You can be both.
A team that wants to win a national title enters the LA Coliseum with the mentality to curb stomp. ND’s gamepan early on was to manage the game against a freshman QB and a 5-6 team.
ND gave them hope, which made this a much tougher game than it needed to be. Mystified at the cushion ND’s defense was giving the USC receivers.
Again, thrilled to be 12-0. But this game was ugly and gives one little hope of challenging Bama for the title. That’s not negative. That’s knowing what the goal is and what it takes to accomplish it.
Kelly hasn't won there since 2012.
If they were playing Ball St I'd agree. Despite their record, USC is very talented. Ask WSU.
Their last score came at the 11.50 mark of the 2nd quarter before a semi garbage time TD. So 41 minutes between USC scores.
I know fans want to think ND wasn't aggressive enough on defense, but outside a few effort issues and coverage problems, ND's plan was sound.
USC is a big play team that struggles to consistenly drive the field. Exactly the case yesterday. It's game 12 and you are what you are.
The offense not being prepared early for USC selling out on every play and Book missing open players running free was the real reason why this game wasn't 42-17.
The thing most likely to trigger an upset was USC making enough big plays to pull it out. So I kind of get the game plan. I think where it got screwed up was that ND's offense didn't click in the first half, which was the real fly in the ointment.
We want them to look like champions look. Sometimes they did this year, other times they didn't. I understand being disappointed. Winning is hard though. Just ask Michigan.
And not nearly as respectful for their own.
Amon-Ra- .9948, #11 nationally, five star
Daniels- .9919, #16 nationally, five star
Tyler Vaughns- .9816, #30 nationally, four star
Michael Pittman- .9688, #59 nationally, four star
Those are real guys. Turning this into a one on one contest all night is playing into their hands.
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On the other hand, I thought USC came out and played an inspired game and were highly motivated and focused. Once Lea made the necessary defensive adjustments, ND went on to 24 unanswered points.
The main problem as I see it is that ND's offensive line is still extremely mediocre. One of the playoff teams is sure to exploit that unless something drastic between now and December 29 happens.
That said, the Irish prevailed and deserve credit. 12-0 is no easy thing against this schedule even if it wasn’t quite as tough as advertised going in. Still a lot of top 25 teams.
Move on and enjoy.
Lots to do after things shake out next Saturday.
It is not that they dominate every single opponent in every single game. They even lose a game to a team that they shouldn’t have, but would you think that the 2016 Clemson or 2017 Alabama teams don’t have the heart of champions?
This ND team went all the way to the last game of the season before trailing the way they did and minus the prevent defense at the end of the game .... scored 24 unanswered points. Yes, this was the team’s worst game of the season, but many past champions’ worst game of the season was a loss.
GO IRISH! 12-0 ... tough schedule ... crazy traveling ... more top 25 wins ... We belong.
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If so, you should inform Fronk as his UHND business model is fucked.
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Just for kicks — how ‘bout you drop your rah rah pom pons and explain what you saw against USC that convinces you that ND beats Bama.
I’ll wait...
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