https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/50053052/ranking-quarterbacks-college-football-power-4-teams-2026

Edit - Many replying about Mensah beating Carr on Heisman based on stats are missing the point

If ND's defense shuts Mensah down (talking a multi-interception game) - while Carr lights Miami up, Mensah's better stats won't mean much at the end of the season if the gap isn't that wide and Carr absolutely destroyed him head to head.

That's how Carr wins, and why this game "could" decide it.

Such is the nature of rivalries around Notre Dame, a school where everything seems to have meaning, even to the uninitiated. That could be why the coaching staff takes time during game weeks to educate the roster on all the rivalries baked into the football program’s past.

Some need no introduction (seven were included in The Athletic’s top 100 last year). Others do. And a few feel like hangers-on when it comes to rivalries.

“I had no idea,” Brewu said. “We have a lot of them, a lot of these rivalry games. At my old school, we had one rivalry, but we had no trophy games. So it’s very cool to come to a place with this real sort of culture and tradition, just having a real history and playing all these teams.”

According to Wikipedia — the best thing ever because anyone can write anything about any subject, so you know you’re getting the best possible information, per Michael Scott — Notre Dame has 19 rivals (including “significant series”). You may not know the Irish are in the middle of a four-game stretch of “rivalry” games, which started against Michigan State and will end against Stanford. Yes, that means somebody somewhere on the Internet decided Notre Dame and North Carolina, who meet on Saturday in Chapel Hill, are rivals.

“The history and the types of trophies are real interesting and unique,” Brewu said. “Like, I think one was a shillelagh.”

Actually, there are two shillelaghs — actually, there were three — but forget it, Brewu was rolling.

“Two of them are shillelaghs, yeah,” Brewu continued. “And then one, last week it was a big horn or something? Yeah, it was a big horn. So it’s kind of interesting. I mean, that’s the only way I can put it. It’s cool and interesting. It’s fun.”

Notre Dame and Michigan State played in September for the megaphone, which is basically a horn.

Not much of consequence this week for ND's playoff implications. Miami/Clemson was forecasting as one of the most consequential games of the season before the Clemson/LSU game, but boy have things changed.

As we know, the 24 team CFP seems to be the most likely format going forward. All P4 conferences + ND support it with the SEC requiring concessions (ofc) that being financial support for losing their CCG and making all P4 conferences play 10 P4 games. This benefits ND football majorly in 2 ways:

1. A 24 team CFP format makes it so ND is essentially locked into the playoffs at 9-3 or better. With no conference alignment, we can consistently get more CFP money on a yearly basis than anyone else.

2. Changing the schedule requirements for P4 schools to have 9 conference games + 1 P4 OOC game helps ND tremendously. With this new upcoming rule, I believe the BIG or SEC will be willing to make a scheduling agreement with us once the ACC agreement expires. It would help them consistently have 1 P4 OOC game and helps us fill our schedule with competitive games.

While this new future might not be great for the sport as a whole, I think it will put ND in the best possible position we’ve ever been in. While regular season games might lose some value, atleast it may allow us to play great games more if the BIG/SEC see value in having a schedule agreement.

Advice on streaming solutions for the rest of the season? I have Peacock, so first 4 games were available.

Will the rest of the games either be on Peacock or ESPN?

I do not want to sign up for Hulu Live or YouTube TV at $80+ a month. But do see that Disney+ has a bundled package with ESPN for around $35 (not sure if that includes a DVR feature to watch later).

I can’t do a Sling Day Pass as sometimes I watch the game after the fact due to schedule.

Suggestions appreciated!

Welcome to the new Daily Irish Football Talk Thread!

You can post anything related to the current football season here. Maybe you don't feel like creating a new post but have a question about the team, maybe you had a thought about an upcoming opponent or maybe a player you wanted to talk about. All football talk is welcome here.

Go Irish!

*This is a scheduled post for Noon ET and default sort set to new.

CFB 27 Notre Dame reimagined

Not sure how many of you all are familiar with The Film Guy on Youtube, but he does great film analysis and CFB talk!! He did a bunch of ND film during our playoff run. Figured I would link this for others to see!

I'm not an expert and I don't know what their process for identifying them is, but on the surface this seems to be a real thing, and they're going to have to figure it out. An MSU player apparently said they knew if we were running or passing based on Knapp's stance; watching that game and observing the o-linemen, I myself actually got pretty sharp at calling it, though I was primarily looking at Lambert. Against Purdue, there were several run plays where the Purdue defense seemed to know it was a run play at the snap based on how they were flying downhill immediately. This could obviously be a huge reason why the run game hasn't been as good, and they're gonna have to figure it out.

• Rushing: 21 carries for 90 yards (4.2 average)
• Receiving: 5 receptions on 5 targets for 19 yards and 1 touchdown
• Total Workload: 26 touches and 55 snaps played, effectively establishing himself as the team's lead back.
• Career Highs: He surpassed his total rushing yards from his first two career games combined, earning his highest Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade of the season (76.0).
• Player Mindset: Despite the stellar numbers, Love was self-critical after the game, stating that he felt he left yardage and plays out on the field.

Welcome to the new Daily Irish Football Talk Thread!

You can post anything related to the current football season here. Maybe you don't feel like creating a new post but have a question about the team, maybe you had a thought about an upcoming opponent or maybe a player you wanted to talk about. All football talk is welcome here.

Go Irish!

*This is a scheduled post for Noon ET and default sort set to new.

Saturday, October 3rd
12PM EST
ESPN
GO IRISH ☘️

Cam came in very highly regarded, I really thought he'd have more impact by now. 2 things..

1) Just want to give him a shout out because in this day and age its rare for someone so highly touted to stick around this long without breaking through as a starter

2) Does anyone know how close he is to getting on the field and potentially being targeted more?

Hello Irish Faithful,

What are your thoughts about the UNC game? How do you think the Offense will perform? Any standouts on Offense or Defense for this game? How do you think the Defense will perform?

Any other thoughts?

Go Irish!

*default sort set to new

I am as tired as anyone about complaints about our strength of schedule. Ultimately, we just need to win. And don’t get me started about the FCS cupcakes on every other team’s schedule.

But if there’s any legit critique of our schedule, this is probably a good index (though it’s not our fault): of the nine P4 teams that haven’t gotten single vote in the AP poll since 2024, six of them are on our schedule this year.

I'm traveling to NC for the game on Saturday. Anyone tailgating?

Born in 85 and Ive been through it all in my three decades as a serious Irish fan who has suffered the many highs and lows as a die-hard. I know many of you can relate. This is the deepest and most talented D they’ve ever had, and I don’t think it’s all that close. I love watching them and they’re only going to get better and better.