Notre Dame Football: Irish gain momentum on bye week

Notre Dame Football did not play in Week 7 but still jumped three spots to No. 13 in the AP Top 25. Did a week of chaos position the Irish for a Playoff run?

The Irish couldn’t have asked for a better off week. While they were watching from home, four Top 10 teams feel to unranked opponents. Then No. 2 Clemson was the only one of those four to stay above the Irish in the polls, dropping to No. 8. The other three fell out of the Top 10 entirely. Washington fell from No. 5 to No. 12, Washington State fell from No. 8 to No. 15 and Auburn fell from No. 10 to No. 21

All of those upset were music to the ears of Irish head coach Brian Kelly. Notre Dame has one loss on the season. That defeat came to now No. 3 Georgia by one point. Other than that, the Irish have run all over their opponents and rallied behind a strong defense to stay within striking distance of the Top 10.

Their schedule is about to get a lot tougher. The Irish still have No. 11 USC, No. 16 NC State, No. 8 Miami and No. 22 Stanford left on the schedule. If they can manage that slate of opponents, a tall task in itself, they’ll be right in the thick of the College Football Playoff consideration.

We’re running out of undefeated teams in college football. After the upsets of Week 7 there are just six Power 5 teams with perfect records to date. The College Football Playoff debate could become a fight between a few one-loss teams.

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History shows us that isn’t just possible, it’s probable. And if that’s the case, the Irish are as well positioned as they could have hoped.  All without playing a down on Saturday.