Notre Dame-Oregon State: Sun Bowl Staff Predictions
It seems like it was just a couple of weeks ago that Notre Dame was in Ireland kicking off the 2023 season. It was a year full of promise but that also featured many frustrations.
Notre Dame started 4-0 before dropping an all-time heartbreaker to Ohio State. They followed that up with a last second win at Duke before getting boat-raced at Louisville. All in all the Irish would finish the regular season 9-3 with plenty of promise but also plenty of questions.
Now comes a dam fine Oregon State Beavers team that is going through a transition as a program. Their days in the Pac 12 are done and their former quarterback turned head coach has left to lead Michigan State.
Both sides have more than a handful of key players from the regular season opting out. Notre Dame can finish the year with 10 wins, something they’ve accomplished every year since 2017 besides last year. Oregon State could finish 9-4 with a victory.
With so many key pieces on both sides this certainly isn’t the easiest game to handicap. However, we will certainly try our best to tell you how it goes as the 2023 season sees a bow put on it.
Geoffrey Clark:
There’s no question Notre Dame is weaker with all of the opt-outs, especially on offense. The best hope the Irish have is to lean into their stronger unit, the defense, and play to the strengths of the stars they still have on that side of the ball. Oregon State surely knows it has owned the Irish in the distant past, and it will do everything in its power to keep that narrative going. This will be close, but the Irish finally will exorcize those Beavers demons.
Notre Dame 23, Oregon State 20
Michael Chen:
The end of college football is near and Notre Dame has an opportunity to finish its season on a high note. The expectations coming into the season were sky high, and while the Irish didn’t accomplish any of their lofty goals, the momentum heading into 2024 could be building. Both teams were gutted by the transfer portal, but Oregon State more than Notre Dame. Just on that fact alone, the Irish should get win No. 10 on the year and have some positive vibes heading into next year.
Notre Dame 31 Oregon State 10
John Kennedy:
Notre Dame fans are in an odd place mentally entering the Sun Bowl. On one hand, the Irish faithful want to wrap up 2023 strong by notching win number 10. On the other hand, given all of the opt-outs and moving parts on both sides, including the addition of Mike Denbrock to next year’s staff, many fans are already looking forward to the clean slate of 2024. The reality is if there’s a game to be played, any game to be played, the Irish should go ahead and win it. I expect the Notre Dame defense to be the best unit on the field for the Sun Bowl and they must take charge to set the Notre Dame offense up in prime field position for new signal caller Steve Angeli. I do not expect this game to be played pristinely, but the Irish will do enough to pull away late as they head into the off-season with optimism in overdrive.
Notre Dame 27, Oregon St. 14
Jeff Feyerer
Seeing as though the transfer portal and the NFL Draft have robbed this game of some top tier talent, it’s tough to use the regular season performance of each squad as a fair predictor of the outcome of this game. It really is a bet on depth of talent for each school and how good each respective backup (or third-string in Oregon State’s case) quarterback can perform. The Beavers will be facing the additional uphill battle of their coach, Jonathan Smith, who has departed for Michigan State. With so little information to go on, I decided to go back into history. Smith was the quarterback for the Oregon State team that destroyed Notre Dame in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl. He’s not here. Win for Notre Dame. In the 2004 Insight Bowl, the Beavers once again beat the Irish after Tyrone Willingham was fire and the Irish had interim Kent Baer take the reins. Score another one for the Irish in this one who will be going up against an interim. It will be fun to Steve Angeli take over for a game to see what he can do. I believe he’ll lead the Irish to victory.
Notre Dame 31, Oregon State 13
Nick Shepkowski:
The last time Notre Dame was in the Sun Bowl they were finishing their first year under Brian Kelly and facing a team going under a coaching change. It may be Marcus Freeman’s second season but the program is still shifting to becoming fully his as he continues to erase almost any fingerprint of Kelly whatsoever. 10 wins seems to mean an absolute ton to Freeman and it appears he has his team bought in on that. Replacing nearly 20 bodies from the regular season certainly won’t be easy but Oregon State has undergone an even greater shift as a program in just the last few weeks. It’s Peanut Butter Angeli time for Notre Dame in El Paso.
Notre Dame 23, Oregon State 10
