Vanderbilt at Notre Dame 9/15/18 - College Football Picks & Predictions

Vanderbilt scheduled the way you're supposed to schedule when you're Vanderbilt and the big, bad SEC opponents lie ahead. The Commodores crushed Middle Tennessee 35-7 in week one and followed that up with a thorough 41-10 pasting of Nevada last week. The test becomes much stiffer this week as Vandy heads to South Bend to face Notre Dame, which was impressive in a 24-17 win over Michigan two weeks ago, but fortunate to skate past Ball State 24-16 last week.

Vandy's defense is tied for seventh in the nation in points allowed (8.5 ppg). Kyle Shurmur is the main ingredient on offense, completing 67 percent of passes for 428 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Ke'Shawn Vaughn leads the ground attack with 130 yards on 20 carries and a pair of scores while Jamauri Wakefield has chipped in 99 yards on 18 carries. Kalija Lipscomb has a nose for the end zone - he's caught 14 passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns. Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush has been ordinary at best so far. He's completed 54 percent of passes and more troublesome has thrown four interceptions in 53 attempts and only one touchdown pass. Tony Jones Jr. (106 yards) and Jafar Armstrong (101 yards) are the leading ground gainers for the Fighting Irish while Miles Boykin has caught seven passes for 147 yards. Notre Dame safety Jalen Elliott had a pair of clutch interceptions in the win over Ball State.