Notre Dame football: Week 8 results that affected the Irish
Which Week 8 results affected Notre Dame football the most?
Notre Dame football had a great win against Pitt. They finally dominated the way that everyone knows they’re capable of on a weekly basis. However, in a week where the B1G 10 came back to play, you know there are going to be at least a few noteworthy results for Notre Dame.
Here are the games that mattered to Notre Dame around college football in Week 8:
Clemson 47 Syracuse 21
This game isn’t really about the final score, as it’s pretty much what everyone expected-maybe a bit closer than usual. The real interest of this game is what the score was in the 3rd quarter. Briefly, it was only 27-21. Briefly. Still, Syracuse was a historically big underdog.
So, why does it matter to Notre Dame? It’s proof you can punch Clemson in the nose. It’s proof they bleed too. Notre Dame is worlds better than Syracuse. They need to look at that and know they have the potential to make Clemson bleed a lot.
North Carolina 48 NC State 21
Another game that wasn’t particularly close and the better team won. This game was never in any major doubt, and was mostly fun to watch for North Carolina fans eager to beat a rival, but nobody else. In an average season, it wouldn’t mean anything. However, 2020 not being average means that Notre Dame shares a conference with the two of them.
This was an important game for ACC standings. NC State took their second loss in conference play, while North Carolina still only has the one. Notre Dame will play North Carolina in late November, likely with a loss to Clemson. That makes the head to head between the two vitally important, as the winner will likely use the tiebreaker to go to the ACC Championship Game.
Ohio State 52 Nebraska 17
Ok, so maybe there weren’t all that many exciting games that mattered to Notre Dame, but this B1G 10 game will likely have an impact on the Irish. Particularly this game matters to where Notre Dame sits in the AP Poll. After all, a lot of voters haven’t included Ohio State on the basis that they’re not playing. That logic is gone, and I expect Ohio State to jump Notre Dame in the polls pretty quickly after a strong showing.
Yes, long term the AP Poll doesn’t matter. However, as a preview for the College Football Playoff standings, we all know that the Irish are outside the top 3 at best.