Notre Dame-Alabama: Nick’s Knack And ‘Rat Poison’
Amos Alonzo Stagg, Ara Parseghian and Nick Saban.
That is the elite list of coaches who were or are 4-0 all time against Notre Dame.
Stagg’s University of Chicago Maroons achieved it from 1893-99, when the Fighting Irish were in the infancy of their program.
Parseghian accomplished it at Northwestern in four consecutive years from 1959-62, and it significantly aided his hiring at Notre Dame in December 1963 that would result in two consensus national titles and a shared one in his 11 seasons from 1964-74.
And now, Saban will attempt to become the first to get to 5-0 against the Fighting Irish. It began with a 3-0 mark — wins in 1997 (23-7), 1998 (45-23) and 1999 (23-13) — during a three-year stretch at Michigan State.
The fourth was the 42-14 triumph in the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 7, 2013. That dominant win gave Saban the fourth of his six overall national titles, with the first coming at LSU in 2003 and the other five at Alabama since 2009.
Debate often arises about which Alabama legend is considered the greatest coach: Paul “Bear” Bryant (1958-82) or Saban. If the vote were up to Notre Dame faithful, Saban likely would win in a landslide because Bryant’s inverted 0-4 record against the Irish in their four meetings from 1973-80 is the conspicuous blotch in a magnificent career that produced 323 victories (232 of them at Alabama), which at the time eclipsed Stagg for the most in college football annals.
Saban also joins five other coaches who defeated the Irish at different schools: Howard Jones (Iowa and USC), Johnny Majors (Pittsburgh and Tennessee), Dennis Erickson (Miami and Oregon State), Todd Graham (Tulsa and Arizona State) and Jim Harbaugh (Stanford and Michigan).
Where Saban has especially excelled is adjusting his style as needed. When he won his first national title with the Crimson Tide in 2009, it was built on supreme defense — with coordinator Kirby Smart selected as the Broyles Award Assistant Coach of the Year —complemented by mainly a power ground attack. At one point that season, Alabama had a four-game stretch (three versus ranked teams) where it won by scores of 22-3, 20-6, 12-10 and 24-15.
While the Crimson Tide still recruits premier talent on defense, Saban's approach to the game has changed with the times. This year he won games by scores of 63-48 (versus Ole Miss) and 52-46 (SEC Championship Dec. 19 versus Florida), and the Crimson Tide is averaging 49.7 points per contest. Two of the last three winners of the Broyles Award were his offensive coordinators: Mike Locksley (2018) and now Steve Sarkisian (2020).
“It seems in college football the teams that can score points usually fare well in games like this,” Saban said of the College Football Playoff. “And you’ve got to be able to play good defense. So you sort of try to keep from getting beat before you can win. And that’s something we certainly have to work on to try to make this game be a close game.”
From a national perspective, a Notre Dame victory versus Alabama this Friday would be classified as the biggest upset since the advent of the College Football Playoff in 2014 — and maybe of all time in major bowl history.
As of today, Alabama is a 20-point favorite against Notre Dame, the highest in the seven-year history of the CFP. The previous standard was the 2018 Orange Bowl, when the Crimson Tide was a 14.5-favorite over Oklahoma, though it did not cover in a 45-34 victory.
Earlier that same day, Clemson was an 11.5-point favorite over the Irish and recorded a 30-3 victory prior to also demolishing Alabama (44-16) for the national title more than a week later.
Among the 14 CFP semifinal games (including the two to be played this Jan. 1), four had a team favored by double digits — and Notre Dame was/is that underdog in two of them. The fourth was the 2016 Peach Bowl semifinal when Alabama was a 14-point favorite versus Washington and won 24-7.
Head coaches Brian Kelly and Saban last met in the BCS National Championship Game in January 2013. Even though No. 1-ranked Notre Dame was 12-0 and allowing only 10.3 points per game, the 12-1 Crimson Tide was installed as a 9.5-point favorite.
As much as the Irish tried to use the “disrespect card,” Alabama displayed its dominance, taking a 28-0 lead by halftime that soon stretched to 35-0 before putting it in cruise control in the 42-14 victory.
On one hand, Alabama subconsciously could feel overconfident about this game, while Notre Dame is the wounded animal determined to redeem itself and show the college football world it indeed does belong among the top echelon.
On the other, the 52-46 SEC Championship outcome probably was the ideal result for Saban — a victory, but enough deficiencies on defense to fire up that unit to also atone. Count on Saban to use his “rat poison” speech on his heavily favored squad.
Back in 2017 after beating Texas A&M only 27-19, Saban noted how players buying into the outside world telling them how superb they are can be detrimental.
“I’m trying to get our players to listen to me instead of listening to you guys,” he told the media after that close win versus the Aggies. “All that stuff you write about how good we are, all that stuff they hear on ESPN, it’s like poison. It’s like taking poison.
“Like rat poison.”
Maybe it can be the elixir for Notre Dame.
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