Well, there you have it, a boring but beautiful 45-14 win Saturday night over Stanford (3-9) that extended the winning streak for Notre Dame (11-1) to seven games — the last six coming by double digits and the last four by no fewer than 25 points (more on that in a bit) — capped off the most memorable regular season that Brian Kelly has “enjoyed” in his 12 seasons here.
All that remains is waiting and watching to see if the Irish are playoff or Fiesta Bowl bound.
“We got one of the best four teams, without question in my mind, in the country,” Kelly said when asked to make his playoff case. “We’re ready to prove it.”
3 Numbers/Observations
64 — With nine receptions for 105 yards on Saturday, Notre Dame sophomore tight end Michael Mayer reached 64 grabs for the year, moving him past former Irish All-American Tyler Eifert (2011) as the program’s single-season record holder. Inexplicably, Mayer was left off the five-member Mackey Award Finalist list.
5 — With his 74 rushing yards Saturday, Irish junior running back Kyren Williams became the fifth Notre Dame running back in program history and the first in 15 years to rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons, joining Autry Denson, Allen Pinkett, Vagas Ferguson, and most recently, Darius Walker in 2005-06, on that exclusive list. Remarkably, Williams accomplished the feat after starting this season with only 370 yards through his first six games (61.7 yards per game), compared to 632 yards during his last six outings (105.3).
6 — The Associated Press poll means little this time of the year, but as a point of reference before the new College Football Playoff rankings are released on Tuesday, Notre Dame actually dropped from No. 5 to No. 6 in Sunday’s latest AP release, even after its stellar November and a 31-point road win at Stanford.
2 Questions
1. Was this the most dominating November in Irish history?
Comparing different eras is always tough, but this four-game November reign is an easy top-five pick as the best in more than 125 years of Irish football.
Notre Dame beat Navy by 28 points, Virginia by 25, Georgia Tech by 55 and Stanford by 31. The Irish went 14 consecutive quarters to start the month without allowing a touchdown and seized control in all four November games by outscoring its opponents 107-3 in the first half.
Notre Dame’s average margin of victory in November was 32.3 points, and it could’ve been way more.
Kelly’s Irish put together a similar profile in 2019 when they beat five November opponents by 29.3 points per outing.
Before that, only Dan Devine’s 1973 national championship team, which won its four November games by at least 21 points and by an average of 33.8 points, and Knute Rockne’s 1921 team, which defeated five November foes by no fewer than 14 points and by an average of 34.6, can make a case.
For a broader perspective, Kelly’s Irish have won 16 straight November games dating back to 2017 after going just 6-11 in the month from 2013-16.
2. Pick your postseason, maybe Michigan State or Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl, or Georgia in the CFP?
Two playoff appearances in the last three seasons rightfully raised Notre Dame program expectations to where anything short of making the CFP feels disappointing.
But one thing we learned in those two recent playoff appearances — a 30-3 drubbing to Clemson in 2018 and a 31-14 defeat to Alabama last season — it’s that the playoffs aren’t necessarily all they’re cracked up to be, and maybe there’s a better fate for this young Irish team this holiday season.
Instead of sweating out a playoff berth for a chance to most likely lock horns with No. 1 Georgia (12-0) as a double-digit underdog, Notre Dame should instead hope to play and to beat a more manageable opponent such as a Michigan State or Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, in no small part, to boost confidence for 2022 when it opens the season at Ohio State.
Shockingly, it’s been 28 years and nine tries since Notre Dame beat Texas A&M in the 1994 Cotton Bowl to claim its most recent win in a premier bowl game.
“The Lion King” and “Forrest Gump” dominated box office ticket sales that year.
1 Prediction
One particular sportswriter will retire — or at least blow a gasket — if a two-loss Alabama (11-1) gets into the CFP ahead of Notre Dame.
As followers of an independent football program, we all understand the preferential treatment that the SEC, and particularly Alabama, receive this time every year.
But given the dominance Notre Dame has demonstrated since its only loss of the season — a tight 24-13 defeat Oct. 2, to still undefeated Cincinnati, the No. 3 team in this week’s AP poll — there is nothing to suggest Alabama is more deserving of a bid than the Irish unless the Crimson Tide beat No. 1 Georgia (12-0) Saturday in the SEC Championship Game.
Take your potshots at Notre Dame’s schedule, but a two-point win for Alabama over Florida (6-6); a loss to then unranked Texas A&M (8-4); a narrow six-point home win over LSU (6-6); a seven-point home win over Arkansas (8-4); and an overtime 24-22 miracle victory Saturday versus Auburn (6-6), is a profile that doesn’t deserve playoff consideration without a SEC Championship trophy.
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