College Football Playoff Rankings 2017: Projected top four after Week 10
By Brad Weiss
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-1)
Last week: W 48-37 vs. Wake Forest
Last rank: 3
All of a sudden, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are back on top of the college football landscape, and this current teams looks like a legitimate national title contender. On Saturday, the Fighting Irish took on a very solid Wake Forest team that made this one closer than it actually was late in the game. Notre Dame had to play most of the game without their star running back, so putting up nearly 50 points was quite impressive.
Quarterback Brandon Wimbush has been exactly what this program needed this season, as they had to deal with the inconsistent play of DeShone Kizer the last two seasons. Wimbush can’t only get it done through the air, where he set a career-high for passing yards on Saturday, but also with his feet. The quarterback threw for 280 yards against the Deamon Deacons, while rushing for two scores in the 48-37 victory.
Josh Adams, who is one of the best running backs in the country, had to leave this game in the first quarter, and he never returned. That put more pressure on Wimbush to carry the team, and boy did he deliver. The Fighting Irish got a stellar game from sophomore wideout Chase Claypool, who caught nine balls for 180 yards, though questions about their defense remain after a poor showing against Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons racked up nearly 600 yards against Notre Dame, so they have to be better on that side of the ball if they want to make a serious run at a title. They have two big games still left on the schedule, as they hit the road to play both Miami (FL), and Stanford. Those two games will decide if they are a College Football Playoff participant, and with a healthy Adams in the lineup, I do not see this team losing the rest of the way.