For the past four years, Notre Dame has taunted the Power 5 with its potential to elbow out a second conference champion from the College Football Playoff, only to lose at least once by mid-October every season.
Following Saturday's resounding win at No. 24 Virginia Tech, the undefeated Irish are in a position to flip the script and exceed expectations in the second half of their season. Notre Dame's 22-point win was its largest road win against an AP ranked team since 1966 against No. 10 USC. The trip to Blacksburg, which came on the heels of an important home win over Stanford, legitimized Notre Dame's playoff hopes and illustrated the kind of discipline and consistency needed to finish undefeated.