Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard found wide receiver Kris Mitchell for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 1:11 remaining in the first half to put the Fighting Irish up 21-7 over the visiting Stanford Cardinal in South Bend.
The pass capped off a 9-play, 56-yard drive that took 2:37 off the clock. The 21-7 lead would stand heading into halftime.
Notre Dame started slow but rallied and controlled most of the remainder of the first half. If the Irish can maintain that level of performance, they should be able to avoid a season-crushing upset as they cling to college football playoff hopes.
Notre Dame wide receiver Kris Mitchell participates in a drill during a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in South Bend.
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Notre Dame offensive lineman Pat Coogan made an athletic play to get a first down on what could’ve been a Stanford interception of a Riley Leonard pass.
Stanford Cardinal linebacker Gaethan Bernadel batted the pass up in the air and the ball found its way to Coogan who caught it and carried for the first down.
Usually offensive linemen have to report as eligible before catching a pass. In this case, an alert Coogan made sure the Irish retained the football — and got a key first down.
Sep 30, 2023; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Audric Estime (7) follows a block by offensive lineman Pat Coogan (78) against the Duke Blue Devils during the first quarter at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
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Notre Dame is pretty healthy for the matchup with Stanford.
The injury report is out for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish against the Stanford Cardinal, and all but one of the players listed on the two-deep roster this week are available.
Junior defensive lineman Jason Onye is out for personal reasons.
While it’s good news to see the Irish have a relatively clean bill of health going into the game against Stanford, the defensive line is already depleted with the losses of Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore for the year.
Even though Notre Dame is expected to beat Stanford, the Irish can use all the help they can get on the defensive line.
Sep 28, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish long snapper Rino Monteforte (39) prepares to snap the ball on an extra point in the fourth quarter against the Louisville Cardinals at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
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The experts all think Notre Dame will have it easy against Stanford.
It looks like there’s once again consensus that Notre Dame Fighting Irish will win at home.
This time they’re hosting the Stanford Cardinal in South Bend, and experts have the Irish winning — though more than a few believe the Cardinal will at least cover the spread.
We’re still worried about it being a trap game, but then again, the Cardinal aren’t very good and the Irish may have figured a few things out.
We hope, for the sake of the Irish’s playoff chances, that Notre Dame will walk away winners on Saturday. Certainly, most, if not all, experts think that they will.
For example, CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli has the Cardinal covering the spread, along with several other experts at the network. Yet the staff has unanimously has Notre Dame winning.
“Stanford isn’t likely to try to air it out against this Irish defense, so I don’t know that either team will be able to pull away from the other,” Fornelli wrote.
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 28: Beaux Collins #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in action against Tahveon Nicholson #23 of the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at Notre Dame Stadium on September 28, 2024 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
College Football News runs a College Football Playoff prediction each week, and thanks in part to Notre Dame’s win over Louisville, along with a wild weekend of upsets during the Fighting Irish’s bye, Notre Dame is projected to be back in.
CFN has the Irish hosting Boise State in South Bend on December 21. Not only that, but the outlet has Notre Dame beating Boise State before playing Utah in the next round. It projects Notre Dame to win that game, too, before losing to Ohio State one round short of the national championship game.
Other outlets, including USA Today, also have the Irish in the playoffs, though some as a lower seed that will have to play on the road. And a few outlets still think the Irish are destined for the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Still, at least outlet thinks the Irish are capable of a deep playoff run. That seemed unthinkable after the loss to Northern Illinois.
What a difference a few weeks makes.
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 28: Beaux Collins #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in action against Tahveon Nicholson #23 of the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at Notre Dame Stadium on September 28, 2024 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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Notre Dame has lost another key defensive lineman to injury. Now the Fighting Irish will have to look for a replacement.
End [autotag]Boubacar Traore[/autotag] is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee. The defensive end was injured in the first half of the Fighting Irish’s 31-24 win over the Louisville Cardinals. Traore had 11 tackles, five tackles for loss, and led the Irish with three sacks. He was also tied for second on the team for most quarterback pressures with eight — Howard Cross III has the most at 9.
[autotag]Junior Tuihalamaka[/autotag] seems the most likely replacement. Thus far the junior has seven tackles, two tackles for loss, and a half of a sack.
Freshman [autotag]Loghan Thomas[/autotag], who played 14 snaps versus Louisville, seems likely to see a lot more action.
Head coach Marcus Freeman also pointed to Josh Burnham, who is returning from injury, RJ Oben, and Bryce Young, as possible replacements.
Sep 21, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka (44) celebrates after an interception in the first quarter against the Miami Redhawks at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
“Josh is a guy that could play either field end or Vyper for us. RJ Oben and Bryce Young, obviously, have done a good job at the field end position, and Junior has done a really good job stepping up at the Vyper position, as well as Loghan Thomas getting some reps,” Freeman said. “And so you have five quality individuals that can play the end position for us. And we’ve got to have guys step up, just like Junior has done. And I’m confident that if something would happen again that we’ll have to have another guy step up.”
Vyper is another term for rush end.
Burnham and Young each have four tackles and 1 quarterback hit, and Young has blocked a kick on special teams. Thomas has one tackle and 1 quarterback hit, while Oben has eight tackles — four solo and four assisted.
Based on Freeman’s quote, Tuihalamaka seems likeliest to have the most impact with Traore out, with Burnham and Thomas following. Oben and and Young seem more likely to see most of their reps at field end.
Either way, Traore’s loss is a tough pill to swallow for the Irish.
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Notre Dame didn’t benefit much from upsets, at least not in the experts’ eyes.
One might think that with Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, USC and Michigan losing all on the same Saturday, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish might get a bit more love from pundits even though the Irish were idle.
That’s not quite how things have shaken out, despite Notre Dame moving up in the AP Top 25 poll.
Joel Klatt does give the Irish the “almost” treatment, but he still leaves them outside his Top 10. Danny Kannell still has Notre Dame outside of his Top 12.
Klatt goes Texas, Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon and Penn State with his top five. Kannell has his top five as Texas, Ohio State, Miami, Oregon and Penn State.
Perhaps the Irish would’ve been placed higher on these folks’ lists if they’d played and won on Saturday. Either way, the rash of upsets is probably good news for Notre Dame — assuming the Irish don’t fall victim to another upset of their own.
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Notre Dame moves up three spots without even playing.
Even though the Notre Dame Fighting Irish had the week off, they gained three spots in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, moving up to No. 11.
A slew of upsets on Saturday caused a lot of movement on the poll. The Alabama Crimson Tide dropped from No. 1 to No. 7 after being upset by Vanderbilt. Not to be outdone, Tennessee lost late to Arkansas and fell four spots to No. 8.
Missouri plummeted 12 spots to No. 21 after losing to Texas A&M, which jumped from No. 25 to No. 15. Defending national champion Michigan slipped 14 spots to No. 24 after falling to Washington in a title-game rematch.
POLL ALERT: Texas returns to No. 1 in AP Top 25 college football poll after Vanderbilt upsets Alabama, Tide drop from No. 1 to No. 7
Schools that moved up included Texas, which went from No. 2 to No. 1, and Ohio State. The Buckeyes moved up from No. 3 to No. 2. The Nittany Lions of Penn State jumped three spots to No. 4 and the Oregon Ducks also moved up three spots — they now sit at No. 3. Georgia remains in No. 5.
Miami hung on to beat Cal and moved up two spots to No. 6. With Alabama at No. 7 and Tennessee at No. 7, the top 10 gets rounded out by Ole Miss moving up three spots and Clemson shooting up five spots to No. 10.
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Notre Dame isn’t even in the top 10 when it comes to best jobs in the country.
The Athletic did some checking around to see what the best job in college football is. Notre Dame did not make the top five.
The outlet polled 50 people working in the sport, including head coaches, assistant coaches, analysts and recruiters. First-place votes were worth five points and second-place votes were worth four, and on down the line. There were a few teams tied for fifth place, in that case, 1 extra point was added on.
What is perhaps surprising is that Notre Dame was ranked 12th with just six points — meaning the school only managed six votes for 5th place.
Sep 28, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) leaves the field after defeating the Louisville Cardinals at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
It’s not said why the Irish aren’t higher, but we suspect the school’s tougher academic standards play a part. The top five schools have also been in national title contender mode more often in recent years.
The top five teams also have strong NIL and vast recruiting bases from their home states, and all are national brands.
Notre Dame, of course, is a national brand and isn’t necessarily lacking in resources, including NIL, but it may not be quite at the level of those top 5.
That may change if Marcus Freeman can make the program into a consistent playoff contender.
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Former college quarterback and current analyst Greg McElroy is back in on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after the Irish beat Louisville 31-24 on Saturday.
A lot of pundits are still not seeing the Irish as a top-10 or playoff team, but McElroy thinks the Irish could be — if they get back to playing to their potential, and if they can do it for a full game.
“The boobirds were out after Week 2, weren’t they?” McElroy said on his podcast. “You go, and you lose to Northern Illinois. They look great against A&M in the fourth quarter of the football game, and then Northern Illinois comes to town, and you get beat up along both lines of scrimmage.”
“Sometimes, you can point to upsets, and you say, ‘All right, well, little flukey, right. (It’s) unlikely that that happens again,'” McElroy said. “Well, that wasn’t the case against Northern Illinois. Northern Illinois just flat-out beat them along both lines of scrimmage.”
Sep 28, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish long snapper Rino Monteforte (39) prepares to snap the ball on an extra point in the fourth quarter against the Louisville Cardinals at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
That was the bad. Here’s the good.
“You look at it, Riley Leonard, it’s his fifth game as the starting quarterback of the Irish, and this was his first with multiple touchdown passes,” McElroy said. “All right. He hit (Jaden) Greathouse on the one, and then I love the designed screen throwback to (Jeremiyah) Love, which was a big touchdown down the left side. So, there’s an awful lot to like about what we saw from Mike Denbrock.
“I really liked what we saw from Mike Denrock the offensive coordinator, a highly, highly compensated offensive coordinator,” he added. “Bring him up from LSU, and this is the type of performance that you would anticipate. My goodness, they have improved drastically. That was a good defense that they played against. That was a really good defensive line. I think that’s a group that has talent in the back end, and I thought Notre Dame’s offensive performance was rock solid.”
McElroy praised quarterback Riley Leonard’s growth and development. He then went on to speak highly of the defense, especially with the injuries it has been dealing with.
He ended by pointing out that the Irish have been playing well in 15-minute chunks.
“I’d love to see it for 60 minutes because we haven’t yet seen it for 60 minutes from Notre Dame,” McElroy said. “We’ve seen it in really 15-minute increments, whether it’s the fourth quarter against Texas A&M, whether it’s the one quarter of dominance and brilliance against Louisville in the first quarter. I’d love to see it for 60 because if they can do it for 60, they could play with anybody.”
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