Notre Dame Football vs Georgia: Preview, predictions, live stream
In a battle of ranked opponents, the Georgia Bulldogs will visit Brandon Wimbush and Notre Dame football in South Bend.
For the first time since the beginning of 2016, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are back in the AP top 25. After an abysmal 2016 campaign, the Irish have pushed the reset button and are back in the national spotlight for all the right reasons.
After an easy week one victory over Temple, Notre Dame will welcome perhaps their toughest opponent of the first quarter of the season, as the Georgia Bulldogs visit South Bend. Although not to the extreme of Notre Dame, the Bulldogs also had a below-average season last year. For many, an 8-5 record is nothing to hang heads on, but for Georgia- it was tied for their worst season since 2010.
Both teams will enter Saturday’s meeting with new faces at the quarterback position. Notre Dame’s Brandon Wimbush stepped in nicely in his first game as the starter after sitting behind Malik Zaire and DeShone Kizer for the last couple years. Wimbush threw for 184 yards and ran for 106 in the team’s victory over Temple.
Related Story: 5 reasons why Wimbush will be better than Kizer
Georgia will be without starting quarterback Jacob Eason, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury. While Eason is not projected to miss a lot of time, he is has already been ruled out for their game against Notre Dame. Freshman quarterback Jake Fromm stepped in nicely for Eason in their opening game victory over Appalachian State, throwing for 143 yards on 10-15 passing.
Here’s how to watch Saturday’s Notre Dame vs Georgia game:
Date: Saturday, Sept. 9
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: South Bend, IN
Venue: Notre Dame Stadium
TV: NBC
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live
Keys to Victory
Georgia’s key to the game is very simple: protect Jake Fromm. The Bulldogs’ offensive line did a great job against Appalachian State, allowing just one sack the entire game. Georgia will need to protect Fromm and keep his confidence high and the only way to do that is to let him throw the ball as much as possible. Giving him adequate time to make his reads and make the right pass will help Fromm get adjusted to the big stage and keep him poised for the entire four quarters against a ruckus crowd.
The Irish will be very successful if they can implement the run game. Notre Dame put up a whopping 422 rushing yards against Temple, removing any pressure from Wimbush to throw the ball effectively in order to win. With three players going over the 100-yard threshold last week, if the Irish can throw different running schemes at Georgia, it will allow Wimbush to make easy decisions with his feet versus his arm.
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Prediction
This will be the second meeting ever between the two and the first since 1981, so there is no familiarity between the two programs- meaning there will be a lot of different looks thrown at one another. The buzz around Notre Dame is that the program is back after a down year and a big win over a nationally ranked opponent would be the icing on the cake to fast start to the season.
Jake Fromm’s first career start could not come at a tougher venue as the Irish faithful will be loud and ready to go Saturday night. Some early-game mistakes could prove to be costly for Fromm and the offense, while the Irish running game will be too much to handle for the Bulldogs.
Final score: Notre Dame 31, Georgia 20