Notre Dame ranks No. 9 in Week 3 Associated Press Top 25
Notre Dame ranks ninth in the Week 3 Associated Press Top 25, the AP announced Sunday afternoon.
The Irish moved up one spot from No. 10 in the AP Poll last week, passing No. 10 Alabama and No. 11 Tennessee, after beating NC State 45-24 on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C. The Crimson Tide lost to Texas, who passed Notre Dame moved up seven spots to No. 4.
Notre Dame received 1,015 voting points, nearly 100 behind No. 8 Washington’s 1,102. Alabama received 953 and Tennessee received 929. Georgia, at No. 1, received 1,540 points.
In the win over NC State, graduate quarterback Sam Hartman put together another winning performance. He completed 15 of his 24 passing attempts for 286 yards (11.9 yards per attempt), 4 touchdowns and no interceptions, and he operated his third-straight successful two-minute drill for a touchdown pass to freshman receiver Jaden Greathouse at the end of the first half.
Junior running back Audric Estimé rushed for 100 or more yards for the second consecutive game, totaling 136 on 14 carries. That included an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play after a 105-minute weather delay early in the second quarter.
Defensively, Notre Dame intercepted NC State quarterback Brennan Armstrong three times. Sophomore cornerback Benjamin Morrison, senior safety Xavier Watts and graduate safety DJ Brown had the picks, while graduate nickel cornerback Thomas Harper led the Irish in tackles with seven.
NC State made it a game through three quarters, but Notre Dame pulled away in the fourth and outscored the Wolfpack 21-7 in the final 15 minutes.
Notre Dame, through three games, has scored 47.7 points per game and only allowed 31 points all season. The Irish are averaging 485.7 yards of total offense so far, to their opponents’ 223.0.
Elsewhere in the poll, Clemson fell out after falling all the way to No. 25 last week, as did Tulane after losing to Ole Miss. Washington State entered the poll at No. 23 after beating Wisconsin, who also fell out of the poll. UCLA entered at No. 24, and Miami entered at No. 22 after beating Texas A&M. Iowa got back in the poll as well.
Here is the full Week 3 AP Top 25, starting with No. 1 Georgia.
- Georgia (55 first-place votes)
- Michigan (2)
- Florida State (3)
- Texas (2)
- USC
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Washington
- Notre Dame
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Oregon
- LSU
- Kansas State
- Oregon State
- Ole Miss
- Colorado
- Oklahoma
- North Carolina
- Duke
- Miami
- Washington State
- UCLA
- Iowa
