Even with one loss, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have proven they are the best team in college football not residing in the vaunted SEC.
In a week where the first College Football Playoff rankings will be announced, the talk about which teams belong in the top four got more interesting. The Week 9 slate of games offered a number of critical matchups that could play a role in determining such things. And the ultimate outcomes of those games told us a lot.
Most notably, the losses for the Penn State Nittany Lions and TCU Horned Frogs will play a huge part in how the CFP rankings initially shake out. They were two of the remaining unbeaten teams in the country, and now their chances of making it into the top four have diminished, though they aren’t gone entirely.
With the South Florida Bulls also losing in Week 9, there are only five remaining undefeated teams in all of college football. Two of them reside in the SEC, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs. The other three are the Miami Hurricanes, Wisconsin Badgers and UCF Knights. However, the two SEC squads are clearly a cut above the rest right now. That being said, the third best team in the country and best team outside of the SEC isn’t one of the other three unbeatens, but rather a one-loss team.
No, it isn’t Penn State or TCU, or even Ohio State. It’s the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Coming off of their big win against the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday, here’s why they’re the best team not in the SEC at this crucial point in the season.
3. That defense, though
With a win against the Wolfpack, Notre Dame moved to 7-1 on the season. And for the most part and if you asked the majority of fans, they’d say that the defining trait of this team is their defense. That’s far from an inaccurate assessment of this team as well. They’ve allowed 20 points in just two games this season, giving up that exact amount in their one-point loss to Georgia and in a 29-point win over Boston College. Outside of that, however, their defense has controlled the game.
And before you scoff and talk about schedule, this Fighting Irish team hasn’t been stifling cupcakes with their defense. You could argue that few teams in college football have been tested to the degree that Notre Dame has to this point. As of Week 9, four of their eight games have been against teams who were ranked in the latest AP Poll. And they’ve answered the call each time, including dominant performances against the likes of Sam Darnold, a big defensive effort even in the loss to Georgia, and leaving NC State’s efficient and explosive offense wanting for 60 minutes.
Whichever way that you try to attack Kelly’s team, it seems that it’s no use. They’re proven against both high-powered rushing and passing attacks to this point. To this point, even in their defeat, they haven’t been completely broken on that side of the ball. For a team to be great, they have to have a defense that can compete against that caliber of competition and submit that type of performance. The Fighting Irish have done as much.