perspective - Is ND just that good?

[bpo57]

Overall the sched has been extremely kind vs what it looked like in August; Stanford, Va Tech, FSU, and now USC are all way worse. NW a road game like St John's is for us. Clemson still killed us on the stat sheet in their bad game. IDK nitpicking obv; you go 11-0 with a decent sched you're good and deserving of the playoff. But they're on par with a half dozen teams clearly below the two titans imo.

Would agree that their schedule is rather suspect. You can only beat who they put in front of you tho. Bama and Clemson haven't actually played murderer's row either. People like to reference the Ball State and Vandy games but those were when Wimbush was the starter and Dexter Williams was suspended back then as well. They're obviously a lot better with Book at the helm.

 

[bpo57]

They weren't in control of the Pitt game. Pitt gave that one away.

I said that in the first sentence.

 

[SmilinBob]

Alabama's OOC: Louisville, Arkansas St, Louisiana and Citadel. I think SU could have handled that.

 

[PhatOrange]

I’ll say that ND did open a lot of eyes across the country, including mine, that they’re not a joke and are playoff worthy.

However, they’re not Bama and we have people who think they’ll beat Clemson?...nah.

They didn’t force us to rush 3 and drop everyone else 25 yards off the LOS on 3rd and 16 leading to the first ND TD.

They didn’t force Johnson to drop a TD that would’ve made it 13-7.

They didn’t force Harris, right before half, to bobble a perfect pitch and catch straight into ND’s hands that took us from 1st and 10 in ND territory to a 1st and Goal for them in ours.

20-0 had as much to do with us choking in big moments as it did ND capitalizing on said choking.

Second half we seemed to wave a white flag, and the officiating certainly didn’t help.

It’s the first time a Dino coached squad of ours has gotten embarassed like this, so I’m more than willing to let it go and see how we respond, but I’m not going as far as to say ND is just so good that we didn’t stand a chance of not getting steamrolled. That was on us simply not showing up ready to play this game.

I do think ND is better than Clemson because I’ve actually watched Clemson play a few games. Teams like ND and Clemson do play poorly occasionally and they also both get everyone’s best effort. And Sometimes teams play down to their competition to.

No they’re not Bama but who is? ND also beat the 4th team in the playoff right now.

I’m not sure what you’re getting at by listing 3 plays. Good teams make plays. We didn’t make the plays we needed to make to win (and Nykiem was interfered with but so it goes).

You can do one of two things, you can either blame the staff or just recognize we took an A+ effort from a playoff contending team on the chin and they kicked the crap out of us. No blame, it’s just the way it goes sometimes.

 

[TerryD]

I think you're dead on here. ND beat Pitt in the later stages of the 4Q, in South Bend. NW was one big defensive stop/series away in the 4Q of having the opportunity of taking the lead against the Irish a couple of weeks back. ND struggled against Ball St., Ball St., in South Bend earlier in the year, a one possession victory at 24-16.

The game couldn't had started any worse for us with Dungey's basically pick 6, then the injury immediately afterwards. ND is not invincible by any means, but we would've had to of brought our A game, with no turnovers, drop passes, two that would've been TD's, etc. Instead, we brought our D game. If we bring our A game, and ND their B game, we could've won.

Some were concerned about Dino's comments that this wasn't a league game, somewhat down playing the significance of it, house money, etc. and the team played that way. They weren't focused, and the lack of execution was the proof. Not the end of the world in the realm of things for this program, but it still was a deer in the headlights performance when the cameras started rolling.

The Ball State and Vanderbilt games were played without Ian Book and Dexter Williams.

Book was on the bench and Williams was serving a suspension.

ND is simply a different team with those two in the starting lineup.

Since then, these are the results:


09/22 Wake Forest W 56-27

09/29 Stanford W 38-17

10/06 Virginia Tech W 45-23

10/13 Pittsburgh W 19-14

10/27 Navy W 44-22

11/03 Northwestern W 31-21

11/10 Florida St. W 42-13

11/17 Syracuse W 36-3



ND is 11-0 and has won 12 games in a row.

The Irish are 21-3 in their last 24 games.

They have won 10 or more games in 3 of the last 4 seasons.

If they beat Southern Cal, that will be 2 undefeated regular seasons in the past seven years.

This year's team is no fluke. Brian Kelly has built a very good program and this year's Irish team is pretty damn good.

 

[longislandcuse]

I do think ND is better than Clemson because I’ve actually watched Clemson play a few games. Teams like ND and Clemson do play poorly occasionally and they also both get everyone’s best effort. And Sometimes teams play down to their competition to.

No they’re not Bama but who is? ND also beat the 4th team in the playoff right now.

I’m not sure what you’re getting at by listing 3 plays. Good teams make plays. We didn’t make the plays we needed to make to win (and Nykiem was interfered with but so it goes).

You can do one of two things, you can either blame the staff or just recognize we took an A+ effort from a playoff contending team on the chin and they kicked the crap out of us. No blame, it’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Well, it looks like we’ll be able to revisit this as it seems pretty set in stone that Clemson will play ND.

I’ve watched Clemson and ND as well. Clemson is bigger, faster and stronger all over the field.

ND also won’t have the big game experience and coaching edge over Clemson/Dabo.

As for your last parapharaph - Can I do both? ...because both are warranted.

 

[orangecuse]

The Ball State and Vanderbilt games were played without Ian Book and Dexter Williams.

Book was on the bench and Williams was serving a suspension.

ND is simply a different team with those two in the starting lineup.

Since then, these are the results:


09/22 Wake Forest W 56-27

09/29 Stanford W 38-17

10/06 Virginia Tech W 45-23

10/13 Pittsburgh W 19-14

10/27 Navy W 44-22

11/03 Northwestern W 31-21

11/10 Florida St. W 42-13

11/17 Syracuse W 36-3



ND is 11-0 and has won 12 games in a row.

The Irish are 21-3 in their last 24 games.

They have won 10 or more games in 3 of the last 4 seasons.

If they beat Southern Cal, that will be 2 undefeated regular seasons in the past seven years.

This year's team is no fluke. Brian Kelly has built a very good program and this year's Irish team is pretty damn good.

Who said anything about a fluke.

But the fact is none of the teams relative to your listed W's are considered power houses by any means. Wake, VT, Navy & FSU all have losing records and some bad losses. Stanford, Pitt, NW, and SU have decent/modest records, but nothing exceptional. And, that USC you play this weekend...another sub .500 team, with some bad losses. So go stick out your chest for such an impressive list of W's, then go face 'Bama again in the Playoff and get abused like a few years back.

 

[blizz]

Getting in late here but I don't get all the jabs at our guys, that ND squad is legit and they came in and just rolled. All things considered, I think our boys played really well. They were, for the most part, simply outmatched and outclassed at every position on the field and that is no exaggeration. Just look at the difference in size across the field, each one of their receivers looked like DE's standing next to our DB's. And their corners and safties were so much bigger and more physical than our receivers. They were by far the most complete team we've seen this year.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

I started writing this this morning, and stopped myself. I think they are very comparable in a lot of ways and better at the quarterback position. They are going to be a tough out for anybody.

I wrote it yesterday and got slammed. But, I stand by it. They think they are better than Clemson. If the Irish get to 3, we'll find out soon enough...

 

[TerryD]

Who said anything about a fluke.

But the fact is none of the teams relative to your listed W's are considered power houses by any means. Wake, VT, Navy & FSU all have losing records and some bad losses. Stanford, Pitt, NW, and SU have decent/modest records, but nothing exceptional. And, that USC you play this weekend...another sub .500 team, with some bad losses. So go stick out your chest for such an impressive list of W's, then go face 'Bama again in the Playoff and get abused like a few years back.

The object of every team is to win every game on its schedule. ND has done that.

Not many (any?) teams this year have a lot of wins over "powerhouse" programs.

ND has beaten four teams in the current Coaches Poll Top 25. Have many beaten more?

I was just responding to talk of the Ball State and Vanderbilt games. There is no comparison now that Book and Williams are in the lineup.

As far as the schedule, Teddy Greenstein wrote this in the Chicago Tribune today:

"The nation’s No. 3 team has accumulated 11 victories against teams from six conferences — hot teams (Northwestern), cold teams (Florida State), disciplined teams (Navy), brainy teams (Stanford), rowdy teams (Virginia Tech), rush-heavy teams (Pittsburgh), pass-happy teams (Syracuse) and otherwise unbeaten teams (Michigan)."


Just about every team would have been destroyed by Alabama in the 2012 title game.

Hell, the year before that they shut out LSU in the title game 21-0. LSU got past mid-field once.

Nobody brings up LSU's debacles against Bama. It is better to get beat bad in the playoffs or title game than not make it there.

 

[RICuse44]

The Ball State and Vanderbilt games were played without Ian Book and Dexter Williams.

Book was on the bench and Williams was serving a suspension.

ND is simply a different team with those two in the starting lineup.

Since then, these are the results:


09/22 Wake Forest W 56-27

09/29 Stanford W 38-17

10/06 Virginia Tech W 45-23

10/13 Pittsburgh W 19-14

10/27 Navy W 44-22

11/03 Northwestern W 31-21

11/10 Florida St. W 42-13

11/17 Syracuse W 36-3



ND is 11-0 and has won 12 games in a row.

The Irish are 21-3 in their last 24 games.

They have won 10 or more games in 3 of the last 4 seasons.

If they beat Southern Cal, that will be 2 undefeated regular seasons in the past seven years.

This year's team is no fluke. Brian Kelly has built a very good program and this year's Irish team is pretty damn good.

Book is really good. Quick release and accurate

 

[BlueShaq]

ND prepared for us probably more than they did for any other team besides Michigan. You could just see it in their safeties and corners jumping on routes and getting them right. I think as long as we focus on BC and rebound properly, this can be a positive experience for both the current team and the players going forward in the future.

 

[bpo57]

Well, it looks like we’ll be able to revisit this as it seems pretty set in stone that Clemson will play ND.

I’ve watched Clemson and ND as well. Clemson is bigger, faster and stronger all over the field.

ND also won’t have the big game experience and coaching edge over Clemson/Dabo.

As for your last parapharaph - Can I do both? ...because both are warranted.

I think they're more evenly matched than you think. The ND secondary is better than the Clemson secondary and in fact is probably the best secondary in the country. It will be tough going for both offenses to score the way they're accustomed. I agree with the Dabo angle but they also have a freshman QB, as good as he is.

 

[orangecuse]

The object of every team is to win every game on its schedule. ND has done that.

Not many (any?) teams this year have a lot of wins over "powerhouse" programs.

ND has beaten four teams in the current Coaches Poll Top 25. Have many beaten more?

I was just responding to talk of the Ball State and Vanderbilt games. There is no comparison now that Book and Williams are in the lineup.

As far as the schedule, Teddy Greenstein wrote this in the Chicago Tribune today:

"The nation’s No. 3 team has accumulated 11 victories against teams from six conferences — hot teams (Northwestern), cold teams (Florida State), disciplined teams (Navy), brainy teams (Stanford), rowdy teams (Virginia Tech), rush-heavy teams (Pittsburgh), pass-happy teams (Syracuse) and otherwise unbeaten teams (Michigan)."


Just about every team would have been destroyed by Alabama in the 2012 title game.

Hell, the year before that they shut out LSU in the title game 21-0. LSU got past mid-field once.

Nobody brings up LSU's debacles against Bama. It is better to get beat bad in the playoffs or title game than not make it there.

 

[TheCusian]

It’s a miracle Pitt and NW hung with them given this ND squad is apparently South Bend Bama or maybe some posters are trying to justify how poorly prepared and shell-shocked we were in a big moment.

Yeah, we hung with Clemson. Doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be favored by 21 if we played them again.

We had a 20% chance at a win and failed. We needed a lot to go right. Unfortunately when you play a great team if stuff goes sideways early, you many not get a chance.

 

[Briancuse]

Pitt gained 242 total yards, NW gained 249. We gained 231.
One notable difference was our 3 TOs, while both Pitt and NW didn't turn the ball over.

Yup and pitt had a kick return for a td which kept them in it.