Notre Dame Football: Like it or Not, Irish Are a Good Football Team

Despite frustrations, Notre Dame has a really good football team this year

Sep 28, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts after a turnover on downs by the Louisville Cardinals in the second quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Quick, who is the only FBS college football program to have two wins over teams currently ranked in the AP Poll top 25?

It has to be someone from the almighty SEC or Big Ten, right? I mean, the conferences combine to house 34 programs so the logic in picking from the two only makes sense.

You're wrong if you did, though.

Notre Dame is the only team with a pair of wins over currently ranked opponents so far this year, having beat both Texas A&M and Louisville.

And as much as some fans and media members alike would seemingly rather sit and stew about what isn't, they're missing the fact that Notre Dame is a really good football team in 2024.

Notre Dame Football: One Loss Doesn't Define a Team

Northern Illinois Huskies kicker Kanon Woodill kicks the game winning field goal in the fourth quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. / Matt Cashore / USA TODAY NETWORK

It doesn't matter if its a Notre Dame football fan or national media member, when the words "Notre Dame football" have been mentioned since September 7, they've been almost immediately followed by two more: "Northern Illinois".

The loss as a nearly four-touchdown favorite is inexcusable and the lack of energy for 60 whole minutes is still infuriating. The good news for Notre Dame however is that those 60 minutes no longer are make or break in terms of the College Football Playoff.

If it were the last decade and only four teams made the playoff then that loss would certainly have removed Notre Dame from the College Football Playoff discussion. It certainly hurts seeding and allows little to no wiggle room the rest of the way, but by no means does it define Notre Dame's 2024 season.

You can preach Frank Leahy's desire for perfection all you want, but even Big Frank couldn't go back in time and change what happened against Northern Illinois.

Notre Dame can let that game define them like some seem to desire, or it can continue to improve and show its very high capabilities like it has.

Notre Dame's Inexplosive Offense

Sep 21, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) runs for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Miami Redhawks at Notre Dame Stadium. / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Notre Dame's offense has left plenty to be desired for the most part in 2024 and in today's day in age, few things stunt a team's perception as much as a ho-hum offense.

Although Notre Dame lit up the scoreboard for 66 points against a sad Purdue operation, this isn't an offense that is built to light up a scoresheet.

You can sound tough and call them excuses and talk down like crazy about them but reality shows this isn't just a largely young offensive line, but also an inexperienced one. Young bodies are being called on out of necessity, not because true freshman forced their way onto the field in fall camp.

This offense is going to have to grind things out more often than not and as a result, the perception of Notre Dame being really good again takes a big hit, just like the Northern Illinois loss does.

It doesn't get the attention that a powerful offense does but Notre Dame's defense has performed at an extremely high level as was the expectation entering 2024.

Newsflash: Lots of College Football Teams Aren't National Championship Contenders

Sep 28, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Ryan Williams (2) breaks a tackle by Georgia Bulldogs defensive back KJ Bolden (4) to score a touchdown that put Alabama ahead in the fourth quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama defeated Georgia 41-34. / Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images

12 million people nationally reportedly watched Alabama and Georgia battle in an all-time thriller Saturday night in what was a bout between two national championship contenders.

Notre Dame isn't on the same level as those two, nor is it probably on the level of Texas, Ohio State, or Tennessee this fall. According to ESPN's Football Power Index, there is over a 76% chance that one of those five teams wins the national championship.

Beyond that?

Miami has the highest percentage chance at 3.6% while Notre Dame checks in at 2.3%.

Whether you want to hear it or not, Notre Dame can compete and beat any of the other 128 teams in the FBS division, and is better than the very vast majority of those.

So they're almost certainly not going to win a national championship in 2024?

You knew that coming into the 2024 season. So perhaps instead of sitting each Saturday waiting for the bottom to fall out, instead realize how much this team has managed to do despite obvious flaws from Day One.

Or you can sit and be miserable for the 12 Saturdays of Notre Dame football you get a year.

Your choice.

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