Thursday, March 28, 2024
spot_img

Notre Dame vs. Virginia: Prediction, pick, football game odds, spread, live stream, watch online, TV channel

No. 9 Notre Dame travels to Charlottesville this weekend to take on Virginia in a must-win game to keep the Fighting Irish’s slimming College Football Playoff hopes alive. The Irish moved up a spot in the new selection committee rankings released on Tuesday, and the path to making it into the top four does require plenty of help, but every win keeps them in the conversation as one of the best one-loss teams in the country. 

Saturday’s road trip comes after a three-game home stand of wins over USC, North Carolina and Navy. In that stretch, the Fighting Irish offense found its groove and running back Kyren Williams began a midseason emergence that has the star sophomore playing some of his best football at this crucial point in the season. There have been some minor frustrations or setbacks, but the quality of results suggests Notre Dame is well-positioned to run the table the rest of the way. 

Virginia, meanwhile, enters the game off a 66-49 loss at BYU that not only dropped the team to 6-3, but included an injury for starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong. Coach Bronco Mendenhall has indicated Armstrong’s availability is a game-time decision, leaving plenty of questions surrounding the Cavaliers’ chances of pulling off the top-10 upset. 

Notre Dame vs. Virginia: Need to know

Mendenhall “planning” for Armstrong to play: Virginia has had an extra week to help Armstrong get healthy, but that time has done nothing in terms of bringing clarity to the situation for those outside the program. Mendenhall has declined to discuss the specifics or severity of the injury, only telling reporters this week that he’s planning to have Armstrong, who currently leads the FBS in total offense, in the lineup. Redshirt freshman Ira Armstead and freshman Jay Woolfolk are both listed as the No. 2 on the depth chart behind Armstrong, so if he can’t throw comfortably on Saturday night — or suffers further injury — it will be one of the two rookies getting the nod to lead the offense. 

Kyren Williams is the midseason offensive MVP: The sophomore running back had 176 all-purpose yards in the win over Navy, marking the third straight game in which Williams has eclipsed 150 all-purpose yards. Changes to the offensive approach have taken some pressure off the offensive line and allowed Williams to put together one of the better four-game runs we’ve seen this season with 513 rushing yards, 119 receiving yards, 92 return yards and 12 total touchdowns since the loss to Cincinnati. 

Fighting Bye-rish: Virginia is the sixth opponent this season that’ll be playing the Fighting Irish coming off of a bye. Notre Dame is 4-1 in this spot, with the only loss coming against Cincinnati. This is a fairly common position for Notre Dame to be in since it is typically one of the biggest nonconference games on everyone’s slate, but the program has been successful in recent years by winning 13-of-14 games against opponents coming off a bye week since 2017. 

How to watch Notre Dame vs. Virginia live

Date: Saturday, Nov. 13 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

Location: Scott Stadium — Charlottesville, Va.

TV: ABC | Live stream: fuboTV (Try for free)

Notre Dame vs. Virginia prediction, picks

Featured Game | Virginia Cavaliers vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Powered by Caesars Sportsbook

The Fighting Irish have won 37 consecutive games as a favorite and 39 consecutive games against unranked teams. Virginia isn’t well rounded enough to complement its offense for a potential upset, so go ahead and take Notre Dame to continue its straight up streaks and cover the spread along the way. Prediction: Notre Dame (-5.5)

Which college football picks can you make with confidence in Week 11, and which top-15 team will get stunned? Visit SportsLine to see which teams will win and cover the spread — all from a proven computer model that has returned almost $3,500 in profit over the past five-plus seasons — and find out.

Related articles

Share article

Latest articles

Newsletter

Subscribe to stay updated.