I have not read through the thread. I watched the game and what struck me is that our Orange would not go away. ND had more experience and showed the effects of being together in a system for a while. This was the difference to me in this game. A few plays were simply the better athlete beating the other athlete, but ND has elite athletes stockpiled so if the matter is the overall quality of the athlete, ND should have won by 50, at least based on recruiting rankings.
That said, on a sliding scale Syracuse was the better team. ND has the athletes, consistent system, and experienced players while Syracuse is playing a very young, inexperienced and less highly recruited class. Also, our lines were not as developed as we should hope, again the youth movement; time, experience and physical development will resolve most of this issue. HCDB is the right coach and with time for recruiting and coaching up, these kids will win a lot more games than we have seen over the last 15 years.
Today's game proved that Kelly is really not a great coach, a good coach, but not disciplined enough to go all the way, not mature enough to own his problems and not humane enough to become a great leader. Even in victory, Kelly is a (fill in blank) ______. His team should have run away with this game and never let Syracuse within 30 points. If this game was played in year two of HCDB's system, ND would likely have lost this game.