Can the Irish Kick Off Their Season with a Stunning Upset Victory?

Ah, the eternal question: Can Notre Dame shake off that nagging first-game jitters and Miami overcome the staggering loss of their star quarterback to kick off the college football season with a bang? As the NFL gears up to reclaim our Sundays next week, college football is sneakily stretching its reign—much to the chagrin of spouses everywhere—by bringing us this tantalizing showdown a week early. Last season’s heartbreak for the Irish in the inaugural College Football Playoff still lingers, but with a fresh quarterback in CJ Carr and a sturdy ground game ready to rumble, there’s plenty of intrigue. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have their own uphill battle, grappling with the void left by Cam Ward and a laundry list of offensive departures. It’s a heavyweight opener where continuity meets chaos—who will rise, who will stumble? Grab your snacks and settle in; this one’s worth every second. LEARN MORE.

Notre Dame vs. Miami, 7:30 ET

The NFL is a week away from coming back, and then it will over take all of our Sunday’s. The College Football scheduling committee decided that it wanted to have our wives and girlfriends annoyed with us a week earlier. Tonight, after a long day of great football yesterday, we have another one that is can’t miss on today’s slate as we get Notre Dame taking on Miami in their season opener.

Notre Dame ended their season last year just a bit short. If you recall last year, they ended the season with a loss in the first ever complete College Football Playoff. They did make it all the way to the championship, though. They beat Indiana fairly easily in their first matchup, then convincingly took down Georgia. After that, they narrowly escaped Penn State, winning by three points. From there they went to the championship game against Ohio State and lost by 11. It was a bit of an ugly game for the team. They only had one other loss for the season and it was to Northern Illinois. This was a very embarrassing game for Notre Dame, losing to a substantially worse program at home. Now the team once again has high expectations. They lost their quarterback from last season, Riley Leonard. Now they have CJ Carr to take over, and he has some high reviews. The team will still focus on the ground game, though as the main job of Carr will be to turn and hand the ball to Jeremiyah Love. They should be good on offense on the ground, and if the offensive line gives enough time for Carr, he should get the ball to some very good playmakers. Notre Dame did lose a lot of players to the draft, but they should be used to the next man up system after dealing with injuries constantly last year. I think they will be fine overall.

Speaking of losing key players, there might not be anyone with a bigger loss than the Miami Hurricanes as they ended up losing their quarterback Cam Ward to the NFL. Ward went first overall to the Titans, and he was obviously a huge piece and component of the Hurricanes last season. It wasn’t an outstanding year for Miami as they dropped the ball late in the year. After starting the season 9-0, they lost to Georgia Tech and Syracuse on the road neither of the games were by more than one score. Ultimately, they didn’t make it to the College Football Playoff, but they did get into a decent enough Bowl Game. They lost the game to Iowa State, but Ward only played half of the game before. He wanted to accomplish an individual milestone, and then didn’t care about the game. This year they have Carson Beck, the quarterback who was in control in Georgia before this season. Beck was not very impressive at Georgia, but maybe this scheme will release him a bit. They are replacing their top five receivers and starting running back as well. That is going to be tough to adjust to. They upgraded their coaching for the defense, but I think it might take some time for the team to gel. 

I don’t know that I expect the Hurricanes to be great this season. I think their offense will take a major step back, and the defense will take some time to be able to be one of the better units in the game. There is potential for both to be great, but I’m not there in the first game. Notre Dame has shown signs of struggling in the first games of a season under their coach. I just think they have a bit more continuity and that should make the difference. Back the Irish here to cover the short spread. Take them on the moneyline if you’re more comfortable. 

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024