Notre Dame football: 3 bold predictions vs. Navy in Ireland

1. Notre Dame covers the spread

As of Friday night, Notre Dame is a 20.5-point favorite against Navy.

And this shouldn’t be all that shocking.

The Irish are the No. 13 team in the country and Navy is coming off a 4-8 season with a brand-new head coach. Navy had a poor passing defense last season and Notre Dame has one of the most prolific passers in the country. Navy did have a really good run defense last year, but Notre Dame can beat the Midshipmen through the air.

Sam Hartman is going to have a huge day through the air, as I mentioned before, and that’s going to run up the score on the Midshipmen early on.

The last two times these two teams faced in Ireland, Notre Dame won big. Back in 1996, Notre Dame beat Navy 54-27, and then in 2012, the Irish topped the Midshipmen 50-10.

I expect Notre Dame to win by a wide margin again this time around. The talent difference between the two teams is too massive. I’m going with 49-24 Irish.