The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are in the neighborhood of 35 point favorites over the New Mexico Lobos. This makes for a week where rather than picking the winner — we’re really going up against the spread. Some of these picks will be ugly (and that includes our “2nd team”). Nevertheless, we are professional bloggers so we have this ugly shit down to a science.
Here we go...
Pat Sullivan
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 49, New Mexico Lobos 13
Ian Book will feel much more comfortable against a Lobos defense that doesn’t have the raw talent that Louisville’s did, and the Irish offense will move the ball at will both on the ground and through the air. Lawrence Keys III will score his first career touchdown, and Tony Jones Jr. will continue to produce behind an offensive line that will easily push the New Mexico front around. The Irish will win this one going away, and Phil Jurkovec will play the majority of the 4th quarter. Bring on the Dawgs, folks (not really, I am very scared of next weekend).
Kansas Jayhawks 23, Boston College Eagles 20
Everyone’s preseason favorite to win the College Football Playoff suffered a tough, exciting 12-7 loss to a VERY good Coastal Carolina team last weekend. Now, America’s team gets back at it by traveling to BC to face AJ Dillon and the Eagles. I still believe Kansas can make the College Football Playoff if they win out, and think that begins this weekend with a huge road win over an undefeated ACC opponent. The Mad Hatter gets his team back on track -- Rock Chalk, Jayhawk bay-beeee.
Brad Wechter
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 44, New Mexico Lobos 9
No experiments at quarterback against inferior opponents this year. Ian Book is efficient, the Irish can run the ball, and the second team gets some looks in this one.
Miami-Ohio Redhawks 31, Cincinnati Bearcats 14
UC has not impressed me thus far. They beat UCLA by 10 and put up a goose egg against Ohio State. I think this year Miami is finally the better team, and the Victory Bell finally returns to Oxford. With that said, this is Miami, so they may lose at the last second in a shoot out like they always do against UC.
Bobby Norell
Notre Dame 49, New Mexico 7
Simply put, New Mexico stinks. If Notre Dame doesn’t win this game going away, then my confidence going into Athens will be minimal. Ian Book needs to look like the Ian Book we’ve grown to love, and that run defense needs to look improved.
Ohio State Buckeyes 42, Indiana Hoosiers 30
I can tell you exactly how this game will go. Indiana will be in the game and might even have the lead for three to three and a half quarters, but then Ohio State wakes up in the fourth quarter and crushes all the hopes and dreams of the Hoosier faithful. This is how this game always goes...but I still believe in #9WINDIANA.
Matt Greene
Notre Dame 45, New Mexico 13
This won’t be close, but again I always err on the side of not covering the spread. It’s a big spread, and the Irish might (read: should hopefully be able to) let up in the 4th quarter with backups in the game. And that is just fine with me. New Mexico is just not very good, and the Irish do have just way too much talent. A dominant win and then some rest before Georgia the next week.
Central Michigan Chippewas 27, Akron Zips 20
The Chips got absolutely housed by Wisconsin last week. They actually got shut out 61-0. Akron, though, is 0-2, and they lost 42-3 to Illinois in the season opener. Central plays this one at home. Both teams are struggling, but CMU struggles a bit less. They escape with the W.
Lisa Kelly
Notre Dame 51, New Mexico 10
Notre Dame will use this week’s game to continue to fine-tune their skills and make sure this win impresses those who evaluate their chances for the playoffs down the road. Anything less than a thrashing of this weak opponent would be shocking.
Arkansas Razorbacks 26, Colorado St. Rams 14
The Razorbacks are certainly expected to win this contest and they should do so with their defense. This early in the season, the Razorbacks believe in their coach and in their ability to win the games they should. This is one of them. It should not be high scoring, but enough that Arkansas scores a win.
Philip Gough
Notre Dame 52, New Mexico 13
This is the first time in a while that Notre Dame is supposed to blow out a team, and does. After the Irish get up early, Kyren Williams leads the way and looks like someone who can be a real contributor this season. I am going to be focusing intently on the linebackers to see who will be the go-to guys next week. Jurkovec also gets his feet wet and gets to take the reins for the entire 4th quarter.
Holy Cross
Bye Week. The ‘Saders are currently undefeated (1-0) in FCS play. Keep that train rolling.
Billy Gorman
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 42, New Mexico Lobos 10
As long as Notre Dame isn’t too focused on Georgia next week they should win this game pretty easily. Expect a bounce-back game from Ian Book, simply because he has to be better, while the defense looks much more like they did in the second half against Louisville rather than the first. If Notre Dame can put up a few scores early that should alleviate any pressure they might feel before the trip to Athens next week.
Washington State Cougars 45, Houston Cougars 34
Washington State will face their toughest defense so far this season, but that says a lot more about the other teams they’ve played than it does about Houston. Wazzu shouldn’t have any trouble putting up points in this game, but they may have some trouble stopping them. Washington State will be good enough on defense to let their offense win the game, but I would definitely take the over.
Joe Londergan
Notre Dame 45, New Mexico 17
Notre Dame is obviously the better team and the Lobos are bound to make a few mistakes with their head coach absent. However, I think that we’ll still see some room for improvement in the Irish and New Mexico aren’t exactly pushovers. Points will be scored.
Oregon State Beavers 31, Cal Poly 21
As the Beavers continue to be decimated by injuries, they should squeak out an uncomfortably close win against an FCS opponent who runs the triple option reasonably well. As long as the players aren’t getting in literal fist fights on the sidelines with each other, like they were last week against Hawaii, the Beavers will consider the day an improvement.
Mike Whitlow
Notre Dame 41, New Mexico 17
Like everyone else here, I don’t expect the Lobos to put up that much of a fight on Saturday afternoon. It’s the home opener for the Irish with an experienced quarterback that’s probably going to play with a chip on his shoulder after his performance against Louisville. I think we’ll see the old Ian Book from the run last season, Tony Jones Jr. will continue to show he can handle the load at running back with no Jafar Armstrong. The defense should strut their stuff up front and the Irish will roll to 2-0 with the Dawgs waiting on them next weekend in what should be an awesome showdown.
Florida Gators 27, Kentucky Wildcats 20
Kentucky finally (FINALLY!) ended “The Streak” last season in grand fashion down in Gainesville against the Gators, but with Terry Wilson on the shelf for the season now, I expect the Gators to start a new streak against the Wildcats on Saturday. Feleipe Franks looks like an improved signal-caller this year so far and I feel the Gators are a better team top to bottom than Kentucky is, especially with no Wilson. The Cats will fight hard at home to build their own streak against UF, but I like Florida in this one.
Connor Leichtle
Notre Dame 35, New Mexico 14
Until it happens, I refuse to believe we will ever blow out teams the way Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, etc. do. Prove me wrong Ian. I expect the defense to show up. It will be interesting to see how vanilla our playbook is the week prior to Georgia.
Iowa Hawkeyes 27, Iowa State Cyclones 30
Both fanbases are out for blood. In what may be the most highly anticipated game in the rivalry, Iowa State will sneak out a win. Matt Campbell is due for a win against Captain Kirk. I expect the Hawks to struggle early out of the gates in the hostile environment before making a late push at the end.
Lauren Dangel
Notre Dame 45, New Mexico 7
The Irish had some time to regroup with the bye week; they won’t overthink anything against the Lobos. Ian Book will bring both efficiency and reliability to the table and the Irish should end the home opener in style.
Ohio State Buckeyes 35, Indiana Hoosiers 30
I predict a close one for this Big Ten matchup. Though the Hoosiers have not seen a victory against the Buckeyes since 1988, IU has shown a strong start to the season. However, the Ohio State defense will be the force to stop the Hoosiers in their tracks in a tense faceoff.
Jude Seymour
Notre Dame 48, New Mexico 17
This is a typical “buy” game. New Mexico is coming here without any return trip expected, so they get a $1.1 million payout. This is unquestionably a win. If Notre Dame loses this game, there’s going to be some serious gnashing of teeth. Maybe I even jump over to the “Fire Brian Kelly” side.
I lived through the Bob Davie era, as my graduation year was 2002. I can’t wait for Notre Dame to run up the score on Bob Davie’s team. This New Mexico team is hot garbage. They’ve got a lot of unproven players. They’re doing the Charlie-Weis-at-Kansas JUCO thing (or Bill Snyder if you prefer). New Mexico was 3-9 last year. I fully expect something similar this year. I just don’t understand how Bob Davie keeps his job, but I’m very glad he did because I want Notre Dame to pants his team. I want to see Brendon Clark in this game. (July prediction: Notre Dame 62, New Mexico 10).
Cincinnati 24, Miami-Ohio 21
The Bearcats’ hype train exploded into a siding Saturday, as Ohio State took UC Coach Luke Fickell, their former coach, to the proverbial wood shed in a 42-0 win. Cincinnati is now 62nd in Bill Connelly’s SP+ — just behind Stanford! They’ll need a win over Miami-Ohio to keep their now quite dim Cotton Bowl hopes alive. This game has been close in recent years, so I’m going with a close score.
Joshua Vowles
Notre Dame 56, New Mexico 10
I think I already screwed up with this prediction in the Anti-Preview — but never mind all of that. Notre Dame will score touchdowns and touchdowns only on Saturday. The Lobos add a TD very late into the 4th quarter and I will be as angry as any man that just witnessed a 46-point bloodbath.
Eastern Michigan Eagles 27, Illinois Fighting Illini 25
The Eagles came up (a lot) short against Kentucky last week, but on Saturday ... EMU proves that it belongs in the cellar with the Big Ten with a big victory. Shaq Vann has a banner day on the ground with over 150 yards and 2 TDs. Just like Purdue, Illinois is about to feel the sheer power of #truEMU.