California at Notre Dame Prediction for Week 3

California Golden Bears

California has had a much better start to their season than they have been used to for the last several years, starting out 2-0. Now, that was against far inferior competition in UC-Davis and UNLV, but they needed some confidence builders to get the season rolling on the right foot for once. Transfer quarterback Jack Plummer has played pretty well so far, accounting for over 546 passing yards and five total touchdowns in his first two contests with the Golden Bears. The rushing attack is formidable, with freshman Jaydn Ott playing pretty good football so far with 24 carries for 156 yards and a TD.

The two play off of one another on offense, which is why it has been able to work up to this point. However, when this team comes into South Bend against a very angry Notre Dame team looking to get their already maligned head coach his first win, it is going to be a different challenge entirely.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Irish are hot, and I dont mean their record on the year. That sits at a miserable 0-2 after their incredibly shocking loss at home to a much worse Marshall team. They are still searching for their first win under new head coach Marcus Freeman after he took over for Brian Kelly last year. The loss to Ohio State was expected, but a loss at home to Marshall? Unacceptable for a team as talented as this, which is why many are already calling for Freeman to be fired after three games.

Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner threw two interceptions and had to rely on his rushing ability to get any offense going at all. Marshall's defense snuffed out big play opportunities and delivered a clutch pick-six in the final moments of the fourth quarter. A 26-21 loss to the Thundering Herd is bad but the scoreboard makes Notre Dame look better than they actually played.

This was quite embarrassing, and a loss to Cal here might start getting some seats lukewarm already.

My Prediction

Notre Dame has to win this game, no excuses. The Irish are banged up, lacking depth throughout the offense, and lost their starting QB for the season. They still should win by a large margin. A lot of people will be on Cal here thinking the Irish are a sinking ship, but I will go the opposite direction and take Notre Dame -10.5. Even with the injuries, they are far and away the better team overall, especially in the trenches. Of course, I would have picked them to destroy Marshall as well, but we all saw how that turned out.