Sept 21 | Georgia

[Irishize]

What has Georgia done to put themselves in the same league as those teams?

Alabama was flat out unstoppable that year. As good as Georgia's OL is, the Bama OL was better almost across the board. More experienced defense and they were flat out dominating everybody. It took a Heisman moment from Johnny Football a week after a grueling matchup in Death Valley for them to lose.

Clemson had probably the best defensive front 7 CFB has seen in a decade, and Trevor Lawrence + Justyn Ross completely humiliated Alabama's vaunted defense.

And that Ohio State team was MEGA-STACKED. Zeke Elliott, Joey Bosa, Michael Thomas, Darron Lee, Vonn Bell, Gareon Conley, Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis, JT Barrett, Taylor Decker. Make no mistake, it took a cataclysmic failure of a coaching job by Meyer for this team to miss the playoff after laying the mother of all eggs against Michigan State. After that game, Ohio State played focused and up to their ridiculous potential. As evidenced by them obliterating Michigan and running away from us.

Georgia certainly has talent, but they haven't earned the right to be placed next to those teams.

You’re splitting hairs as I was pointing out that all those programs (including UGA now) have talented depth beyond their starters. How you decided to say I was saying the 2012 Bama team, the 2015 tOSU team, last years CLemson & this years UGA team are all EXACTLY the same is beyond me. But they are ALL vastly more deeply talented teams than ND. The Irish starters are good to great but as we showed in the Clemson game...let one key player go down & it’s an embarrassing blow out and we get to hear how ND doesn’t belong on the big stage AGAIN.

You can make excuses & say ‘but we weren’t that bad...we lost our AA CB”. Perception is reality....and the aforementioned teams don’t go to competitive to being blown out when one starter goes down for three series.

Regarding UGA, I’m telling you right now (barring injury) their OL will win the Joe Moore Award. That’s not just my opinion, go read every major CFB media outlet & find one that says their OL isn’t one of the best...if not the best.

Look at their RB stable....D’Andre Swift is a beast & the 3 behind him would all start for ND.

Now, has UGA been able to get past Bama and win it all like the aforementioned teams? NO...so you’re correct in that respect but I’m talking pure talent on both sides of the ball beyond the starters. While UGA may stumble when they play bama, Clemson, tOSU...they won’t struggle w/ ND based on what I’ve seen. 42-14.

 

[irishtrooper]

I just don't have any confidence in this offense. Don't let the big plays fool you.....ND has problems. Can't win if you don't score. UGA wins 28-10, but ND never feels in it for the last 20 minutes.

I don’t have much confidence in the offense either....I’m not fooled, I’d say hopeful Book can be good Book, not bail out of the pocket happy feet Book. Quite nervous because I am not convinced he is feeling confident right now. I think we’re going to pass-pro ok, but the running game needs to be somewhat effective at least to keep them guessing. If I had to pick one area that concerns me most, it’s the above. I do think somebody will need to have a great day on offense for us to be in it. I think Claypool is the most capable and he’s ready...... I also think Kmet coming back would help a lot

 

[Irishnuke]

Seriously? We have a very good defense. If - big if, I grant - we can force Fromm to beat us - as opposed to their RBs - we bring a veteran defensive backfield and some of the best pass rushers in the country. That should be enough to keep it close. Book will need to play his best game, and our offensive line must play to its potential, if we're to have a legit shot to win. But our defense alone should keep this "remotely competitive."

We've played possible the worst team in the FBS and a team that went 2-10 last year and we've given up some big runs to those teams and Georgia has one of the best running games in the country. I think it remains to be seen exactly how good our defense is. Guess we'll find out after next weekend.

 

[irishtrooper]

For the record this current Bama is not nearly as good (except at QB, maybe WR) as the 2012 (or other Bama teams in the past decade). They have struggled run the ball. Teams are moving it against them. They aren’t quite what they were. That being said, they do seem to “just crap out star players” or whatever Saban was whining about.....

 

[Irishfanforlife23]

Notre Dame needs to do what the Pittsburgh's and Boston Colleges do to upset Notre Dame here and there. Sellout stopping the run.
Make Fromm beat you. Sell out to stop the run and pray our secondary can make enough plays. I think we will score against Georgia. We have to eliminate the big play. Let them dink and dunk their way down the field. Hold them to field goals. If you can punch them in the mouth, I think you can throw them off their game. Everyone is telling them that they will whoop on ND, so if you can get an early lead and nag them, you never know. They haven't been mentally tested this year. Our first game rattled some of our players. I think we can win if we just become a stubborn bastard and hang around.

 

[Irishize]

For the record this current Bama is not nearly as good (except at QB, maybe WR) as the 2012 (or other Bama teams in the past decade). They have struggled run the ball. Teams are moving it against them. They aren’t quite what they were. That being said, they do seem to “just crap out star players” or whatever Saban was whining about.....

No one said it was. But no one can argue they’re one of the top programs in the nation who simply reload when they lose stars to the NFL or injury. Again...I’m talking about talented depth beyond the starters. Bama lost a first round pick LB to injury in the preseason, I’d gladly take his replacement to start for ND.

 

[Irishize]

Notre Dame needs to do what the Pittsburgh's and Boston Colleges do to upset Notre Dame here and there. Sellout stopping the run.
Make Fromm beat you. Sell out to stop the run and pray our secondary can make enough plays. I think we will score against Georgia. We have to eliminate the big play. Let them dink and dunk their way down the field. Hold them to field goals. If you can punch them in the mouth, I think you can throw them off their game. Everyone is telling them that they will whoop on ND, so if you can get an early lead and nag them, you never know. They haven't been mentally tested this year. Our first game rattled some of our players. I think we can win if we just become a stubborn bastard and hang around.

I’m down with this. It’s a very BIG ask for this ND front 7 based on their last two games but you never know. The two previous opponents have rushed over 200 yards. If they allow UGA to break the 300 yd mark, it will be lopsided.

 

[greyhammer90]

Most recent SP+:

Georgia (3-0)
Overall Rating 32.3 (2nd)
Offense 44.5 (4th)
Defense 12.7 (7)
Special Teams 0.5 (3)

Notre Dame (2-0)
Overall Rating 22.4 (10th)
Offense 41.4 (7th)
Defense 19.4 (29th)
Special Teams 0.4 (9th)

Our offense versus their defense is No. 7 versus No. 7. Unsurprisingly, it's our defense that's creating the biggest separation, with ours being a top 30 unit but facing a top 4 offense. I expect us to lose, but weirdly I trust Lea to make good adjustments if there's adjustments to be made. If our offensive ranking is correct, I don't think it's wholly unreasonable to expect a decent game.

 

[irishtrooper]

No one said it was. But no one can argue they’re one of the top programs in the nation who simply reload when they lose stars to the NFL or injury. Again...I’m talking about talented depth beyond the starters. Bama lost a first round pick LB to injury in the preseason, I’d gladly take his replacement to start for ND.

I think we agree. I’m judging them against their own ridiculously high bar. I would love to have the depth their program has, but it isn’t accurate to suggest we haven’t closed the gap some with them. We’re a little better, they’re a little worse. I’m just happy that we (fans) can even discuss this argument. We both know we couldn’t just a few years ago. I know we’ve got a hill to climb, but we are going the right way.

 

[Crazy Balki]

You’re splitting hairs as I was pointing out that all those programs (including UGA now) have talented depth beyond their starters. How you decided to say I was saying the 2012 Bama team, the 2015 tOSU team, last years CLemson & this years UGA team are all EXACTLY the same is beyond me.

I'm not splitting hairs. You stated that you heard much of this rhetoric prior to those matchups, indicating that you think the result will be similar to those. I was stating that those teams have proven to be not just elite teams, but top teams those years and had more proven elite talent than what this Georgia team has shown so far.

Simply put, Georgia has not done enough on the field to be considered on par with those teams.

But they are ALL vastly more deeply talented teams than ND. The Irish starters are good to great but as we showed in the Clemson game...let one key player go down & it’s an embarrassing blow out and we get to hear how ND doesn’t belong on the big stage AGAIN.

You can make excuses & say ‘but we weren’t that bad...we lost our AA CB”. Perception is reality....and the aforementioned teams don’t go to competitive to being blown out when one starter goes down for three series.

It wasn't just 1 player, it was 3. I don't care how much talent you have, when you're up against the best team in the nation with a passing game that good, you need all hands on deck. Instead, you're down your best pass rusher, best safety and best corner for extended periods of time and Clemson takes advantage. That's not making excuses, that's reality. Alabama didn't have injuries and they still got torched by Lawrence and Clemson.

Regarding UGA, I’m telling you right now (barring injury) their OL will win the Joe Moore Award. That’s not just my opinion, go read every major CFB media outlet & find one that says their OL isn’t one of the best...if not the best.

Our line won the Joe Moore award in 2017, but that didn't seem to matter against Georgia, when they unleashed their pass rushers. We go as far as our edge rushers take us.

Look at their RB stable....D’Andre Swift is a beast & the 3 behind him would all start for ND.

Swift is a beast. So was Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. We seemed to have handled them well enough that year. Just need to be disciplined.

Now, has UGA been able to get past Bama and win it all like the aforementioned teams? NO...so you’re correct in that respect but I’m talking pure talent on both sides of the ball beyond the starters. While UGA may stumble when they play bama, Clemson, tOSU...they won’t struggle w/ ND based on what I’ve seen. 42-14.

So you say that they're not similar to Alabama from 2012, Ohio St in 2015 or Clemson from last year and acknowledge that Georgia hasn't reached that level to this point. Yet they're going to beat us as bad or worse than all three of those teams. Worse than they did Vanderbilt even. I mean, christ dude. I get pesimism. I'd be surprised if ND won this game too, but this is taking it to another level.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Makes sense. Our pass defense, so far, has been quite good. (Even adjusting for New Mexico’s crap QB)
I really don’t think they’re going to score a ton on us. If they do, it’ll be late after they’ve worn down our front seven on the ground.
I’m more worried about our ability to move the ball. We’re going to need some guys to step up, Book to play his best game, and probably a few breaks. All of which can happen, especially if we hold them under, say, 28.

I somewhat agree, but I actually think the front 7 will be able to stay somewhat fresh. We seem to be doing a lot of rotating and special packages. I might be worried a little about Kareem and Okwara, because they're probably gonna need to be out there all game, but on the flip side, Hayes has been very impressive so far this year.

We're gonna need to be way more disciplined in run fits at linebacker and while I do think the interior has done some solid work so far, they need to be on their A game and hold up against a very good interior OL.

 

[snoopdog]

Most recent SP+:

Georgia (3-0)
Overall Rating 32.3 (2nd)
Offense 44.5 (4th)
Defense 12.7 (7)
Special Teams 0.5 (3)

Notre Dame (2-0)
Overall Rating 22.4 (10th)
Offense 41.4 (7th)
Defense 19.4 (29th)
Special Teams 0.4 (9th)

Our offense versus their defense is No. 7 versus No. 7. Unsurprisingly, it's our defense that's creating the biggest separation, with ours being a top 30 unit but facing a top 4 offense. I expect us to lose, but weirdly I trust Lea to make good adjustments if there's adjustments to be made. If our offensive ranking is correct, I don't think it's wholly unreasonable to expect a decent game.

Georgia has played Murray st and Arkansas st. Their rankings are irrelevant

 

[Circa]

<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/J3mA0t6TrQEda" width="480" height="294" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/harry-potter-because-i-did-ever-tell-you-guys-that-looked-exactly-like-baby-hermione-J3mA0t6TrQEda"


I sure do wish we as a fan base could be like Clemson.


STOP! Get over yourselves and start another topic.
We lost by less than Bama did less than a year ago. We won 12 games.


<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/dam8sP14SRdnDPaoZF" width="480" height="480" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/paramountnetwork-paramount-network-wife-swap-wifeswap-dam8sP14SRdnDPaoZF"

 

[Circa]

Georgia has played Murray st and Arkansas st. Their rankings are irrelevant

Me:

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Most every simpleton that claims manhood but wants to be right every time for the wrong reason.
<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/Gpy65Qs05T49G" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/someone-comments-beat-Gpy65Qs05T49G">via GIPHY</a></p>

 

[Ndaccountant]

Most recent SP+:

Georgia (3-0)
Overall Rating 32.3 (2nd)
Offense 44.5 (4th)
Defense 12.7 (7)
Special Teams 0.5 (3)

Notre Dame (2-0)
Overall Rating 22.4 (10th)
Offense 41.4 (7th)
Defense 19.4 (29th)
Special Teams 0.4 (9th)

Our offense versus their defense is No. 7 versus No. 7. Unsurprisingly, it's our defense that's creating the biggest separation, with ours being a top 30 unit but facing a top 4 offense. I expect us to lose, but weirdly I trust Lea to make good adjustments if there's adjustments to be made. If our offensive ranking is correct, I don't think it's wholly unreasonable to expect a decent game.

That's the thing right there. Lea has proven effective in both game planning and executing quick adjustments. He is a top of the line coordinator. Offensively, I have not seen that consistently. About once a year there is a masterful gameplan. Hoping it's this week, but not counting on it.

 

[Irishize]

In the last 20 years (including this season), Notre Dame has been a double-digit underdog 24 times. The Irish are 4-20 in those games. The four wins were:

‘02 FSU
‘04 scUM
‘07 UCLA
‘12 OU

 

[Irish#1]

You’re splitting hairs as I was pointing out that all those programs (including UGA now) have talented depth beyond their starters. How you decided to say I was saying the 2012 Bama team, the 2015 tOSU team, last years CLemson & this years UGA team are all EXACTLY the same is beyond me. But they are ALL vastly more deeply talented teams than ND. The Irish starters are good to great but as we showed in the Clemson game...let one key player go down & it’s an embarrassing blow out and we get to hear how ND doesn’t belong on the big stage AGAIN.

You can make excuses & say ‘but we weren’t that bad...we lost our AA CB”. Perception is reality....and the aforementioned teams don’t go to competitive to being blown out when one starter goes down for three series.

Regarding UGA, I’m telling you right now (barring injury) their OL will win the Joe Moore Award. That’s not just my opinion, go read every major CFB media outlet & find one that says their OL isn’t one of the best...if not the best.

Look at their RB stable....D’Andre Swift is a beast & the 3 behind him would all start for ND.

Now, has UGA been able to get past Bama and win it all like the aforementioned teams? NO...so you’re correct in that respect but I’m talking pure talent on both sides of the ball beyond the starters. While UGA may stumble when they play bama, Clemson, tOSU...they won’t struggle w/ ND based on what I’ve seen. 42-14.

Send this to BK, so he can just forfeit the game.

 

[koonja]

That's the thing right there. Lea has proven effective in both game planning and executing quick adjustments. He is a top of the line coordinator. Offensively, I have not seen that consistently. About once a year there is a masterful gameplan. Hoping it's this week, but not counting on it.

I generally agree on Lea. He makes the right adjustments but not always timely. There were a couple games last year where the adjustments needed were obvious, and he waited til halftime. Latest example was USC where all we needed to do to not put ourselves in jeopardy of losing was move the CBs up.

If there's an adjustment to be had and he waits until halftime at Georgia we'll be in a while we can't get out of.

 

[Irish#1]

Will we win? I have no idea, but I believe we are not going to get taken out behind the woodshed. UGA is a very good team, but so is ND. Too many people focusing on negatives and not giving credit for the positives.

The Irish are 2-0 after playing the opener on the road against a reasonably talented UoL team and winning convincingly, then blowing out a subpar team at home. UGA is 3-0 after beating Vandy (similar team to UoL) on the road and blowing out two subpar teams (Arkansas St & Murray St) at home.

In BK's presser, he said the team was excited to play UGA. I expect the team to practice with laser focus this week. If we had beat NM 28-7, then I would be concerned, but we stepped on their throat and kept it there. When was the last time you saw that?

 

[IrishLax]

Will we win? I have no idea, but I believe we are not going to get taken out behind the woodshed. UGA is a very good team, but so is ND. Too many people focusing on negatives and not giving credit for the positives.

The Irish are 2-0 after playing the opener on the road against a reasonably talented UoL team and winning convincingly, then blowing out a subpar team at home. UGA is 2-0 after beating Vandy (similar team to UoL) on the road and blowing out a subpar team at home.

In BK's presser, he said the team was excited to play UGA. I expect the team to practice with laser focus this week. If we had beat NM 28-7, then I would be concerned, but we stepped on their throat and kept it there. When was the last time you saw that?

The problem is that the negatives, e.g. run defense and inconsistent ILBs, play right into the hands of Georgia.

Georgia is better than ND at every position on offense and it’s not really close except maybe pass catchers. Georgia’s defense and Notre Dame’s defense are pretty close... except for one poor position group that is apt to get exposed next weekend. Can Notre Dame win? Sure. But on paper Georgia should win going away. This is more of a talent imbalance than the Clemson game last year because ND is not bringing in a top 5 defense with no holes.

 

[IrishLion]

Georgia has played Murray st and Arkansas st. Their rankings are irrelevant

He's referencing SP+, which doesn't consider 'resume' when creating rankings.

It doesn't matter who UGA has played in terms of their offensive and defensive efficiency ratings... the model works the same for everyone, regardless of if they ain't played nobody.

Even if ND loses to UGA this weekend, they could move UP in the SP+ ratings as long as they show well... it would mean they played well against a team that rates better than almost everybody in all three phases of the game, which projects well for ND playing the rest of their schedule.

It's a projection based on data, not on strength of schedule.

 

[IrishLion]

I think UGA is gonna win by 21.

I just hope it's a close 21, and not a "ND was never a threat to score more than 10 points" 21.

 

[stlnd01]

Gonna be a real fun week around here debating whether we'll lose by 10 or by 24.

 

[Wingman Ray]

If ND is as bad as you guys are saying, there is NO reason to ever consider them more than a mid bowl team. Might as well just accept ND is a academic school and move on.

ND lost by 1 pt to GA two years ago. That was the closest game GA had all year.

GA is not Bama. It is not Clemson. Im not sure they could beat LSU this year. The same LSU that ND beat the last two bowl games their played against. We wont know because GA plays such a piss poor weak schedule all year long until they fall into the SEC Championship game because there is no one else in the East. Anyone who thinks FL and Auburn is the #9 and #8 teams in the country need their head examined. Look at the schedule.

Im not saying GA wont win. Sadly, I think ND thinks GA will win.

And that is the reason the announcers and writers are correct in saying ND doesnt belong in the playoff picture right??

 

[gkIrish]

It seems like most of the optimistic posts are completely ignoring the fact that this game is being played in Athens at night after Gameday, etc...

Think about the atmosphere the night we got beat at Miami and multiply the talent of our opponent by 10.

 

[IrishLax]

It seems like most of the optimistic posts are completely ignoring the fact that this game is being played in Athens at night after Gameday, etc...

Think about the atmosphere the night we got beat at Miami and multiply the talent by our opponent by 10.

This. I think it's possible ND wins. But I think it's more likely that ND loses by 4+ TDs than that they win. This has more "bloodbath" potential than any game in recent memory.

 

[EvilleIrish]

This. I think it's possible ND wins. But I think it's more likely that ND loses by 4+ TDs than that they win. This has more "bloodbath" potential than any game in recent memory.

This is exactly where I'm at. I think any objective view would show that ND is in serious trouble. There's about zero match ups in this game that I feel like ND has any advantage at all.

 

[stlnd01]

It seems like most of the optimistic posts are completely ignoring the fact that this game is being played in Athens at night after Gameday, etc...

Think about the atmosphere the night we got beat at Miami and multiply the talent of our opponent by 10.

Oooh. It’ll be dark out. And on national television. Very scary.

I get they’re the better team. But so what? It’s college football. Shit happens. Big games often don’t go quite as predicted. And our upperclassmen have won a ton of football games, which helps.
And yes, you can point to the Miami game in 2017, which sucked. You could also point to Clemson in 2015 and FSU in 2014 when Kelly took his team into tough stadiums against more talented teams (at night!) and it went down to the final play.
We’ll see. But maybe let’s play the game before coronating Georgia.

 

[koonja]

I'm watching Georgia vs. Murray State, first half.

I think our best chance to move the ball on offense is WR's YAC. I'm not saying their DBs are bad tacklers, but it's not like they're 5 star talents hitting and bringing down like Alohi Gliman.

I think there's a chance to get some quick hitches and/or WR screens that go for 7, 9, 13 yards and keep the chains moving.

That and taking shots down field. Get Claypool/Finke/Kmet/Keys the ball quickly and take our chances of getting those 8 yard chunks.

We will not run the ball on them unless they're distracted by the motion WR and/or the WR quick hits.

 

[ndbroski]

Since we hired Elko/Lea, when is the last time our defense actually cost us a game? None that I can recall. We haven't even had wins where the O needed to bail the D out. I know we lost a lot on defense from last year but I have faith in the defensive staff to put together an strong game plan. This game will come down to whether the offense can move the ball effectively or not.