It was no secret heading into the year that Notre Dame's schedule was among the weakest in the country, a potential double-edged sword for the Fighting Irish. On the one hand, their path to the College Football Playoff is clear, but, like last year, losses in their few games against top-ranked foes could cost them dearly in the rankings, with few opportunities to make up ground in the minds of the voters on the playoff committee. Through four games, the No. 3 Irish have understood the assignment and not only won their first four games, but have done so in a dominant, convincing fashion.
The question for many when discussing where Notre Dame belongs in the conversation among the sport's elite is: What have we learned about them? As Bud Elliott noted on Tuesday's Cover 3 Podcast, there is still something to be learned from a team beating up on lesser (but still Power Four) competition. You could say Notre Dame hasn’t played anybody and I don’t totally disagree, but there is still signal in killing a bunch of nobodies.
It’s a really good football team and they’re showing it. pic.twitter.com/t2CMtg3Hma "There is still an open question about how they look against playoff-caliber teams, but like the rosters they've played are at least -- they're bad Power Four rosters, but they're at least Power Four," Elliott said. "They're spending $10+ million on the roster. They're still a vast majority better than the G6 or FCS games being played.
And they're killing them. That doesn't tell you exactly what they are, but there is definitely a signal there that if you go out and kill every Power Four team you play. I think Notre Dame deserves some measure of credit." With that in mind, we wanted to dive into this year's Notre Dame squad after four games, including three against Big Ten competition, and try to figure out what we know about the Irish, what's still to be determined, and when we will find out.
There is something to be said for a team being able to handle its business in a dominant fashion each time it steps on the field. That is a sign of a high-floor team with good coaching and a roster that's bought in on what they're being coached to do. It can be easy for a group of 18-22-year-olds to sleepwalk through a game against a lesser opponent, but to this point, the Irish have avoided that kind of trap.
The message in South Bend (which the locker room seems to have heard loud and clear) has been that they must leave no doubt to the playoff committee that they belong in the field after being the odd team out in 2025. The first order of business in doing that is to dominate the teams you are supposed to. The Irish are doing that in all three phases of the game so far, lighting up Wisconsin, Rice, Michigan State and Purdue in games that have rarely been competitive past halftime.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
