9/24/2023 football Edit

Notre Dame football slides to No. 11 in AP poll, but hype train rolls on

Notre Dame broke out the green and the LED wristbands for its Saturday night showdown with Ohio State. (Jeff Douglas, Inside ND Sports)

Eric Hansen • InsideNDSports

Publisher

Notre Dame heads into another week of white-hot noise and hyperventilation, with ESPN’s College GameDay tagging along for the second week in a row.

The Irish (4-1) will carry a slightly lower national ranking, though, when they visit 17th-ranked Duke (4-0) Saturday night in Durham, N.C., than the No. 9 standing they had before this past Saturday night’s primetime, last-second, 17-14 loss to Ohio State at Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame checked in at No. 11 in both the Associated Press and NFF-FWAA Super 16 polls on Sunday, while the coaches poll dropped the Irish to No. 13.

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Ohio State (4-0) moved up in all three polls — to No. 4 in the AP and Super 16 polls and No. 3 in the coaches poll. The Buckeyes received a first-place vote in the AP poll.

Defending national champ Georgia remains No. 1 in all three polls, but its perception as the nation’s top team continues to erode as other teams pick up first-place votes. Future Irish opponent USC (4-0) took a hit in the AP poll, falling three spots to No. 8 after a 42-28 laboring road win over Arizona State and former ND quarterback Drew Pyne on Saturday night.

Pyne, a senior who started 10 games for the Irish in 2022, completed 21 of 36 passes for 221 yards and two TDs against the Trojans, with an interception. He was sacked eight times.

Pyne was pressed into a starting role after the two QBs above him on the depth chart suffered injuries in previous games.

In Duke, Notre Dame will face the nation’s No. 4 scoring defense, accrued in wins over Clemson, Lafayette, Northwestern and UConn. The five TDs the Blue Devils have surrendered this season, per Conor O’Neill of Devils Illustrated, are as follows:

- After a muffed punt put Clemson at the 16-yard line.

- After an offside on a field goal try gave Lafayette a first down.

- On an 8 ½-minute drive by Northwestern,

- With 1:26 left and the backups in against Northwestern.

- With 12 seconds left against the backups in Saturday’s 41-7 win at UConn.

Former Notre Dame defensive lineman Ja’Mion Franklin is in his third season at Duke after transferring from ND after three seasons. He has four tackles for the Blue Devils this season.

Saturday's GameDay appearance at Duke will be the longtime pregame show's first appearance there. It will be the 36th overall time the show has appeared at a venue in which the Irish were playing. After Saturday night's loss, ND is 15-20 all-time in such games.