Loss to Marshall results in the end of Notre Dame's poll streak at 80 weeks
A day after Marshall halted Notre Dame football’s nation’s longest 42-game win streak against unranked opponents, the Irish (0-2) find themselves unranked.
And with it, another impressive streak is history. The Irish had been ranked 80 consecutive weeks in the AP Top 25 until Sunday. It was the third-longest poll streak in school history, and having started during the 2017 season.
The Irish under first-year head coach Marcus Freeman were preseason No. 5, their highest preseason ranking in 16 years. They then fell slightly, to No. 8, after a 21-10 loss to then-No. 2 Ohio State on the road, Sept. 3. Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium, unranked Marshall upended the Irish, 26-21.
Notre Dame fell completely out of the coaches poll as well.
Marshall (2-0) garnered 85 poll points, four fewer than 25th-ranked Oregon. The Irish picked up 23 poll points.
Georgia Is the new No. 1 team in the AP poll, displacing now-No. 2 Alabama. The coaches poll kept the Tide at No. 1 after a closs call at Texas on Saturday, 20-19.
Ohio State held at No. 3. Three future Notre Dame opponents are ranked — Clemson at No. 5, USC at No. 7 and BYU at No. 12.
The Cougars took down a top 10 opponent in No. 9 Baylor late Saturday night, 26-20 in double overtime.
Notre Dame hosts California (2-0) on Saturday (2:30 p.m. EDT; NBC). The Golden Bears edged another Irish future opponent, UNLV, by a 20-14 count on Saturday. The Irish are early 12 1/2-point favorites.
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