IRISH HAVE FIGHT ON HANDS
Two TDs too many points to lay with Georgia
TEMPORARY bleachers have been brought into Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., upping its usual capacity of nearly 93,000. Tickets are being resold for fourfigures. A playoff dream could die.
When Georgia and Notre Dame met two years ago, the stakes weren’t so clear. Neither team was in the top 10. The novelty of their second meeting ever — and first since Georgia clinched its lone national title in the 1981 Sugar Bowl — still left them overshadowed by Oklahoma vs. Ohio State, and Clemson vs. Auburn.
The Fighting Irish were coming off their worst season in nine years, a 4-8 campaign in 2016 that marked their second-fewest wins since JFK was killed. The Bulldogs were entering their second season with a first-time coach, and giving true freshman quarterback Jake Fromm his first start.
Georgia escaped South Bend with a 20-19 win, sparking a run that left the Bulldogs a few plays short of a national championship. Last year, Notre Dame completed an undefeated regular season to reach the playoff.
Saturday’s heavyweight matchup pits the No. 3 Bulldogs against the No. 7 Fighting Irish.
“I know a lot of Georgia fans have had this one marked on the schedule for a long time,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said this week. “So have a lot of Notre Dame fans.”
The Irish have looked forward to so many other hyped affairs, but haven’t defeated a top-five team on the road since 2005. Some losses have made mockeries of otherwise incredible seasons. Alabama’s 42-14 BCS title game win ended one perfect year. Clemson’s 30-3 playoff domination destroyed another.
Notre Dame (+14) is due to look its part. Even on the road against a national-title contender, two touchdowns is too much to lay against a balanced team that has won 15 of its past 16 games. Houston (+5) over TULANE: A lot has changed since the Cougars’
48-17 win last season. But D’Eriq King remains, likely to set an FBS record by throwing and running for a touchdown for the 15th straight game. Utah (-4) over USC: Reggie Bush will return to USC — as an analyst — for the first time since he was stripped of the Heisman Trophy. It’s nice. It will give the fans one thing to cheer about. Air Force (+8) over BOISE
STATE: I’ll let Air Force running back Kadin Remsberg take it: “We have so much talent. People, I think, discredit us because we’re an academy, but we have guys that can ball. We’re going to show the Mountain West this year.” A blue turf upset is within reach after a win at Colorado.
Southern Miss (+39) over ALABAMA: For some reason, the “Process” doesn’t include a stipulation to take the sport’s steerage seriously. VANDERBILT (+231/2) over
Lsu: The Tigers’ new spread offense has the nation abuzz, but their secondary has taken a step back, allowing 626 passing yards and six touchdowns, with no interceptions in the past two games. Vanderbilt has appealing backdoor potential, coming off Riley Neal’s 378-yard passing performance against Purdue. FLORIDA (-14) over Tennessee: Quarterback Feleipe Franks spent two-plus seasons proving he couldn’t lead the Gators back to