Who knew that the Week 1 matchup between Notre Dame and Texas A&M would have such far-reaching implications? The Fighting Irish definitely had high expectations, but those appeared dashed by a stunning Week 2 loss against Northern Illinois. For Texas A&M, the loss to Notre Dame showed that the Aggies were a work-in-progress under first-year head coach Mike Elko and would likely be more of a factor in 2025.
Well, fast forward to this weekend and Notre Dame and Texas A&M are two of the hottest teams in the country, and on Sunday found themselves both in the AP top-10 as the season flips to November. The loss to Northern Illinois may have eliminated Notre Dame’s margin for error, but after a convincing win over #24 Navy, the Fighting Irish have the inside track for a CFP berth. Meanwhile, QB Marcel Reed provided a season-defining spark for Texas A&M in a comeback win over #8 LSU, leaving the Aggies alone atop the SEC.
Elsewhere around the nation, with 5 of the top-10 on bye weeks, we saw a number of perennial underdogs take a huge step toward relevancy while perceived championship contenders struggled. #19 Pitt stayed undefeated with a blowout win over Syracuse on Thursday, #17 Boise State outlasted UNLV Friday night to keep hold of the Group of Five CFP bid, #13 Indiana dispatched Washington without its starting QB, and #11 BYU defeated UCF by double digits on the road. On the flip side, even though they all managed to pull out victories, #3 Penn State trailed at halftime against Wisconsin, #4 Ohio State trailed late in the fourth quarter against Nebraska, and #5 Texas could never quite put Vanderbilt away and managed just 6 second half points against the Commodores in a tight win.
Now, let’s take a look at the action for the Notre Dame opponents.
Notre Dame Opponent Overall Record: 50-44
TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Record: 7-1 (5-0)
Week 9 Result: Won 38-23 vs. #8 LSU
Recap: The Aggies trailed 17-7 midway through the third quarter when BJ Mayes intercepted a Garrett Nussmeier pass and returned it to the LSU 8-yard line. With the offense sputtering, first year head coach Mike Elko made a gutsy call to bench starting QB Connor Weigman in favor of freshman Marcel Reed . What followed was nothing short of magic. Reed scored the next play on a zone read and then proceeded to lead the Aggies on five more scoring drives to stun the Tigers. Texas A&M appears to have found its quarterback moving forward and with the victory, the Aggies vaulted into the top-10 and now stand alone atop the SEC race with only one game remaining against a ranked opponent (the season finale against Texas). For Notre Dame fans, LSU’s performance brought back many memories of the Irish falling short in big games under Brian Kelly . LSU committed 5 pre-snap penalties due to crowd noise, turned the ball over 3 times, had multiple special teams miscues (including 2 missed field goals and a botched snap on another field goal attempt, and were completely unable to run the ball (finishing with 24 yards rushing on 23 attempts). The nation was once again treated to a front row seat for Kelly’s penchant for showing up players and coaches on national television too.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS HUSKIES
Record: 4-4 (1-3)
Week 9 Result: Lost 25-23 at Ball State
Recap: In a dramatic back-and-forth game, Northern Illinois overcame a 22-14 fourth quarter deficit with an Antario Brown touchdown run with 4:57 remaining, a defensive stop, and then a Kanon Woodill field goal to give them a 23-22 lead with just 18 seconds remaining. The Huskies’ defense could not hold though, and in shades of Brian Van Gorder ’s units at Notre Dame, surrendered a 34-yard desperation pass that pushed Ball State into field goal range. Cardinals kicker Jackson Courville nailed the 52-yard field goal to give Ball State the narrow win and all but eliminate Northern Illinois from the MAC race. The Huskies defense had carried the team all season to this point, but were unable to make one final stop when it mattered most.
PURDUE BOILERMAKERS
Record: 1-6 (0-4)
Week 9 Result: Bye
Recap: The Boilermakers needed a bye week to reset before facing arguably the nation’s toughest closing stretch, a tall order for a 1-6 team. After this Saturday’s game against Northwestern, Purdue faces #4 Ohio State, #3 Penn State, Michigan State, and #13 Indiana.
MIAMI (OHIO) REDHAWKS
Record: 4-4 (3-1)
Week 9 Result: Won 46-7 vs. Central Michigan
Recap: The RedHawks won their third consecutive game, making Chuck Martin the winningest coach in the storied history of Miami football and maintaining their tie for second place in the MAC standings. Miami outgained the Chippewas 518-168 and rolled up 277 yards rushing, with RB Keyon Mozee leading the way with 120 yards. Mozee broke 100 yards for the third consecutive game and has become the driving force behind the RedHawk offense. In Miami’s 4 victories, he is averaging 111.3 YPG, while in their 4 losses he is averaging just 25 YPG. The RedHawks have a bye this coming Saturday before traveling to take on an improving Ball State team for some #MACtion on Tuesday, November 5th.
LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
Record: 5-3 (3-2)
Week 9 Result: Won 31-27 at Boston College
Recap: Louisville trailed 27-10 after a Boston College touchdown with 7:58 remaining in the third quarter, but with the Cardinals’ season on the ropes, QB Tyler Shough keyed a massive comeback. Shough hit TE Nate Kurisky for a score on the ensuing drive to cut the deficit to 27-17, the Cardinals clawed the deficit to 27-24 with the second of Isaac Brown ’s 2 touchdown runs, and then took the 31-27 lead with 7:12 remaining in the fourth quarter on another strike from Shough to Kurisky. With the win, Louisville kept alive slim hopes of making the ACC title game, as the Cardinals will face two teams ahead of them in the standings, #11 Clemson and #18 Pitt, in upcoming weeks. They’ll need to win out and get some help to have a shot, and that process starts with the visit to Clemson next Saturday night.
STANFORD CARDINAL
Record: 2-6 (1-4)
Week 9 Result: Lost 27-24 vs. Wake Forest
Recap: Stanford’s season continued its spiral with a narrow loss to Wake Forest on the Farm. The Cardinal trailed 24-17 at halftime before the defense stiffened in the second half, buying the offense time to tie things up, which it did on Ashton Daniels ’ strike to Sam Roush with 8:41 remaining. The Demon Deacons eventually answered with a 10-play drive that culminated in the game-winning field goal from Matthew Dennis with 1:48 remaining. Stanford mounted a final drive, but QB Ashton Daniels was intercepted with 28 seconds remaining and the Cardinal in field goal range. Daniels had given the Cardinal a spark off the bench, throwing for 214 yards and a score while also chipping in 54 yards on the ground, but his erratic play cost Stanford again when it mattered most. With the loss, Stanford remained winless at home in 2 years under head coach Troy Taylor and they’ll head back across the country next week for a matchup with NC State.
GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS
Record: 5-4 (3-3)
Week 9 Result: Lost 21-6 at Virginia Tech
Recap: The Georgia Tech offense was unable to generate much in the second game without the injured Haynes King , as QB Zach Pyron (who started last week against Notre Dame) was benched in favor of freshman Aaron Philo in the third quarter after being ineffective. The Yellow Jacket defense kept the team in the game all day, limiting star Hokie RB Bhayshul Tuten to just 79 yards, and the Hokies to a season-low 233 total yards, but the Georgia Tech offense committed 2 turnovers and went just 5-19 on third down and 1-5 on fourth down. Hokie QB Kyron Drones was the best player on the field and ended up making just enough plays to give the Hokies the win. Drones threw a touchdown, rushed for a touchdown, and caught a touchdown for a Virginia Tech team that has won three straight games and remains very much alive in the ACC race. For Georgia Tech, they’ll hope to get King back after next weekend’s bye before hosting #5 Miami on November 9th.
FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES
Record: 1-7 (1-6)
Week 9 Result: Lost 36-14 at #6 Miami
Recap: Florida State actually showed some fight in the first half against rival Miami and entered halftime trailing just 17-7 after a Miami field goal as time expired in the second quarter. However, the Hurricanes ripped off 19 straight points coming out of the break before a Seminole touchdown with just 18 seconds remaining made the final score look a little closer. Maybe DJ Uiagalelei wasn’t the only problem, as Florida State appears completely devoid of quarterback talent, with Luke Kromenhoek and Brock Glenn combining to go just 11-32 for 115 yards. The Seminoles were actually able to have some success in the running game for the first time this season (133 yards), but it was too little, too late. With the loss, Florida State is eliminated from bowl contention and Mike Norvell will likely use the rest of the season to figure out which guys he can build around for next year, if he even gets another year at the helm. Florida State is without question the most disappointing team of the 2024 season, but with each loss, the Seminoles get closer to being labeled the most disappointing team in modern college football history relative to preseason expectations. Florida State hosts North Carolina in Tallahassee next weekend before the trip to South Bend.
VIRGINIA CAVALIERS
Record: 4-4 (2-3)
Week 9 Result: Lost 41-14 vs. North Carolina
Recap: Virginia’s blowout loss to North Carolina was perhaps the most puzzling result of Saturday. Cavalier head coach Tony Elliot acknowledged as much, issuing an apology to the school administration, players, and staff after the game for the team’s lack of preparation. Virginia was playing with a reshuffled offensive line, but just never put up much fight. It didn’t help that QB Anthony Colandrea played by far his worst game of the season, throwing for just 156 yards with 2 interceptions, one of which was returned for an 84-yard Tar Heel touchdown. Sitting at 4-4, Virginia will need to pull at least 2 upsets in the final 4 games to make a bowl game – and that will be a tall task with games at #18 Pitt, #8 Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech, and at home against #20 SMU.
ARMY BLACK KNIGHTS
Record: 7-0 (6-0)
Week 9 Result: Bye
Recap: The Black Knights had a bye this week to gear up for a difficult closing stretch, beginning Saturday against rival Air Force.
SOUTHERN CAL TROJANS
Record: 4-4 (2-4)
Week 9 Result: Won 42-20 vs. Rutgers
Recap: USC righted the ship with a comfortable win over Rutgers on Friday night. QB Miller Moss threw for 308 yards and 2 scores (and ran for another), while RB Woody Marks racked up 142 total yards and 3 touchdowns. The USC defense surrendered 434 yards and 27 first downs to the Scarlet Knights, but made stops when it mattered most, forcing turnovers on downs 3 times, including twice in the fourth quarter with Rutgers trying to cut into the deficit. USC has a manageable schedule down the stretch, with winnable games at reeling Washington, at home against Nebraska, and “on the road” against UCLA, before the season finale against Notre Dame at the Coliseum. It’s not too far fetched to see the Trojans sitting at 7-4 and back in the top 25 for the matchup with Notre Dame Thanksgiving weekend.
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