Notre Dame football: Reacting to the 2021 Week 3 AP Poll
By Brad Weiss
The latest AP Poll was released on Sunday, and despite moving to 2-0 on the season, the Notre Dame football team fell out of the top-25.
The Notre Dame football team goes into their matchup against Purdue undefeated, after another hard-fought victory this weekend. After squeaking by Florida State in the season opener on the road, needing overtime to come away with the victory, the Irish were given everything Toledo had in Week 2.
While it took a fourth-quarter comeback to do so, the Irish did in fact come away with the victory at home, thanks to utilizing both quarterbacks, Tyler Buchner and Jack Coan. Winning both games is what they needed to do to start the season, but they have looked nothing like a top team in the country so far.
On Sunday, the AP Poll was released, and despite being undefeated, the Irish fell out of the top-10 for the first time this season.
Notre Dame football ranked at No. 12 overall
This week, the Irish are the No. 12-ranked team in the country, and to be honest, that seems about right. They have not looked like a top-10 team against Florida State or Toledo, and things seem to be a miss when it comes to Marcus Freeman’s defense. Also, the offensive line is incredibly banged up, leading to the quarterbacks being under fire every time they drop back to pass.
It has been a tough two-game stretch for the Irish, especially when you consider that Florida State was beaten by Jacksonville State in Week 2. They have a lot to clean up before the Purdue game, because they are also off to a 2-0 start, and have looked like a much more complete team in the early going of the 2021 season.
Notre Dame football has one more home game against the Boilermakers before heading to Soldier Field to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. Over the next few weeks, they will take on ranked teams in Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, and Cincinnati before the bye week, so they have a real opportunity to rise in the rankings.