Notre Dame Football: There are no moral victories in college football

Notre Dame football put up a valiant effort against the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday night. But there are no moral victories in college football.

Notre Dame football was a 14 point underdog. No one gave them a realistic shot to compete with Georgia, especially  on the road, “between the hedges.” Everyone pointed to Notre Dame being a pretender who can’t compete with college football’s elite.

Well, the Irish came up 6 points short, including a failed final drive in a last-stitch effort to win the game. They had the lead at halftime. The defense played at an elite level.

The Irish proved that they can play with anyone. The proved critics wrong.

So what?

Notre Dame didn’t win, and patting yourself on the back for a loss is silly. Moral victories are for mid-majors. A moral victory is for Old Dominion, who had led Virginia by 17 before losing. Moral victories aren’t for 11-time National Champions. They’re not for a program who was trying to make it to 900 wins all time.

Here’s the reality: Notre Dame didn’t win. Now, they need to deal with the consequences. That means that the Irish will drop in the polls. It means that Notre Dame is still a program that can’t get over the hump and beat a top 5 team. Because Notre Dame doesn’t play a conference championship game, they’re now unlikely to make the College Football Playoff.

There’s no walking away from that with a moral victory.

Notre Dame passed moral victories as a program before World War I. That’s just reality. This loss changes the entire season going forward.

That isn’t to say you shouldn’t leave Athens, Georgia without a positive attitude. The Irish leave knowing that they have an elite defense. We know the Notre Dame passing game is excellent. Those are things to be positive about.

Win out and get a little help and Notre Dame still has a shot at the playoff. It’s not a good shot, but it’s still not as long as UCF’s just became. Even then, Notre Dame can still make a major bowl game. They can still manage to win a New Year’s Six Bowl for the first time since Lou Holtz.

They can still make this a productive season, and Notre Dame still has a good team. Just don’t say that the loss isn’t that big a deal because it was closer than pundits predicted. There are no moral victories at this level of football.