Notre Dame Takes Care of Stanford, Now Awaits Fate in Playoff Committee Purgatory
- Bruce Straughan
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Coming into this game, Notre Dame needed to do everything it could to impress the Playoff Committee by demolishing Stanford. Like it or not, this has become the way of college football where "style points" matter.
Notre Dame came out of the gates swinging and appeared to be well on their way to another huge win as they racked up 35 points in the first half. It seemed it would be an easy night for the Irish. But in the midst of the dominance, Jeremiyah Love took a knee shot to the ribs and had to leave the game.
As Jeremiyah Love lay on the ground, grabbing his midsection in extreme pain, Irish fans across the land were both angry at the cheap shot and worried about the damage that Love may have sustained while holding their breath, hoping for a positive outcome. Jeremiyah Love would remain out of the game for most of the first half but was seen smiling on the sideline before heading to the locker room, leaving many hopeful he was okay. He would return a short time later in full gear and eventually found his way back into the game, proving just how much of a warrior he is. Jadarian Price stepped right in for the injured Love and took the game over. This is what makes this RB tandem so dangerous and hard to defend, and arguably the best in the nation.
Notre Dame had about as good a first half as you could have, with multiple key plays resulting in a touchdown, but none bigger than the fake punt inside the Irish's own 20-yard line, when Josh Burnham took the direct snap and found a wide open Luke Talich, which resulted in an 84-yard Touchdown. Talich continues to get better each and every week. The game seems to have slowed down for him as he gets more comfortable and confident in his role, where he seems to come up with a huge play when called upon.
Jeremiyah Love would return, but in a very limited role; however, the Irish would stumble in the 3rd quarter, suffering one of the worst quarters of football they've had all season. This left Marcus Freeman struggling to run the score up, as you could clearly see he was trying to do. That's not a shot at Marcus Freeman, as that has become the new norm for College Football, and this was Notre Dame's last shot to impress the committee before they set the final table with their playoff rankings.
Did Notre Dame accomplish last night what they needed to against Stanford? Well, that depends on how you look at it. Sure, anytime you score 49 points, it's a great thing and shows you can score at will on an opponent, but allowing a bad Stanford team to put up 20 points on your defense (when a team you already lost head-to-head to and are being compared to held that same team to just 7 points) isn't exactly a screaming endorsement.
What this will all boil down to is whether the committee stays true to what they've said in the past about judging on the eye test. If they do, Notre Dame will be in after going on a 10-game win streak, mostly in dominating fashion, with their only losses coming from two ranked teams with a combined margin of only 4 points. With that being said, for the past three weeks, media pundits, multiple college coaches, and even the ACC social media pages have been screaming at anyone who will listen in hopes of bullying the committee into keeping Notre Dame out of the playoffs.
Will the committee cave? Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain: If Notre Dame is left out of the playoffs, they only have themselves to blame. Every person in the Notre Dame world said coming into this game that they had to at a minimum split between Miami and Texas A&M, and they didn't. Notre Dame was always going to have to play from behind and need some help along the way to make the playoffs. They did all they could do by winning 10 games straight, and now their fate lies in the hands of a committee to decide if Notre Dame is indeed one of the best teams in the country.
Is Notre Dame one of the best teams in the country? In my opinion, absolutely they are, and they deserve to be in the playoffs, but if the committee decides that those first two losses of the season are enough to keep them out, can anyone really complain? I think if that happens, you just have to take it on the chin and place blame where blame is due, and that's on Notre Dame. This may not sit well with some, but it's an honest opinion on the situation.
And now we wait.
Want the latest intel on Notre Dame football? Subscribe to Tribune+ and get access to recruiting and team intel from The Irish Tribune team, as well as access to our intel community, exclusive app, and more Notre Dame content: Subscribe here to support our independent journalism.
Follow The Irish Tribune on social media:
Follow @bruce_straughan on X
Liked this story? Subscribe to our mailing list and get every story in your inbox.
Check out our Irish partners:
TMPR Sports - Use code "IrishTribune20"Â to get $20Â off your officially-licensed Notre Dame pickleball paddle here!
