SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Notre Dame’s three straight last-minute victories has done little to impress the poll voters.
The Fighting Irish (4-1), ranked No. 18 before losing to Michigan in the final 11 seconds three weeks ago, have seen their support in The Associated Press poll drop from 383 points following its shutout against Nevada, to 40 points after its loss to the Wolverines, to 16 points after beating Michigan State to a season-low seven after a win over Purdue.
The Irish find themselves with nine points in this week’s poll following their 37-30 overtime victory over Washington, marking just the second time Notre Dame had one loss in its first five games and was not ranked. The only other time? Last season.
That team went on to lose five of its next seven games en route to a 7-6 season, proving the voters correct.
Weis believes this year’s team is different. It is playing with a special passion, a special camaraderie, he said.
ch other. It’s fun to watch.”
He concedes the Irish have flaws “starting from the head coach right on down.” Still, he questions why the Irish aren’t getting more respect, pointing out that many ranked teams have slipped. Twelve ranked teams have a loss. No. 19 Oklahoma has two losses.
“You tell me what teams that are in there haven’t had some trouble in their schedule. I mean, almost everybody has,” he said. “So you go right down the list. We’ve had one loss by four points on the road with 11 seconds to go in the game. So the flip side of it, we’re 11 seconds away from being undefeated.”
The problem for the Irish is the four teams they’ve beaten have a combined record of 6-13 and the team they lost to Michigan is 4-1, but has a lot of question marks as well. Four straight last-minute games also don’t build confidence. But history is full of successful teams with a lot of close calls.
Ohio State won a national championship in 2002 with a team that won six games by seven points or fewer. Tennessee won a national championship in 1998 after opening the season with a 34-33 victory over Syracuse, beating Florida 20-17 in overtime and defeating Arkansas 28-24 in the last-minute after a turnover by the Razorbacks.
Notre Dame has had its share of the luck of the Irish.
In 2002, first-year coach Tyrone Willingham got the Irish off to an 8-0 start even though Notre Dame didn’t score its first offensive touchdown until its third game and had three straight games decided by a touchdown or less. In Frank Leahy’s first season in 1941, Notre Dame won its last three games by a touchdown or less to finish 8-0-1 and ranked No. 3. The game before that was a 0-0 tie with Army.
There are also teams that got a few lucky wins then fell apart.
Weis said he has two reasons to believe that the Irish will continue to win: the team’s heart and Jimmy Clausen.
“When you have a quarterback like that, you’ve got a chance to win every time you play, and that really is the bottom line,” Weis said.
Clausen leads the nation in pass efficiency with a rating of 179.25. He is sixth in passing yards per game at 309 despite missing part of the game against Purdue with a turf toe injury. In the fourth quarter and overtime this season, Clausen is 29 of 45 passing for 396 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
Weis said his play will be key when the Irish face No. 7 USC after an off week.
“The way this quarterback is playing and the way he’s acting and the way he’s leading the team, the confidence the team has in him, you’ve got a chance to win every time you play,” Weis said.
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