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A strange thing has happened with Notre Dame. Somehow, someway, the Fighting Irish are flying under the radar. While we all spent the last week arguing about one Indiana program, a different one has been tearing the competition limb from limb, week after week, in a fashion similar to the Hoosiers’ first nine games.
Notre Dame’s dominance was on display against Army in Yankee Stadium Saturday night in the 100 year anniversary of the famed “Four Horseman” game, with famed sportswriter Grantland Rice’s opening emblazoned in center field: “outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again.”
They didn’t need a quartet, all they needed was one guy wearing the number four on his jersey: Jeremiyah Love. His seven rushes for 130 yards and two touchdowns were more than enough in a 49-14 win. Once the Irish cashed in their second touchdown off a blocked punt in the first quarter, the rest seemed like a waste of time for all involved.
Notre Dame has the oddest résumé of the College Football Playoff race’s upper crust. Similarly to Penn State, the 12-team format is tailor-made for a team like the Irish: take a loss early in the year, but still have a suitable path to the title. They have a good win at Texas A&M in Week 1 that could get even better over the next couple of weeks depending on the outcome of the SEC race. But the Irish also have that head-scratcher to Northern Illinois, which is 6-5 and not even close to the MAC title game.
Still, Notre Dame has been a force, particularly on defense. Only NIU (16) and Louisville (24) have scored more than 14 points on the Irish this season.
Without a conference, the best Notre Dame can do is host a first-round game, which it’s in the driver’s seat to do with a win over…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/the-monday-read-notre-dame-forever-fights-overrated-label-but-its-flying-under-the-radar-in-this-cfp-race/
Author : Richard Johnson
Publish date : 2024-11-25 18:00:00
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