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football Edit

3-2-1: Notre Dame Observations, Questions & Prediction

3 OBSERVATIONS

More and more, college football is reminding me of the defunct Arena Football League.

No, this is not an old man, get-off-my-lawn rant, and how the game “used to be better.”

Like technology, medicine or life in general, football constantly evolves and one must change with the present and future rather than live in the past. Still, today’s game is reminding me of the arena days where the rules and talent have swung so much toward the advantage of the offense, that defense is more about damage control than dominance

Tight end Michael Mayer plays with a physical assertiveness seldom seen in a freshman, but one that fits right in with the 2020 offense.
Tight end Michael Mayer plays with a physical assertiveness seldom seen in a freshman, but one that fits right in with the 2020 offense. (Notre Dame Athletics)

Examples from the Oct. 10 weekend included No. 2 Alabama surviving a 63-48 shootout with Ole Miss, No. 4 Florida falling 41-38 to Texas A&M, No. 8 North Carolina hanging on for a 56-45 win at home versus Virginia Tech, and even reigning national champ LSU losing 45-41 to unranked Missouri two weeks after getting upset 44-34 by Mississippi State.

That’s why I get amused some when one often says about a top football prospect, “he looks like one of those SEC defensemen.” The way defense has been in the SEC of late, it almost seems more like an insult than adulation.

Might this be the kind of high-scoring affair Notre Dame will need as well Nov. 7 against No. 1 Clemson in a 35-31 type of contest?

Part of the defensive woes today is about how the game has evolved. But with COVID-19 and the way schools are cautiously approaching practices, tackling fundamentals, among other basics, could easily become diminished to compound the problems that already might exist on that side of the ball.

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