Notre Dame’s first public remark about the history-making, bizarro-world news of its one-year ACC sojourn came via a tweet with the fervor of an auto-generated out-of-office email.
Several hours after ACC commissioner John Swofford announced his conference would add Notre Dame into its schedule for an inevitably weird 2020 season, the school released the following statement from director of athletics Jack Swarbrick:
“We’re excited about the opportunity the ACC has provided for our football program. We look forward to announcing our schedule in the near future.”
Maybe he and some others in the athletic department were actually out of office. Or just had no idea how else to react. Notre Dame, of course, has never been here before. Didn’t think it would need to be here until a few weeks before.
Four-plus months later, the tone is a tad different. No. 2 Notre Dame is in the ACC Championship and will claim the trophy if it beats No. 3 Clemson (4 p.m. ET, ABC). Now that the game is near, one can’t help but chuckle at and absorb the absurdity of the moment, even if the ACC logos on the Irish’s jerseys and Notre Dame Stadium turf don’t elicit a cock-eyed glance anymore.
Same time, there’s ample excitement and urgency on Notre Dame’s end. Conference championship aspirations are new to Notre Dame’s players, but the chance to play for a trophy and head into the College Football Playoff with an undefeated record is enough reason to care.
“This game is part of the three games we need,” sophomore running back Kyren Williams said.
Oddly enough, 10-0 Notre Dame seems more likely to be hurt by playing the game than it is to be helped. In that sense, there’s not much upside in playing it. The idea of canceling it or backing out has perpetuated in fan circles. But Notre Dame’s unconcerned with irony and narratives. And playoff talk. It’s disinterested in walking away. There’s a trophy for the taking. As long as there’s a game, they want to win it.
“The playoffs take care of themselves,” Brian Kelly said. “We can’t control that. Will our players understand that if we win, we’ll be in the playoffs? Sure, they get that. But they don’t go around thinking about ‘Oh, if we lose.’
“That’s just not how they think. We’re just not wired that way. We’re wired to win the football game and expect to win the football game.”
The latest selection committee rankings, though, sure seemed to hint Notre Dame is playoff-bound no matter Saturday’s outcome. The assurance — not that Notre Dame wants it now — lies in the committee’s treatment of Florida. The Gators fell just one spot from No. 6 to No. 7 in Tuesday’s rankings despite losing to a sub-.500 LSU team as a three-touchdown favorite, getting merely slapped on the wrist for a bad defeat because they pass the committee’s moving-target eye test.
In that light, it seems difficult to conceive a reality where Notre Dame falls out of the top four after losing to a team it already beat and holding a pair of top-15 wins. The committee has stated the Irish are its clear No. 2 team at the moment. They’re unbeaten and one of two teams with a win over an opponent currently ranked in the top five.
Committee chairman Gary Barta swerved away from a question asking if this weekend was a mulligan for Notre Dame. No matter his concealed answer, Notre Dame would prefer to force his group’s hand instead of sweating out Selection Sunday.
“They don’t go around thinking, ‘Hey, we’ll lose the game and we’re probably still in the playoffs,’” Kelly said. “We’re thinking about winning the ACC Championship. All of our time, all of our energy is about this game.”
A second win over Clemson would assure Notre Dame dodges No. 1 Alabama in the semifinals. A loss, and a meeting with the Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl comes into view. That’s best put off until as late as possible. If they should meet, it would open a deluge of narratives about talent gaps and ghosts of 2012. Notre Dame would have to prove itself again, record, résumé (and possible vanquished top-four semifinal opponent) be damned.
Which may be just how the Irish want it. This has been a year of casting aside tired tropes. Like independent life being easier than any conference gauntlet. Their tendency to wilt against the best. Fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book’s ceiling he had already hit. They took a hammer to each of those in defeating then-No. 1 Clemson 47-40 on Nov. 7.
“We had Nov. 7 circled on the schedule for a long time for when we were going to play Clemson,” Book said. “Not many people thought we were going to win that game. We heard the outside noise. We were able to get that win and prove ourselves right.”
The pressure has shifted to Clemson, which must win to feel good about inclusion in the final top four. Theoretically, at least. The Tigers are 10.5-point favorites. They’re healthier on defense, with three starters back. Star junior quarterback Trevor Lawrence is around to pilot them this time. Through that lens, Notre Dame has more to lose.
The Irish, though, aren’t using that as extra gas in the tank or more chips on the shoulder. They want to be here, in this title game of a conference they temporarily married. The motivation is already supplied. No narratives needed.
“At the end of the day, you just have to go play ball,” fifth-year senior defensive end Daelin Hayes said. “That’s going to speak for itself. Playing ball the right way, the brand of football we love to play, that’s going to put us where we need to be.”
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