With that in mind, I thought it was important that we highlight, not just this weekend’s data point, but the other important data point that got these teams to this all important moment. After all, these teams have the chance to lose another game that Notre Dame won’t! It’s important!

SEC

They could have two teams in the playoffs if Alabama pulls of the upset against Georgia. Just another show of strength from this powerhouse conference including:

• Georgia 56 – Charleston Southern 7
• Alabama 48 – Mercer 14

Honorable mention to Alabama’s 59-3 victory over New Mexico State as well. This is the kind of power you expect a legitimate two-loss playoff contender to have.

Big 12

Oklahoma State has already jumped Notre Dame and conference loving pundits would love for the committee to have a champion hop over Notre Dame as well. It’s easy to see with these victories:

• Baylor 66 – Texas Southern 7
• Oklahoma State 23 – Missouri State 16 (lol)

I, for one, am shocked Oklahoma and Texas are leaving a conference scheduling this kind of powerhouse out-of-conference on the regular.

*looks at above section*

Ah, so nothing has changed.

Big Ten

Kudos to you, Big Ten. No jokes here as you refuse to let your teams schedule FCS opponents. Well done.

Allow us to celebrate the extensive lists of all of Iowa’s ranked victories as that is something continuously held against the Irish: <null>

And of course, the massive amount of wins for Michigan: Ohio State…who was beaten by Oregon who was beaten by Stanford. In short, Michigan beat Stanford.

At least when these teams lost, it wasn’t to a team that went undefeated later on!

American

A group of 5 in the playoff?! It’s more likely than you think!

Yes, Cincy has beaten us, and remained undefeated to boot! But let’s not forget these great wins that they and Houston put together:

• Cincinnati 42 – Murray State 7
• Houston 45 – Grambling 0

Best of luck, conference gladiators! Thank you, and your conferences for showing us the light of a 13th data point, that isn’t an absolute money grab. If only Notre Dame was as brave and put together such incredible resumes as scheduling nine power five teams simply isn’t enough!

The post HLS Proudly Presents: The 13th Data Point appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

So strap yourselves in for an extremely long post to get all the thoughts in my head that would’ve been shared on the podcast, out and available for internet consumption.

Dabo

Speaking of things getting cancelled within a few hours of going live, let’s go ahead and talk about this Clemson/Florida State postponement thing. In a week where 18 games were either cancelled or postponed, this one took top billing, not just because of the last-minute nature, but because Dabo won’t shut up about it.

We’ve beaten the “Dabo is bad, actually” drum for a while on the pod. Will Leitch tried to tell everyone last August, but too many media folks dismissed it and Notre Dame fans joining the chorus painted as having sour grapes for the Cotton Bowl loss.

Nah, we just know an asshole when we see one.

In Chapter 342384190273 of this story, Dabo spews this bullshit:

It’s a good time to remind everyone that the positive COVID test that made FSU back out came from a Clemson player that travelled with the team. This player had symptoms during the week and, once he initially tested negative, was out practicing with the team, still symptomatic.

It’s also a good time to remind you that FSU had a COVID scare of their own with head coach Mike Norvell testing positive at the beginning of the season.

Clemson had a scare of their own with sure-fire-first-pick Trevor Lawrence getting knocked out due to COVID. You would think that would make them sympathetic to another team wanting to tap the breaks and reschedule in December.

You would also be wrong because, in their biggest game of the season, with their star QB sidelined, Brent Venables was sporting what South Park eloquently coined as a chin-diaper every time the damn camera was on him:

Needless to say, I understand why Florida State would be nervous. Dabo’s reaction confirms they the right choice.

FSU chickening out due to fear of humiliation is a hilarious proposition considering what’s already happened to them season:

• Lost to 2-5 Georgia Tech at home
• Humiliated by rival Miami by 42 points
• Struggled against not-even-close-to-a-FCS-power Jacksonville State for three quarters and trailed at the half.
• Notre Dame easily wins 42-26
• Oh, hey, an upset win against North Carolina. Good job!
• Followed by losing to Louisville by 32. OOPS!
• Oh shit, Pitt: 41-17
• Lost to NC State 38-22

Hot take: they could probably take losing again to one of the best teams in the nation.

Hotter take: they literally had nothing to lose. You win, and holy crap, season highlight! You lose? Oh well, 2-7 now, season still sucks!

But let’s just say for fun that FSU was scared. That doesn’t hold water either because the game would, logically, be played on December 12, much like Notre Dame’s make-up with Wake Forest. Yet, the only person on record against this is Dabo.

Dabo’s protest of rescheduling amounts to holding the rematch hostage, saying FSU either needs to reimburse Clemson for travel costs, pay for a return trip, or come to Death Valley.

Another friendly reminder, Clemson has a football facility worth $55 million and features a plunge pool that can fit 60 people, a sand volleyball court, a whiffle ball bark, a nine-hole miniature golf course, barber shop, shoe shine, nap room, a basketball court, fire pit, basketball course, bowling alley, pool tables, arcade, golf simulator, ping pong tables, and a fuckin’ slide. Dabo is also on a 10-year, $93 million contract.

Before anyone says Clemson or Dabo is actually concerned athletic budgets in These Trying Times and “had” to cut track and field (to save an estimated $2 million a year), I call bullshit. Dabo, nor Clemson, is actually concerned about the Dabo-cited $300K cost of the wasted trip. That’s pocket change in the grand scheme of things.

There’s a reason Dabo is using “forfeit” language in his screed. He doesn’t want to play this game. Why? Because that removes a bye week before the ACC Championship, one that Notre Dame won’t get as they are playing Wake Forest.

Like screaming at refs in Notre Dame stadium after his team commits a clear DPI, Dabo tries to bully his way into a competitive advantage. That’s all this is and that’s his highest priority.

It’s why a symptomatic player was practicing with the team in the first place. Test was negative, go bring your own guts, and get out there. It’s why the player travelled with the team, only to be pulled at the last possible moment. It’s why Dabo screamed at FSU on Sunday, calling them cowards, failing to bring their own guts when Clemson brought their own COVID instead.

Here’s the thing: I actually have no issue with Dabo for fighting so hard for a competitive advantage. What irks me is how Dabo continuously goes about these things. The finger points elsewhere and his performative angers follows. Then, a week later, he’ll “aw shucks” it, quote a Bible verse, and hope the media surrounding him returns to their regularly scheduled worship of him and the false idol that he’s built in South Carolina.

In a just world, the ACC comes out with a statement tomorrow saying that Clemson plays FSU in Tallahassee on 12/12 or Dabo can go pound sand and Notre Dame will have a different opponent on 12/19. If 2020 has proven anything, it’s that the world is decidedly unjust. This won’t happen.

However, 2020 has also proven that anything can and will happen, especially in college football. Pitt stands on deck, super-weapon at the ready, fully charged and unused.

Fire away, Panthers. FOR JUSTICE!

Recap

In writing this, I’m reminded of why I prefer podcasting at times to writing. Loads easier (for me at least) to talk for an hour with Shane than writing this all down. But hey, stuff happened, and we should at least talk about it*!

*Translation: please don’t go and keep reading.

Big Ten

Northwestern is 5-0 and completely in the driver’s seat in the Big Ten West thanks to their 17-7 victory over Wisconsin. Their shortened season concludes with Michigan State, Minnesota, and Illinois. While anything can happen, I’m finding it hard to see how Northwestern doesn’t end up 8-0 and facing off against Ohio State.

Worst case, they can still lose one of their remaining games and still have the head-to-head over Wisconsin (who, if they miss one more game are out of Big Ten title contention anyways per conference rules). 2020 is incredibly weird and perhaps “five turnovers by the Badgers” should’ve been on the bingo cards.

Speaking of weird, Indiana, despite their 42-35 loss to Ohio State, absolutely has some voodoo magic going on. That other-worldly logic of taking them on the spread was incredibly sound as they somehow hexed Justin Fields into 3 INTs and sacked him five times.

It was a hell of a game–even if Indiana continued to make strange blood sacrifices by shooting themselves in the foot repeatedly. Dropped passes and four turnovers should’ve doomed the Hoosiers, but they kept this a fight until the end, nearly clawing back even though they started the fourth down 42-21.

Speaking off…Ohio State’s secondary…y’all okay over there? I mean, I kinda hope you aren’t since every ESPN color commentator had ND/tOSU in the playoffs on Saturday. But um…yikes!

In schadenfreude, Penn State got hilariously plastered by Iowa, dropping to 0-5. They trailed at the half 24-7 and then managed to give up 10 unanswered in the forth–just a solid losing effort.

Nebraska is probably re-thinking their playing football stance after getting beat by 2-3 Illinois at home. Scott Frost also threw his players under the bus, citing a lack of juice. Things seem not fun in Lincoln.

And of course, there is Michigan, who benefitted by Rutgers still being Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in a 48-42 triple OT thriller. Rutgers absolutely should’ve won this game, but I’m not even mad. The entire game was hilariously stupid and I kept giggling thinking how Michigan fans must feel that Coach Michigan Man Jesus is struggling to beat Rutgers in year six.

Big XII

Oklahoma reestablished some form of Big XII dominance at home during Bedlam in a 41-13 win. However, it was also a game in which Spencer Sanders got sidelined for the majority of the game and Chubba Hubbard was used with caution due to injury. Despite all that, OU didn’t pull away until the fourth. If the Cowboys had an offensive pulse, it would’ve been a Red River headache all over again.

Thanks to this game and an Iowa State victory, the Cyclones sit atop the conference with a 6-1 conference record while everyone else is a two-loss conference team. Hilariously, I think OU is in second place over Texas because they have one more win than them, and thus a higher winning percentage, because Texas/Kansas got the axe this week.

I want to live in a world in which Tom Herman’s Jayhawks problem re-emerges, but this time it’s because they didn’t play at all. That’s art.

Pac-12

Three weeks in and I still have no feel for this conference.

Oregon held off UCLA 38-35 and I still can’t tell if UCLA is starting to turn a corner with Chip Kelly or if Oregon is just suspect as all hell. Reminder: the Ducks dealt with a Wazzu headache for quite a while before pulling away last week.

The Washington Huskies still look solid, but they have only played Oregon State and Arizona, hardly good measuring sticks. With the Apple Cup is already cancelled for this week, the Huskies tried to grant all our wishes by scheduling BYU, but BYU backed out (more on that later). Eventually they will have to play Oregon, so I guess that will be for all the marbles in the North and we might actually know who might be good in this division.

As for the South–Southern Cal maybe figured some things out? They didn’t need a ridiculous fourth quarter tip-drill to stay alive this time and nine second half points kept Utah at bay. I was expecting more from Utah, which was folly considering it was their first game off of multiple COVID cancellations (and this one wasn’t looking great for most of the week).

A decent chunk of this conference could be looking at playing five games this season total. I have no idea how that plays with the playoff committee, but I guess we will see on Tuesday.

SEC

Alabama and Florida are really, really good. Vanderbilt got a brief moment in the sun before Florida boat-raced them and Kentucky received no such grace. Sim to end of season on this one. These two need to battle it out and it’ll be great (and seriously how in the hell did the Aggies beat Florida?!).

Meanwhile, Mississippi State, down loads of scholarship players due to COVID and “fuck Mike Leach–I’m out”, put a scare into Georgia. Clanga’s effort was solid, but there’s a definite “Happy learned how to put–uh oh!” moment when J.T. Daniels finally got to go under center with a stellar 28/38, 401 yards, 4 TD, 0 INT effort. That feeling, however, is dashed by the face that Mississippi State outrushed Georgia.

With 22 yards. Because Georgia had 8.

The SEC is turning into the Big XII land of shootouts with better talent. I’m very much here for it, but I’m not sure I’m going to get used to it this season.

ACC

The biggest ACC news is above in the “main segment”, but it’s worth noting that half the scheduled games for Saturday didn’t happen. That left the ACC with only one conference game on Saturday and two all weekend.

In that Saturday conference tilt, Virginia Tech went from nearly beating Miami to just getting blasted by Pitt by a 33-point margin. This is the third loss in a row for the Hokies and now (an apparently big mad) Clemson team is next. I absolutely didn’t see the Justin Fuente era playing out like this, but um…he might be over his head here.

The only other ACC “highlight” was NC State blocking a game winning field goal attempt to deliver Liberty’s first loss of the season. Guess third time was a charm for the conference.

I’m sitting here giggling to myself that Liberty lost because someone else came in between them and a score because my mind is perpetually in the gutter.

Group of Five

UCF gave Cincinnati everything they could handle in just a banger of a game that ended with a 36-33 comeback win for the Bearcats. Cincy had only given up 20 points once this season when they let off the gas against Austin Peay in week one. That stellar defense coughing up 33 was something I didn’t see coming.

That being said, Cincy won it’s only real clunker to date. With Tulsa raking up the wins and moving into the top 25, there’s a realistic chance the Bearcats can lay claim to three top-25 wins this season (Army, SMU earlier this season). I’m still not sure it will be enough for playoff consideration, but damn, they are trying.

BYU is still murdering opponents, but they still haven’t had a real test yet outside of maybe Boise State. As I mentioned earlier, Washington was willing to give them said test, but BYU said no. The reason seems to depend on who is asked as one source said BYU was waiting to see how the playoff committee treated their current resume and another saying that BYU was just concerned Washington would toss BYU to the side if another Pac-12 school could play and wanted an immediate contract locked and signed.

Whatever the reason, this seems like a massive misstep by BYU. I don’t buy that Washington would easily replace them with a Pac-12 school. They are trying to boost their resume too and the other Pac-12 options aren’t moving that needle right now like BYU could.

The playoff committee ranking doesn’t make sense either. BYU’s resume is junk compared to Cincinnati’s (Coastal Carolina, still undefeated, is going to have a similar problem). So why not take the boost? You can’t just tweet out any time, any place and then start tossing weird qualifiers on it. What’s the committee going to think about that when the news leaks?

It’s all extremely dumb of the Cougars. Take the game and stop being stupid. You’re not landing in a New Year’s Six bowl without it.

Sign Off

Yes, I’m aware posts don’t require sign offs like a podcast, but this section nevertheless will remain because, quite frankly, it’s past midnight, I have work tomorrow, and have no further creative ideas for how to end this post.

That all being said, I hope you enjoyed. Eddie and I are still planning to bring you picks live on Twitch Turkey Day Eve (or on Thanksgiving for those using the podcast medium). Shane and I will return at the close of Thanksgiving weekend to recap Notre Dame at North Carolina.

Until then, “enjoy” the sim that we already ran for that game or come swing by and chat with us in our Discord server and/or hit up our TeePublic store as the traditional shopping holidays will see 35% off everything.

Enjoy your holiday and stay safe! Go Irish. Beat COVID. Beat Tarheels. Have a good one.

The post HLS Recap (Text Edition): Dabo’s the Worst appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

We can’t take credit for what happened around the nation. After all, top 10 teams losing in 2020 seems rather normal at this point.

We do, however, apologize for making your Saturday a bit more stressful than needed. That being said, we do not apologize for being happy about a win and embracing the Irish’s new #3 ranking. Winning is the damn point and we are here to remind you of that in this episode.

Podcast

Twitch VoD

The post HLS Recap: When the Sim Became Reality appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Next, you immediately pivot to Fr. Jenkins showing up at Washington D.C. without a mask. An act of “leadership” that I’m sure went over real well for every Notre Dame football player sitting at home this weekend as well as students that aren’t allowed to go see their friends in any type of situation that resembles normal.

Finally, you top it off with the most epic edition of #snacktalk possible as it was the true highlight of football this week.

After that’s all done, then, and only then, do you actually stick to sports.

Podcast

Twitch VoD

The post HLS Recap: Sticking to Sports? appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Sometimes though, Notre Dame is the center of that universe. Notre Dame at Georgia is the lone CBS prime-time game this season. ESPN’s College Gameday is in town. It’s a top-ten battle with more playoff implications than anything this young season has seen.

Plus, let’s just be honest, there’s not a chance in hell I’m focused on anything else this week.

So the Roundup will focus solely on Notre Dame and Georgia, but don’t expect a normal batch of news links. Because when ND ends up in games like this, the takes start coming and they don’t stop coming, not just from the usual all stars, but damn near anyone.

That’s the downside to the Irish winning one of the “big ones” in recent memory. To be fair, I’m used to it, but somehow, before even the first month of the season has closed, we’ve veered off into a practical burial of Notre Dame. If you dropped an alien into Athens, they would wonder why this game was even being played, much less one that requires a stadium expansion and plans for a crowd outside the stadium to equal the one inside it.

It’s quite amazing to watch this going down at such a break-neck pace considering that just four games ago, Georgia was a double-digit favorite in a little game called the Sugar Bowl and found themselves down 20-7 at the half and ultimately lost 28-21. Not only did this happen after their players decided to talk shit via Twitter during the playoffs (after failing to beat Bama themselves, AGAIN), but it happened after every single person under the fucking sun picked them to win.

So, should Bulldog history repeat itself, said receipts are below. Enjoy.

The Roundup Receipts

Let’s start with Paul f’n Finebaum. Mr. SEC hot-take popped off well before this week that Notre Dame should ever be in the playoff again. This week, he said Notre Dame would get destroyed and then doubled down calling ND a paper tiger that would get their lights punched out. Really hoping his Sunday morning is basically a repeat of this glorious moment in which he was called on his bullshit.

Moving on to Pat Forde. When it comes to Notre Dame and Georgia, only Notre Dame needs to prove themselves worthy. Guess Georgia gets a pass because reasons. Anyways, now’s a good time to remind you that this genius already tried to “expose” Notre Dame once after firing Ty Willingham. That aged well.

There is no hope in here. The headline and lede make you think that an argument would be presented with “well, ND may just have a chance”, but instead we get an article that has none of it. Middle school English teachers would scold you for submitting nothing but a fluff for word count, but I guess it’s good enough for Forbes.

I don’t hate the computers. But they absolutely don’t like ND.

I do hate lazy articles written with the same tired arguments, talking points, and meandering bullshit. Exhibit A is the AJC, whom our friends at Notre Dame Our Blogger did a fantastic job ripping to shreds. It was good to see the Georgia bloggers get into it to, listing reasons for hating Notre Dame, which include being mad that Notre Dame ended up in the playoff & BCS title game over Georgia after they failed to beat Alabama (twice), saying Rudy was offsides, and claiming Manti Te’o actually concocted the whole Lennay Kekua thing himself to push ND into the 2012 BCS title game. Pretty sure between those two, we got the saddest bingo ever.

When you are convinced Irish Spring supports ND, you apparently pull the soap off your shelf. Or something. It’s all really dumb. I guess Gerogia fans would rather smell than pretend to support the Irish? Should Meijer respond by yanking dog food off their shelves? Eh, whatever, pat yourselves on the back grocery store whose name I will promptly forget on Sunday.

There were quite a few Georgia fans that called this game over in the middle of week 1. While watching ND beat Louisville, Bulldog Twitter had some thoughts.

Not to be outdone, former Bulldogs are all in on their own. I mean, I guess I can’t blame them for being confident in their former team, but some of the quotes show that no one learned nothing from the Sugar Bowl disaster.

Hey, assholes, ND making Heisman contenders in big games is our bit. Back off.

Finally, let’s close with another blowhard. Tim Brando, play us out:

The post Friday Roundup: The Collecting Receipts Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

With such a highly anticipated matchup, Shane and I jump straight into the action. No long previews or big news recaps needed. It’s time to get straight into the action…right after a cold open in which Shane is the unfortunate victim of technical difficulties and not me for once!

Podcast

Twitch Broadcast

Want to see what podcast magic can do? Check out the podcast version and compare to the live where Shane just completely freezes and drops off the stream. Joys of live recording!

The post HLS Podcast: Notre Dame at Georgia NCAA Sim appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Here’s the site that helped on this quest because I believe in showing my work and my resources (and let’s be honest, I’m far too fond of degeneracy). What I found was rather interesting and, dare I say, gave me an irrational amount of hope!

At Home

The last time the Irish were a double-digit home dog was in 2009 against Southern Cal in the Charlies Weis Era. Under BK, Notre Dame has never been a double-digit dog at home. That’s rather incredible considering some of the train wrecks that we’ve seen *cough*2016*cough*.

The largest spread that ND has faced at home was in BK’s first season against #15 Utah who was a 5.5 point favorite. You may recall this was after the double-whammy of losing to Navy and Tulsa.

Notre Dame won that game 28-3.

On the Road

Notre Dame has been a double-digit dog three times on the road. In those games, they are 2-1 against the spread and 1-2 straight up. Without even looking it up, you probably already knew the sole win was in 2012 at Norman where the Irish were 30-13 victors against #8 Oklahoma.

The cover, but loss came against #8 Stanford in 2013. The #25 Irish were 16-point underdogs, but lost 27-20.

A full boat-race occurred in the 2016 season that we’d all rather forget where an unranked Irish picked up their eight loss of the season as 17.5-point dogs against #12 Southern Cal. That dumpster fire ended 45-27.

So What?

If you’re looking for some hope this Saturday, these numbers should excite you. Against SC and Stanford, Notre Dame were dogs by more than two TDs. As double-digit dogs, but less than two TDs, they won. As of this writing, Notre Dame is teetering on this edge as a 14-point dog.

Remember, more than two TDs is the danger zone!

Another interesting anomaly about the OU game is that the Irish were double digit dogs while ranked in the top ten. OU was also ranked in the top ten.

I’m noticing a trend…

Not only were the other double-digit dog ND teams either an unranked dumpster fire or just barely on the edge of the top 25, both games were played in November to close the season. OU was played in October.

Therefore, double-digit spreads are only really dangerous towards the end of the season (or the post-season if you really want to terrify and remind yourself that ND found themselves as 10.5-point dogs to Clemson in the Cotton Bowl and 10-point dogs to Alabama in the 2012 National Title–but why do that to yourself?!).

So, a non-November, regular season, top ten ranked, facing a top ten opponent, double-digit-dog-by-not-by-more-than-two-TDs Notre Dame is clearly the magic recipe for the Vegas upset. In other words…

The post Notre Dame As a Double-Digit Dog in the Brain Kelly Era appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Through the magic of podcasting time travel, Eddie and I are able to chat about the earth-shattering development that rocked Notre Dame fans by recording later after the news broke.

So…yeah, this episode is a little interesting and this is all either the result of Brian Kelly’s halftime blood sacrifice to win the Citrus Bowl, an attempt to divide by zero, or the end result of having two SEC teams in the title game.

The post HLS Podcast – SEC: Swiping Elko and Championships appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Certainly Brian Kelly doesn’t necessarily think so. He’s the first to note that every game for the rest of the regular season is the equivalent of a playoff. The Irish have no cushion, no safety net. Not only does Notre Dame have no choice but to win, the team must win decisively if it is to be invited to that bowl-game-cum-tournament hybrid presided over by secretive arbiters who seem ever to need more persuasion of a team’s worthiness.

Certainly Josh Adams is the first to assert that any achievement on the part of any individual player is actually the product of the whole team striving together. And that is not limited to the players. The team of coaches assembled in preparation for this season has brought out some extraordinary performances not just by many Irish athletes, but by all the Irish athletes together. Once again Notre Dame is physically strong and playing truly smart football.

Certainly Drue Tranquill was the first to state that the Irish are not a collection of standouts, but a group. And it was a group that wanted the victory over Georgia very much, but were denied. With great foresight, Tranquill expressed sincere sympathy for the remaining opponents the Irish would face, because in the wake of the defeat, every one of them would be punished – in the regular season, and now it seems increasingly likely, in the playoffs.

There can be no flagging, no relaxation, no lack of every effort. That one loss ensured this. “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, under prosperous conditions, might have remained dormant.” So said Ara Parseghian, the champion.

EFS CSC

The post Sunday School w/Padre: Victory & Defeat appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

For starters, people have a right to sell their tickets. Period. Notre Dame even has an officially sanctioned secondary market now.

We live in a different time. This is a phenomenon that is in all sports now. I think it is heavy-handed to judge people who sold tickets. Do we know their financial situation? Season tickets (with the building fund) cost people thousands of dollars. An individual could have made up a huge portion of that in one sale.

Thirty years ago this wouldn’t have happened, but the secondary market now makes it possible. Additionally, the advent of 70 inch high-definition flat screen TVs also makes it possible as fans can create their own gameday experience at home. We need to get over it.

However, here are some other numbers that do matter and played a huge role in Notre Dame’s loss.

0

The number of carries that Dexter Williams got. On a night when you could not run at all (I’ll get to that) Tony Jones Jr. and Dexter Williams, had one carry combined. Williams received zero with the official answer being the cryptic “coach’s decision”.

1.5 and 3

The average yards per rush and sacks allowed by an offensive line that has been touted as one of the best in the nation. Two of the sacks resulted in fumbles against a four man rush.

Cue the film–in both cases Notre Dame protected with six blockers versus four rushers and couldn’t prevent a sack/fumble. The second one, which everyone will talk about featured All-American candidate Mike McGlinchey, being badly beaten by Davin Bellamy.

What likely won’t be discussed is the fact that the running back (Josh Adams) on both plays blocked exactly no one. I get that Georgia’s defense and SEC defenses are good; however, you will not beat anyone if you cannot protect against a four man rush with six blockers.

1 and 9

Brian Kelly’s record in the last ten games decided by one score. For whatever reason, Kelly’s teams of late cannot finish.

6 and 12

Brian Kelly’s record versus ranked opponents since 2013. Brian Kelly is a good coach. His career and record say that. Recently, however, the fact of the matter is that Notre Dame cannot seem to beat ranked teams or win close games. I said this last year, so I’m not going to continue to hammer home any further, but realize that all coaches have a shelf life.

11

The number of Jacob Fromm, Georgia’s freshmen quarterback, making his first start. He didn’t win the game for Georgia, but he didn’t lose it either. Still, the simple fact remains that the Irish failed to beat a ranked SEC team, at home, plus starting a freshmen quarterback. Given this, what kind of team can we expect ND to consistently beat?

3 and 9

Three plays and nine yards starts your demise.

Leading 17-16 with 8:30 remaining, Notre Dame took over after a Georgia punt. The Irish defense had just authored a three and out and the momentum was clearly with the Irish. This was an opportunity to perhaps take some time off the clock and hopefully add another score.

They did neither.

Three runs, nine yards, and a punt. Kelly in my opinion played the series not to lose and wound up doing just that, underscoring Notre Dame’s struggles in tight games.

_____

I’m angry Notre Dame lost as our most fans. So I get the thoughts by some to blame ticket sellers, the lack of “home field” advantage, etc. However, those are things that will always be outside the control of Notre Dame. Until Notre Dame takes care of the numbers they can control, like the ones listed, above they will continue to be a mediocre football team.

The post The Numbers That Matter Weren’t in Red appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.