Notre Dame moves up three spots in ESPN’s FPI
After a dominant, 42-3 win over Navy on Saturday at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, Notre Dame moved up three spots to No. 7 in ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) ahead of Week 1.
The Irish, who ranked 10th in FPI before the Navy game, passed Penn State, USC and Clemson, respectively. Notre Dame remains behind Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Texas and Michigan, respectively.
Notre Dame received an FPI score of 20.5, putting it .1 points behind Michigan for No. 6 on the list. FPI projected a record of 9.5-2.5 for the Irish, and give them a 5.5 percent chance to win the rest of the games on their schedule.
ESPN also gave the Irish a 99.3 percent chance to finish with six or more wins, a 20.7 percent chance to make the College Football Playoff, a 9.6 percent chance to make the national championship and a 4.0 percent chance to take home the national title. Those percentages ranked sixth, sixth and seventh in the nation, respectively.
Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Texas landed ahead of Notre Dame in all three categories, per ESPN’s projections. LSU jumped ahead of the Irish in national championship odds.
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Led by graduate quarterback Sam Hartman, a Wake Forest transfer, the Irish scored touchdowns on six of their eight offensive possessions. One ended in a missed field goal and the last one wound up running out the clock. Hartman, playing his first regular-season game in the blue and gold, finished with 19 completions on 23 attempts for 251 yards and four touchdowns.
Notre Dame outpaced Navy 444-169 in total offensive yards. On a per-play basis, Notre Dame outgained Navy 7.8 yards to 3.1.
The Fighting Irish will look to improve to 2-0 at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday against Tennessee State at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend.
What On3 national wrote about Notre Dame’s FPI ranking
Marcus Freeman might finally have something cooking with the Fighting Irish. After a rough start, Notre Dame finished on a high note. That seemingly carried over into Week Zero in a 42-3 win over Navy in Dublin.
Now, the team has Sam Hartman at quarterback, giving Notre Dame a chance at a high powered offense going into 2023. The program still has its independence, so it’ll have to make its mark to get to the College Football Playoff. Hartman and the offense certainly proved through one game it’s possible.
