dame doesn’t have Zaire and that will show in this one.
Free Pick: Georgia Tech
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