Jan 20 | National Championship

[InKellyWeTrust]

In fairness to BK, he was here during the reign of the SEC/OSU/Clemson superteams. And he left just as the NIL and transfer rules were changing in a way that helps ND by making the talent disparity smaller than it was in the superteam era.

It's possible that his leaving also caused the administration to focus more on resources for football, I'm not sure. I guess I assumed he would leave for an NFL job, not another college job.

This is a good assessment. For whatever we all think about Kelly, his timing at ND couldn't have been worse.

 

[NDpendent]

If we beat Ohio State it will prove nothing because we didn't play Texas, Arizona State, Oregon, Tennessee and Boise State. Without beating those teams we didn't earn it. Simply Irish Luck

 

[Irish8248]

This is not a BK discussion -- This is not a MFMF discussion -- This IS a discussion about how we're 6 sleeps away from a Natty..... when do we get some more content? Practice videos? Updates? Hype highlights? Inject it into my veins. Give me my fix. I waaaaannnnt it alllllll, now!

 

[NDFAN2008]

I honestly believe Georiga and Penn State both have a better DL than Ohio State.

 

[KPENN]

 

[Terry Jillery]

Bored at work. Rewatching Ohio State vs Penn State. They beat both Texas and Penn State the same way. Goal line stand to prevent a tie game in the 4th. Can’t run inside, can’t run outside, can’t pass over the top in the red zone. Michigan only got through once and had to settle for field goals. However, that one red zone score and subsequent field goals helped them win the game. JETER is going to be a big factor in this game. We need those 3’s. We need to score at least once in the red zone where the others failed.

 

[NDRock]

Bored at work. Rewatching Ohio State vs Penn State. They beat both Texas and Penn State the same way. Goal line stand to prevent a tie game in the 4th. Can’t run inside, can’t run outside, can’t pass over the top in the red zone. Michigan only got through once and had to settle for field goals. However, that one red zone score and subsequent field goals helped them win the game. JETER is going to be a big factor in this game. We need those 3’s. We need to score at least once in the red zone where the others failed.

Hopefully this is where RL's ability to run can help.

 

[OhioIrish]

If you haven’t lived in Ohio, this is a worthy read. It’s spot on.

Ohio State football fans demand nothing but perfection, and that is profoundly sad | Arace

When happiness depends on one thing – perfection from a college football team – then doom is destiny.

www.dispatch.com

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I thought we would need to play our A game and Bama play their C game for us to win a close one. Unfortunately, the opposite happened.

I remember thinking “be careful what we wish for” when both Oregon & KSU lost the final week of the regular season after ND cruised to an easy Senior Day win over WF. At the time it was all about lighting up the #1 sign. Imagine if K-State had won & ND faced them in the Natty? No guarantee ND wins but SEC fans would have not been as fond of the BCS format had Bama been left out. That said, Bama was clearly the best team in the nation that year. The aTm loss was a fluke. Probably a combo of Bama not taking them seriously & Manziel playing out of his mind (w/ some fluky plays like the deflected pass right back into his arms) for the 1H. Bama regrouped in the 2H but ran out of time to pull out the win.

 

[NDTH91]

There's two basic motivating impulses for a playoff:

1) you want to know who was the best team in a given year, based primarily on the results of the regular season, and the playoff adds a final data point to fill in gaps and/or otherwise generally inform those results.
2) your primary interest is in having a big, exciting championship tournament with wide representation by regular season participants. The regular season primarily serves to inform the fairness of entry and seeding to that tournament.

For #1 the participant list essentially marks who does and who doesn't have a reasonable claim to be the best team in the country based on the regular season. If we don't need any more information to determine that you were not the best team in the country this year, you're out. Model #2 doesn't really care about that. College football has always been historically aligned with #1 even in the absence of a tourney, and this differentiated it from every other major sport. We're now leaning hard into #2, and I guess philosophically I hate it. If CFB was good, it was in large part due to the ways in which it was different.

Eight teams would be better than twelve, but it never should have gotten past six, imo.

Love this explanation. I agree with your second paragraph wholeheartedly, and have explained this in other circles. It will never happen, but my "ideal" model is a flexible 2-6 team playoff based on the bolded above. I doubt we ever get fewer than 12 now that we've opened pandora's box, and there's no doubt it's been a lot of fun (and of course makes money, which is the only reason we're at 12), but I also philosophically hate it and don't think you ever really need more than 6 (as the results of this playoff have borne out).

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Hopefully this is where RL's ability to run can help.

Exactly right

 

[Huntr]

There's two basic motivating impulses for a playoff:

1) you want to know who was the best team in a given year, based primarily on the results of the regular season, and the playoff adds a final data point to fill in gaps and/or otherwise generally inform those results.
2) your primary interest is in having a big, exciting championship tournament with wide representation by regular season participants. The regular season primarily serves to inform the fairness of entry and seeding to that tournament.

For #1 the participant list essentially marks who does and who doesn't have a reasonable claim to be the best team in the country based on the regular season. If we don't need any more information to determine that you were not the best team in the country this year, you're out. Model #2 doesn't really care about that. College football has always been historically aligned with #1 even in the absence of a tourney, and this differentiated it from every other major sport. We're now leaning hard into #2, and I guess philosophically I hate it. If CFB was good, it was in large part due to the ways in which it was different.

Eight teams would be better than twelve, but it never should have gotten past six, imo.

I've always viewed it in terms of #1, and that colors my view of how many teams should get in to a playoff and who.

IMO, you just need to be able to ensure anyone with a reasonable claim gets in. Two isn't enough, 4 should be but maybe, rarely it wouldn't be, I don't want byes, so skip 6. That leaves 8 to make sure we get the actual best team included.

Shouldn't have guaranteed spots, either. Just take the generally agreed upon 8 best (and I don't really gaf about arguing who should be 7 or 8 or what conferences they're in) and let them duke it out.

Twelve teams is gratuitous and greedy and arguing about who is in or out is dumb. But, that describes college football, so here we are.

 

[irishu]

Anyone know anything about the tailgate scene at Mercedes Benz Stadium? Seems like it's going to be below freezing and the official ND tailgate is a whopping $160/ticket, so thinking of taking my talents to a nearby bar

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

it’s at 12 because of us. Whether any of us like or want to admit it or not. The same old canard about us having an unfair advantage by not playing a CCG. THAT is the sole reason they bypassed 8 and went to 12.

IMO, it should either be 8 or 16. Byes are ridiculous

 

[NDTH91]

Anyone know anything about the tailgate scene at Mercedes Benz Stadium? Seems like it's going to be below freezing and the official ND tailgate is a whopping $160/ticket, so thinking of taking my talents to a nearby bar

Had the same reaction to the ND tailgate pricing lol I'm thinking I'll hang around the College Gameday "tailgate" that's right by the stadium for a while and probably wander into a bar at some point to warm back up.

 

[FisherHallDad]

If you don't have tickets Atlanta is a way better option. Hard Rock is 45 min from South Beach and the only thing around there is a casino. Atlanta will have a million options around the stadium, not to mention Marta if you wanna hop on and hop off to check out other parts.

If need a hotel I have an extra room for 2 nights 2 beds at Embassy Suites Buckhead for Jan 19&20. $500 total
Landjwilliamsok@gmail.com
Son didn’t get lottery tickets

 

[Plankton]

I remember my brother texting me in the 2nd quarter "Kelly ain't the guy. He will never win a championship at ND."

That always was in the back of my mind when they got blown out in post-season games.

Look at this pic - you think the team didn't pick up on his lack of confidence entering the game? He probably DeDario'd his pants.

 

[SeekNDestroy]

Look at this pic - you think the team didn't pick up on his lack of confidence entering the game? He probably DeDario'd his pants.

Yeah. They really Schruted it that night.

 

[IAIrish]

I hope Jadarian can get his regular season mojo back for this game. I was critical of him early in the season for dancing too much and taking big losses that killed drives. It appeared he had corrected this later in the season and was running with much more decisiveness.

Outside a few runs against Georgia and Indiana, he's reverted back to early season form. He was downright awful against psu.
With Love dinged up, he's had the opportunity to show out, but hasn't. He's got one more shot on the biggest stage and we absolutely need him....

 

[IAIrish]

Good piece by Rittenberg dueling the massive amount of injuries ND had overcome to make it.

Notre Dame overcame numerous injuries to reach CFP title game

The Irish's depth and resilience have been tested by a rash of key injuries, but they continue to fight on.

www.espn.com

 

[IrishSpartan]

Back in business boys!! Got a call and ended up getting two tickets. Little upset that they are ohio state side but I will be in section 124 row 17 in all beautiful bright green. ☘️

 

[IrishWayDomer]

Watching Texas and OSU game. We can totally win this game. Their DL is not as fast as Georgia or PSU's. They're strong but they're not twitchy. Their OL is good but certainly not elite and Texas had pressure both in run game and pass game. They should be favored because they have more "dudes" that can just make game changing plays out of no where, but we absolutely can win this game. Embuka scares me just as much as Smith and I hope we don't overcommit and Embuka has 155 yards and 2 TDs. Carnell Tate is super reliant as well. We'll have to get the breaks and win turnovers but we can win this game.

Noticed they didn't rotate front 7 like at all. Run right at them and win in the 3rd and 4th quarter. 11 days break will show a different ND team than the 7 we had vs PSU!

 

[GATTACA!]

I'll never forget driving home from the Wake game in 2012. I had taken my girlfriend, now wife, to her first ND game. She was so excited as we drove listening to Oregon and KSU both go down realizing we were going to be ranked #1. I was just filled with a complete sense of dread and knew it was all over. I kept up the facade of excitement for her sake lol.

 

[thekid33]

Noticed they didn't rotate front 7 like at all. Run right at them and win in the 3rd and 4th quarter.

This is the way.

Play like Michigan played (minus the turnovers and with the addition of a viable passing game).

If we assert our physical dominance, the worst scenario I see is us being in a close game going into the 4th quarter. The pressure on Day is going to be immense at that point and that transfers to the pressure on their players being immense.

 

[dublinirish]

This is the way.

Play like Michigan played (minus the turnovers and with the addition of a viable passing game).

If we assert our physical dominance, the worst scenario I see is us being in a close game going into the 4th quarter. The pressure on Day is going to be immense at that point and that transfers to the pressure on their players being immense.

would hope MF has learnt from the Tresselball they played at the Shoe in his first year as HC tbh. Gonna need some strike plays

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

would hope MF has learnt from the Tresselball they played at the Shoe in his first year as HC tbh. Gonna need some strike plays

I am perhaps delusional but I think Leonard's second half against PSU was the best he's been in the passing game all year. It's probably not a coincidence that it also looked like some real trust grew between himself and Greathouse that hadn't been there with any of his targets this season.

 

[GATTACA!]

I am perhaps delusional but I think Leonard's second half against PSU was the best he's been in the passing game all year. It's probably not a coincidence that it also looked like some real trust grew between himself and Greathouse that hadn't been there with any of his targets this season.

Imagine how good they'll look together next season.

 

[NDPhilly]

Obviously there are different pieces, but Freeman / Al Golden holding Day's incredibly talented OSU teams to 21 and 17 the last 2 years is as good of a reason to be optimistic as any in my opinion.

 

[SDIrishFan]

I know not very important in the grand scheme of things, but I was curious of our portal transfers get to practice this week since they are now students?

 

[dublinirish]

Rocco and Baker listed at RG and LT