Notre Dame continues its ascent in national rankings after a second consecutive blowout performance on Saturday. The Fighting Irish crushed long-time rival Michigan 31 to 0, the first Notre Dame shutout in the over 100 year old series. Michigan had not been shut out by any team since 1984 against Iowa.
“I’d be lying if I told you that it didn’t feel great to shut out Michigan, thirty-one to nothing,” Coach Brian Kelly said after the game.
Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson threw for 226 yards, including three touchdown passes. Golson threw to Amir Carlisle for two touchdowns (who totaled 61 receiving yards) and William Fuller for one touchdown (89 total receiving yards).
Notre Dame and Michigan have the highest winning percentages of any programs in the country. Michigan had the chance to overtake the Irish on Saturday, but failed to do so in what is now its 11th straight road loss to a ranked team.
The Irish jumped four spots to just outside of the top 10 in this week’s rankings. Notre Dame is now ranked #11 in the country, behind arch-rival USC, who also jumped four spots. Moving into the top 10 are USC (10), LSU (9), and Texas A&M (8). Michigan State, Ohio State and Stanford all fell out of the top 10. Virginia Tech joined the top 25 for the first time this season. The top 5 remained constant for the second straight week.
Here are the top 25 college football rankings according to the USA Today Coaches’ Poll:
1. Florida State
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. Oregon
5. Auburn
6. Georgia
7. Baylor
8. Texas A&M
9. LSU
10. USC
11. Notre Dame
12. UCLA
13. Michigan State
14. Arizona State
15. Ole Miss
16. Stanford
17. Wisconsin
18. Ohio State
19. Virginia Tech
20. Kansas State
21. Nebraska
22. Missouri
23. South Carolina
24. Clemson
25. North Carolina
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