Yes, Notre Dame is a legitimate College Football Playoff contender

As much as people probably don’t want to admit it, Notre Dame is indeed a contender for the College Football Playoff this season.

Hope everyone had fun last year and this past offseason getting their cracks in on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and their 4-8 record because the days of taking jabs are over. Saturday night, Notre Dame moved to 6-1 on the year in South Bend in very impressive fashion, smashing the USC Trojans 49-14 inside Notre Dame Stadium.

With Notre Dame being one of the most hated programs in college football history, some may not want to hear this, but the Irish are in fact contenders for the College Football Playoff. There are a few reasons to believe this.

Josh Adams is a problem

One thing that will never change in the game of football is that if you can run the ball effectively and efficiently, then your chances of success will be much greater. Notre Dame is proof-positive of this in 2017, as coming into Saturday night’s clash with USC they were owners of the sixth-ranked rushing offense in the country. Their success on the ground is due in large part to the efforts of junior Josh Adams.

Adams is quickly emerging as one of the best players in the nation, and he put on an absolute show Saturday evening in the trouncing of the Trojans. He carried the ball 19 times for 191 yards, including the 84-yard touchdown run you see above. With this performance, he’s now up to 967 yards on the ground and will break the 1,000-yard mark very shortly.

Notre Dame has one of the best running backs in the nation on their hands, and if he continues to tear up defenses, he’s one of the major pieces in making sure the Irish are one of the last four teams left standing.