After their latest loss, this one a 16-14 home defeat against a Stanford squad that hadn’t beat an FBS opponent in over 53 weeks, Notre Dame football has to again pick up the pieces.
It was only on September 10 that Marshall, another team that has just one win against an FBS opponent this year (that also being Notre Dame), beat the Irish in South Bend.
The two losses came despite Notre Dame being nearly three-touchdown favorites against both. The Fighting Irish hadn’t lost a single game as a double digit favorite since 2016 before dropping their last two.
It’s bad for Notre Dame right now and with tough tests at Syracuse, against Clemson, and at USC still to come there is no guarantee that the Irish even qualify for a bowl game. Sure, that’d require another upset at the hands of UNLV, Navy, or Boston College but after the showing against Stanford would anything really surprise you?
Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune wasn’t as kind with his words in describing Notre Dame, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t correct.
This — 3-3 — isn’t it. But it’s all they have. With six games down and six to go, this is an average program from top to bottom and all around. Average coaching. Average assistants. Average players. Average mindset. Average results. Average fans.
Average.
Nothing about that campus, about that football program, about Notre Dame is average. Not the academics. Not the reputation. Certainly, not the football program. But average the Irish are after Saturday, after a team that many figured Notre Dame would dispatch with a flick of the wrist came to town and took the Irish so completely apart. One play at a time. One quarter at a time.
Sure the number-five preseason ranking wasn’t deserved as Notre Dame had too many questions entering the year to merit it, but they shouldn’t be .500 either. Not when two of those losses are two of the very worst the program has suffered in years.
So what remains for this average squad the rest of the year?
Losses to both Clemson and USC are pretty much expected by the masses at this point and the end of October trip to Syracuse is no slouch.
I mentioned last night that I had concerns about this being headed towards Bob Davie territory in terms of results and feels and although a simple bowl appearance wouldn’t make those go away, they’d go a long way in at least lessening the current blaze.
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