Blue and Gold Illustrated

January 2019

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2019 5 L isten to the worldwide leader (ESPN) or turn on a national college football radio program and a clear theme has emerged with much of the analysis on those shows: Notre Dame's 12-0 record earned it a spot in the College Football Playoff (CFP), but that doesn't mean the Irish are one of the four best teams in the country. F O X S p o r t s p e r s o n a l - ity Clay Travis summed up best what he and others like ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit think about Notre Dame. "Who is the best team and who is the most deserving? Alabama and Clemson were the most deserving teams, they were the one and two," Travis said on his radio show, Out- kick The Coverage. "The only regret I would have as a larger media culture is I think we didn't de- bate Notre Dame enough. "I think there's a legitimate debate to be had about whether Notre Dame is good enough that their 12-0 sched- ule was worthy of being put into the College Football Playoff, because I think Notre Dame is substantially worse than other teams we were con- sidering down the stretch. "I think Ohio State would beat Notre Dame. I think Georgia would beat Notre Dame. I think Oklahoma would beat Notre Dame. I think Clemson would beat Notre Dame. And I think Alabama would beat Notre Dame." Travis then went on to talk about what happened the last time Notre Dame made a game like this — the BCS National Championship Game in January 2013 — and the fact the Irish were routed 42-14 by Alabama. Notre Dame's history in big games the last 25 years makes this notion somewhat understandable, but the play of the 2018 squad on the field proves this thesis to be more about the past than the present. Not only were the Fighting Irish one of three Power Five units to put to- gether an undefeated season, in the big- gest moments the Irish were as domi- nant as any CFP squad or any team in the final discussion for a playoff berth. Notre Dame, Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma are the four CFP teams. Georgia and Ohio State fin- ished the season ranked fifth or sixth, and according to some the Bulldogs and Buckeyes are considered better than Notre Dame. But the numbers don't bear that out. All six teams played at least three games against an opponent that ei- ther finished the season in the Asso- ciated Press top 25 or received votes in the final poll. All but Ohio State played at least four such games, and no one played more than five. Notre Dame played four such teams. A look at the margin of victory for the six teams mentioned above in games against AP top-25 opponents or those receiving votes: 1. Alabama +22.2 2. Notre Dame +17.8 3. Ohio State +15.0 4. Clemson +13.3 5. Oklahoma +5.5 6. Georgia +4.6 Notre Dame's disparity in yards in these games was even greater, and showed just how dominant the Irish were against their best opponents. Here is a look at the average total yards disparity between what the teams put up and what they allowed in such contests: 1. Notre Dame +190.0 2. Alabama +189.6 3. Ohio State +84.0 4. Clemson +81.3 5. Georgia +47.6 6. Oklahoma +22.8 Notre Dame more than dou- bles every team in this discus- sion except for Alabama, and a deeper look into these num- bers shows just how much more dominant the Irish were against top competition rela- tive to other CFP contenders. Clemson's largest yards differential was +174 (versus North Carolina State), Ohio State's biggest yards gap was +189 (versus Northwestern), Georgia's greatest yards margin was +154 (versus Florida) and Oklahoma's top yards dispar- ity was +72 (versus Iowa State). Notre Dame had a +321-yard advantage against Stanford, a +229 versus Syracuse and a +215 over Northwestern. That means Notre Dame's third-best difference in yards surpasses the very best performance of any team not named Alabama. Of course, none of this means Notre Dame is going to blow out Clemson and go on to win the national cham- pionship. Clemson is in the CFP for good reason as well, and for the last four seasons the Tigers and Crimson Tide have dominated the college foot- ball world. Beating teams like Michi- gan, Stanford, Syracuse and North- western is one thing, but vanquishing the Tigers is quite another. This conversation is important be- cause these numbers show that Notre Dame not only deserved a CFP berth for its 12-0 record, it was every bit as dominant against the very best compe- tition it faced as Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia or Ohio State. Its dominance is closer from a statistical standpoint to Alabama than it was anyone below the Irish in the rankings. Notre Dame's 2018 football team belongs on the stage it currently finds itself. ✦ Notre Dame Football: Perception Versus Reality CLOSER LOOK BRYAN DRISKELL Bryan Driskell has been a football analyst for Blue & Gold Illustrated since April 2015. He can be reached at bdriskell@blueandgold.com. Head coach Brian Kelly's Notre Dame team is not getting the level of respect its on-field performance in 2018 warrants. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL

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