The Notre Dame Fighting Irish came close to making another College Football Playoff. But with a loss to Cincinnati earlier this season, that dream ultimately fell flat. Instead, Notre Dame will take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Fiesta Bowl. While it’s a consolation prize for Notre Dame, it’s an exciting bowl to be a part of.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma State Cowboys finished the season 11-2 after losing the Big 12 Championship game to Baylor. The Cowboys had a terrific season and will look to finish with a big win against another top 10 opponent.
Who will be dancing after Saturday’s game? Here are our picks and predictions for the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had one hectic finish to the regular season. The independent football team watched their head coach in Brian Kelly dip out of the program for LSU and then watched four other teams get into the College Football Playoff, leaving the Fighting Irish as the fifth-best team in the nation.
Notre Dame scored 35.3 points per game while allowing 18.3 points per game. It was another unreal season for a Notre Dame team that just continued to win games no matter the circumstances. However, Notre Dame will be without several key players like running back Kyren Williams and safety Kyle Hamilton.
Hamilton was a significant portion of the defense that allowed only 339.8 yards per game this season. The Fighting Irish were overall elite on defense with a fantastic secondary and a team that rarely missed tackles. But without Hamilton, things will be a bit harder.
On the other hand, Oklahoma State scored 30.6 points per game and allowed 16.8 points per game. Of course, the Cowboys had a tougher schedule and almost won the Big 12 after winning 11 games. Now they’ll look for win 12 with a defense that allowed just 273.6 yards per game.
The Cowboys will miss tackles here and there, but like Notre Dame, Oklahoma State has a terrific secondary and a better defensive line that has held opponents to just 89.2 yards per game on the ground.
Notre Dame will have a new head coach in Marcus Freeman taking over. He will be a gem of a coach, but in all honesty, Oklahoma State looks better on paper.
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At this point, there’s going to be a lot of guessing when it comes to this Notre Dame team. They’ve got a new, young coach that has no experience as a head coach just yet. Notre Dame is also without its top running back and first-round draft pick safety.
Give me Oklahoma State with the points in this one.
Pick: Oklahoma State +2.5 (-110)
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