Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech Prediction: Who Will Win and Why?

With a four-game winning streak at its peak, No. 12 Notre Dame enters Week 8 of college football on Saturday against Georgia Tech looking to stay in the playoff race. Here’s what to look for when the Fighting Irish and Yellow Jackets meet with our updated prediction for the game.

Notre Dame has had a perfect performance over the last month, ranking 8th in scoring in the country, even though the team just lost star cornerback Benjamin Morrison to a hip injury this season.

Georgia Tech is on a two-game winning streak after losing two of its last three and is 5-2 overall behind a rushing attack that ranks 25th in the FBS with an average of over 204 yards per game.

What can we expect when the Fighting Irish and Yellow Jackets face off this weekend?

Here’s what to look for when Notre Dame and Georgia Tech meet in this Week 8 college football game with our updated prediction.

1. Aim for the Irish corners. The loss of Morrison hurts an already weakened Notre Dame defense that lacks two linemen and corner Jaden Mickey, but still ranks sixth in the FBS against the pass, second with a 47.9 percent completion rate and seven Intercepted passes and allowed 5 touchdowns through the air.

Georgia Tech’s Haynes King will be a game-time decision due to an apparent arm injury, but he is the ACC’s most accurate passer on the field, hitting 71.2% of his throws for 1,568 yards and 8 touchdowns with just 1 interception.

2. Technology on site. In addition to his passing efficiency, King is a good rusher and ranks second on the team with 353 yards on the ground and 6 additional touchdowns.

When he can’t go, backup quarterback Zach Pyron is also a good runner, rushing for 60 yards and 4 touchdowns this year, and Jamal Haynes leads a Tech backfield that ranks No. 1 in the ACC with over 204 rushing yards per game lies.

3. Go deeper. Notre Dame dual-threat quarterback Riley Leonard isn’t exactly known for his passing ability, but he completed a solid 16 of 22 attempts for 229 yards and 3 touchdowns against Stanford last week and will need to repeat or improve on those numbers this week.

Tech should give him and the Irish receivers room to work on the back end, allowing opponents to average more than 223 yards per game in pass production, which ranks 91st in opponent completion percentage and 107th in total yards occupied, allowed 11 touchdowns and only intercepted one pass.

Most analytical models favor the Fighting Irish over the Yellow Jackets this weekend.

This includes the College Football Power Index, a computer prediction model that uses data points from both teams to simulate games 20,000 times and pick winners.

This model gives Notre Dame a strong 83.1 percent chance of winning the game outright, according to the latest computer simulations of the game.

Georgia Tech is expected to win in the remaining 16.9 percent of the index’s simulations.

According to the model’s latest projection, Notre Dame, with both teams’ current makeup, is expected to be 14.6 points better than Georgia Tech on the same field.

More… Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech picks: What the analytics say

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Notre Dame is a 9.5-point favorite against Georgia Tech.

FanDuel gives the total score for the game at 50.5 points (over -115, under -105).

And it set the moneyline odds for the overall win for Notre Dame at -380 and for Georgia Tech at +300.

A number of bettors are expecting the Yellow Jackets to play this game against the Fighting Irish, according to the latest spread consensus picks.

Georgia Tech receives 60 percent of bets on either beating the Irish in an upset or keeping the game under the 9.5-point spread.

Notre Dame is expected to win the game and cover the spread of the remaining 40 percent of the bets.

Georgia Tech runs the ball well and defends solidly against the run, an important combination that should make this game closer early on than the Irish would like.

These injuries on the defensive side of the ball also make Notre Dame’s defense look younger and a bit more vulnerable, which could leave some holes for Tech to exploit in depth.

If the Irish can contain Tech’s rushing abilities and protect their quarterback well enough against an impressive front seven, then a double-digit win is possible.

Georgia Tech has proven vulnerable against dual-threat quarterbacks and ranks 13th in the ACC in 20-plus yards given up, which fits well with Leonard’s strength as a player.

However, King’s presence should keep the game exciting as his mobility is a crucial factor in Tech’s success on the ground.

But his questionable availability and the state of the Yellow Jackets’ secondary should be enough to keep the Irish offense from pulling away and making it a 10-point game or better.

College football headquarters chooses…

More…Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech result prediction by expert model

When: Sat., Oct. 19
Time: 3:30 p.m. Eastern
TV: ESPN Network

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The game odds are updated regularly and are subject to change.

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