3-2-1 Notre Dame Observations, Questions & Prediction
3 Observations
Lurking somewhere on the 2019 Notre Dame schedule is the type of "survival game" No. 1 Clemson had at North Carolina.
The 27-point favorites and reigning national champions had to stop a two-point conversion attempt in the closing minute by the Tar Heels — who lost 34-31 at home the week prior to Appalachian State and 24-18 two weeks ago at Wake Forest.
This is an inevitable part of every college football season for any top-10/playoff-contending program — that one Saturday when inexplicable forces of nature see the heavy favorite stumble along while the huge underdog becomes the "Gonna Fly Now" Rocky-like figure.
Ohio State experienced it last year with a 49-27 defeat at Purdue for its lone setback, or a 55-24 defeat at an Iowa team in 2017 that finished under .500 in the Big Ten. That didn't suddenly make coaching titan Urban Meyer a poor leader or motivator. It just reaffirmed mortality.
Any fandom will typically be hand-wringing about inevitable concerns — but no coach ever has stated that his team needs to cancel practices because they have everything all figured out.
"People wonder what's wrong with us,” mused Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney yesterday. “There's nothing ‘wrong’ with us. It's college football, and we're trying to get better.”
Some might contend Virginia supplied a similar scare in the first half at Notre Dame, but it really wasn’t close to what the Tigers experienced.
There also would or should not be any surprise if USC on Oct. 12 or Michigan in Oct. 26 rise up with “where did that come from?” performances versus Notre Dame. Somewhere down the road it is games such as at Duke (Nov. 9) or home versus Boston College (Nov. 23) — or possibly someone else — that can create such angst.
That will spell the difference Thanksgiving weekend on whether the Irish will still cling to its current remote playoff hope, or have to “settle” for a New Year’s Six bowl.
The program is by far the healthiest it’s been since the early ’90s. The main frustration remains that there also remain a handful of schools that will be difficult to eclipse on the CFP food chain right now, primarily because of the lack of overall firepower on offense in comparison.
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