Taking out the Book stuff, my primary concern is which team shows up?
The team that played GA tough twice? Probably should have won one or both, just needed to make a few more plays. The team was mentally ready and pretty locked in. The moment didn’t seem to overwhelm them
The team that was humiliated against Bama in 12, Miami at Miami a few years ago, Mich last year, Clemson after the injuries got us at the wrong time? We were not ready for the moment. I’m not saying we should have won all of those games, but the talent was not THAT far apart (even the Bama game). We seem to be nervous and tight in some of these games and our play calls reflect that unfortunately. There seems to be this tension on the players/coaches and when one or two things go poorly - the dam busts and we have a 5-10 year embarrassment to live with (it seems unfair that the big losses stick to us more than other teams).
My hope is that we see the 2017 USC type game where we force the other team into mistakes, open the playbook and let the talent play fast/loose. That game might be my favorite regular season game ever (also 93 FSU). I so badly want Book and BK to start to turn the narrative around about ND against elite teams.