It’s never happened before. Ever.
IU didn’t play a strong schedule but other than Michigan, they crushed the teams they beat. They covered the spread handily in every game except for Michigan, tOSU, and now ND. It was kind of weird how during the game the announcers were critical of IU’s schedule while trumpeting ND’s schedule saying they beat Army, Navy, and Louisville. Ooh, aah. Whoopty-do.
ND’s loss to NIU was a case of overconfidence, thinking they could just roll their helmets out there and win the game. We can’t judge them by that. But I’m not sold on them being a competitor for the title. They have a history of being overrated and I’m not sure IU wasn’t a little bit intimidated by the brand and the big stage. Kurtis Rourke has played a lot better. If he hadn’t thrown the early pick and instead managed a TD, who knows? Not saying they would’ve won but some early success would’ve given them some confidence and momentum. I figured they’d score 21 points and still be in the game in the 4th qtr. I figured it would be about 28-21 around that time and a score by someone would cover the 51.5 pt total.
Big win for Marcus Freeman, though. I’m happy for him.