Sean's 10* CFB GAME OF THE WEEK! 33-14 RUN!
- Handicapper
- Sean Murphy
- League
- NCAAF
- Competition
- Notre Dame vs Miami Florida
- Release Date
- 08/28/2025 10:09 AM
- Event Date
- 08/31/2025 07:45 PM
- Bet Type
- Point Spread
- Pick
-
Notre Dame -2.5 (-110)
(BetMGM)
- Outcome
- Loss
- Analysis
- Game of the Week. My selection is on Notre Dame minus the points over Miami at 7:30 pm et on Sunday.
Looking ahead at their schedule, the Hurricanes might not lose another game until November - if at all, but I do think they lose this very difficult season-opener against Notre Dame.
The Irish are of course coming off a tremendous college football playoff that saw them reach the National Championship Game against Ohio State where they ultimately fell by a 34-23 score. While there are plenty of new faces taking over key roles this season, the cupboard is amply stocked to say the last. I think the new blood brings some new energy while there's more than enough returning talent to keep that hunger after last January's disappointment.
Miami welcomes QB Carson Beck to the fold by way of Georgia where he starred for the Bulldogs. He suffered an elbow injury in last year's SEC Championship Game and that kept him out of the CFP. While I do think Beck will be a good fit in the Canes offense, there are bound to be some growing pains as he takes over from first overall NFL draft pick Cam Ward. Unlike Notre Dame, Miami doesn't have a lot of sure things around Beck on offense. There's no doubt WR Xavier Restrepo will be missed. It only seemed like he was around the program for the last decade.
Defensively, the Canes have a good mix of talent and experience across the board but like the Irish have a lot of new starters (only four defensive starters return from last year's team).
To put it simply, I'm just not as high on the Canes as a program under head coach Mario Cristobal as I am the Irish under Marcus Freeman. It took a bit of time, but Notre Dame is Freeman's program now and I think the Irish get off to a positive start, just as they did last year against Texas A&M. Take Notre Dame (10*).
