Notre Dame rises to #3 in BCS rankings after win at Oklahoma

Saturday night was a night that Notre Dame football answered a lot of questions throughout the country. Before they even got to Oklahoma, a good majority of television, radio, sportswriters, bloggers and any other sort of media outlet that wasn't associated with the University of Notre Dame, were writing off the Irish and already tagging them with their first loss.

The Fighting Irish went into their highly touted matchup with the Sooners as confident as they have been thus far in the 2012 season. It's a good thing they played as confident as they did or the host Sooners could have eaten them alive on primetime television with much of the country watching.

Notre Dame moved up in the latest BCS (Bowl Championship Series) Standings to #3 after sitting at the #5 spot in those computer polls. They leap-frogged over the high-powered offense of the now-#4 Oregon Ducks. The Collin Klein-led Kansas State Wildcats jumped up into the #2 BCS ranking with now-#7 Florida losing to Georgia, who moved up to #6 in the BCS this week.

As much as critics of Notre Dame are convinced that the Irish shouldn't be as high in the BCS as they are, they're more than likely changing their tune after last nights stellar performance on the road at then-#8 Oklahoma. It makes good sense that there are some out there that are especially critical of Brian Kelly's offense and how it performs week-by-week.

My concern this week was whether Irish quarterback Everett Golson would finally play a complete game. He was forced to sit out one play, because he was hit pretty hard by a Sooner defender as he scrambled for yardage. Golson was relieved by former starter and current backup Tommy Rees, who completed a pass on his one play of action for 11 yards and a first down to TE Tyler Eifert.

When word got out Saturday morning that sophomore running back/kick returner George Atkinson III would not be making the trip to Norman because he was ill from flu-like symptoms, depth at running back and the return game was a little in question. Both situations fixed, because of depth. Tailbacks Theo Riddick (74 yards, TD) and Cierre Wood (74 yards, TD), along with QB Golson (64 yards, TD), managed just fine without the services of GAIII, but wouldn't have minded having him there.

Cam McDaniel did a pretty nice job in the kick return game with four returns for a total of 77 yards (19.3 avg.). Atkinson III will be back next Saturday, as Notre Dame will host Pittsburgh at Notre Dame Stadium.

Defense is something that head coach Brian Kelly, along with defensive coodinator Bob Diaco haven't really had too much to worry about this season. Going into Saturday night's game at Oklahoma, the Irish D was allowing just 9.4 points per game. With Manti Te'o leading the defense, all is well. With Kapron Lewis-Moore, Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt holding up the D-line duties, they make things a little easier for linebackers Te'o, Dan Fox, Carlo Calabrese, Danny Spond and Prince Shembo. The defensive backfield was the biggest concern when the season started, but that tension has eased with each game. Led by Right CB Bennett Jackson and Safety Zeke Motta, they're taking youngsters Elijah Shumate, Matthias Farley and KeiVarae Russell under their upperclass wings and they've turned out better than they ever imagined.

I'm not assuming that Notre Dame will easily waltz through the final four regular season games without any challenge. Pittsburgh is no slouch by any means. Tailback Ray Graham is having a great season through 8 games for the Panthers. He has 622 rushing yards on 134 carries (4.6 avg.) with 7 TDs and has chipped in with 22 receptions for 244 yards and 2 TDs. Pitt also has a couple good receivers, one in particular that they've had trouble with the past couple seasons. Mike Shanahan has been a thorn in the side of the Irish's D during his time at Pittsburgh. This season, he's caught 37 passes for 637 yards and 3 TDs. Devin Street leads the team with 50 grabs for 695 yards and 4 TDs.

The Irish head to Boston College on November 10, host Wake Forest on November 17 and finish up the regular season with a trip to Los Angeles to face the USC Trojans on Thanksgiving weekend.

It'll be interesting how Notre Dame responds at home this Saturday vs. Pittsburgh. I think it will definitely be good to come home following a big road victory at Oklahoma.

GO IRISH!