Dec 30 | South Carolina | Gator Bowl

Some Irish Bloke

Some Irish Bloke

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IrishSteelhead said:
Non-NY6 CFP bowl games are glorified scrimmages. Nobody cares what happens most of the time except the fans (some of them are even checked out by that point).

With that said, I really hope MF treats this like the Super Bowl, and creates a scenario where the team truly feels the game matters and the stakes are incredibly high.

It’s pretty clear right away what teams are mailing it in during a bowl, and it happens more than most people notice.


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I've never understood fans that say "bowl games don't matter." I'm a fan, it matters to me. As a player, it most definitely matters, it's another game.

Saying it doesn't matter seems like a "you" problem (not saying you particularly, IrishSteel, just saying "you" as in other fans")

I assume anyone who says it's a "scrimmage" didn't play football. Some of these guys are suiting up for the last time in the uniform. Some are jockeying for positions on the roster moving forward. Not to mention plain-old University pride. Ending the season on a high note as well as momentum moving forward to the offseason.

It most definitely matters.
 
Rudy89

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When you have players who feel the need to sit out and put it above the “university pride” that kinda makes the game feel like it doesn’t matter quite as much in the grand scheme of things. Not that I’m totally angry with them I get it. Look at Jaylon Smith and how he lost his rookie nfl season for the Fiesta Bowl. I understand why they feel the need to sit out. On the flip side if I was Coach Freeman I would respect their decision to sit out but that player electing to sit out better not be on the sidelines cheering with the team & definitely shouldn’t get a Gator Bowl ring or watch or whatever the players may get if they can win.

I agree with you I went from K-12 not seeing my Irish win a bowl game so any one we do win has been like second Christmas for me as a fan. But when you see senior leadership and key players feel that it isn’t in their best interest to put that trophy in ND’s trophy case…it definitely takes the luster away from the game.
 
Dale

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Two big losses. Stogner is a solid TE. Bell was a very good flex TE last year, not as often used this year as 2021, until he actually played RB down the stretch.

Honestly they have exactly one weapon now, Antwane Wells. They could shut these dudes out.
 
Crazy Balki

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They also lost Cam Smith, one of the top corners in the country to the draft.
 
Some Irish Bloke

Some Irish Bloke

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Rudy89 said:
When you have players who feel the need to sit out and put it above the “university pride” that kinda makes the game feel like it doesn’t matter quite as much in the grand scheme of things. Not that I’m totally angry with them I get it. Look at Jaylon Smith and how he lost his rookie nfl season for the Fiesta Bowl. I understand why they feel the need to sit out. On the flip side if I was Coach Freeman I would respect their decision to sit out but that player electing to sit out better not be on the sidelines cheering with the team & definitely shouldn’t get a Gator Bowl ring or watch or whatever the players may get if they can win.

I agree with you I went from K-12 not seeing my Irish win a bowl game so any one we do win has been like second Christmas for me as a fan. But when you see senior leadership and key players feel that it isn’t in their best interest to put that trophy in ND’s trophy case…it definitely takes the luster away from the game.
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I hear what you are saying, but this isn't a ND only issue, and we've had this discussion plenty on this board, but I find it slightly disingenuous to assume that Michael Mayer or Isiah Foskey don't have Notre Dame pride in the event that they sit out the bowl game. None of us can understand the potential implications of being a first round draft pick and weighing that decision and I guarantee you it's a damn hard one for them to make. It's easy for us to be fans and criticize them but we've never had an opportunity to have millions in guaranteed money and a 4-5 year contract worth tens of millions at our disposal. Even NIL can't match that.

Either one of those guys could have sat out as soon as we lost to Marshall and packed it in but they led the way for their respective units and at least saved a respectable season for ND.

The last point I'll make is go back to 2016 and how embarrassing it was that we weren't one of the 80+ teams that made a bowl game. Over 62% of the teams in FBS make a bowl game. Knowing how horrible of a look it was that we were in the bottom 35% of college football, I can't get over people saying that bowl games "don't matter."
 
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NDdomer2

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IRISHDODGER said:
NOTE: These picks do not take injuries and opt-outs into account.

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just to confirm im reading his chart correctly there. with 57% confidence the smart bets are SCar +4 and the Over while predicting a true upset?
 
Free Manera

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NDdomer2 said:
just to confirm im reading his chart correctly there. with 57% confidence the smart bets are SCar +4 and the Over while predicting a true upset?
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According to this model, I would say the smart bet would be the SC moneyline (+152). However these models are not worth much right now due to the lack of roster information. If you already have a feeling about a game and you feel like you can get a good number, then jump on it. But just using the models as projections right now are a crapshoot.
 
Veritate Duce Progredi

Veritate Duce Progredi

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I'm not making a prediction but running the ball travels well. And SC doesn't do a great job of stopping the run....I wonder if our mesh points change with Buchner/Angeli at QB?
 
Rudy89

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Im not saying they don’t have pride in the university but I am saying that even kids with a lot of pride may feel (at least in this day and age) putting their nfl future on the line for a mid tier postseason game isn’t worth the risk. Putting it on the line for a National championship ring, yes. Putting it on the line for the Gator Bowl which isn’t a bad game but it is mid tier they may not think that something like that is worth it no matter how much they may love ND. Times have changed and while 10-20 years ago you saw seniors crying after losing games like the Belk Bowl or the Little Cesar’s Pizza bowl that mentality is few and far between these days good or bad. Because that mentality is more prevalent the perception of a game like the Gator Bowl makes it feel a bit more hollow than what it would’ve meant in 03 when we lost this same bowl game.
Some Irish Bloke said:
I hear what you are saying, but this isn't a ND only issue, and we've had this discussion plenty on this board, but I find it slightly disingenuous to assume that Michael Mayer or Isiah Foskey don't have Notre Dame pride in the event that they sit out the bowl game. None of us can understand the potential implications of being a first round draft pick and weighing that decision and I guarantee you it's a damn hard one for them to make. It's easy for us to be fans and criticize them but we've never had an opportunity to have millions in guaranteed money and a 4-5 year contract worth tens of millions at our disposal. Even NIL can't match that.

Either one of those guys could have sat out as soon as we lost to Marshall and packed it in but they led the way for their respective units and at least saved a respectable season for ND.

The last point I'll make is go back to 2016 and how embarrassing it was that we weren't one of the 80+ teams that made a bowl game. Over 62% of the teams in FBS make a bowl game. Knowing how horrible of a look it was that we were in the bottom 35% of college football, I can't get over people saying that bowl games "don't matter.”
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Veritate Duce Progredi

Veritate Duce Progredi

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Jiggafini19Deux said:
I could care less about QB. This might be the greatest special teams matchup in the history of college football.
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How much less could you care?

Apologies for the pedantry, I really dislike when people get this wrong and I'm on a mission to end these rather minor errors.


And before you ask, yes my life is really exciting, why do you ask?
 
irishff1014

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Freeman doesn't believe anyone else will sit out or transfer before the bowl game.

Merriweather and Bracy practicing and good to go for the bowl game.
 
Sea Turtle

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irishff1014 said:
Buchner and Angeli both getting reps with the first team. No decision has been made.
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Angeli is a winner. And he got that 6'3 height and 220 pound frame.

Too lazy so just imagine the Jack Nicholson gif from The Departed.
 
ulukinatme

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Man, with Leach in the hospital a matchup with Mississippi State could have been pretty favorable.
 
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