Notre Dame is chasing the rankings after week nine

A bigger jump

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish went into New Jersey to face an undefeated and ranked Navy team that is a little different (supposedly in a good way) than what we have seen over the last 20 years. I’m not sure THAT Navy team actually showed up. The Middies turned the ball over 6 times, and the Irish offense was virtually unstoppable. We’ve talked about appearances and doubling up the spread, and with a 13.5 point spread — the Irish got a 51-14 win. Not bad at all.

So how did the Irish opponents do this week?

#10 Texas A&M Aggies — WON vs LSU Tigers (7-1) —
Northern Illinois — LOST vs Ball State Cardinals (4-4) —
Purdue Boilermakers — BYE (1-6) —
Miami Redhawks — WON vs Central Michigan Chippewas (4-4) —
Louisville Cardinals — WON vs Boston College Eagles (5-3) —
Stanford Cardinal — LOST vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-6) —
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets — LOST vs Virginia Tech Hokies (5-4) —
Navy Midshipmen — LOST vs Notre Dame (6-1) —
Florida State Seminoles — LOST vs Miami Hurricanes (1-7) —
Virginia Cavaliers — LOST vs North Carolina Tar Heels (4-4) —
#21 Army Black Knights — BYE (7-0) —
USC Trojans — WON vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-4) —

Notre Dame took a massive jump in the rankings this week. The two biggest facotors were probably a 37 point win on the road against a ranked team, and Texas A&M continuing its domination of the SEC with a win over Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers. What’s actually pretty funny, is that the Clemson Tigers and Iowa State Cyclones were both at home eating cheeseburgers and Notre Dame jumped them — that’s a chef’s kiss move if I’ve ever seen one.

Speaking of cheeseburgers… it’s Notre Dame’s turn this week, and on Tuesday next week we select a new president of the United States get the first set of playoff rankings. It could be a wild week for college football.