4. TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Notre Dame vs South Carolina
Friday, December 30, 2022, 3:30 ET, ESPN
ATS Line Notre Dame -3.5
Pick Notre Dame
Can Tyler Buchner rise up and get the Notre Dame offense going? Can it hang shot for shot with a South Carolina offense that closed the year on a roll, and now gets to go against a defense that’s missing its top threat up front in end Isaiah Foskey.
The Irish are missing some of their main guys. South Carolina is missing almost everyone.
It’s been dangerous going with the belief that the teams missing the most starters are going to lose. Check that, they’re losing, but they’re covering a bit too often.
I certainly don’t think this will be easy, and having Spencer Rattler around at quarterback is a huge deal. But again, there are WAY too many pieces from the Gamecock puzzle out.
Notre Dame won’t do anything fancy, it’ll run, count on at least two takeaways, and get the win … I think.
I’m not putting anything past South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer with time to prepare. He just won’t have the guys to get it done.