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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish avoided a disastrous 0-3 start to the season by taking down Cal with a 24-17 victory on Saturday. The Irish closed as a 13.5-point favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, meaning the Golden Bears covered in South Bend. And the point total landed exactly on 41, which is where it closed.
BUT, that was almost not the case!
Cal was driving down the field in the final minute and making one last dash to tie the game. Golden Bears quarterback Jack Plummer seemingly coughed up the football for a fumble and it was scooped up and taken the other way by Fighting Irish cornerback TaRiq Bracy.
Notre Dame (-13.5) returns the fumble for a TD putting them an extra point away from the cover…
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) September 17, 2022
But the QB was ruled down pic.twitter.com/PnjxzQVPQ0
Unfortunately for you Notre Dame bettors, the replay review determined that Plummer’s knee was down prior to fumble, taking the touchdown, the Irish cover, and the over off the board. Really tough break there.
Head coach Marcus Freeman picked up his first victory as the head man in South Bend and avoided Notre Dame’s first 0-3 start since 2007. He’s covered in two of those games though, so that has to count for something right?