Final from South Bend. The #8 Irish fall to 0-2 on the season and the #16 A&M Aggies improve to 3-0.

Another fun game!

3 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Another fun game!

It sure was!

Fun game but a game The Irish needed. I thought for sure the holding on the kick return was going to burn the Aggies but they found a way. I feel bad for NDs place holder, they only shows him 20 times at the end. At some point the defense needed to make  stop and just did not.

Like @TheDeuce says, you hate to see it.

And I like their coach a lot; just not a fan of the program. 

Notre Dame is fraudulent? Who could have ever seen that coming?

2 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

Notre Dame is fraudulent? Who could have ever seen that coming?

They were #8, so the best to expect is for them to move up just one spot. 

I’m an old school ND fan, raised Catholic and they were good under Lou Holtz so I have my childhood fandom still. That being said I was disappointed last night because I really like Marcus Freeman, and still have a faint hint of fandom. I’ve moved on to being a UK football fan about 25 years ago, so I like just getting heartbroken more often.

7 minutes ago, mcpapa said:

They were #8, so the best to expect is for them to move up just one spot. 

This was a GOOD loss.

I like Marcus Freeman.  I like his energy.  And I like the recruits that he has brought to the program.  You can tell he's getting a different type of player than Brian Kelly.

However, these slow starts to the season and early losses at home are getting old.  Losses to Marshall, Northern Illinois, and last night just can't happen.  At least with the NIU loss, Notre Dame still had the chance to have some quality wins and get in the playoff.  Now?  That's a tall task because Boise State isn't a quality game after USF trounced them to start the year.  USC probably won't have a great season in the Big 10.  Arkansas is a midcard SEC program at best.  There just aren't any quality wins left.

Only chance the Irish have now is to run the table and win the next 10 games convincingly, which I don't think can happen with this defense.  They also need Miami to win the ACC and A&M to pull a rabbit out of a hat and finish in the top 3 of the SEC.  If those three things happen, the Irish can claim "Hey, we only lost by a combined total of 4 points in our losses!"  However, I see the season probably turning out 8-4ish more than 10-2 right now.

Freeman has to fix the defense.  Losing Al Golden to the NFL wasn't great but Chris Ash needs to be on the hot seat right now.

Oh, and this was the second night in a row that my team lost to a late touchdown with seconds to spare.  Lincoln did it to Danville on Friday night and then A&M did it to the Irish last night.  The football gods are not with me this week!

3 minutes ago, DanvilleFan said:

I like Marcus Freeman.  I like his energy.  And I like the recruits that he has brought to the program.  You can tell he's getting a different type of player than Brian Kelly.

However, these slow starts to the season and early losses at home are getting old.  Losses to Marshall, Northern Illinois, and last night just can't happen.  At least with the NIU loss, Notre Dame still had the chance to have some quality wins and get in the playoff.  Now?  That's a tall task because Boise State isn't a quality game after USF trounced them to start the year.  USC probably won't have a great season in the Big 10.  Arkansas is a midcard SEC program at best.  There just aren't any quality wins left.

Only chance the Irish have now is to run the table and win the next 10 games convincingly, which I don't think can happen with this defense.  They also need Miami to win the ACC and A&M to pull a rabbit out of a hat and finish in the top 3 of the SEC.  If those three things happen, the Irish can claim "Hey, we only lost by a combined total of 4 points in our losses!"  However, I see the season probably turning out 8-4ish more than 10-2 right now.

Freeman has to fix the defense.  Losing Al Golden to the NFL wasn't great but Chris Ash needs to be on the hot seat right now.

Oh, and this was the second night in a row that my team lost to a late touchdown with seconds to spare.  Lincoln did it to Danville on Friday night and then A&M did it to the Irish last night.  The football gods are not with me this week!

Marcus Freeman is a defensive founded head coach. If the defense is the issue, he needs to dig in more on that side where he built his resume as a linebackers coach and defensive coordinator.

1 hour ago, TheDeuce said:

This was a GOOD loss.

Here's some more news you will like from this game result. I heard that Beechwood junior WR Tyler Freeman who is a UL commit (both football and baseball) and is being wooed by ND was at this game. So he saw a losing effort by the Irish. ?

Somehow the Irish were thrown a lifeline by the the football gods and they remain in the top 25.  Outside of their matchup with the Trojans, they don't have much to make the CFP committee say they earned a spot, but still being ranked with the chance to work their way up the polls is a gift.

11 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

Somehow the Irish were thrown a lifeline by the the football gods and they remain in the top 25.  Outside of their matchup with the Trojans, they don't have much to make the CFP committee say they earned a spot, but still being ranked with the chance to work their way up the polls is a gift.

History proves ND nearly always gets the benefit of the doubt. If they finish 10-2 they will likely get in or possibly even at 9-3 they might be considered.

If this was next year with 16 teams, a 9-3 ND would waltz into the CFP.

ND is just the 6th 0-2 team to be ranked in AP History.