Notre Dame doesn’t get their season underway until Sunday night which means Fighting Irish (and Florida State) fans had to sit around and watch everyone else have fun this weekend before getting to take the field in front of a national audience.
Related: Notre Dame’s 2021 Football Schedule
There was a big-time upset that got things started Friday night as one Notre Dame opponent knocked off another, who happened to have a preseason top-10 ranking.
Here is how each Notre Dame opponent for 2021 fared in Week One:
Toldeo: 49-10 win over Norfolk State
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Toledo, one of the favorites in the MAC, put up over 440 yards of offense in the blowout victory over Norfolk State. Toledo comes to South Bend next week.
Purdue: 30-21 win vs. Oregon State
Photo Courtesy: Journal-Courier
Purdue quarterback Jack Plummer threw for 313 yards and a pair of scores in the Boilermakers home victory over Oregon State.
No. 15 Wisconsin: 16-10 loss vs. No. 20 Penn State
Photo Courtesy of Journal-Sentinel
Wisconsin visited the red zone four times Saturday and walked away with a combined seven points in those trips as Graham Mertz struggled, going 22/37 for 185 yards (5.0 yards per attempt) and threw a pair of interceptions and no touchdowns.
No. 10 Cincinnati: 49-14 win vs. Miami (Ohio)
Photo courtesy: The Cincinnati Enquirer
Desmond Ritter threw for 295 yards and four scores while rushing for another in Cincinnati’s dominating 49-14 win over Miami (Ohio).
Virginia Tech: 17-10 win over No. 9 North Carolina (Carolina also an ND opponent this year)
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Virginia Tech picked up their biggest home win in years as the defense dominated North Carolina, who was supposed to have one of the most prolific offenses in college football this year. Amare Barno had 3.5 tackles for loss on the Hokies line while the defensive unit forced three interceptions against preseason Heisman candidate, Sam Howell.
No. 14 USC: win vs. San Jose State
(AP Photo/John McCoy)
Wide receiver Drake London had a massive afternoon in the USC opener as he pulled in 12 receptions for 137 yards in the Trojans 30-7 win over San Jose State.
Navy: 49-7 loss vs. Marshall
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Marshall held the ball for just 18:41 in Saturday’s game but put up 49 points in that time while routing Navy in Annapolis as it looks to be another long year ahead for the Midshipmen.
Virginia: 43-0 win vs. William & Mary
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Brennan Armstrong threw for 339 yards and two scores while Virginia’s defense held William & Mary to just 183 yards of total offense in Saturday’s blowout win.
Georgia Tech: 22-21 loss vs. Northern Illinois
Credit: Jenn Finch-USA TODAY Sports
Georgia Tech turned heads to open 2020 as they upset Florida State but 2021 saw them drop Saturday’s opener on their home field as Northern Illinois scored with 38 seconds to go and successfully went for two with Rocky Lombardi finding Tyrice Richie for the game winning score.
Stanford: 24-7 loss vs. Kansas State (Arlington, Texas)
Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Remember when Stanford was considered one of the most physical teams nationally year-in and year-out? It feels like a lifetime ago as the Cardinal ran for just 39 yards on 22 attempts in their season opening loss versus Kansas State.
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