Jan 7 | BCS National Championship | Alabama

[BurningRiver]

 

[mick2]

Will the alumni clubs get tickets? Or are we forced to scour the Internet for scalped tix? I need tickets man!!!!

 

[Riddickulous]

A win here would give Kelly 200 for his career. How fitting.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

Will the alumni clubs get tickets? Or are we forced to scour the Internet for scalped tix? I need tickets man!!!!

Alumni Assoc has a lottery. If you haven't donated before, I think its a min of $100 to donate and become eligible for the lottery.

Is it possible to get this thread as big as the scUM gameday thread?

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

A win here would give Kelly 200 for his career. How fitting.

That's awesome. I'd also like to know whether a win here, and Michigan loss in the Chuckie Cheese Bowl, gives us the alltime winning percentage.

 

[UPMich_NDfan]

It's pretty cool to hear the Irish come up in almost every conversation on TV, even if its not football related.

I thought this was an underlying awesome thing that came with getting into this BCS Championship. For the next 45 days or so leading up to the game we'll get nailed with everything Irish on all the 'talks' I'd always get sick of listening to the build up for the other schools in previous years and think, man how awesome would it be if they were talking ND football. This year it will be ! Just think of how many melt down threads/ IE fights we'll avoid in that time frame!

 

[Irish Fam]

Just got home from the holiday back home. And therefore this is the first time i am getting to a computer to check IE. But I really only have one thing to say,

**** YES!

 

[ndfi78]

Just got home from the holiday back home. And therefore this is the first time i am getting to a computer to check IE. But I really only have one thing to say,

**** YES!

Indeed good sir, indeed

 

[phork]

Why buy tickets guys? We are going to be double digit underdogs on a neutral field and get whats coming to us.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

That is the sound of sour grapes dripping. After being squeezed. See a couple posts back.

It is interesting that two (three or four around the country, but who's counting) defenses that have had fast PAC12 offenses numbers are very similar powerful up front; with exceptional speed on the edges and in back. Hmmm. Someone figured out how to stop a flaming duck!

This all leads to something I think I discovered in taking a closer look. Something that explains to a degree ND's success this year and SC's fall. It ain't Lane. It ain't play callings or defensive coordinators, per se. It is about number of plays. I was putting some pseudo-stats together showing a point I wanted to make; namely that SC had the ball inside the five for about 9 plays in the fourth quarter. That was roughly 20% of their possessions for the game. I wanted to show that in that 20% they came away with 3 points. Something like they had no more production from being at ND's six inch line that being at their own twenty, or there about. But that wasn't it. They had 51 plays. 51!

ND had 69, which wasn't exactly top tier for offenses around the country. But it is all about the gradient. If you watch the SC season, so far looking at about four or five SC games, it seems to bear this out, they fell off the pace in the percent of plays run in a given game. So you see in their terrible November stretch they became more and more dependent on their big play/long range strike-ability, and instead of becoming more efficient, lost clock control and put the pressure on an ailing defense. Hmmm.

Maybe someone could tell me, but I think this is the opposite of what ND has been doing right. Controlling large segments of the game with an offense that isn't even that productive (can you say raining field goals?) allows a defense that can knock your head off, over inches to further dominate.

Writing my scattered thoughts down on the SoCAL thread, something occurred to me. I was on to something that may affect the NC Game. Anyone want to get scientific on me?

I will start with a hypothesis: ND (Kelly) controls tempo like a driver uses a cars accelerator. He looks at the road and adjusts offensively in real time.

Here is the point. ND is in control of the tempo like they are their own destiny. The difference in the SC game was stark ND 69 SC 51. Has this differential been a pattern for ND this season? (I have seen a preponderance of games including Oregon and KState where 3-4 plays between the teams is average.) Does this mean that ND posts a higher differential with teams that strike quickly and maybe a lower differential with teams that are slower to the draw? Could this explain closer games (points) that never seemed to be in question?

How are our potential opponents in this category?

Other top ten teams? The upset winners and losers? Or is it just the onset of one man's senility?

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

The biggest thing about this game is that, if we see the Brindza show, we will not win. We can't settle for field goals in the redzone. We should have dropped 40 on USC, not just 22. Kelly needs to start calling better plays in the redzone and players need to know that every play needs to gain yardage. I'm not a fan of going for the kill strike the second we cross the 20. A lob to the back of the endzone on 1st and 10 from the 18 is nice, but if it doesn't work, you are at a huge disadvantage for picking up the first down. We need to play the redzone smart. We have a good running game, don't abandon it. We have an All-American tight end, get it to him. There's no excuse for our abysmal redzone performances.

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

SIAP, Good article from Forde:
SEC rout of Notre Dame far from guaranteed - Yahoo! Sports

 

[IndyIrishFan1]

If you have a few minutes go to ESPN.com and read the comments under the BCS standings article. I am easily entertained my trolls/SEC fans.

Hopefully Georgia will win just to read the comments from Alabama fans that will quickly turn to just SEC fans.

 

[doctoru2]

First post here, but following for a while.

While the conversation is back to the SEC nonsense, I still love seeing this. We haven't seen ND #1 in so long and never #1 in the BCS. I'm glad there's over a month to relish it.

 

[johnnykillz]

First post here, but following for a while.

While the conversation is back to the SEC nonsense, I still love seeing this. We haven't seen ND #1 in so long and never #1 in the BCS. I'm glad there's over a month to relish it.

We'll have longer than a month to relish it, me boy-o!

 

[clashmore_jon]

sorry if this is off-topic, but didnt know where else it would fit: does anyone know what our team is up to this week with many of the coaches out recruiting? Presumably they are lifting and getting some recovery--but are there full on practices still going on? Does NCAA restrict the number of pre-bowl practices? seems like there's plenty of time for our Offense get some red zone work vs the best scoring D in the land.

 

[BGIF]

sorry if this is off-topic, but didnt know where else it would fit: does anyone know what our team is up to this week with many of the coaches out recruiting? Presumably they are lifting and getting some recovery--but are there full on practices still going on? Does NCAA restrict the number of pre-bowl practices? seems like there's plenty of time for our Offense get some red zone work vs the best scoring D in the land.

Postseason football
Publish date: Dec 22, 2010

What are NCAA guidelines for bowl teams and practice?

Although there is no specific limit on the number of practices teams may hold while preparing for a bowl game, standard NCAA rules apply for student-athletes’ participation in practice or other athletically related activities. Same as the regular season, these rules limit practice and other athletic activities to a maximum of four hours per day and 20 hours per week.

Postseason football - NCAA.org

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

sorry if this is off-topic, but didnt know where else it would fit: does anyone know what our team is up to this week with many of the coaches out recruiting? Presumably they are lifting and getting some recovery--but are there full on practices still going on? Does NCAA restrict the number of pre-bowl practices? seems like there's plenty of time for our Offense get some red zone work vs the best scoring D in the land.

Notre Dame Practice Itinerary For December

The majority of the coaching staff is on the road recruiting this week, so the rest of this week and early December is about restoring some health and working out with the strength and conditioning staff.

The first week of December also will be an active recruiting time for the coaches, but practices will be held on Dec. 7-8. The team also will have its Awards Show on the 7th, but Manti Te'o likely will be in New York that weekend because there will be some media obligations.

Dec. 9 is study day because final exams will be held the week of Dec. 10-14. The team will then resume practicing in earnest from Friday the 14th through the 22nd before leaving for Christmas break. It is during this time in particular where a lot of work has traditionally been done with the younger players in preparation for next spring and the next season.

Dec. 26 is a travel day, and they are expected to back on campus from Dec. 27 through Jan. 1 for more practices. Jan. 2 they leave for Miami, and then practice will be held there from Jan. 3-5 — a regular work week, before the Jan. 6 walk-through prior to the game the next day.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Looks like a wise schedule. Builds fresh legs; gets exams aced; resets minds; natural schedule for resetting goals while maintaining continuity. Does Longo get them for that week?

 

[CTIDANDREW]

Note: I love Brian Kelly and his coaching staff, and everything they have done to restore Notre Dame to where it belongs.

However, if are Special Teams play doesn't come out looking(specifically offensive Punt Return) much better in the NC ill be upset.

We're going to be playing defenses better than any we have seen all season. We need every inch of field position we can get. We got six weeks...SIX WEEKS to figure this out. I honestly believe we'll lose if we lose the field position battle and I hope Brian and crew can figure it out.

*If this means we stop playing for the fake every time we must do so. Saban, Richt are both pretty vanilla coaches. I doubt they would try a fake punt in a NC game.

 

[ACamp1900]

I believe he already stated the punt return is due to depth in the secondary and he'll address it in the spring... which if true, means nothing will change come NC game

 

[CTIDANDREW]

Hypothetical: Do you risk using starters on special teams, if you think it could mean the difference in winning a national championship? Not saying all 11 guys should be starters, but 3 or 4 to help with this depth issue. I would say yes.

*If starters are already used on special teams I apologize, I honestly haven't looked very closely.

Also, I understand the depth is his concern. But we got six weeks to get completely healthy and coach these boys up. We need to be better on punt return.

 

[stlnd01]

Hypothetical: Do you risk using starters on special teams, if you think it could mean the difference in winning a national championship? Not saying all 11 guys should be starters, but 3 or 4 to help with this depth issue. I would say yes.

*If starters are already used on special teams I apologize, I honestly haven't looked very closely.

Also, I understand the depth is his concern. But we got six weeks to get completely healthy and coach these boys up. We need to be better on punt return.

Right. I can see that when you're playing week-in, week-out and you don't want #1s/#2s to get banged up. But in one game for the whole thing?
It'd be nice if we could gain some yards on a PR here and there. Yards could be tough to come by, after all, and Neal will be one of the best pure athletes on the field.

 

[DFISH320]

Miami

Miami

Anyone traveling to Miami for the game? Wondering what hotel ND will be staying at?

 

[brandonnash]

Anyone know what the face value of the tickets are? I saw sweepstakes for 2 tickets and value of prize was $650 so $325 each? And how do they sell/hand out the tickets? Are they all sold already? I would think they would hold the tickets till both teams were announced.

 

[irishff1014]

Is there a limit on how many players can travel to this game too?

 

[RDU Irish]

Lottery is going on for ND until December 3rd. Technically I don't think the bowls give their allocations until the teams are formally announced but ND seems to know what they have coming.

Orange bowl gives preference to their regulars, the website has waitlist for NC tickets but you will be required to buy both Orange Bowl and BCS NC tix.

I think face values are $350 - $450 for the title game and half or less for Orange Bowl. 4x that for BCS NC tix in the open market.

I have some friends and relatives that had sticker shock when they saw the face value, I quickly convinced them to submit with the promise of a finders fee. Fingers crossed!

 

[RDU Irish]

Alumni Assoc has a lottery. If you haven't donated before, I think its a min of $100 to donate and become eligible for the lottery.

Is it possible to get this thread as big as the scUM gameday thread?

The lottery is weighted based on your "relationship" to the university. In other words, the guy who has given $10K for the last ten years will be 1000X more likely to win than the guy who just gave $100 this year. Too bad they don't count tuition costs in your relationship, that would give youngsters a pretty good advantage over the elder statesmen.

I also think there is a one year lag from the donation to eligibility. In the past, your 2010 contribution made you eligible for 2011 tickets and so on.

I also noticed there is a $25 processing fee, I will have to reimburse some friends for that regardless!

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Yes.

 

[RDU Irish]

LSU, Alabama get ticket allotments for BCS championship game | NOLA.com

SunLife stadium has about a 78,000 capacity versus 72,000 tickets allocated to last year's Sugar Bowl. So 17,000 maybe 18,000 tickets per school seems like a reasonable expectation for ND's allotment.

I have no idea how many season ticket holders we have but I suspect they may have first dibs at a some of these as well. It is easy to imagine half the allotment getting allocated outside the lottery leaving a crap load of people fighting over less than 10,000 seats.