Notre Dame Fighting Irish VS BYU Cougars: College Football Staff Picks

The 2-2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish travel to Las Vegas to take on the 4-1 and #16 ranked BYU Cougars in the Shamrock Series. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Notre Dame is a 3.5 point favorite with an OVER/UNDER of 51.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

Now it’s time for the OFD Staff to unleash their own picks. Here are a few thoughts from The Emperor’s Elite Pick-Em Force:

Pat Sullivan

I don’t have the worst feeling heading into this one, which in turn is throwing up major red flags in my jaded and warped and beaten-down mind. I think the Irish will find some success running the ball and the defense will play pretty well, but I also think Jaren Hall and the BYU receivers are good and capable of some big plays, while the Irish might not have the firepower to keep up if they don’t start strong — which, coming off a bye week, I think might be the case. I’m going to predict BYU wins 34-28, and hope that once again Audric Estime proves me wrong by running roughshod all over the opposing defense.

Matt Greene

The Irish go into Sin City and won’t fall trap to any devil on their shoulder. This is God’s Mother’s team after all. BYU will be a tough test, but to me there has to be a reason why the Irish have stayed favorites and moved up as favorites by Vegas, the hometown for this one. It’s a closer game than we would like, but I see the offense still finding that spark, and Estime to continue to be a bowling ball. 34-24 Irish, keeping the streak of Shamrock Series wins alive.

Joseph Babey

After in what my opinion was a well timed Bye week, the Irish defense locks down and alleviates the periodic mental lapses that have popped up at times this season. The offense continues its growth and has a solid performance. Irish get three straight. 31-14

Matt Boomer

I’ll be attending this game in person so no one will regret it more if I am wrong, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see this go the other way. But BYU is a beatable ranked team as evidenced by their output so far this year, and with a bye week to build on lessons learned from the previous two wins I think the Irish come in with a winning game plan. Jaren Hall will get his but will be limited by the Irish pass rush and secondary, and the Irish ground game should be able to control the ball enough to pull out a close but relatively comfortable win. I’m taking the Irish to win somewhere on the order of 28-20.

Hayden Adams

I still have zero read on this Notre Dame team. A frustratingly close loss; an inexcusable loss that gets more and more inexplicable with every passing second; a narrow win that may have saved Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame tenure; and a domination of an unbelievably bad defense. Taking this circus out to Las Vegas only adds to my uncertainty.

Just give me Notre Dame winning by one score. The Notre Dame defense still doesn’t get an interception but Michael Mayer and the running backs continue to be the bread and butter of this offense. Final Score: ND 34, BYU 27