Notre Dame football: Week 7 results that affected the Fighting Irish
Notre Dame football could see some after-effects from these Week 7 college football game results.
After a frustrating game for Notre Dame football against Louisville, you may have felt the need to distract yourself with some different, more exciting, and ultimately irrelevant games to your personal fandom.
There were also some very important games for Notre Dame football which were played around the country. Games that could ultimately play into where the Irish are ranked as we inch closer to the first rankings release for the College Football Playoff.
So, what were those important games and why did they affect Notre Dame?
Florida State 31 North Carolina 28
North Carolina has been Notre Dame’s biggest threat to making the ACC Championship Game coming into this season, and their explosive offense has been putting the conference on notice. Florida State, meanwhile, has been the laughing stock of the conference. They’ve looked like they don’t belong since their opening loss to Georgia Tech.
Last week Notre Dame beat Florida State fairly handily, as North Carolina was supposed to do as well.
Except things didn’t go as planned. Florida State jumped a sleeping North Carolina, desperately clinging to a lead throughout the 2nd half. They survived the comeback attempt, winning their first FBS game of the season in upset fashion.
For Notre Dame this is a huge boost to their strength of schedule, as all of a sudden Florida State gained a lot of respectability back that they’d lost to start the season. It also bumped North Carolina back in the standings, down to 14 in the polls. More importantly, it gave Notre Dame a game of cushion in ACC standings.
Alabama 41 Georgia 24
Ultimately, this game went exactly how you’d expect a former walk-on quarterback to look against Alabama. The Crimson Tide didn’t let the Bulldogs score in the second half while flexing a dominant offense on one of college football’s best defenses.
Ultimately, this loss for Georgia won’t mean anything in regards to the College Football Playoff as long as they win the SEC. However, it doesn’t seem like they’ll be able to get through Alabama in that game either. More importantly than the CFP to Notre Dame is that the Georgia loss pushed Notre Dame up to number 3 in the standings.
Do the Irish deserve that spot? No, but they’re not complaining about it.
Clemson 73 Georgia Tech 7
On its surface, this game doesn’t matter to anyone.
Clemson humiliated Georgia Tech. More than beating Georgia Tech like they were playing a video game, Clemson beat Georgia Tech like they did something to personally offend every player down to the third-string quarterback. It was a bloodline eradicating beatdown.
For Notre Dame fans this game represents the next two scheduled opponents. First, the Irish head to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech. Then they’ll play host to Clemson.
This game shows the gap between the top of the ACC in Clemson and the middle of the ACC in Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are a solid, albeit young, team. They’re not ready to play with an elite team of athletes like Clemson. Notre Dame needs to prove they can win at a similar level to Clemson and they need to get right for those Tigers.
Miami 31 Pitt 19
No one walked away surprised or like they had learned something new from the Miami-Pitt game. That being said, it had a noteworthy effect on ACC standings. Pitt has now been pushed back by its second conference loss to be mixed in with the rest of the pack.
On the other hand, Miami was able to establish itself firmly in the second tier of ACC teams. As long as they sit with only the one conference loss to Clemson they’re a threat to Notre Dame’s championship game hopes.
Miami and Notre Dame don’t play a head to head against one another, so the Irish need to stay a game ahead of the Hurricanes to control their own destiny.