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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Notre Dame still isn’t getting much love post-NIU.
One might think that Notre Dame beating Louisville, and looking generally much better while doing it, would be enough to vault the Fighting Irish into certain experts’ top 10 rankings.
Perhaps Notre Dame fans shouldn’t be too surprised. It’s going to be an uphill climb after the Week 2 failure against Northern Illinois, and the Irish’s schedule is considered less challenging than usual.
That said, if the Irish continue to win and play well, perhaps they’ll be back on the pundits’ radar.
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Jeremiyah Love has been a huge part of the Notre Dame offense today — and all season.
Running back Jeremiyah Love has been carrying the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on his back a lot this season.
He just put the Irish back up by two scores against the Louisville Cardinals with 9:16 remaining in the game when he took a pass from quarterback Riley Leonard 32 yards for a touchdown.
That score capped off a 5-play, 75-yard drive that took 2:09 off the clock. It also gave some momentum back to the Irish after a Louisville field goal made it a one-touchdown game. That Louisville field goal came one play after what looked like a sack and scoop and score by the Notre Dame defense was overturned to an incomplete pass upon replay review.
Love’s touchdown hasn’t quite sealed the deal — there’s still a lot of time left — but it has put the Irish in charge of the ball game.
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Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts continues to make big plays.
The Louisville Cardinals were driving against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after forcing the Irish to punt. It looked like the Cardinals would have a solid shot at the end zone for a potentially game-tying touchdown.
Then a deflected Tyler Shough pass ended up in the hands of Irish safety Xavier Watts. Watts returned it 34 yards to the Louisville 36.
Unfortunately, the Irish were unable to find the end zone on the ensuing drive — Jeremiyah Love was stuffed for a loss of three on a third-and-1 run. Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter hit a 48-yard field goal, so the Irish didn’t come up totally empty.
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Notre Dame took a two-touchdown lead over Louisville with this play.
It didn’t take long for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to take advantage of a bad snap on a Louisville Cardinals’ punt.
Just one play later, Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard ran it in from the 4-yard line with 2:40 left to play in the first quarter to give the Irish a 21-7 lead over the Cardinals.
This after Notre Dame fell behind 7-0 to start the game.
It’s been a turnover-marred, back-and-forth affair so far, but the Irish haven’t looked flat early the way they have in games earlier this season. This could be a white-knuckler all the way to the finish.
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Notre Dame got a break with a bad snap on a Louisville punt.
Securing the football has been difficult for both teams as No. 16 Notre Dame hosts No. 15 Louisville in South Bend today.
The Louisville Cardinals were set to punt from their own 49 but the snap was too high. Notre Dame special teamer Jordan Faison pushed the ball further upfield and Fighting Irish linebacker Kennedy Urlacher — son of NFL star Brian — recovered, setting the Irish up with first and goal at the Louisville 4-yard line.
The play continued a huge swing of momentum in Notre Dame’s favor.
Jordan Faison making plays 😤
AND @NDlacrosse was waiting for him in the end zone 😂☘️
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Notre Dame fumble recovery swings momentum against Lousville.
Shortly after Notre Dame tied the game at 7, the Louisville Cardinals appeared to have a big play when quarterback Tyler Shough had a 46-yard run. But cornerback Leonard Moore and safety Xavier Watts hit him and Moore forced a fumble, recovered by Jaiden Ausberry.
That got the Irish the ball back in good field position — and shut down what appeared to be a promising drive for the Cardinals.
Instead, the Irish were in a solid position to score. Notre Dame’s defense is a strength of the team, and it showed on this play.
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A Notre Dame fumble on the opening kickoff against Louisville gave the Cardinals an early 7-0 lead — and the Fighting Irish faithful heartburn.
Notre Dame fans probably feel a bit better after the Irish responded with an effective drive that included a fourth-down conversion and was capped off by a 6-yard touchdown run from Jeremiyah Love.
The touchdown drive took 12 plays and 75 yards. Quarterback Riley Leonard hit Jayden Thomas for 5 yards on fourth-and-three to keep the drive alive, and Leonard had a key 12-yard run one play before Love punched it in.
Notre Dame and Louisville are now tied at 7 with 7:22 left to play in the first quarter.
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The No. 16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish will need all hands on deck against the No. 15 Louisville Cardinals in South Bend today.
And with the obvious exception of players who are out for the season, the injury report looks clean for this week.
Every player listed on the team’s two-deep roster will be available for the Irish as they face their first real test since losing to Northern Illinois.
A win keeps Notre Dame’s playoff hopes alive, while a loss could end the playoff run. At the very least, if the Irish lose to Louisville, they will be hoping for a lot of other big losses in the Top 25 over the remainder of the season.
Louisville presents a huge challenge for Notre Dame, and while the Irish are missing players like Jordan Botelho who are done for the season, they at least have a relatively healthy roster for the showdown with the Cardinals.
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