Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish emerged victorious in decisive fashion over USC on Saturday and the entire country took notice. The 49-14 win jumped off the screen in a big way and, while Notre Dame does not have the most impressive current profile among College Football Playoff contenders, it was an impressive performance in many ways.
However, there are still skeptics of the Irish and it feels safe to add Colin Cowherd of FOX Sports to the list. On Monday, the always controversial host indicated that Notre Dame "doesn't belong" among the top tier of programs in 2017.
Specifically, Cowherd compared the Irish to Alabama, Penn State, Clemson and more.
"Ohio State would beat Notre Dame, Alabama would crush them, Penn State would beat them, Wisconsin would beat them, Clemson would beat them. Notre Dame, this is an age thing, they have a senior-dominated offensive line."
It is more than fair to be skeptical of Notre Dame's current performance, but in the same breath, the Irish do have a daunting remaining schedule that gives the team plenty of opportunity to prove itself. The Irish still play NC State and Stanford at home with a road trip to Miami on the horizon and, well, running the table in those contests should place Notre Dame firmly in the top four conversation.
Only time will tell but Colin Cowherd isn't sold... yet.
