Irish 365 20251110 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Navy Midshipmen Football game review

Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Navy Midshipmen Football game review, J Love Heisman talk, and some general CFP thoughts

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Red. Welcome into the Irish 365
podcast, the Navy Post game show.
The game in review. The snow game.
The rain game, Yeah. I mean, there's kind of a lot of
talk before that USC game a few weeks back as we had monsoon,
all this stuff. Not as much talk leading into
this one, but a lot more rain, snow even.

(00:25):
Fun game over. All right.
Yeah, absolutely fun game. I mean, it just, I wasn't ready
for a snow game. Yeah, but I knew it was like a
chance of it. And the USC game, you expected
the rain to have a lot more impact on the game.
You did not think rain or snow was gonna have an impact on the
Navy game plan? Yeah.
In fact, it might do anything. It might have a little bit of an
impact on the Notre Dame game plan.

(00:45):
But I think people that watched it on television thought, oh, it
rained so hard, but I don't think it was raining for the
most part. It wasn't raining as hard as it
looked like, but it was steady. But it wasn't like you couldn't
throw the ball. You couldn't, you know, I mean,
you couldn't, I couldn't run your game.
I guess it wasn't so bad that you couldn't play your game,
especially with the modern equipment today and the gloves

(01:05):
and things of that nature. But but yeah, I mean, it was, it
lived up to what I expected. You know, Navy did what Navy
does and Notre Dame did what Nate Notre Dame's capable of,
which we had a huge bounce back after that BC fiasco, I guess is
the long way I can put that so, but it sounds.
Like a lot of talks out of that bye week before the Boston

(01:26):
College game, we're about Navy, and a lot of time was spent on
Navy. So it was kind of one of those
things was like, OK, you had thebad week against Boston College,
at least show us you're actuallyprepping for Navy, right?
Exactly. Had we not played well against
Navy, then I'd be like, oh, gosh, what's going on?
But now it's like, OK, yeah, they focused on Navy in the

(01:46):
preseason. They focused on Navy during the
bye week. You know, Chris Ashe didn't have
a lot of experience or like, with Navy, but Marcus Freeman
clearly did. He made sure we had the right
fit. We were, you know, sound
disciplined, I mean, or penalties. 0 Notre Dame
penalties. And turnovers.
And 0 turnovers I. Think the first time since 1997

(02:07):
Notre Dame's done that. Yeah.
I mean, so that should we play discipline football for the most
part and I mean 7 penalties on Nate, was it 7 or 6 on?
Yeah, something like that. Six penalties or 57 yards. 4
full starts and then a couple ofPIS.
Is that what it was? I think so.
So and I, you know, it was fairly clean both ways, but I'm

(02:27):
surprised Navy had the false starts.
The Pisi thought the one false start I think was strategic just
to give the punter room. Maybe it wasn't, but I think it
was. And a couple of Pis just bigger,
faster guys running by him and it was just give up 15 so you
don't give up 7. So anyway.
And yeah, this is a game where the average put up 502 yards of

(02:48):
offense and it felt like it on the scoreboard.
Obviously the week before with Boston College, we we put up
some yardage with it didn't showup on the scoreboard, right.
Yeah, you put up 500 yards, you should be in the high 40s.
And that's where we were. So and probably would have ended
up. We probably would have scored at
the end of the game if we reallywanted to, but it seemed like we
were slowing it down there. But yeah, I mean, I think the

(03:10):
big stats for me though on the game besides the 00 penalties,
but seven for 10 on 3rd down. I mean, that just put yourself
in good spots on 3rd down to fortwo on 4th downs, Yeah, I mean,
you can't ask for much better there.
Yeah, and I think the stat everybody's excited about, and
they should be, is 13 for 16. Yeah, CJ Carr.

(03:31):
CJ Carr, I thought. You're going to go 7 for seven
on the extra points. Well, that was my next, but I
also think we should be excited about the overall team passing
being 16 for 19. Yeah.
I mean, Kenny Minchi, 3 for three.
Kenny Minchi flash some hey. Showed some speed.
Showed some elusiveness. We're praying for good health
and continued good health for CJCarr.
Yeah. But if there's a series that he

(03:53):
has to take out or something, 'cause he gets hit or something,
I, yeah, I feel good. We're we got good, we got a good
Plan B at the quarterback position.
But yeah. But CJ yeah, 13 for 16218 and
three touchdowns. I mean, not a bad day at the
office in the rain. Yeah, absolutely.
So CJCJ looked great passing andyou know, Navy was focused on
trying to stop the run and if you want to try and stop the

(04:14):
run, CJ shown you you're going to give him opportunities.
He's he's capable of taking advantage of you.
So that was good. I you know, again, we haven't
had a complete game, but boy, that was as close as we've had
to a complete game. I I heard somebody talking about
it and it's like, you know, we've talked about this seven
for seven on the extra points. Yay.

(04:36):
And they, you know, the first one, a little nervous like that
was a that was a botched snap, botched hold.
That ball was on its side and then got back up quickly.
So kudos. Tyler Buckner, Good hands, quick
move. But yeah, that first extra point
was a little walk wonky, but it was through.
And then they just got better. Just it just got better.

(04:57):
The comfort level got better. So but then I laughed because
Randall, you know, he like he, he's been hitting punting so
well. He like hit his worst pun of the
year. I felt like it's like, well,
it's Notre Dame, you know, we'rekicking the ball out of the back
of the end zone on kickoffs. We're freaking making extra
points now. The punting game is going to
struggle. So yeah, James Wendell had one
punt for 28 yards. Yeah, it was like, can't, can't
have it all. Nope.

(05:18):
But hey, you know what? If we're going to peek, let's
peek in three, 4-5 weeks. Six weeks, let's not peek.
Yeah, now I let's, let's peek. January.
Yeah, exactly. Interesting.
Bupa Cartero doesn't play because Marcus Freeman says his
skill sets don't fit this game. Yeah, that's the question.
Do you feel like that's an actual statement or we wanted
them to rest? Statement.

(05:42):
I think it's a rest statement. Yeah.
I, I, I, I do. I mean, and this was a game
where Marcus Freeman doesn't like to call garbage time, but
this was a game where you could get in valuable minutes for, you
know. Some experience, right?
Yeah, yeah, Roster, right. You you can build roster
experience here. And I think the situation where

(06:03):
Marcus Freeman thinks back on last year and how differently
that Ohio State game could have been if we were more healthy,
that defensive line position, yeah.
I mean, you think Boubacar is out, Riley Mills out, Yeah.
I mean, those guys make a huge difference in that game, right?
Yeah. So yeah, can we keep these these

(06:25):
key positions? Defensive line is obviously a
big one. Botello out last year.
Obviously we, I don't want to say this on a mic, but we seem
relatively healthy right now. Yeah, I mean like compared to
last. Year yeah you you play the
woulda coulda game going throughthe.
Play. I know how the state could say
the exact same thing about 5 different guys I'm sure, but.
Think about Bebo last year. About what?

(06:48):
Just we had Benjamin Morris lastyear in that national
championship game. You go back two years, you know,
when he shut out Marvin HarrisonJunior, Yeah.
And it's like, what a differencehe could have made that national
championship game, you know, because he like just so.
Yeah, it's. So is it just a thing where
Freeman's like, all right, let'stake a little like in these
moments where we might not need these guys, can we, can we save

(07:09):
them, right? It could have been that, or it
could have been just that Bugacar is such a freaking
monster that he they were afraidmaybe he would over pursue.
And Oh yeah. Like, but yeah, I mean, I could
also see, hey, we got to protecthim from the cut block.
We can't afford to have this guy, you know, but Sean
Sevillano, who we love. Sean Sevillano, great
personality, Put him in D tackle, let him get some reps

(07:32):
'cause we can. We one, he's good enough to give
us disruption 2. We can afford to.
If we're going to lose a defensive lineman, he's one we'd
rather lose. Not that you want to lose
anybody. I mean, you can't be the mindset
as the coach. We're not.
If we lose somebody, it's this guy.
But yeah, we're going to keep this guy healthy, right?
Yeah. So I mean, I, I, I don't know if
it was just priority so quick that he's going to not get there

(07:54):
or it was or it was just calculated risk.
I, I kind of think you're right,though.
I think it was more of a, a restand recovery situation here.
Take advantage of it, hang of a second by a week and get him
good and healthy. You know, I saw some stuff on
great house. There's a lot of people
speculating about great house, like what's going on.
He's only played four games. He's going to transfer Marcus
Freeman in his press conference today.

(08:15):
No, he's, he's right mindset. We're ready to go.
I guess some blood got taken outof his calf last week.
Like it sounds like it it's hamstring or it's hamstring.
Hamstring. Yeah, hamstring.
Yeah. It's been beating him up.
So yeah, that's like hope he gets better.
But and also remember, like all these guys that have transferred
in the past, like mid season haven't been on the team.

(08:35):
Yeah, they've been, they've leftthe team.
It's not a situation where, yeah, coach, I'm transferring
and then you're still on the team the rest of the year.
Yeah, like you know what I mean?Jay Mickey was watching from the
student section last year yeah, he was not yeah wearing warmups
on the field. So I, I don't see like, I don't
see any reason why great house would transfer.

(08:56):
I mean, if. He ends up transferring, that's
fine, but I'm just saying like it doesn't seem like he's.
But but why would he, right? Why would he announce it right
now? But if he was like, what if he's
missing home or something of that nature?
Yeah, OK, that's different, right?
If there's family issues, like, you know, I mean, you got those
kind of things you have to deal with, like Logan Diggs.

(09:16):
We can go back to Logan Diggs, like his mother, health getting
closer to home. Like, I get it.
There's times where things are bigger than football.
But if he wants to play and he wants to contribute, like Notre
Dame has utilized him, He's had big moments.
It's not like he's getting passed by by freshman on the
depth chart right now. I mean, you know, the guys in
front of him are, you know, gradtransfers and that kind of

(09:38):
stuff. Will Pauling and you know, like
Faison's the only guy that is going to be back next year.
I mean, you know, like if he's there, KK may not be getting on
the field as much. I mean, Bettish junior got on
the field this week. But again, that was that was in
that, you know, depth building time.
That wasn't like, so I I feel like it's possible, but I think

(10:01):
it's a small concern for the great house transfer.
I mean, maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm I'm not in the locker room,
I don't know. But I just think people are
making something out of nothing because we played so well
against Navy, we got to have something to freak out about so.
That's always wrong, right? Yeah, there's a, you know,
there's always that certain contingent of Notre Dame fans
that are nothing's wrong. It's it's it's perfect.

(10:21):
And they just don't know what's going on.
And there's that everything's wrong.
And then, you know, the rest of us fall somewhere in the middle
usually and lean one side to theother.
But yeah, it was a solid game across the board.
And I think the running game didOK.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, what do we have?
4 running backs get touchdowns? Three or three we didn't get.
Yeah, pain didn't get painted. But yeah, it would have been
sweet if possible. Yeah.

(10:41):
Love with two price with one of the Nias with a big run.
What was that 154? Yards, yeah.
Yeah, I mean, not a bad day whenyou can have three different
running backs score one of them,scored twice in three passing
touchdowns by QB, 2-3 different wide receivers, and Ty
Washington gets his first touchdown of the year, so good
for him. First tight end touchdown of the

(11:02):
year. Yeah, KK Smith.
Oh, first tight end touchdown ofthe year.
I didn't realize. That Raritan has not scored one
I don't believe this year. Wow, I did not.
Realize that, which just blows your mind.
As many big catches as Raritan has, we haven't.
And it was we struggled with thered zone a little bit.
Like why is it rare than gettingthe ball?
Because, you know, you go back to Michael Mayer, like go back
to the list of tight anyway. Yeah, yeah.

(11:22):
Then Bazon also gets in there. So yeah, I mean, just an all
around solid performance from the Irish offense, Yeah, you put
up 500 yards and just under 50 points.
It's what you're expecting against the old Naval Academy.
And yeah, something we talk about a lot.
Time of possession there didn't won that time of possession with
30 minutes and 37 seconds so. I did not see that coming.
Yeah, I thought for sure Navy would win time of possession,

(11:44):
we'd win the game. But I think.
Some 3 announce that helps. Yeah, defense played good
against, you know, what can be, what can be a challenge.
And a lot of people, I mean, it's it's Navy.
You're bigger, you're faster, you're more athletic.
But you got to play sound discipline or they will hurt
you. Yep.
And only us and North Texas havebeat them this year, right?
Yep. So and they're going to come

(12:05):
back and they're going to win some games after this.
So. Yeah.
So shout out to Josh. We've sent you Adm you're
entered when those 2 Notre Dame for Syracuse tickets and this is
our last week this week. Pitt after the Pitt.
Game so on this podcast next week we'll be announcing our two
tickets to Syracuse winner for that game that week that's.
Right. Someone is going to get some
tickets to see the orange get crushed, yeah.

(12:26):
So, yeah, I mean that kind of I guess we could talk about this
pretty sweet jump in, not if I don't want to say a fly over
because those are kind of stopped right now, but.
Jump in. Yeah.
Jump in. Yeah.
And did you notice that was likeretired military?
Like it So yeah. But it was awesome.
Yeah, it was so sweet to see twoguys jump out of a plane,
parachute into the stadium. And it was not an easy, not

(12:49):
windy day, right? There was some wind.
Yeah, I got to imagine. And I, I am not in the I want to
parachute category. Yeah.
Maybe it's because like, you know, I'm always a larger guy.
Yeah. And I, I, you know, parachutes
have a weight limit. I don't want to test them.
So anyway, but like, I just can't imagine like one jumping

(13:11):
out at night. So jumping out of an airplane
takes a certain amount of just bravery, right?
Like stupidity, slash bravery, whatever you want to call it.
And then to jump out of an airplane and hit target like
that just UPS the skill level. Like, I've seen way too many
videos. You know, maybe it's because you
go to the you go to the sports bar and they got the TV with all
the blooper videos on and you you see people end in trees and

(13:34):
what have you. I mean, yeah.
And then 80,000 people are rightthere.
Yeah. And so then you say, OK, now
you're going to hit a target andthere's a skill set.
Now you're going to do this at night and you got very little
room for error because you do have basically this postage
stamp from 10,005, I don't know,500 feet, 1000 feet, whatever it
is like that. You got a hit, but then you
throw in the wind and and I was thinking about that like during

(13:57):
the game and this is the weirdest thing.
So we're sitting there and I don't know if you like the flag
was 1/2 mast and you know, they got the flag and you can see the
flag at half mast and it's kind of blowing.
But then you looked at the like tickers on the goal posts and
they weren't blowing much. So it's like, OK.
And I know as you set higher up,you get more wind.

(14:17):
And if you get lower, there's less wind.
You know, just being in Notre Dame Stadium been all over, it's
like, so here you are trying to come into the stadium and as you
get, you know, you got this windthat's 12/15/20 mile an hour up
higher pushing you and you come down, you're getting less wind.
So you got to target this and then you got it like as you're
descending that 50 feet like into the bowl like that winds

(14:39):
changing and you're trying to hit a target.
It's like, OK, yeah, I'm impressed.
I mean, just give it up. It's like a lot of skill and and
talent go into that, plus a little bit of just craziness and
stupidity to be willing to do it.
So but it was awesome. It was an awesome to see that.
I think it was kind of cool. The flag they flew was a special

(15:01):
flag that's going like basicallyaround the globe and like
different places throughout the US.
It's a special, it's like tribute for the America's 250th
birthday next year. And I'm actually, there'll be
some videos and stuff on that. So a lot of cool patriotic stuff
going on, which you expect when you play the Naval Academy to
hit all those notes. And so it was, yeah, it was good

(15:22):
in that respect. So it's good, good game to be
at, good atmosphere, good attitude, crowd was into it.
So just other in a little bit ofsnow.
Yeah, you got a little, got a little.
Cooler just a complete random though.
I saw we playing Foxboro againstNavy next year.
The tickets go on sale this Wednesday I think I saw.
I was like, holy cow, Navy's really already starting to sell
those all. Right.
Yeah, Hit them all. They're hot, I guess.

(15:42):
So maybe they're thinking they were going to win this game and
then they would, you know, have the momentum.
But yeah. So yeah, that's just, I saw that
today on my XV and I was like, wow, they're really.
So we're Lambo and Foxborough next year then?
Yeah, OK, yeah, cool. Alright, sweet.
So anything else on the Navy game?
No, I think that. Topics are.

(16:04):
That sums up my thoughts from this weekend on the Naval
Academy. So I see a lot of other stuff.
So we didn't talk J Love though.Yeah.
And that 2 plays we got to talk about.
I guess one is the J Love spin twist.
Yeah, whatever. Stay off.
Stay off the ground. Like I just, I saw that and I'm
like, he didn't just do that. And I'm like, yeah, he did,

(16:27):
yeah. And then I turned around and
thought, why am I not more impressed with that at the time
than I am? Yeah.
And it's like, cuz I've gotten used to it, yeah.
We're spoiled. Does does he have Heisman
numbers? Does he does?
And again, that's the question it.
Depends what numbers you look at, right?
If you look at his yards per game, he hasn't had 1000 yet

(16:49):
this year, so that's kind of tough.
But when you look at yards per attempt receiving, I get, yeah,
all those. If you look at all the numbers,
then you're like, oh, shoot, he hasn't.
Like if you look at Gentry's numbers last year, you look at
his sample size, like, oh, shoot, he's putting up stupid
numbers. But if you look at total volume,

(17:09):
right, yeah. If he had as many carries as
Gentry, yeah, at that same volume, he's a hands down
Heisman Trophy winner. Yeah, like Reggie Bush when he
won the Heisman in in 05. Like, was it Henry that won in
15? Yeah.
Like he's got those kind of numbers if you extrapolate out
the carries. Yeah, so.

(17:31):
That's the he's got. Here's my if you watch Jeremiah
Love play, yeah, he's the Heisman Trophy winner.
If you just look at his stats, probably not, right?
So that's the that's the thing. If you watch his highlights,
which he's putting out highlights, which all Heisman
Trophy winners have to do, Like I don't think any of these these

(17:52):
quarterbacks putting up good numbers.
But if you watch them, they're not put.
They're like, Oh my gosh, they're not having those Johnny
Manziel, Tim Tebow, Cam Newton plays.
You're like, oh, clip that, right?
I mean, they're they're playing good these quarterbacks.
But even Jeremiah Smith hasn't had a great year this year.
Like he hasn't put out these highlights.
He's I don't want to argue that he's not one of the best players
in college football, but he's not putting out these stats

(18:15):
where Jeremiah loves. He got some stats.
He's got a lot of touchdowns. What has he got?
16 touchdowns this. Year is he leading FBS in the
touchdowns? I think he.
He's I think he's top three. I don't know if he's leading
FBS. OK, I thought he was leading,
but he's he's at the top of the chart.
He's top three and I'm pretty sure touchdowns and yards per

(18:35):
attempt, yeah, and like yards per game and stuff.
But yeah, he's not, he's not gonna go rush for 350 yards on
40 attempts in this Navy game. Like, that's just not what he's
gonna do, right? Like and we do that coming in.
And this goes back to, I think, a conversation we had in the
preseason. The Heisman Trophy is always
about quarterbacks and stats. Yeah, historically where it

(18:57):
goes, quarterbacks. And we got a non quarterback
winner last year. Yeah.
But then like we're transitioning and I don't know
if this is the year, but it's going to happen where it's not
going to be about stats. It's going to be about viral
moments on social media. And I think Jeremiah Love
amongst the sports community. I can't say he's a household

(19:19):
name. Like we're non.
He's not like Travis Kelsey became a household name because
he was dating Taylor Swift. Non football people became very
aware of Travis Kelsey. Right got Tom Brady.
He's he's not outside of the college football world.
I think a lot of sports people though, like they know like the

(19:39):
name Jeremiah Love and so. Yeah.
So has he done enough? Does he have enough of those
moments? Because I think what comes into
play is you've got all the jumpsand the hurdles from last year
and then you've got the the big runs and the moments this year.
And that's just another Is he going to have enough of those
kind of moments to get him at least invited to New York?

(19:59):
Yeah, I think he does. He's top 6-7 right now, ish. 6
or 6, I think 6/6 and eight. I can't remember off the top of
my head where he's at in those sports betting spots.
But here's what I'm gonna tell you this Saturday, noon ABC.
It's not a night game, but you're gonna roll in right after
college game day. All the hype.

(20:20):
I'm sure there'll be another story on them.
There'll be another this Yeah, he's been on him.
Fox has done some stuff on him. I just saw he's on the Pivot,
which is another podcast that's pretty big in the sports
community. He's got to do, he's got to put
up some stats and he's got to have one or two highlights this
week. Yeah, like he's got to be over
100 yards, 2 touchdowns this week against Pitt, Hurdle, the

(20:40):
dude do some 50 yard run something, you know what I mean?
Like he's he's had those, but this is one of those.
All right? We need one this week, right?
Yeah, I mean, and I hate to say that I hope he's, I hope it's
not we're trying to force Jeremiah.
I hope it's just, it happens naturally because it will happen
naturally if we just don't try and force it.
So I think it's gonna be interesting.
But yeah, that's the next question.

(21:01):
Can he, can he step into that national spotlight this week?
I think this is his best opportunity because he's not
going to have the national spotlight like this until after
the Heisman vote when the when the playoffs start.
So yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm hoping it's not forced, but I'm hoping
something happens and. Pops, he's going to need one to
two moments this weekend to havelike, legit like to jump into
it. And yeah, someone who's sitting

(21:22):
right there with a Jeremiah LoveHeisman and Jonathan Taylor MVP
parlay that's happening right now.
Yeah, I am hoping. They would, yeah.
Because that, that, that that would win me some serious money
that. 'D be good running back combo
right now, so I. Know the running backs are hated
on, but come on, one time. This the guy happened
eventually, right? Right.
So you're one of the billion. Yep.
You're saying there's a chance. Yep.
So the other thing I want to talk about because during the

(21:44):
game in real time, I did not appreciate this play for what it
was. And that's Kingston Viliasa,
like where he came in and he blew up the lead blocker and
then knocked down. And we saw the replay on the
Jumbotron and it looked like like he ran, like the lead
blocker ran into him and the quarterback just happened to run

(22:05):
into him. It just looked like that's what
happened. I've seen that on social media
since. And he was intentional in
blowing up that lead blocker andthen putting the shoulder into
the quarterback and taking him out.
And at the time I looked at you,I'm like, it was a good play,
but I almost looked like the quarterback ran into an
accident. And it's like, no, I didn't get
a good look at it in real time or in that short clip they

(22:26):
showed is like, Oh my goodness, that was a man playing violent.
What what Marcus Freeman say violence that that was that was
linebacker one O 1 playing violent.
So 2 huge plays, I think in thatgame from individual
contributors and individual moments, just stars doing what
stars do, making big plays. Anyway, I want to hit on those

(22:48):
two things. All right, that should wrap up
Navy. Anything else?
No, I mean that that sums it up pretty good.
I mean, we can go and talk a little about the outside world.
There, Let's talk a little bit about the outside world, cuz we
moved up one spot in the AP poll.
Yeah, as the coaches. Don't have the couch of all
playoff rankings yet, but Texas Tech beat BYU this weekend.
And that was that was why we moved up 1.

(23:08):
Yeah, and that's, I mean, we knew one of them had to lose.
Yeah, Texas Tech kind of took care of them.
It was an underwhelming game, I'd say almost like Texas Tech
look better than BYU, but I'm not like, Oh my goodness, Texas
Tech's so good. But for some reason, Texas Tech,
we want to talk about the Irish already.
Yeah, they hate us because they ain't us.

(23:29):
Right. They, their coach basically came
out after, I think it was today's Monday's press
conference was like, we just want to credit BYU for being in
this situation, playing a conference game and not like
other schools out there. If you're just going to hate on
Notre Dame, just come out and say it.
Yeah, right. Just say our name like.
He's probably afraid Will Smith might come out and slap him.
Yeah, exactly. I don't know what's going on

(23:50):
there. It's like I come on, say our
name and then be like, why you worry about us right now?
We live rent free in the heads of so many people.
So many and ask James Franklin what he's up to right now after
he was doing this last year, right?
That's all I got. Ask James Franklin what he's
doing, how that worked out for him.
Why, why are you so worried about us And and and you're
Satan on not being in the conference, being independent

(24:12):
and all this stuff. And then the funniest part was
later in that today we get the pit Nard.
I don't know how to say his lastname, Narduzzi.
Yeah, coming out basically saying this game means
absolutely nothing this weekend against Notre Dame because.
They're not in the conference. It's like, oh, so conference,
non conference gives me nothing to you.
Yeah, I I thought about we should start a new segment
called Fight Club, you know, butonly difference is we're going

(24:33):
to talk about what happens in Fight Club.
Yeah. Because there's all these people
coming out with all this hate. And like, come on, If not being
at a conference is an advantage,why aren't more schools doing
it? Yeah.
What is stopping USC, Texas Tech, USC, like anybody from
going out of conference? But if but if being at a

(24:53):
conference is such an advantage that you're in it, then why you
hate on us for not doing it? Yeah, I think Texas Tech, you
know, like there's a couple of different strengths of schedules
you can look at, but. Near us, but yeah, like 60th and
we're like 20. Yeah, it doesn't matter which
one you're looking at. There's there's a huge they're
half, they're in the middle and we're in the in the top, like

(25:15):
third, you know, or better. And it's like, what do you mean?
Like your, your argument is justsuch a weak straw man argument.
Like you're just wanting to like, hey, well, I think more
anything else he's trying to deflect and he's trying to like
build his resume by deflecting, right?
He's got to find something. And he can't attack the the

(25:36):
SEC's of the world. He can't attack the Big 10s, but
he can attack Notre Dame. It's like, hey, I know half the
world's going to side with me and the other half's going to
disagree with me and I'm going to ignore the half that
disagrees with me. And I'm going to go for the side
that, you know, that joins me. And actually, it's probably
calculated. It's probably 2/3 hate you
because you're Notre Dame and the other third love you.
So go after go after the 2/3, you know, go after the majority
and you know, give them some redmeat to jump on so.

(25:57):
Yeah, it's just one of those things.
But like you said, if it's such an advantage for us to do it,
then yeah, I mean, that's literally if, if we're we've got
all this advantage, why aren't you doing this?
And you know, there's a whole lot more argument to be made
that it would be so much easier for Notre Dame to join the ACC
because we're ranked higher thanevery ACC team.
When's the last time we lost an ACC game?

(26:19):
Not like in our designated six. That wasn't Clemson.
Yeah. I generally don't like it's been
you know, I mean, I pre COVID, it has to be right.
Yeah, but I mean, if I was like.Seriously, like we haven't lost

(26:39):
an ACC game. We play 6A year.
I guess Miami this year, that's on me.
Miami this year. Yeah, we lost Miami.
OK. And then Clemson in the ACC
Championship in 20. Probably, yeah.
So yeah, I'm just like, why? If it was, yeah, it makes more
logical ease like, and sense to make the playoff.

(27:01):
We could go join the ACC, make the ACC Championship.
We'd be in. And I saw someone post it was a
USCX account and they posted something about USC should go
independent and only schedule teams on the West Coast and I'm
like. Well, yeah, they post that
because I know there's. Do it.
We're joining the Mountain West.Yeah.
You're the one that joined the Big 10.

(27:21):
No one made. Yet.
Well, and I haven't read into it, it got released Sunday
morning before the NFL sleep. But something about USC and
Michigan not being happy with something the Big 10s doing.
I haven't dug into that yet. But yeah, basically like USC, I
saw that USC, it's like, becausethe account said USC should
schedule only games on the West Coast and then Notre Dame and
Michigan every year. Yeah, that wouldn't be a bad

(27:44):
play. You'd probably do all right.
I'm sure some network will pick you up.
I mean. How long does it take till we
get to super conference like conferences go away in college
football and and everybody starts playing more regional
games and I don't know. I don't know if it will ever
happen. Yeah.
So I think that was just interesting.
So, yeah, we'll just call that Fight Club.

(28:04):
You know, everybody's wanting tofight Notre Dame, but.
Yeah. I mean, it's just funny.
And we shouldn't be nowhere neartalking about Norden versus
Texas Tech. Like we haven't been projected
to play them. We haven't been.
It's like, why? Why are we coming up in your
press conference? Yeah.
I they saw us play A&M and they thought that looked like a Big
12 game and they thought, hey, let's take some shots of Notre

(28:25):
Dame. They're trying to steal our
style. Yeah, I, I don't know, but yeah,
I mean, Texas Tech's on to come up like I they've got the oil
money. They they are winning like they
should be pretty good. But yeah, they don't scare me
right now. I watched A or Texas Tech and
BYU and I'm like we should beat both these teams.
Is there any team like honestly in the top top 12 that you'd
like? I just don't want to face.

(28:47):
I don't want to play Ohio State early.
I'd rather play it because it should be a national
championship rematch in my opinion.
If we play Ohio State in the second round, I'm like, OK,
whatever. But, but that being said, I
mean, is there anybody you're just like?
And I don't think anyone's like,necessarily like, oh, nerd
name's the best team in the nation.
I know no one's saying that that's not nerd name but.
I sat here a year ago and I would have said, oh, George is
the team I was most concerned about.

(29:08):
And I mean, I'm not saying that we can beat everybody handedly.
I mean. It's any given day, right?
Right. But I'm just saying there's not
a team I look at that and say I'm not sure we can match up
with them. Yeah.
I mean, you know, I just. Well, there's an account, Texas
Tech account, that's like we'd beat Notre Dame three out of
four times. It's like, yeah, but the one
time we do beat you will be the time that matters, if that's
what your opinion was. Would they?

(29:30):
No. What?
I mean, it's like the one time it matters would be the one time
we went in your mind because we aren't losing to you.
Yeah. I just don't.
Yeah, again, strength of schedule.
I mean, how good are they've? Got an experienced quarterback
but it didn't look all that hot in my opinion.
But. Yeah, so I don't know, I think
it's interesting. But we're gonna get the we're
gonna get the hate. It's just enjoy it, soak it in,

(29:51):
let it fuel us. We're seeing Oregon loss.
We were real close to getting that home.
Playoff man, there was there was3 potential chaos scenarios and
it happens all the time. There's always a chaos weekend
where two or three teams lose that you don't expect to Yeah,
my fear is next weekend could beit.
And we're and we're we're in a position, you know, we look
forward a little bit and it's one game at a time for us right

(30:13):
now. Well, I and if the team's got to
look one game at a time, but I think the.
Easiest part for us is we don't have a big game coming down the
stretch like this is the big. This is our big game, right?
This isn't a trap game for us like Boston College almost
became a trap game because we were looking past Boston College
toward. But yeah, there should be no
trap game to pit like we've got to take care of business.

(30:33):
Focus on Pitt. Yeah, because if we beat Pitt by
28 points, I'm sure there shouldbe haters out there saying we
don't deserve it or whatever. But we're going to be in if we
beat, if we beat Pitt. I mean, we got two games,
Syracuse and then Stanford, not not fantastic teams down the
stretch. Yeah, Syracuse would have been a
lot more intimidating had Anjelistayed healthy.
And Stanford, I think they're onthe come up potentially.

(30:56):
But yeah, we're gonna, we're gonna get them this year.
Not shouldn't be too much of A focus.
Yeah, my biggest concern about Stanford is we're gonna be
looking past Stanford to the CFPand they're gonna be able to
sneak up on us. But yeah, we'll see.
Keep the focus, coach. All right, so you got anything
else to wrap up this podcast I get?
Hits the heavy high highlights so.
So enjoy the cultural playoff rankings.

(31:16):
We'll be back later in the week with the pit preview.
We'll get your your last contestof the year, Your last chance.
Enter in for those noting for Syracuse tickets and an Irish
265 T-shirt. There you go.
And as always, go Irish. Go Irish.