Notre Dame Moves Up In Both Polls
Notre Dame entered last weekend ranked 23rd in both the AP and Coach’s Poll. Saturday’s 35-0 shutout of Nevada was enough to convince voters that Notre Dame deserved to be ranked a little bit higher though as Notre Dame moved up to 18th in the AP Poll and 20th in the USA Today Poll.
The only Notre Dame opponent ranked in each poll is still USC which came in at #3 in both polls. USC even received a first place vote in the USA Today Poll.
This weekend’s opponent – Michigan – received votes in both polls. The Wolverines came in at 36th in the AP Poll and 41st in the USA Today Poll. With Michigan outside the top 25, this will be the first time since 1985 an unranked Michigan team will host a ranked Notre Dame team. In 2007, both schools entered the game unranked and sporting 0-2 records to mark the first time neither team was ranked when they faced each other. Neither team was ranked again last year when Michigan traveled to Notre Dame Stadium.
Michgan State was the 26th ranked team in the USA Today Poll and the 27th ranked team in the AP Poll. Also receiving votes were Pitt (28th AP, 32nd USA Today) and Boston College (39th AP, 43rd USA Today).
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Hopefully by the time Notre Dame plays MSU, Pitt, and BC, they will all be ranked in the top 25 as well. It always looks good for the Irish to beat a ranked opponent. GO IRISH!!!
I remember mentioning 5 touch down passes a game for 09 season (average) after the Hawaii the game; now seems reasonable.
Go Irish!
JC, I love the enthusiasm, but 4 td/gm is ridiculous (48 tds) 5’s pretty much beyond comprehension (60 tds). This is only because it’s 2 more than Colt Brennan’s record of 58 (I’m pretty sure that included the bowl game) and he was only able to do that because of his pass happy offense and bad defense that kept him in the games needing to throw.
What I’m trying to say is that there are 3 factors limiting his chances at this:
1. Balance. ND’s goal is to have a balanced offense (not a pass happy one). This would cause us to eat up more time (as you saw happened with Nevada in the first quarter) and thus have less scoring opportunities. Also, the pass will not be the only way we score this year.
2. Defense. With improved defensive play, if JC puts up 4 TD’s, there won’t be much need to keep him in there and press the issue. ND will probably be well ahead by that point and risking JC for the purpose of big numbers isn’t smart.
3. The Crist factor. Charlie has demonstrated that he’s more than willing to put Dayne in this past Saturday when he had him go in to throw the ball in the second quarter. I don’t think we’re on the verge of a QB controversy or anything, but I do believe that DC is supreme talent (on par with JC). and that Weis just wants the kid to know that he is a serious part of our plans for the future. I don’t think he’s ready to take the reins or even challenge JC for the position, but I do think Weis wants him to be ready.
With all that said, I love how underrated the Irish are.
I sincerely enjoy how much people gripe about how overrated the Irish always are, but let’s face it: If the Irish finish the season ranked higher than 23 they were (by definition) UNDERrated. The Irish WILL finish ranked higher than 23.