Florida State vs. Notre Dame: Bold Predictions for Champs Sports Bowl

The Florida State Seminoles will record a stunningly-decisive victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to win the Champs Sports Bowl. 

This is going to be a low scoring affair, where Notre Dame's penchant for turnovers ultimately dooms their hopes of ending their season with a bowl win. 

This is going to be a hard-fought and intense game, as both of the teams will be trying to end their season on a positive note after finishing the regular season 8-4. Read on to see how it will play out. 

Point Total Won't Surpass 30

This game is going to be dominated by defense.

Florida State enters this contest fourth in the nation in points allowed at 15.2 per game. Notre Dame enters the game 29th at 20.9 points allowed per game. 

The Irish are a balanced offense. They are 33rd in passing yards and 51st in rushing yards. However, they will be turned into a one-dimensional team for this game.

They will not be able to run effectively, and that will force them into numerous unfavorable passing situations. 

Florida State will be able to shut down the Irish's run game. They allow a meager 2.32 yards per rush. This is going to make moving the sticks an daunting task for the Golden Domers.

On the other side of the ball, things will not be much easier for Florida State. The Seminoles prefer to move the sticks with the pass. They are 34th in passing yards and 99th in rushing yards.

The Irish are not dominant on pass D. They allowed opponents to go for a QB rating of 127.14. However, they do a decent job of rushing the passer, and this will give Florida State's suspect pass protection fits.

Florida State allowed 35 sacks this year; Notre Dame tallied 20 sacks on the season. This will allow Notre Dame to limit the havoc Florida State can wreak through the air, and in turn will help keep the score low.   

Tommy Rees Will Chuck 3 INTs

Rees struggled with interceptions this year. He threw 12 of them, and he threw to the other team in nine of 12 games. He will set a season high with three picks in this game. 

With Florida State shutting down the Irish's running game, the burden of the offense is going to fall onto Rees' shoulders. And, as mentioned above, it will force numerous obvious passing situations. This will cause the Notre Dame QB to force the ball into tight coverage while under heavy duress. 

The Seminoles do an excellent job of rushing the passer. They had 35 sacks on the season. They also do a solid job of hauling in interception—they had 12 of them. They will add to that total in a big way this game.  

Florida State Wins 20-7

It's already been outlined why Notre Dame is going to have a hard time scoring. No rushing game and three interceptions is enough to cripple any offense. It will also lead to Florida State playing with a short field nearly all game. 

This will be more than enough to propel them to victory, as EJ Manuel will have an efficiently solid game without having to take big risks. 

Manuel enters this game with a QB rating of 151.0. This means he knows how to manage a game and limit turnovers. That is all he is going to have to do here to lead his team to a Champs Sports Bowl victory.