SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – Notre Dame defeated Stanford 49-20 on Saturday, completing the regular season with a 10-2 record and extending their winning streak to 10 games.
The Irish controlled the game from early on, taking a 35-3 lead at halftime. Notre Dame dropped their first two games of the season before winning their final 10 contests.
Notre Dame is ranked ninth in the latest Associated Press poll. The College Football Playoff rankings will be released Tuesday night.
“You talk about a team that is probably playing as well as anyone right now. We’ve won 10 straight games in a row. I think all of them by double-digit points maybe,” said Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. “And you want the 12 best teams. Now I know you have the conference champions and the Group of Five highest-ranked team, but you talk about who are the best teams now. Not week one. Now, and it’s hard to argue we aren’t one of those teams.”
Freeman emphasized the importance of focusing on current opportunities rather than factors outside the team’s control.
“You have to value what you have. We have this opportunity right now, and it was like this every week. If you don’t value what you have, you’ll lose it,” Freeman said. “You don’t focus on what you have and what you can control, you’re not going to maximize that opportunity.”
Junior running back Jeremiyah Love said the team’s focus was on ending the season strong.
“I came into this game focused on making sure that we end the season how we wanted to,” Love said. “I really didn’t come into it trying to do anything individually. I just wanted the best thing for my team. We ended up getting the best thing for our team, which was a win.”
The Irish now await their College Football Playoff fate, which will be revealed on Sunday after conference championship games are played this weekend. Prior to that, the CFP committee will release updated rankings on Tuesday night.
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