Notre Dame Opponent Roundup: Week 9 Edition
Week 9 brought more chaos to College Football, as Oklahoma was stunned on the road by Kansas. The previously-undefeated Sooners had on paper the easiest route to the CFP, but now find themselves on the outside looking in. Elsewhere around the nation, other top contenders largely looked the part. Georgia dominated Florida in Jacksonville, Ohio State’s defense squeezed Wisconsin, Florida State cruised against Wake Forest, Texas smoked BYU, and Oregon had perhaps the weekend’s most impressive win with a 35-6 drubbing of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Notre Dame’s opponents finished the week with a record of 5-4 (not counting Pitt’s 58-7 loss to Notre Dame), with bright spots for NC State and Louisville coming at the expense of Clemson and Duke. Both the Tigers and Blue Devils find their seasons at crossroads heading into the final month, as a combination of injuries and lackluster offensive play have soured September optimism.
Notre Dame Opponent Overall Record: 57-39
Let’s take a look at the Week 9 action for Notre Dame opponents.
NAVY MIDSHIPMEN
Record: 3-4
Week 9 Result: Bye
Recap: The Midshipmen return to action next weekend in Philadelphia against Temple.
TENNESSEE STATE TIGERS
Record: 6-2
Week 9 Result: Won 43-20 vs. Lindenwood
Recap: Tennessee State raced out to a 40-7 halftime lead and never looked back in a 43-20 victory over Lindenwood. Draylen Ellis completed just 9 passes but they totaled 236 yards, with a 90-yard score to Da’Shon Davis, who finished with 200 yards receiving, being a major driver. Jordan Gant also had two touchdowns on the ground for the Tigers, who outgained Lindenwood 466-287. Tennessee State will be favored in its remaining matchups against Charleston Southern, Eastern Illinois, and Tennessee Tech, all of whom sit at 1-2 in the Big South-OVC. Win out, and the Tigers have a great shot to win the conference in Eddie George’s third season.
NC STATE WOLFPACK
Record: 5-3
Week 9 Result: Won 24-17 vs. Clemson
Recap: Nope, NC State is definitely not waiting for basketball season to start, as Dave Doeren’s squad piled on Clemson’s miserable season with a 24-17 victory. The Wolfpack led 10-7 at the half before two big plays blew the game open. LB Payton Wilson intercepted Cade Klubnik and returned it 15 yards for a score, and then with 4:35 left in the third quarter, KC Concepcion caught a 72-yard touchdown pass, his second of the game. Clemson rallied to cut it to a 7-point game in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers’ last drive died at the 50-yard line. NC State isn’t out of the ACC race yet but will need to win out to have a shot at playing for the ACC title. That effort starts with a visit from Miami to Raleigh next Saturday night.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN CHIPPEWAS
Record: 4-4
Week 9 Result: Bye
Recap: The Chippewas return to action next weekend against Northern Illinois.
OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
Record: 8-0
Week 9 Result: Won 24-10 at Wisconsin
Recap: The Buckeyes have learned to win with defense and a physical running game, as for the second consecutive week Ohio State won ugly, with a 24-10 victory over Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium. The formula for Ohio State is simple – control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and find Marvin Harrison Jr. with the game on the line. Wisconsin tied the game at 10-10 with a score on the opening drive of the second half, but on the ensuing possession, Kyle McCord found Harrison for his second touchdown of the game. Then, with 5:15 left in the fourth quarter, RB TreVeyon Henderson burst for 33 of his 162 rushing yards for the game-sealing touchdown. The Buckeyes have to feel confident in taking down Penn State and Wisconsin in back-to-back weeks without the offense playing at its best and have three “get right” games against Rutgers, Michigan State, and Minnesota before the final showdown against the Ann Arbor Astros.
DUKE BLUE DEVILS
Record: 5-3
Week 9 Result: Lost 23-0 at #18 Louisville
Recap: Riley Leonard got the start but was still limited by the ankle injury suffered against Notre Dame, and as a result the Duke offense sputtered. This one felt similar in a lot of ways to Notre Dame’s loss at Louisville just a few weeks before, as the Blue Devils just looked physically spent after playing a stretch of Notre Dame, NC State, Florida State, and Louisville. Duke managed just 202 total yards, went 2-12 on third down, and possessed the ball for just 23:09. The stout Blue Devil defense didn’t surrender a touchdown after the first quarter, but the offense could never find a rhythm. Duke’s 5-3 record is misleading as I don’t think any team in the country would look forward to playing Mike Elko’s squad at full strength, but Duke needs to get Leonard healthy to have a shot at winning out against a very manageable last 4 games.
LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
Record: 7-1
Week 9 Result: Won 23-0 vs. #20 Duke
Recap: That bizarre 17-point loss to Pitt is going to haunt Cardinal fans for years, as that remains the only blemish on the Louisville line. The Cardinals leaned on the running game and defense on Saturday to shut out a strong Duke team. Jawhar Jordan got the scoring started with two touchdown runs in the first quarter as Louisville seized a 14-0 lead. Those would be the only times Louisville found the end zone, but with the way the defense played, it didn’t matter. Jordan went on to finish with 163 of Louisville’s 234 rushing yards, and the defense put Duke behind the sticks all day, racking up 4 sacks, 6 tackles for loss, and holding Duke to just a 42.8% completion percentage. Louisville hosts Virginia Tech and Virginia the next two weeks before a road trip to Miami and the season finale against Kentucky. The Cardinals are very much a player in the ACC race and have a viable path to the New Years’ Six.
SOUTHERN CAL TROJANS
Record: 7-2
Week 9 Result: Won 50-49 at California
Recap: This game was the perfect summation of a weird week for Southern Cal. After back-to-back losses against Notre Dame and Utah where the Trojans were dominated in the trenches, Lincoln Riley missed multiple days of practice for pneumonia treatment. Then, the start of this game was delayed by protestors on the field (welcome to Berkeley), and in a bizarre sequence that could only happen when Pac-12 refs are involved, the final play of the first half was played after halftime at the start of the third quarter. With all that being said, there’s two ways to look at this game for USC. On one side, the Trojan defense was again gashed, surrendering 527 total yards and 49 points to a Cal team that also turned it over 4 times. On the other side, against the backdrop of the adversity of the last two weeks and the strangeness of the game Saturday, USC found a way to win despite trailing by 2 touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and at the end of the day the defense found a way to make just enough stops, including stopping the game-winning two-point conversion with 58 seconds left. I bet that Riley and the Trojan locker room will rally around the latter interpretation this week with a visit from Washington looming, followed by a road trip to Oregon and home tilt against rival UCLA. As bad as the last three weeks have been, the fact remains that USC still controls its own destiny for a Pac-12 championship.
CLEMSON TIGERS
Record: 4-4
Week 9 Result: Lost 24-17 at NC State
Recap: Clemson fans are hoping that this game was rock bottom with Notre Dame coming to town next weekend. The Tiger offense was against lifeless against NC State, especially once RB Will Shipley left the game with a head injury. Cade Klubnik’s 50 throws netted just 263 yards (5.3 YPA) as Clemson was again unable to stretch the field vertically. The Tiger rushing attack was no help either, as Clemson posted just 101 yards on the ground (3.4 YPC). The Tiger defense was the only bright spot, as Clemson held NC State to just 202 total yards, but that was not enough. With Notre Dame’s visit followed by matchups with suddenly resurgent Georgia Tech, explosive North Carolina, and rival South Carolina, Dabo Swinney’s team needs to rally just to make a bowl. We’ll find out a lot about this Clemson locker room in how they respond on Saturday against the Fighting Irish.
WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS
Record: 4-4
Week 9 Result: Lost 41-16 vs. #4 Florida State
Recap: The Demon Deacons were overmatched on Saturday in Winston-Salem, as Florida State looked every part the national title contender. The Seminoles led 34-7 at halftime and posted 508 total yards while holding Wake Forest to just 210. Quarterback play continues to be the most glaring issue for Dave Clawson’s squad in the post-Sam Hartman era. Mitch Griffis was re-inserted as the starter but went just 6-16 through the air for 82 yards. With 4 wins and 4 games remaining, Wake Forest has work to do against a challenging remaining schedule to make a bowl game. The Demon Deacons travel to Duke next Thursday to face a Blue Devil team coming off its own disappointing loss.
STANFORD CARDINAL
Record: 2-6
Week 9 Result: Lost 42-33 vs. #5 Washington
Recap: Troy Taylor’s team may be lacking talent, but no one can accuse the Cardinal of lacking heart. Stanford gave #5 Washington all it could handle, but ended up falling just short. A 2-yard touchdown run by Justin Lamson cut the deficit to 35-33 with 6:46 remaining, and the Cardinal defense picked off Husky QB Michael Penix Jr. in the end zone on the ensuing drive. Facing fourth down, Taylor schemed up a brilliant wide receiver pass that completely fooled the Washington defense, but a wide-open Jayson Raines saw it slip through his fingers. Four plays later, Dillon Johnson found the end zone for Washington, pushing the lead to 42-33 and all but ending the game. Stanford travels to Pullman next weekend to face Washington State.
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