Notre Dame football earned an “honor” that we haven’t seen in nearly four decades that leaves the door open for a legitimate run
Notre Dame football is in a rare spot that we haven’t seen in a very long time. It has brought a lot of mixed emotions.
It was a frustrating weekend for Notre Dame football, losing to the Texas A&M Aggies on their home field 41 to 40 to drop to 0-2 on the season. Frustration has understandably spilled over to the Fighting Irish fanbase, having entered the season with a ton of optimism and some high expectations for what head coach Marcus Freeman and his team could accomplish in 2025.
In the home opening loss to Mike Elko and his Texas A&M team, Notre Dame earned an honor that nobody is necessarily happy about. For the first time in 37 years, the Irish were ranked inside the top 25 teams in the AP Poll despite starting the season with a 0-2 overall record. Notre Dame is ranked as the No. 24 team in that poll.
As a fan of this tragically flawed team, you should, and probably do, have a lot of mixed emotions for this week’s ranking. After watching the defense under new coordinator Chris Ash in each of the first two games, it’s hard to be optimistic about this team right now. You just scored 40 points as a team and lost in your home stadium. It was an ugly performance, and it is uncertain if there are any easy answers on the horizon.
On the other hand, however, everyone is still leaving the doors open for Notre Dame to make a run. You knew that the first two games of the season for the Fighting Irish were going to be their toughest, and they were. You ended up losing against two teams currently ranked inside the top 10 teams in the country by a grand total of four points. You never want to lose, but context does show that you were a couple of plays from being ranked very, very high and having the best early-season resume of anyone in college football.
Even with hope still present, most fans will refuse to buy in right now. This current version of college football, with the transfer portal and NIL considered, is the most wide-open it has ever been. There aren’t seemingly any dominant teams right now, and everyone has the potential to lose. The playing field has been leveled, and it could come down to which team is the hottest at the right time. We just saw that with the Ohio State Buckeyes last season when they entered the playoffs with two losses.
From here on out, Notre Dame fans would be best served to just take a step back with no expectations and see what happens. Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr has injected some confidence into this program, and there is certainly a lot of talent on this roster. It will come down to whether Coach Ash, or anyone else, can find some answers to this defense that desperately needs an identity.
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