Compliments, Criticisms and Conclusions from Notre Dame vs. Georgia

Conclusions

The Irish Are An Elite Football Program And Can Hang With Anyone

Despite a losing effort, Notre Dame was able to score a moral victory against Georgia. The Irish were able to beat the spread and quiet many of the naysayers with their performance.

The fact that they led at the half in a very hostile road environment is an impressive feat. The Notre Dame defense was able to hold an offense which features one of the top quarterbacks, running backs and offensive lines in football, in check for most of the game.

Even after going down by 13 points late in the 4th quarter, the Irish were able to battle back with a touchdown and a defensive stop to give them a chance to win the game on their final drive.

Unfortunately, they came up just short.

That said, their performance drew praise from one of their staunchest critics, Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network and ESPN, who told “The Roundtable” on WJOX 94.5FM “I’m like a lot of people, I didn’t think it would be close and I came away really impressed with Notre Dame.”

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbsteit tweeted “SO IMPRESSED by Notre Dame tonight!! Willingness to play in a heavyweight brawl. Battled and had a chance to win in the end.  Did NOTHING to hurt their cause-only strengthened their position.  Great win for Georgia, but Irish on the road gained some national respect!”.

Clearly the talking heads were extremely impressed by the showing of the Irish. For the sake of Notre Dame fans everywhere, hopefully the performance was enough to quell the notion that the Irish are perennially overrated and don’t belong in the same breath as the elite programs in college football. Notre Dame will need to carry this momentum into their next matchup against 18th ranked Virginia and make a statement so this sentiment doesn’t fade.

If Notre Dame Can Get Healthy, They Will Be A Force To Be Reckoned With

If the Irish can get Michael Young, Jafar Armstrong and Jahmir Smith back to bolster their receiving and running games, perhaps the Irish offensive struggles will subside. Young provides the Irish with a speed component on the outside at the wide receiver position, something that they have lacked to an extent thus far this season. More importantly, it moves senior captain Chris Finke back to his natural slot position, which only serves to further enhance the Notre Dame offense.

Finke looked out of sorts against Georgia, playing out of his natural position. A healthy Young helps to put Finke in his familiar position, catching everything thrown to him in the middle of the field.

While it is still weeks away, the return of a healthy Armstrong from an abdominal strain will give the Irish a change of pace speed back to compliment Tony Jones Jr.’s power rushing style. In addition, Armstrong gives Ian Book a speedy receiving option, as a relief valve, when plays break down.

Jahmir Smith turned in a solid performance against Louisville, once Armstrong went down, and provides further depth at what is currently a depleted position group.

In addition to getting healthy, allowing the inexperienced linebackers on defense to gain more experience and confidence will further bolster what has been an impressive group so far. The Irish also have the benefit of possessing some good young depth pieces on this year’s roster. Getting them game experience will serve to help Notre Dame down the road, especially if they are able to make it to the College Football Playoff and have to play elite programs to end the year.

Notre Dame Still Has A Legitimate Shot At The College Football Playoff

While it is undeniably a more difficult path to the College Football Playoff than if they had defeated Georgia, Notre Dame’s performance has to leave them still in consideration for a playoff spot.

The loss to the Bulldogs didn’t hurt the ranking of the Irish too drastically, as they fell from No. 7 to No.10 in the AP poll. The Irish will be partly in control of their own destiny, as they will have to convincingly defeat their remaining scheduled opponents including — 18th ranked Virginia next week — as well as 20th ranked Michigan and 21st ranked USC.

The fact that future opponents Stanford, Michigan and USC all have bad losses this year does not help Notre Dame’s cause, as it severely weakens their strength of schedule.  However, the Irish cannot control their strength of schedule, they can only control the outcome of the opponent they face each week. If they can convincingly win, the fact that four of the teams ahead of them play in the SEC and two are in the Big 12 means that it is unlikely that there will be many undefeated teams left at the end.

Clemson has a cupcake schedule the remainder of the year and will likely go undefeated, securing the top spot in the playoff. Notre Dame has to hope that Georgia dominates the remainder of their schedule (which includes three games against ranked opponents) and the SEC championship game, as it will give the Irish a stronger case to be in the playoff. If this occurs, Clemson and Georgia would take the top two spots, with Notre Dame fighting with the winners of the Big 12 and Big 10 conferences for the final spot in the playoff.

There is a lot of football left to be played. By playing Georgia extremely tough, Notre Dame has given themselves a potential opportunity to play in back-to-back playoffs. This weekend’s test against 18th ranked Virginia will go a long way towards determining what they do with that opportunity.