ND FOOTBALL: Irish ‘keep the pain of NIU’ as heavy favorites against Florida State

Nov. 6—SOUTH BEND — It’s been nine weeks since Notre Dame’s season was upended at home.

The 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois (a team that has gone 2-4 since) is still being used as motivation inside the Irish locker room. The correlations to Saturday’s nightcap in South Bend are easy to spot as a historically struggling Florida State (1-8) walks in to Notre Dame Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

“It’s a mental preparation and a physical preparation, and we know what the result is when you don’t mentally prepare the right way,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. “We know it. That’s why I always say keep the pain of NIU, because that’s a result of not having the right mindset.”

The Seminoles began the season 10th in the nation following a 13-1 record last season. Many experts predicted Florida State would take a step back, but with a 14-9 win over California as its only passing grade through nine games, it’s safe to say the game provides significantly less in terms of padding Notre Dame’s strength of schedule.

The College Football Playoff committee released its first batch of rankings this season on Tuesday. Notre Dame (7-1) was ranked No. 10 and was behind other one-loss teams such as No. 2 Ohio State (7-1), No. 3 Georgia (7-1), No. 5 Texas (7-1), No. 6 Penn State (7-1), and No. 7 Tennessee (7-1). Out of the six one-loss teams in the top-10, the Irish have the lowest strength of schedule.

The Bulldogs (1), Buckeyes (19), Nittany Lions (28), Volunteers (33) and Longhorns (54) have a better standard than Notre Dame (74). Of the top-10 teams ranked by the CFP committee, only No. 7 Indiana has a worse strength of schedule at 103. The Hoosiers, though, remain unbeaten, and have beaten every team on the schedule by at least two touchdowns.

That’s a signal to the Irish that one more loss, and the chances of making the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nd-football-irish-keep-pain-031600860.html

Author : Goshen News, Ind.

Publish date : 2024-11-07 03:16:00

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