ACC Football Power Rankings, Week 9: Did Notre Dame convince anyone?

2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-0, 4-0)

The question for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is whether or not their 45-3 domination of the Pitt Panthers was enough to convince anyone they are capable of defeating Clemson. Ian Book threw for over 300 yards for the first time this season, and Notre Dame put the boots to one of the better defenses in the country.

However, if you look inside the numbers, some aspects of this game do not evoke the most confidence. Ian Book threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns, but Book was not very efficient, completing only 53 percent of his passes. Notre Dame needed every one of those 312 yards as well; the running game averaged just 2.3 yards per carry. Sure, the offense was committed to running the ball; they did not run it very well, however.

It did help the offense that Pitt starting quarterback Kenny Pickett was injured as well. Back up quarterback Joey Yellen looked overwhelmed and outmatched at times during the game. The Pitt offense without Pickett was ineffective, possessing the ball for just 19 minutes. So what was the lesson from the game?

The most important lesson is Notre Dame is the second-best team in the conference, but they do not possess the offensive firepower to beat Clemson.