College football predictions for 2019 Week Five SEC and top 25 games
No. 18 Virginia Cavaliers at No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Line: Notre Dame -12.5; Over/Under: 48.5; TV: NBC
Saturday, Sept. 28 at 3:30 p.m. E.T.; Notre Dame Stadium; Notre Dame, Ind.
We get to call the Notre Dame Fighting Irish two weeks in a row for our college football predictions. They are starting to get a good bit of love in the media after playing the Georgia Bulldogs much closer on the road than anybody expected them to. Now we wonder if they can refocus against another top 25 opponent that has been a surprise on its own.
Brian Kelly’s team is clearly still in the College Football Playoff hunt, and they showed some impressive defense this past weekend. Will it translate to another game and then to the rest of the season? We can’t say for certain, but they get a solid test here.
Bronco Mendenhall finally has UVA where he wants it to be. The Cavs are 3-0, and that includes a very quality win over the Pittsburgh Panthers. Ranked No. 18, nothing would serve them better than to beat Notre Dame two weeks after beating the Florida State Seminoles.
Prediction
Virginia is clearly on a roll and deserves credit for what they are doing. But Notre Dame right now is just too much for them in South Bend. The Irish will beat them and cover the spread. Our only question is the spread. And we say the Irish keep Virginia from scoring enough to allow this game to hit the over.