2024 CFB Sides: 29-18 (+9.2 units)
2024 CFB Props: 9-2 (+6.8 units)
Happy New Year, fellow sports investors! The College Football Playoffs are back and one of the more exciting games pits the Notre Dame Fighting Irish against the Georgia Bulldogs in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
The action kicks off at 8:45 Eastern on ESPN, and it can't come soon enough. Notre Dame throttled Indiana in the opening round, while Georgia enjoyed a much-needed bye. Need help betting on this iconic matchup? You've come to the right place!
Online sportsbooks opened this line at Georgia -1 and there has been solid two-way action on that number so far. Most shops are still dealing Georgia as a 1 or 1.5-point favorite as of the time of this writing. That number was obviously impacted by the loss of Bulldogs QB Carson Beck, who has been ruled out of the Sugar Bowl after getting hurt in the SEC Title Game.
The total has seen a little bit more movement than the point spread up to this point. The number opened at 44 but has been bet up a full point to the current line of 45. That's a low number for college football, but it makes sense when you take into account the strength of these two defenses.
We all know that Notre Dame loves to run the football, and they do it incredibly well. The Fighting Irish rank 2nd in the country in yards per rush, as they average a whopping 6.2 yards per tote. Jeremiyah Love is a little bit banged up, but you'd never know it by how well he ran the rock against Indiana.
Love and QB Riley Leonard form a deadly 1-2 punch for the Irish's rushing attack. The dynamic duo has combined for 31 rushing touchdowns on the year. Notre Dame also brings an efficient passing attack to the table, even though they lack a true superstar wideout.
As good as Love and Leonard have been, the cornerstone of this Irish team is their stellar defense. Marcus Freeman has done a phenomenal job on that side of the ball, as Notre Dame ranks 4th in yards per play allowed and 3rd in yards per pass allowed.
It's hard to quantify just how big of a loss a starting QB is to a team like Georgia. The Bulldogs lost Carson Beck in the SEC Championship but still rallied in the second half to take down Texas. Sophomore Gunnar Stockton will be the main man now under center for the 'Dawgs'.
Stockton looked efficient against Texas, as he completed 12 of his 16 passes for 71 yards. He also has the ability to pick up first downs with his legs. With Stockton having little game experience, look for Georgia to pound the rock with RB Nate Frazier (634 yds, 8 TDs).
Georgia once again has a solid defensive unit this season, although it isn't as dominant as in years past. The Bulldogs rank 15th in third down defense and 29th at stopping the run. Jalon Walker and Chaz Chambliss have both registered 6.5 sacks so far.
With a low total like this one, I don't mind paying a little bit of juice to get the moneyline. This very well could be a 1-point game, so the 8 cents of extra vig is worth it to me. While most of the public is writing Georgia off because of the loss of Beck, I still think this is a dangerous football team.
Notre Dame has the better overall stat sheet, but you have to consider the strength of their schedule. The Irish has played the 59th toughest schedule this season, while Georgia has played the 3rd toughest. Give me the more battle-tested team that's had 3.5 weeks to prepare. GO DAWGS!
Prediction: Georgia 24 - Notre Dame 20