sjb75 said:

Never even mentioned that Penn State fought like hell to beat Oregon in the Big 10 title game, played an extra game; meanwhile, Notre Dame took that week off. Rested. This stuff cuts both ways.

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IrishMike409 said:

It would say that raw comp at its best if the conditions were the same for PSU. They played 2 shit teams and have had 2 easy unemotional games, and they've got 2 extra days rest . ND has been through a gauntlet, and they're playing on less than a weeks rest. And don't underestimate how the tragedy in New Orleans will affect the team either. Being there while terrible things happened, being locked down in hotel rooms, the schedule being turned upside down.....this all takes a physical and mental and emotional toll on the guys. It will take a heroic effort to beat PSU Thursday.

Folks correctly talk about how emotional the UGA game was. I'll add this- the IU game was emotional too. I was there, and I've never seen Notre Stadium like it was that night. It was absolutely electric on and off the field.

It is so incredibly difficult to have big energy and emotionally draining games back to back to back. It tests your limits. And it's absolutely contributed to the injury challenges that we're having. I'm certain that there is a connection. The boys are putting so much incredible effort into each play and each drive. It's amazing.

I'm concerned that this is all taking a major toll on the guys. I'm the biggest homer on the board, and I do think ND pulls it out Thursday. But we badly, badly need rest. I'm disappointed that the NCAA didn't give us Friday's game in the wake of what happened in NOLA last week. How could they not look at PSU having 2 extra days off, and not want to cut into that gap? An extra day would've done wonders (Cross and Love).

Freeman and the staff need to get 60 minutes out the boys Thursday. I think they can do it. But this ND team is being tested in ways that few college teams ever have before.

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ZibbyQuinn said:

Price leads the country in yards after contact I believe?

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kev2225 said:

Rate the final four teams from best to worst.

1. Ohio State. Just can't deny the beat downs they gave to Tennessee and Oregon. Came out from the get-go and basically the games were over at halftime.

2. Penn State. They have really good balance, and can score in a lot of different ways. Didn't have the toughest road to get here, but easily took care of business in both games. Their defense kept a Heisman candidate a non-factor.

3. Texas. Just haven't been that impressed with them. Lost to Georgia, and needed overtime to beat ASU. I think Ewers is a bit overrated.

4. Notre Dame. Love the defense, but the offense is a huge liability. Only one TD scored by our offense against Georgia, and that was on a short field after a turnover. Yes, Georgia has a good defense, but they were also missing quite a few guys. And yes, I'm one of those guys that thinks we need to throw the ball downfield, instead of the chuck and duck that we love to do so much. Just doesn't seem like we can complete a pass more than 10 yards.

Anyway, that's my 1-4. Let's see yours!

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chaseball said:

Georgia did have a talent advantage, but Notre Dame had the production advantage.

In the case of a potential matchup vs OSU, OSU would have both the production AND talent advantage and would have advantages in these two key areas by A LOT.

With this information we can speculate that vegas will set an aggressive opening line in favor of OSU (probably in the 7+ point range similar to the opening line vegas gave Alabama over Notre Dame back during the 2012-2013 BCS championship game)

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Irish_inPSU said:

Good question and my answer there is no, but their QB is better than what we faced at USC IMO. I also argue that PSU's offense has better backs and of course their freak TE. I think as a whole, PSU's offense is better than USC. Time will tell...

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buckey said:

1. Nd
2-4. Don’t care. This team is destined and is playing with confidence and determination.

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chaseball said:

Georgia did have a talent advantage, but Notre Dame had the production advantage.

In the case of a potential matchup vs OSU, OSU would have both the production AND talent advantage and would have advantages in these two key areas by A LOT.

With this information we can speculate that vegas will set an aggressive opening line in favor of OSU (probably in the 7+ point range similar to the opening line vegas gave Alabama over Notre Dame back during the 2012-2013 BCS championship game)

Click to expand...