UHND.com - Notre Dame Football, Basketball, & Recruiting

game with a game-manager QB. And in this era, no team that did not have an explosive offense led by a star QB has won a NC other than Alabama:

Tim Tebow, 6 ft 3 in, 245 lb, Heisman Trophy Winner, 1st round draft choice (25)
Cam Newton, 6 ft 5 in, 244 lb, Heisman Trophy Winner, 1st overall draft choice
Jameis Winston, 6 ft 4 in, 231 lb, Heisman Trophy Winner, 1st overall draft choice
Cardale Jones, 6 ft 5 in, 260 lbs, 4th round draft choice
Deshaun Watson, 6 ft 2 in, 215 lb, 1st round draft choice (12)
Trevor Lawrence, 6 ft 6 in, 220 lb, projected 1st overall draft choice in upcoming draft
Joe Burrow, 6 ft 4 in, 221 lb, Heisman Trophy Winner, 1st overall draft choice

And, of course, Saban himself abandoned that approach because, as he said, you have to have an explosive offense because great offense now beats great defense.

So, with respect, what McElroy did in 2012 is irrelevant.