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I feel like nobody, including ND fans, give ND a chance.
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Replies: 6
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Legend [15212]
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I feel like nobody, including ND fans, give ND a chance.
Dec 24, 2018, 8:08 AM
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Shocking that people think the disparity between 2 playoff teams is so vast.
Hope everyone is right. Just uncharted waters for our football team. We've been the underdog in every playoff game thus far.
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Letterman [268]
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Re: I feel like nobody, including ND fans, give ND a chance.
Dec 24, 2018, 8:18 AM
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My only concern is out secondary against their passing game. As long as we can get to Book and make him hurry we will be ok. If we can't get pressure on Book look for a game similar to the USC game. The real mismatch is our wideouts against their DB's. I don't think they have the length to hand with our WR's. Dabo said in an interview that ND is a run first team, which also plays right into the strength of our defense.
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110%er [5012]
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Re: I feel like nobody, including ND fans, give ND a chance.
Dec 24, 2018, 8:38 AM
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Both teams have a good run D, but both should be able to have some success with the run. The running game will be a slugfest. Slight edge to Clemson, but not by much imo.
The passing game is where I think the game will be decided. ND has a pretty good secondary and a good pass rush, so we'll have a job to do. If we can work their secondary, it will open up our run game. But - ND has a good short passing game with their TEs. If they exploit the middle of the field like others have done against us, it will open up their running game and we'll be in trouble.
I think the game comes down to which team controls and defends the middle of the field.
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All-In [32107]
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Re: I feel like nobody, including ND fans, give ND a chance.
Dec 24, 2018, 8:38 AM
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Notre Dame could win, but some people don't think they will. There's nothing wrong with that. Lots of people are wrong about these games every week. If our team needs to play the underdog to play its best, then we've got a big problem, because I am quite sure Dabo has told this team week in and week out that they can get beat.
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Varsity [247]
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Re: I feel like nobody, including ND fans, give ND a chance.
Dec 24, 2018, 9:45 AM
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Shocking that people think the disparity between 2 playoff teams is so vast.
Hope everyone is right. Just uncharted waters for our football team. We've been the underdog in every playoff game thus far.
We are very confident in this year's team. The talent is there and the mindset is like none that we've seen in the last 20 years. When you get to this point anything can happen. It's going to be a dogfight to the end and I hope whoever wins beats Alabama/OU.
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Rock Defender [53]
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Re: I feel like nobody, including ND fans, give ND a chance.
Dec 24, 2018, 11:21 AM
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FWIW - one of the announcers for a bowl game this week picked ND. Not many people have though.
If our D cannot make Book hurry and it turns into a shootout, then we're gonna have to score 40+ to win it. Otherwise, we win by 30 and will score 50+.
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MVP [542]
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Re: I feel like nobody, including ND fans, give ND a chance.
Dec 24, 2018, 12:27 PM
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I think a lot of it has to do with who ND played...and yes, while our schedule wasn't the toughest, we've been to the CFP 3x already with 2 natty games in those 3 trips. ND hasn't even sniffed the CFP. So while our schedule, and theirs, were quite lackluster this year, we basically have the same team we've had for the past several years, and have shown that we have the talent, depth, and experience to be there (regardless of what turned out to be a not so good schedule). Also, since ND's schedule turned out to be rather weak, and they weren't really blowing out or dominating lesser teams, the analysts see the discrepancy. Michigan was the one "big win" for ND, and for most of the season UM was believed to have the #1 D in the country, but as the season went on and it became clear the Big10 was not very good, and going into the OSU/UM game, the analysts were questioning the UM #1 D ranking as being a little skewed because the offenses in the Big10 were just horrible; and that OSU had the speed and skill players to possibly expose the UM D...well, think we all saw that to be the case. UM's D was nothing close to being #1...fast forward to our D, I think the large spread is realizing that ND hasn't played anyone with even close to the level of talent and depth that we have, on both sides of the ball. The ND D is very good, but very much a Big10 type D, and our O is more like OSU's (but a lot better)...so I think the analysts are looking at that matchup to be similar to OSU versus UM. And on the flip side, their O is also good, solid, but nothing that scares you and they don't destroy people...whereas our D, compared to the UM D, is on a different level.
I've said it before and truly believe it to be the case. As long as we show up (don't come out flat and sleep walk), and don't beat ourselves (dumb penalties, turnovers, etc), this game shouldn't even be close. They'll have a lot of fight in them, something to prove being such big underdogs, etc. but as the committee and many analysts see, the gap between Bama and Clemson and the rest of the country is wide; hence the large spreads in the semifinal games.
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Replies: 6
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