What They’re Saying: Reaction To Notre Dame Fighting Irish In The College Football Playoff

Despite a 24-point loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, Notre Dame made the College Football Playoff as the No. 4 seed with its strong overall body of work. The Irish will take on No. 1 Alabama in the Rose Bowl January 1 at 4 p.m. ET.

We take a look at the national reaction to the news.

ESPN Analysts On Notre Dame

Former UCLA head coach Jim Mora: “I don’t know that Notre Dame has enough weapons on offense to really challenge Alabama on defense, but I know that Alabama has weapons on offense to challenge that Notre Dame defense, in particular that secondary. It’s unbelievable to me how open the Alabama wide receivers are able to get when everybody knows they’re going to throw it.”

ESPN host Rece Davis: “I really believe Notre Dame is justified and deserving and should be in this playoff.”

Former NFL receiver Joey Galloway: “Coaches love being in this position coming off of a bad loss. …They will be motivated to come out with an attitude.”

Former NFL quarterback Jesse Palmer: “I agree with Notre Dame getting in at No. 4. … They were 10-0, dominant and complete with big impressive wins that you can’t devalue against Clemson.”

Former NFL defensive lineman Booger McFarland: “I have a hard time looking at a team that got beat by 24, and quite honest with you, it could have been 40 against Clemson yesterday, and putting them in the Playoff. … I was just really surprised the committee didn’t weigh that more.”

Mark Schlabach, ESPN: College Football Playoff preview: Keys to Alabama-Notre Dame, Clemson-Ohio State

If there was one constant in an otherwise chaotic college football season played during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was Alabama's dominance in the SEC. The Crimson Tide became the first team in league history to go 10-0 against conference foes.

One thing that was highly unusual this season: Notre Dame joined the ACC as a temporary member because of scheduling concerns during the pandemic. It was the first time in 114 years of playing football that the Irish didn't play as an independent.

Now, two of college football's traditional blue bloods will battle in New Orleans on New Year's Day with a trip to the CFP National Championship on the line. Hopefully, it's more competitive than the last time the teams met.

Alabama and Notre Dame are built similarly, but the Crimson Tide hold a decided edge in overall talent. ESPN's Todd McShay projects as many as six Alabama players -- and just one from the Irish -- being selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. The teams have the two best offensive lines in college football, as well as two of the best front sevens on the other side of the ball.

Notre Dame figures to try to slow the game down. Alabama will try to speed it up with wide receiver DeVonta Smith and quarterback Mac Jones against the Irish's suspect secondary.

Key player for Alabama: WR DeVonta Smith. As good as Jones and tailback Najee Harris have been this season, Smith might be the most dangerous player on the field. The senior leads the FBS with 1,511 receiving yards and 98 catches and ranks second with 17 touchdown receptions. Even more impressive, going into Saturday's SEC championship game, he had only two drops in 106 targets and 73.5% of his receptions (61 of 83) were for first downs. Smith was at his best in Alabama's most important games in the regular season; he had 24 catches for 401 yards with four touchdowns in victories over Texas A&M, Georgia and Auburn. Smith is going to be a matchup problem for Irish cornerbacks Clarence Lewis and Nick McCloud.

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Paul Myerberg, USA Today: Notre Dame will need flawless game to upset Alabama in Rose Bowl

The matchup is a television executive's dream: Alabama against Notre Dame in the national semifinals of the College Football Playoff.

Whether the game meets the hype is in serious doubt after the Fighting Irish lost 34-10 to Clemson in the ACC championship game, revealing serious flaws and weak spots after Notre Dame's charge toward an unbeaten regular season.

"This is a strong football team, strong-willed," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said Saturday. "It’s an outstanding football team. They’ll bounce back."

The loss rekindled concerns over how Notre Dame has fared amid similar stakes throughout Kelly's tenure and beyond. The Irish have reached the equivalent of six New Year's Six bowls since 2000 and lost each by two or more touchdowns, most recently losing 30-3 to Clemson in the 2018 national semifinals.

After beating the Tigers in overtime during the regular season, Notre Dame seemed unable to stop Clemson at full strength. With quarterback Trevor Lawrence back under center, the Tigers gained 541 yards of total offense and averaged more than eight yards per play. With senior James Skalski back at linebacker, the Tigers' defense held the Irish to just 263 yards, about half of Notre Dame's total in November.

It will take something close to perfection to take down the Crimson Tide on Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl, being played in Arlington, Texas, after it was moved from Southern California because of COVID-19 complications.

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Paul Myerberg: ACC, Ohio State biggest winners of final College Football Playoff rankings

Here are the winners and losers from the final playoff rankings:

ACC

Adding Notre Dame to the conference in 2020 ended up being a good thing. Who knew? With two teams in the semifinals, this is easily the best year of ACC football during the playoff era and perhaps the most successful season since the conference added Florida State in the early 1990s. Sending two teams to the playoff was once considered something only the SEC could do — since the SEC did just that during the 2017 season, when Alabama and Georgia met for the national title. Now the ACC can be mentioned in the same breath. But it might be a one-off: Despite this year's success, Notre Dame has no plans to join a conference anytime soon.

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