College Football

2023 College Football odds: Notre Dame to cover, Week 0 best bets

Updated Aug. 24, 2023 3:03 p.m. ET

We've made it, folks!

College football is back this weekend with an appetizer of Week 0 action.

Even with a small menu of games, we can wager on the most important ones, and I have wagers for two matchups that fans and bettors will have their eyes on this weekend.

Let's dive into the action.

Navy vs. No. 13 Notre Dame in Dublin (Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET)

I’m taking the Irish in Ireland to beat Navy by at least three touchdowns.

I’m high on Notre Dame this year. Marcus Freeman is entering his second season as coach and after a shaky start in 2022, his squad ended up finishing 9-4.

The Irish offense was an issue last season because it was inconsistent. Neither of the quarterbacks that saw action at QB in 2022 are on the roster in 2023. Drew Pyne is at Arizona State and Tyler Buchner is at Alabama.

The Irish brought in Sam Hartman from Wake Forest and the offense should be much improved.

Notre Dame's offensive line had been one of the best for years but had fallen off lately. It’s back this season, though, because there are no injuries and the unit is a more veteran group. They have good weapons for Hartman and in this contest, their players are just better than Navy's.

The Irish defense last season allowed 23 points per game, and it returns so much production at all three levels of the defense. Having two linebackers with over 50 tackles from last season (JD Bertrand 82 and Jack Kiser 58) will be helpful as the Irish face off against the Midshipmen in Week 0.

This wager is a vote of confidence for Freeman’s squad and a fade of Navy. The Navy program won 11 games over the past three seasons, going 3-7 then 4-8 in consecutive years. Longtime coach Ken Niumatalolo was relieved of his job and the Midshipmen replaced him with their defensive coordinator Brian Newberry.

The signature of the Navy offense has been the run game, but even that has struggled the past few seasons. Navy will keep the bulk of the offense it's had in the past while adding wrinkles. This means that it will take a few game reps for the team to get comfortable. It’s a hard sell for me to believe the Navy offense will run smoothly against the talent of Notre Dame.

Navy’s defense was its strong part of the 2022 campaign, but if you take a closer look at last year's schedule, you'll see that the Midshipmen played well against bad offenses but surrendered points against the better units. They allowed 40 points to SMU, 38 to Houston and 35 to Notre Dame.

We are going to sweat this one out, but I’m taking Notre Dame to cover the big number.

PICK: Notre Dame (-20.5) to win by more than 20.5 points

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San Jose State at No. 6 USC (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET)

The Trojans return Heisman winner Caleb Williams at quarterback after averaging 41.4 points per game last season. They scored 76 touchdowns, tying for second behind Tennessee's 79. This offense can go, and I do not expect much to stop them this season.

USC is breaking in a few new offensive linemen and weapons. And no offense to SJSU, a Mountain West defense isn’t slowing down this offense without turnovers. USC’s offense rarely turned the ball over last season and it’s not starting this weekend.

Also worth noting is that San Jose State is replacing 16.5 sacks and only returns six starters on defense. USC will score in the 40s.

Now, let's talk about SC's defense. Call me a hater or whatever, but I will not buy USC being better on defense until the Trojans prove it. USC’s defensive coordinator Alex Grinch had good players at Oklahoma and was not able to produce acceptable defensive results there. And while there’s no debating that USC’s defensive roster has improved, I need to see it.

Is USC able to impose its physical will at the line of scrimmage? Are USC defenders going to tackle like it’s important? Can USC stop anyone without forcing turnovers?

SJSU returns an experienced quarterback in Chevan Cordeiro. He's entering his sixth season in college football (he played for Hawaii from 2018-21) and is throwing behind an offensive line that has plenty of experience. I believe the Spartans will score enough points to keep pace with USC for a bit.

PICK: Over 66 points scored by both teams combined

Geoff Schwartz is an NFL analyst for FOX Sports. He played eight seasons in the NFL for five different teams. He started at right tackle for the University of Oregon for three seasons and was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection his senior year. Follow him on Twitter @GeoffSchwartz.