Notre Dame ranks No. 10 in Week 2 Associated Press Top 25
Notre Dame ranks No. 10 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25, the AP announced Tuesday afternoon.
The Irish moved up three spots from their preseason ranking of No. 13, which was five spots up from their final 2022 ranking of No. 18. Only eight voting points separate Notre Dame and No. 9 Tennessee, while 32 points separate Notre Dame and Texas
The Irish won its first two games by a combined score of 98-6 over Navy and Tennessee State, respectively. They went to Ireland to face their historical rival, Navy, and they put together a near-perfect performance to send the Midshipmen home with a loss in new Navy coach Brian Newberry‘s first game at the helm.
In Week 1, Notre Dame opened its home slate with its first-ever Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent and first-ever Historically Black College or University (HBCU) opponent, Tennessee State. The Tigers, coached by former Ohio State running back and 1995 Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George, kept it close through one quarter. Notre Dame led 7-3 after 15 minutes, but the Irish did what most expected them to do from there on out.
Notre Dame moved past Clemson, who lost to Duke 28-7 on Monday night, LSU and Texas. The Tigers, coached by former Irish coach Brian Kelly, fell all the way to No. 14 after their 45-24 loss to Florida State.
Through two games, Notre Dame is averaging 500.5 yards of total offense per game, as well as 8.3 yards per play. The Irish limited their opponents to 162.5 yards of total offense per game and 2.9 yards per play, taking care of business against Navy and Tennessee State.
Junior running back Audric Estimé leads the team in rushing yards with 211 on 29 carries (7.3 per attempt), and he’s scored twice on the ground. Junior receiver Jayden Thomas looks like the No. 1 wide receiver so far, leading the team with eight receptions for 125 yards. Freshman receiver Jaden Greathouse has two receiving touchdowns, which leads the Irish so far.
Defensively, graduate linebacker Marist Liufau, graduate defensive tackle Howard Cross III and graduate linebacker Jack Kiser lead the team in tackles with 10 each.
Most significantly, graduate quarterback Sam Hartman has lived up to expectations in his first two games in blue and gold, and then some. The Wake Forest transfer has completed 33 passes in 40 attempts for 445 yards, an average of 11.1 yards per attempt. He’s thrown for six touchdowns and no interceptions, as Notre Dame has not turned the ball over on offense yet this season.
Here is the full Week 2 AP Top 25.
- Georgia (58 first-place votes)
- Michigan (2)
- Alabama
- Florida State (3)
- Ohio State
- USC
- Penn State
- Washington
- Tennessee
- Notre Dame
- Texas
- Utah
- Oregon
- LSU
- Kansas State
- Oregon State
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Wisconsin
- Ole Miss
- Duke
- Colorado
- Texas A&M
- Tulane
- Clemson
