#10 Notre Dame hosts #18 UVA
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, (2-1) coming off a close (23-17) loss to Georgia in Athens, take on an undefeated (4-0) UVA football team who leads the nation in sacks. Notre Dame is a 12 point favorite who has a 90% win chance per ESPN.
UVA beat Old Dominion last week and Florida State the week before. They are led by Bryce Perkins 81 of 124 for 843 yards passing with 6 TD’s/4 INT’s. He also leads the Cavs in rushing 51 carries for 193 yards and 2 TD’s. Reed is the leading WR with 23 catches for 215 yards and 3 TD’s. UVA is #2 in ACC power ranking. UVA coach Mendenhall loves to mix up the defenses plus the dynamic nature of Perkins (run/pass) make UVA a tough team to play, especially after the super physical game the Irish played in the trenches against Georgia. UVA averages 370 yards of offense while giving up 264.
Notre Dame needs to fix its rushing attack-only 46 yards against Georgia. The Irish have averaged 445 yards of offense while giving up 362. Led by Ian Book 58 of 94 for 828 yards, 8 TD’s, 2 INT’s. Tony Jones has rushed for 148 yards on 30 carries. Claypool is the lead receiver with 15 catches for 256 yards and 2 TD’s but TE Kmet was the star against Georgia who double teamed him in the second half. ND will try to get WR Finke going, possibly by moving him back to the slot. Look for ND to try to dare Perkins to throw as the ND secondary has exceeded expectations.
We like ND to win at home 28-16 with 2 TD’s for Kmet.
#21 USC visits #17 Washington in a Pac 12 battle of 3-1 teams
USC which is #4 in Pac 12 power raking is coming off an upset (30-23) win over Pac 12 power Utah. USC was led by third string QB Matt Fink (almost trnasferred) who threw 3 TD’s to 1 INT. On the season USC is led by RB Malepeai 69 carries for 311 yards and 4 TD’s and WR Pittman 31 catches for 437 yards and 3 TD’s (10 for 232 vs. Utah). USC has gained 443 yards while giving up 421. USC has elite receivers and a D line. The win over Utah has taken some pressure off head coach Helton whose seat was hot entering the season, the cooler after a win over Stanford but hot again after loss to BYU.
Washington (only loss is to Cal at home 20-19 in a rain soaked, lightning delayed game) is #3 in Pac 12 power ranking. UW has averaged 461 yards of offense while giving up 332. Georgia transfer Jacob Eason leads UW with 87 of 119 for 1063 yards and 10 TD’s/2 INT’s. Ahmed is lead RB with 44 carries for 246 and 2 TD’s. Bryant is leading WR with 19 catches for 285 yards and 1 TD. UW is coming off a 45-19 win over BYU (who beat USC earlier this season).
All of the Pac 12 writers from the Athletic have Washington winning this game and we agree as Fink’s “rainbow” passes may not fair as well against Washington. Note: Even if #2 Slovis returns, we still like UW (a 10.5 point favorite with 72% win chance) to prevail 30-20.
Shout out to the play off bound 2019 Milwaukee Brewers and another epic September!
For the second straight year my hometown Milwaukee Brewers are headed to the post season (first time since 1981/82 the Crew has made the playoffs in consecutive years). The Brewers sit at 88-70 with 4 games left. They trail the Nationals (89-69) for the first wildcard spot by 1 game and trail the Cardinals (90-69) for the NL Central crown by 1.5 games. The Brewers play the Reds at noon today (Eastern time) and the head to Colorado for 3 games with the Rockies. The Nats host the Phillies today then the motivated Indians (1.5 games out of second wild card in AL) for 3. The Cards are off today and then host the slumping Cubs for 3.
Per ESPN, on September 5 the Brewers (71-68) were 7.5 games behind the first place Cards and five behind the Cubs for the second NL wild card. Since then the Brew Crew has gone 17-2. The Brewers have played 15 of those 19 games without their best player-Reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich who is out for the year with a knee injury (hurt in first inning September 10). In the last 19 games the Brewers have scored 103 runs while giving up only 53. Brewer manager Craig Counsell (Whitefish Bay High School class of 1988), seems to have a special talent for managing expanded rosters, especially the bull pens-in 23 September games Brewer starters have only gone more than 4 and 1/3 innings 8 times. GM David Stearns made an awesome trade acquiring Jordan Lyles from the Pirates, since that trade Lyles is 7-1 with a 2.45 ERA for the Crew.
With the Bucks and Brewers having terrific seasons and the Packers and Badgers off to great starts in football, 2019 may be one of the best years ever for sports in the great state of Wisconsin!
