Struggling with my mindset here, fellas.
Kind of excited. Very nervous.
Trying to enjoy today in the context of "really never expected to be here this year." Between the injuries, limitations in the passing game (a recurring theme!) and the NIU loss, ND has basically been playing with house money every week since then.
Getting the 30-year "No Big Bowl Wins" monkey off of ND's back not just once, but TWICE in the same postseason is fucking amazing.
Maybe I'm just a pussy, but everything shouts "Just enjoy it regardless of outcome, you really weren't supposed to be here, and this team is fun as hell and more likable than everything else out there."
But on the other hand, it's like... if not now, when? Can we REALLY expect MFMF to get us back into the title game behind pure effort, determination, and some fortunate bounces and mistakes from the opposition? Yes, this team is legitimately elite on defense. Hits keep coming, they keep answering. Injuries? Next man in. Opposing team took the lead? Someone's gonna force a turnover. Need a first down? Riley or Love are gonna put their bodies on the line and make it happen.
EVERYTHING has lined up perfectly to this point, and it was still a monumental struggle.
As an ND fan born in '90, I haven't seen a championship. As a Reds/Bengals/Bearcats guy in Cincy, I haven't seen a championship that I can remember (shoutout to the '90 Reds, though).
The Bengals were SO FUCKING CLOSE in 2021... then a bullshit defensive holding call ruined it (I'll take that to my grave, come at me Rams fans).
ND was there in '12... but weren't really that close after all. This ND team. THEY ARE LEGITIMATELY CLOSE.
I'm a shell-shocked, never-seen-a-championship-from-any-of-my-teams fan, and I'm trying as hard as I can to not get my hopes up about tonight, because Ohio State is pretty fucking good, and I've been conditioned to believe that the other shoe is gonna drop and that everything is gonna finally catch up to our boys.
And if it does, I don't know how I'll take it. Maybe I'll be able to put it into the context of life, and my kids, and all the shit that matters so much to all of the people around me that ISN'T football. Maybe I'll be able to look back and truly appreciate the ride MFMF and this team brought us on.
But I might feel like I did after scUM 2011. Just dejected, hopeless, despondent that it's gonna take a miracle run to get ND back into this position, and it could be who knows how long until that happens.
Here's to beating the Buckeyes and ending the drought and not having to worry about it!