Notre Dame football plummets from polls after loss to Marshall

On3 imageby:Tyler Horka09/11/22

tbhorka

Remember when Notre Dame was ranked No. 5 in both the Coaches Poll and the Associated Press Poll? That lasted all of one week until a season-opening loss to Ohio State.

Now, the Fighting Irish (0-2) have fallen out of both polls entirely.

PROMOTION: Sign up for just $1 for your first year at Blue & Gold

Notre Dame entered Week 2 ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll and No. 9 in the Coaches Poll. Saturday’s 26-21 loss to Marshall sent the Irish spiraling out of the rankings. This is the first time Notre Dame has not appeared in the AP Poll since 2017, snapping a streak of 80 consecutive weeks in the rankings. Head coach Marcus Freeman is still searching for his first win in charge of the program, and he became the first coach in Irish history to lose his first three games.

More Notre Dame football

“We have to find a way to get a stop.” Notre Dame defense allows another late 90-plus yard TD drive

Quotes and notes: Analyzing what Marcus Freeman said after Notre Dame loss to Marshall

Losses to No. 9 Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl and then-No. 2 Ohio State on the road in this year’s season opener were not nearly as harmful to the program’s psyche as this weekend’s upsetting upheaval at the hands of the Thundering Herd, a Sun Belt conference member who entered the game as a 20-point underdog.

With two losses on the ledger and hopes of a third College Football Playoff appearance since 2018 effectively dashed, Notre Dame doesn’t need to focus on the polls. The Irish simply have to find a way to play better football, and they need to do it in a hurry. A loss to California on Saturday would be the program’s first four-game losing streak since 2014.

Notre Dame had previously beaten 42 unranked opponents in a row. The Irish hadn’t lost consecutive regular season games since 2016. They hadn’t lost three games in a row of any kind since the final two games of 2015 and the 2016 season opener. Notre Dame went 4-8 in 2016. The Irish were 54-10 from 2017-21.

Needless to say, these are trying times for Freeman and Fighting Irish football. The program hasn’t endured a stretch of losing like this in over half a decade.

Week 3 AP Poll

  1. Georgia
  2. Alabama
  3. Ohio State
  4. Michigan
  5. Clemson
  6. Oklahoma
  7. USC
  8. Oklahoma State
  9. Kentucky
  10. Arkansas
  11. Michigan State
  12. BYU
  13. Miami
  14. Utah
  15. Tennessee
  16. NC State
  17. Baylor
  18. Florida
  19. Wake Forest
  20. Ole Miss
  21. Texas
  22. Penn State
  23. Pitt
  24. Texas A&M
  25. Oregon

Week 3 Coaches Poll

  1. Alabama
  2. Georgia
  3. Ohio State
  4. Clemson
  5. Michigan
  6. Oklahoma
  7. Oklahoma State
  8. USC
  9. Michigan State
  10. Kentucky
  11. Arkansas
  12. NC State
  13. Miami
  14. BYU
  15. Utah
  16. Tennessee
  17. Ole Miss
  18. Wake Forest
  19. Baylor
  20. Texas
  21. Florida
  22. Texas A&M
  23. Penn State
  24. Oregon
  25. Pitt

You may also like