I was wrong that Evans would be a big difference maker in this game! I was wrong that Leonard would hurt them consistently with scrambles and designed runs! Who gives a shit as long as we won!

THUNDERSTRUCK111 said:

This is why I keep asking but to no avail about sevillano. Did he play lately ? Is he hurt ? Are they trying to redshirt him ?
He’s a 330 plus space eater who I’ve seen a few times blow up our starting o line. He is definitely powerful enough to be of use.

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Maybe he hasn’t played for a reason. Maybe he simply isn’t ready for this. Who knows.

THUNDERSTRUCK111 said:

What else can we do but soldier on.
Just sucks cause ESPN talking heads are going to love watching Georgia pound us into submission cause we just aren’t big enough.
And continue the ND “ overrated” narrative.
Then chase will show up and chime in with the 5 star argument that is old.
We’re going to have to sell out to stop the run . Fortunately Georgia QB is not a great passer as of yet. So we’ll see. Hopefully it turns out like Louisville 2023 when we had the much bigger o- line but they had the quicker smaller guys on D- line who just flew right by our big slow o line to the football and gang tackled.

JMO.

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Yeah, it sure seems like we've been injury plagued this year, worse than normal. And yet the defense more than soldiers on, it barely misses a beat. I suppose there's a breaking point, hopefully this isn't it.

THUNDERSTRUCK111 said:

This is why I keep asking but to no avail about sevillano. Did he play lately ? Is he hurt ? Are they trying to redshirt him ?
He’s a 330 plus space eater who I’ve seen a few times blow up our starting o line. He is definitely powerful enough to be of use.

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He has already met the requirements to redshirt this year and will still be available to play. I’m not sure where he fits in. They will probably go mostly with a 3 man rotation vs Georgia. Maybe select spots to put him in.

Onye was a big loss. Sucks, but these injuries are far from insurmountable.

That’s good news. If spindler is out to we make some moves ? Or stay with has worked this season ?

ZibbyQuinn said:

Yikes, 3 man rotation of Cross, Hinish, Rubio. Wonder if they’ll try Oben in the interior? DL depth was a major concern heading into the season and may cost ND- how will they stop the UGA rushing attack.

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What about sevillano ? Why no one here is taking about him? Is he being redshirted ? Is he hurt ?

3daughters said:

Clausen, Quinn, Mirer, Rice, Montana, Clements, Theismann, Hanratty, Huarte, Horning, Williams, Guglielmi, Lujack, Bertelli…as good as a serviceable quarterback Book was anyone believing he is an all time great needs to study a lot more ND history for their opinion to be taken seriously. Study more, post less young fella

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You just like those QBs more because they are part of ND's lore, and some of them went on to NFL success. Ian Book is an all-time great ND QB, indubitably. Not just statistically. He led us to two playoff berths, and he was the engine of the offense. And of course, he was associated with BK. As well as the fact that he was lightly recruited, too low rent for ND fans, who value prestige above all else.

This is why I keep asking but to no avail about sevillano. Did he play lately ? Is he hurt ? Are they trying to redshirt him ?
He’s a 330 plus space eater who I’ve seen a few times blow up our starting o line. He is definitely powerful enough to be of use.

savvyandsassier said:

So we're going to soldier on then, right?

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What else can we do but soldier on.
Just sucks cause ESPN talking heads are going to love watching Georgia pound us into submission cause we just aren’t big enough.
And continue the ND “ overrated” narrative.
Then chase will show up and chime in with the 5 star argument that is old.
We’re going to have to sell out to stop the run . Fortunately Georgia QB is not a great passer as of yet. So we’ll see. Hopefully it turns out like Louisville 2023 when we had the much bigger o- line but they had the quicker smaller guys on D- line who just flew right by our big slow o line to the football and gang tackled.

JMO.

banmate6 said:

You know what? I have a solution. 16 teams in 4 groups of 4. Not 1st round byes.

You randomly pick from a pot of ranks as you fill in groups. Starting top to bottom. Just like soccer.

Do it like this:
1st assign from ranking 1-4:
2nd assign from ranking 5-8:
3rd assign from ranking 9-12:
Lastly assign from ranking: 13-16.

Every team has 4 games to play to win a NC. As balanced as possible. Maybe apply some conference separation rules?

This still won't avoid some tough paths, but it won't be so egregious like Penn State being so lucky vs Oregon State.

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They're probably going to go to 16, and I have no problem with it myself, even though it does dilute the sanctity of the regular season even further, while simultaneously making it even more exciting and engaging. And they get to pander to the SEC that way. They can get their six teams in every year. And think of how epic that first weekend will be, it will truly be a match for the opening two rounds of the men's BB tourney. They might have to make it two auto bids for the G5 though.

And I like the lottery aspect to it, adds some more drama and spectacle to it. That would be great in fact. Penn St. vs Boise St. is definitely a bit of a farce, we're only through the first weekend and already it's a little tainted. And very anticpatable, if that's a proper word. Maybe that will be the big solution to the already besieged committee and the bungled inaugural playoff. 16 teams, and a draft lottery to settle on the final matchups.

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stu4don said:

RL has NFL-level pocket presence and escapability (he's not a Book-like scrambler). He is an elite athlete with real size who is still learning to be a QB. I predict he will play on Sundays --but I believe it will take some time as a backup. Book was a warrior who gave us a lot of wins. The Georgia game will decide if Riley is an ND QB for the ages.

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Easy there killer....
I don't think you realize just how elite a QB needs to be to play on Sunday.

Riley is passing better than earlier in the year (not much but an improvement none the less)
But to say anything NFL and Riley in the same sentence is a pipe dream.

I'll never say never but he does NOT possess an NFL arm, strength nor accuracy and it begins and ends right there.
Could he be an emergency QB in the big show? Sure.
But even a dedicated #2 in the NFL is really a stretch.

RL's arm strength is very similar to Book. Neither have a cannon and RL is a little less accurate as Book.
Running ...RL is much better.
Book is still hanging around the NFL on a practice squad. Chiefs....he can thank Tranquill for making that happen..
maybe RL can do the same. He'll do no worse but being a #1 or #2 in the NFL is not going to happen for RL just like Book.

banmate6 said:

FIFA is a horrible organization but they get tournament seedings and distribution correct for the most part. Sometimes a 1/2 bracket might be a bit tougher, but that is inevitable. Again, there is usually 1 group of death, just on stats...but not bad considering how large a tournament.

College football will improve. I also have no issue with the conference champion getting a 1st round bye...but yes, they then should have used rank and conference distribution. Actually, much as you and I are ok with conference champion getting a bye, that is indeed the problem...it might be better to use ranking, which should heavily use SOS.

Irony: Penn State got basically handed a path to the semifinal while OSU, Oregon, and Tennessee were handed a gauntlet.

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Your PSU example is a good one. But OSU’s loss to Mich inspired such.

FightingIrish44 said:

Do you think Leonard gets drafted?

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No question.

savvyandsassier said:

He is an all-time great great QB in ND's history. Full stop. Period. Deal with it.

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Clausen, Quinn, Mirer, Rice, Montana, Clements, Theismann, Hanratty, Huarte, Horning, Williams, Guglielmi, Lujack, Bertelli…as good as a serviceable quarterback Book was anyone believing he is an all time great needs to study a lot more ND history for their opinion to be taken seriously. Study more, post less young fella

savvyandsassier said:

Penn St. were big beneficiaries for sure, with this cockamamie seeding. Honestly, just ignore the first round byes with respect to conference affiliation. Just seed them purely on the power ratings and be done with it. An auto bid is sufficient.

Click to expand...

You know what? I have a solution. 16 teams in 4 groups of 4. Not 1st round byes.

You randomly pick from a pot of ranks as you fill in groups. Starting top to bottom. Just like soccer.

Do it like this:
1st assign from ranking 1-4:
2nd assign from ranking 5-8:
3rd assign from ranking 9-12:
Lastly assign from ranking: 13-16.

Every team has 4 games to play to win a NC. As balanced as possible. Maybe apply some conference separation rules?

This still won't avoid some tough paths, but it won't be so egregious like Penn State being so lucky vs Oregon State.

Excellent! That must have been one of those preplanned ones. He's a top WR in the portal for sure, based on traits and production. And even after he went public there wasn't much buzz about him, when though you'd think everyone would want him. I wish we could have got Cal's WR, who committed to like, Nebraska or something. That would have been quite the one two punch, and both good program fits. But getting Nelson rocks the house!

savvyandsassier said:

You can believe whatever you want, all of you guys are insanely biased, anything associated with BK sucks, and anything associated with MF is better. Period. That's not a controversial statement to make about ND fans. As long as there's even a sliver of room for plausibly debatable opinion, then of course RL is better at everything. Nobody who's not invested in hating BK the way ND fans are would agree. Maybe a few would think RL is better, and some would think Wimbush was better. If they ever paused to think about it or study their highlight reel. Their statistics were similar. I would imagine Denbrock was game-planning ahead of time in anticipation of RL's limitations as a passer, while Wimbush's passing struggles I think were more of a shock to the coaches, who had to scramble on the fly, when he first became the starter. Both teams had a good stable of RBs. And Wimbush's OL was awesome, thankfully.

They're very similar as QBs in their relative strengths and weaknesses, Wimbush ran more like a power RB, and Denbrock runs more like a lanky WR.

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I was only addressing Wimbush vs Leonard’s running ability.

I’m actually more on your side regarding Book. We’re not all just biased haters of anything related to BK.

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FightingIrish44 said:

I do not at all believe that Wimbush was a better runner than Leonard. Leonard is probably the best running QB ND has since the 40’s or something.

It’s worth mentioning that ND is clobbering people so there are less opportunities for big plays from Leonard.

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You can believe whatever you want, all of you guys are insanely biased, anything associated with BK sucks, and anything associated with MF is better. Period. That's not a controversial statement to make about ND fans. As long as there's even a sliver of room for plausibly debatable opinion, then of course RL is better at everything. Nobody who's not invested in hating BK the way ND fans are would necessarily agree. Maybe a few would think RL is better, and some would think Wimbush was better. If they ever paused to think about it or study their highlight reel. Their statistics were similar. I would imagine Denbrock was game-planning ahead of time in anticipation of RL's limitations as a passer, while Wimbush's passing struggles I think were more of a shock to the coaches, who had to scramble on the fly, when he first became the starter. Both teams had a good stable of RBs. And Wimbush's OL was awesome, thankfully.

They're very similar as QBs in their relative strengths and weaknesses, Wimbush ran more like a power RB, and Denbrock runs more like a lanky WR.

stu4don said:

RL has NFL-level pocket presence and escapability (he's not a Book-like scrambler). He is an elite athlete with real size who is still learning to be a QB. I predict he will play on Sundays --but I believe it will take some time as a backup. Book was a warrior who gave us a lot of wins. The Georgia game will decide if Riley is an ND QB for the ages.

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Do you think Leonard gets drafted?

FightingIrish44 said:

Would you consider Quinn an all-time great?

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I would

echowaker said:

Nonsense. I highly doubt that when a legitimate discussion of all time great Notre Dame football players is being debated that Ian Book is ever mentioned. Talk about recency bias.

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Would you consider Quinn an all-time great?

Now get some d-line help and we're set!