Saturday featured a slew of NCAA football games for rivalry week. While Notre Dame isn’t in a conference, they faced the Stanford Cardinal and rolled to a convincing 49-20 win in their final regular-season game, furthering their case for the College Football Playoff.
Quarterback CJ Carr threw for 205 yards and two touchdowns on a 17-for-27 passing day. Among the top receivers were Luke Talich with 84 yards and a touchdown, and Jordan Faison with 68 yards and a TD.
Aneyas Williams ran for two touchdowns and 83 yards. Star running back Jeremiyah Love also had one TD and 66 yards, to give the Fighting Irish an all-around performance from their many talented players. Of concern, Love suffered a rib injury, which will be something monitored going forward.
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Following his team’s decisive victory, head coach Marcus Freeman didn’t shy away from sending a clear message to the College Football Playoff committee.
“You talk about a team that is probably playing as well as anyone right now, have won 10-straight games in a row, I think all of them by double-digit points maybe. You know, you want the 12 best teams now,” he said at his postgame press conference.
“I know you have the conference champions and the group of five highest-ranked team, but you talk about who are the best teams now. Not Week 1, now, and it’s hard to argue we aren’t one of those teams,” Freeman stated.
He also mentioned weighing the decision to put in reserves once his team had the game in hand, indicating the “young guys earned the chance to play” and getting them game experience will help Notre Dame improve.
According to ESPN, the Fighting Irish aren’t a lock to make the College Football Playoff bracket. They currently project Notre Dame as the No. 9 team in the nation, but the SEC could be what causes some issues for the Irish.
ESPN notes that Alabama winning the SEC could put the Crimson Tide ahead of Notre Dame. That could put two Big 12 teams into the CFP bracket, knocking out a team currently projected as a top-10 team.
As it stands, Notre Dame wrapped up a solid season, going 10-2 overall. Their only two losses came at the start of their season to No. 10 Miami and No. 16 Texas A&M, both by three points or fewer.
Strength of schedule is an important consideration, and they defeated a few ranked opponents during the season, including USC and Pitt. Beyond that, some might argue that their competition hasn’t been as fierce as that of other programs.
The Fighting Irish will await word on Selection Day to learn their fate in this year’s College Football Playoff bracket, but many believe they’ll return to the national stage with another shot at the championship.
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