Teams of the Week: Notre Dame’s awesome AND super fun? Sorry, haters

This has to be doubly consternating for college football fans who so very much enjoyed themselves last year: Notre Dame is not only really good again; the Irish are also fun as hell.

Fun fact: Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish went 4-8 last season. It really happened. Buy rings if you want. Definitely make posters and memes. Lord knows plenty on this little corner of the internet have. But don’t expect it to happen twice.

I have long noted how, when you look at a given year’s S&P+ rankings, you can pretty quickly point out the teams that are likely to rise and fall the next year (from a records standpoint) by simply looking at the standout records. My favorite example is 2011, when both 7-6 Texas A&M (eighth in S&P+) and 8-5 Notre Dame (11th) seemed out of place, ranking much higher than their records suggested they should have. The next year, the two teams went a combined 23-3.

It doesn’t always work out in such a clean manner, but the bottom line is, sometimes your record doesn’t match your on-paper quality. That usually rectifies itself quickly.

My 2017 Notre Dame preview was a summary of a) why fans so very much enjoyed the Irish last year and b) why it was not going to happen again. They were incredibly unlucky and unsuccessful in ways that would be almost impossible to sustain. They finished 26th in S&P+ despite that embarrassing record.

Now they are good enough to take their pent-up frustration out on others.

Even their lone loss burnishes their bona fides. The Irish fell 20-19 to a Georgia that has otherwise beaten every other opponent by at least three touchdowns. They’re the only team to hold the Dawgs under 31 points, and they’re one of two to score more than 14.

Saturday night was something else, though. The Irish had 14 rushes of at least 10 yards and allowed USC three of the same. They had four completions of 20-plus yards despite quarterback Brandon Wimbush throwing just 19 passes; USC quarterbacks threw 36 passes and managed three such completions.

I used the plural “quarterbacks” there because USC’s Sam Darnold got hit so much that he was taken out of the game early in the fourth quarter. That he managed to complete 20 of 28 passes against the aggressive Irish defense was impressive, but the completions only averaged about 11 yards each, and he was sacked four times and hit countless others.

This Irish team really is fun. The offense could stand to be more efficient but is pulling off a nearly Penn State- or Oklahoma State-level of big plays: 26 gains of 30-plus yards (sixth in FBS), eight of 60-plus (second), etc. And it only seems like Josh Adams — 10 yards per carry on Saturday night, 9.2 for the season — is responsible for all of them.

The defense, meanwhile, has been perhaps even more dominant. Despite having already played three teams in the S&P+ top 25, they entered fifth in defensive success rate and still have yet to allow more than 20 points in a game.

Rarely does Notre Dame get the chance to play the “DISRESPECT!!” or “NOBODY BELIEVES IN US!!” cards. Kelly is making the most of it. And he has a Playoff-caliber team at his disposal at the moment. You don’t have to like it. You can mourn it if you want to. But that won’t change it.

The Nittany Lions were so good that they actually allowed themselves an hour of celebration before turning the page to next week’s enormous Ohio State game.

Two weeks ago, BC was 2-4 and averaging 16 points per game, 12 against power conference opposition. Last week, the Eagles won a road shootout in Louisville, 45-42. On Saturday, they pummeled one-loss Virginia in Charlottesville, 41-10.

They scored 98 points in their first six games. They have 86 in their last two.

Two weeks ago, Arizona State was 2-3 and allowing 36 points per game, 40 against power conference opponents. Last week, the Sun Devils completely shut down national title contender Washington in a 13-7 win. On Saturday, they went to Utah and allowed 10 points in an easy 20-point win.

They were allowing 6.9 yards per play into mid-October. They’ve allowed 4.1 since.

North Texas has beaten Southern Miss and UTSA and stayed within 17 points of Iowa. Lane Kiffin’s Owls dropped 69 points and 800 yards on the Mean Green.

Yes, injuries and youth have rendered Larry Fedora’s Tar Heels pretty worthless at the moment. But while fellow ACC Coastal favorite Miami manages to turn every game into spectacular drama, Virginia Tech is just out here romping. It handled sudden offensive powerhouse Boston College by two touchdowns, and on Saturday, it straight-up embarrassed UNC. It was 35-0 at halftime and 52-0 after three quarters.

Since upsetting Oklahoma, Matt Campbell’s Cyclones have beaten Kansas and Texas Tech by a combined 76-13. And Tech’s actually pretty decent! What a damn job Campbell is doing this season.

You need bullet points to do Southern Miss’ Saturday evening in Ruston proper justice. The Eagles:

Behold the most “What if” team in FBS. Since beating Rutgers, 16-13, on a last-second field goal, the Eagles have lost by seven to Ohio in double overtime, by four to Kentucky, by five to Toledo, by one to Army, and by three to WMU in overtime.

All five of those teams will probably bowl this year. And because they lost to all five by a combined 20 points, the Eagles probably will not. That’s actually harder to pull off than winning a couple of those games. I doubt that’s much consolation, though.

Congrats on that big win over Purdue on Saturday, Rutgers. But beware: Someone else is gunning for you now.

God, I love college football.