Josh Pate Names College Football Week 2 Upset That's the 'Worst' He Can Remember

One of the biggest surprises of the Week 2 college football season was the No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish going down to Northern Illinois 16-14 at home.

Notre Dame was heavily favored by 28.5 points but couldn't generate any offense. It was outgained 388-286 and lost the turnover battle 2-0. On " Josh Pate's College Football Show ," the college football analyst said it was the worst loss he could remember.

"This is one of the worst losses that I can remember," Pate said. "All things considered, this is an AP poll top-five team, and they just can't handle it. I guess Notre Dame just can't handle it. This is not a good stat I'm about to read to you. This is their fourth loss to an unranked team under Marcus Freeman, and he hasn't been there that long."

After Brian Kelly left for the LSU head coaching job in 2022, Freeman took over at Notre Dame. Since then, his record is 20-9. However, the Fighting Irish suffered unranked losses to Marshall and Stanford in 2022, Clemson in 2023 and Northern Illinois this season.

Pate pointed out that Notre Dame had a 42-0 record in those games from 2017-21 and that Northern Illinois was the biggest underdog to beat the Fighting Irish in 30 seasons. Pate concluded that it seemed like Notre Dame had only prepared for Texas A&M and was not ready to play against Northern Illinois.

Pate stated this is an indictment of leadership and Freeman as a head coach. Now, it will be up to him to ensure his team is better prepared for the future so that Notre Dame can return to the College Football Playoff.

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