Exactly 27 years after winning an elite bowling match, Irish fighting Notre Dame are still among the elite systems in the history of school football, a credit to their 11 national championships consensual in the five head coaches of the 20th century.
However, they continue to demonstrate why they do not even belong to the same box as the elite groups of the 21st century, most recently on Friday, when the No. 1 from Alabama demolished them, 31-14.
The most recent discord reached the Rose Bowl National Semifinal in Arlington, Texas, where the No. four Notre Dame (10-2) allowed Alabama (12-0) to score landings in its first 3 possessions, adding two landing catches for superstar receiver DeVonta Smith.
Notre Dame allowed 7. 9 yards consistently with and saw Smith run for touchdowns in three of his seven receptions at AT Stadium.
This is a program that has not won an elite Bowl since the Cotton Bowl on January 1, 1994, when it beat Texas A
Since then, the Irish have a record of 0 to 8 in the elite games of the six New Year bowls: cotton, pink, party, peach, orange and sugar. However, one of the games had fewer than 14 issues: a 31-26 loss to Florida State at the Orange Bowl 25 years ago.
Don’t worry about Irish coach Brian Kelly, who later questioned the concept that his team is not competitive in this match.
“I don’t need to continue down this path,” he said, when asked about the “next step” his program wants to take. “Let’s keep coming here, okay? And we’re going to keep getting it right. “. You saw the game, didn’t you? They played on the perimeter. They made dynamic games. They have school football player of the year (Smith), who has made dynamic games. We fought, we were there. “
His partial view contrasts with the fact that Alabama averaged 10 yards consistent with the game in the first half and was in company at all times, adding a 28-7 lead early in the last quarter.
In an overview, there are many tactics to take a look at this.
On the one hand, they were considered smart enough to be invited to those games, which is no small thing. For more than four seasons, his record is 43-8 with Kelly, his coach since Lou Holtz, who won the last national name at Notre Dame in 1988.
On the other hand, its futility against fashionable elites contrasts radically with the elite privileges they still gain on the upper steps of strength in school football. They didn’t deserve it, especially when they got a spot in this year’s school playoffs. season after being destroyed by No. 2 Clemson in his last game two weeks ago, 34-10.
Other examples come with their special remedy of off-field playoffs, such as profit distribution, all because of the elite program they once were, and not the second-tier competitor they are now.
Holtz once gave this explanation as to why Notre Dame’s exceptionalism:
“Those who know Our Lady need no explanation. Those who know, no explanation will suffice. “
WARNING: At best, Alabama untouchable, writes Dan Wolken
On the other hand, Kelly helps keep asking why the Irish don’t meet this exceptional standard. He didn’t like journalists’ questions on the subject on Friday, saying that “the margin (of victory) is not the problem. “a lost basket and two missed opportunities in the red zone in the last quarter.
“We’ll keep coming back here, and I’m sorry if you don’t like it, or if the national media doesn’t like it,” he said. “But we’re going back to work. “
In addition to Friday’s result, the Irish also failed in their two most important games of the 21st century: a 30-3 loss to Clemson in the national semi-finals of the Cotton Bowl on December 29, 2018 and a 42-14 loss to Alabama at the Bowl. Match by the name of the National Championship Series in January 2013.
His overall playoff record since his last elite bowl win is 6-14, adding 3-11 in bowl games against the groups of southeastern, Big Ten and Atlantic coast leagues, crazy about Midwest and South football.
But those effects on the ground don’t matter where it’s most concerned: your influence and your bank account. The logo of old Notre Dame is still sold. Notre Dame is also still, in general years, an independent special team that does not belong to a conference.
And that’s why the Irish get a special place in the school football playoffs, a lucrative slot device that distributes profits to all primary college meetings and independent teams, wither a place in the playoffs.
The playoff business is governed by an 11-member board of directors: an executive to form the 10 most sensible college conferences, plus an executive to set up a single school: Notre Dame.
The Irish also get a special cup of playoffs when wealth is shared year.
For example, when Notre Dame lost to Clemson at the Cotton Bowl in 2018, he raised $11. 2 million, according to NCAA documents. The Irish didn’t want percentages at all with a league or other league members, unlike other large-scale programs. .
By comparison, the 14-member SEC as a total earned $83. 6 million, or an average of about $6 million according to the member, without adding the consistent percentage of the league. This came from a year when the SEC had two groups in the national championship game: Alabama and Georgia. La this year’s Notre Dame transitority conference, the CCA, won $71. 5 million that year, or about $5 million according to the member, not counting any consistent percentage for the league.
Playoff victories stabilize extra when the Irish don’t get a spot in the playoffs. In 2017, they did not reach the playoffs, but still received $2. 8 million, with no percentage to percentage with a league office. As an independent, the Irish won almost. 10 times more than other independent primary academics like Army and BYU, who earned $310,000.
This was negotiated as a component of the moving contract.
“Notre Dame’s importance to world football is important,” playoff executive Bill Hancock said Friday in an email to USA TODAY Sports.
Hancock noted that Notre Dame has had a “seat at the table” for the elite bowling arrangements of the playoffs of more than 3 decades, adding the series of bowling championships. It also downplayed the perception of our Lady’s influence.
“In the 16 seasons I’ve spent with the BCS and PSC, I don’t forget that we ever needed a vote on something,” he said. “There has been a consensus. “
This year, due to the pandemic, the Irish played as members of the CCA, where they controlled to beat Clemson at home twice in November, when the Tigers did not have Quarterback Trevor Lawrence, their most productive player.
What if the Irish were treated every year as a normal member of the CCA instead of a golden relic of yesteryear?
They would have general representation in postseason business and the general source of income bills as members of the convention. They would also likely have to win the ACC championship to qualify for the playoffs next time, which would increase the chance that they will be smart enough to still compete with today’s elite teams.
This won’t happen soon, if it ever happens, just because of the charm of its past. The playoff contract does not expire until after January 2026, most likely renegotiating about two years earlier.
“Wake up the echoes” is how the Irish sing it in their war song. But how long before the old echoes can’t get out of bed?
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