Backcorner Fade
The Year of Our Lord 2020 will be remembered for a lot of reasons and sadly, the vast majority of these things will not be thought of fondly. When the clock hits midnight on January 1st, I’m sure there aren’t going to be many folks out there who will say, “Man, 2020 was such a great year. I’m sad to see it go.”
There has been one thing though that has been glorious this year and that, of course, has been Notre Dame Football.
I remember sitting back after the Iowa State game, starting to look ahead to the season and what the prospects were. Ian Book was going to be back, but was that a good or bad thing? We had no proven running back, the WR corps was untested and an unknown. And, we were staring at the prospect of, for all purposes, a novice calling plays. The defense was going to be solid, but “potentially great” wouldn’t have been the words I’d have used to describe them.
Here we are almost a year later and they are playing for the ACC title (which no one would have guessed) and a spot in the Final Four. No matter what happens from here on out, the Irish have proved they are far from a “decent program.” Now is the time to slam home the point that they are much more than that and do it with a huge exclamation point.
What did we learn last weekend?
There are some “experts” out there, whether that be in the media, your uncle, or some guy at the bar who think ND is simply “living on past glory.” We’ve all heard that at one time or another and we know it’s false. However, they could use that expression to describe the Miami Hurricanes. 500+ yards rushing given up….basically by two guys. Miami will do what Miami does, which is namely beat ho-hum ACC teams, and get pumped against any team with a pulse. In their two games against good teams this season, they have given up more than 100 points. The U will always have dudes and guys who will fill out NFL rosters, but as a program, they’re a hot mess.
Florida and LSU. The last time I saw a shoe throw like that, the bad guy was trying to clock Austin Powers in his jacked-up grill. Congrats to the Gators for blowing their outside chance of going to the Finals and even more of an “atta boy” to Dan Mullen for acting like the south end of a stallion after the lose. Look, Dan you blew a game against a 3rd-string QB on a 3-5 LSU team, you’ve proven you have zero discipline on your squad and all you can do is take indirect shots at Ohio State?!?! Enjoy this week getting dragged by Alabama. Will this one be USC’s fault?
Speaking of USC, what a win against a mediocre UCLA team, then going Thug Life after the game wanting to throw down with the Bruins. As despicable as the thought of a 6-win OSU team going to the Finals, the thought of USC going is even more disturbing. At least Ohio State is good. Looking at Alabama, Clemson, and ND, Clay’s boys would be at least a 15-point dog to any of those teams and that might even be too low. Yes, they have some serious studs at WR, but they are soft….very, very soft on the lines and would get beat to hell against the Big Boys. The good news: Helton looks like he’ll be back. See you in October.
So what do we have to look forward to this weekend?
Not that it matters, but Michigan is all clear and will head to Iowa this weekend. I think I speak for every Ohio State and ND fan (and ohhhhh do I hate lumping those two together) in saying that I hope the Hawks lay a 35-point scud on them. Cowards. Iowa 45-14. ***And soon as I’m ready to “publish” this, they hit the eject button on it and call it a season.*** Party at Harbaugh’s.
Alabama and Florida link up for the SEC Title game and the over/under is set for 72 gushings from Gary Danielson to pour on Nick Saban. As for the game, I don’t think this will be much of one. I do think Kyle Trask will get his yards and I do think UF will score some points. I also think Alabama will jump them early and Florida will fold and do so quickly. Enjoy the Capital One Bowl against Northwestern, Dan. Bama 49-21.
Speaking of Northwestern, they are the only team in that meat grinder of a conference that stand between Ohio State and the Finals. So, let’s see, a NW team that was beaten by MSU who OSU beat with 20+ guys out, including basically their whole offensive line. Well, that being said, this has all the makings of a real close affair! Yeah, not really. OSU will have this thing done and over by halftime. OSU 56-7.
It just dawned on me that there’s a PAC-12 Title game this weekend. Washington has too many of their guys positive, so get Oregon on the blower and see if they’re healthy and not doing anything Saturday. This is not a good Oregon team. They’re very young on both sides of the ball and it’s shown. They’re going to be a force to be reckoned with the next few years, but this year, it’s just not a finished product. That being said, I just have a weird feeling that they may have something for SC. Matter of fact, and I have zero reason to think this other than Clay Helton coaches SC, that they are going to win. Give me the young Ducklings in a minor upset: 28-27.
Let’s face it. None of the other championship games have the intrigue as the Notre Dame-Clemson game. This is the one that people want to see. Was the first game just a fluke and Clemson had a bad night? Did Trevor Lawrence being out have that much of an impact? Is this Notre Dame team really that good? Those are just a few of the questions that are probably floating around outside of our world as ND fans and to a certain degree, we may have some similar questions.
There isn’t much strategy to go around. We know what Clemson is going to try to do: beat us with their skilled players in space. Clemson knows what ND is going to try to do: beat them up physically along the lines. If ND can stop Clemson’s running game the way they did the last time, we’re going to see a game go down to the wire again. If they can’t, they’re going to have a hard time winning. Not much to it.
As for a prediction to this one, my heart says ND and my mind says Clemson. I do know this much, I think that it’s going to be a touchdown or less game either way. The last go around I predicted a Clemson win and I was so happy to be wrong. I’m doing the same thing this time and not jinxing it. It’s going to be a battle to the end. Clemson 31-27