Notre Dame football score predictions: Fighting Irish vs. Navy national picks

There are some weeks on the Notre Dame beat when finding predictions from national pundits for the Fighting Irish’s game is not so easy. This is one of those weeks.

No. 9 Notre Dame (8-2) is over a seven-touchdown favorite over Syracuse (3-7) in South Bend on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC). Yes, that includes extra points. Thirty-five and a half points, or so, depending on the sports book of choice.

All that said, there isn’t much to offer in the way of what prominent prognosticators expect to see at Notre Dame Stadium tomorrow afternoon. Nonetheless, here are a few picks Blue & Gold gathered.

The Sporting News

Bill Bender: Notre Dame 45, Syracuse 13
“Notre Dame is 1-1 ATS when favored by 30 points or more. Syracuse has averaged just 11.6 points in its last six losses – and they had three turnovers in four of those games. The Orange are coming off a bye week – and the Irish have beaten three ACC opponents by an average of 22 points per game.”

Bleacher Report

David Kenyon: Notre Dame 42, Syracuse 14
“The ugly truth is Syracuse hasn’t scored more than 16 points in six straight losses. Unless the Orange pull out their best defensive performance of the year—on the heels of ceding 6.8 yards per snap in the last three—Notre Dame should win running away. (Literally, with superstar back Jeremiyah Love, too.)”

USA Today

Matt Hayes: Irish
Jordan Mendoza: Irish
Paul Meyerberg: Irish
Erick Smith: Irish
Eddie Timanus: Irish
Blake Toppmeyer: Irish

Athlon Sports

Steve Lassan: Irish
Thomas Neumann: Irish
Kyle Wood: Irish

Action Network

Collin Wilson: Notre Dame -36
“I’m going with Notre Dame here.

“The Fighting Irish basically have just two bullet points left on their schedule that they can lean on when it comes time to make their case to the College Football Playoff committee.

“Syracuse is the opponent this week, and the Orange are a mess this year. Sitting at 3-7 and not even bowl eligible, there’s not much left for them to play for. They’ve been getting beaten down pretty badly, losing by 28 points to Miami, 17 to UNC, 25 to Georgia Tech and 35 to Duke.

“On top of that, quarterback Rickie Collins is a liability. He has almost three times as many turnover-worthy plays as he does big-time throws.

“Defensively, Syracuse comes in near dead last in pass explosiveness allowed, which is a glaring weakness. It’s just a bad look all around.

“Notre Dame needs to make sure the committee remembers that it deserves to be ranked ahead of Miami. But from what we’ve seen, Notre Dame should take care of business here and check off as many boxes as possible on its resume.

“I expect the Irish to lay it on the Orange as much as they possibly can.”

College Football News

All 13 experts are picking the Irish. Click here for the breakdown.