The thing that sticks in my head from past failures in the post season against Alabama and the very good Clemson teams is our lack of quality depth on the defensive line in particular. Obviously this year, we're thin there to begin with, which makes the idea of us standing toe to toe with a big Georgia offensive line very troubling. I remember watching Alabama push us around most of the last game we played against them. I also recall watching Alabama sub in on the defesive front quite a bit and not seeing a significant drop off.
That to me is one of the biggest things that the SEC power houses have had and we have not. Once you get to this stage of the season, line play is the most important item on the field. Whoever dominates the offensive and defensive lines... wins. We certainly don't have the firepower on offense to turn this into a track meet.
I hope i'm completely wrong and pleasantly surprised, but I see us getting ground down and losing this game by 10 or so.
The track meet scenario would most likely be UNFAVORABLE.
ND might be able to have enough D-DURABILITY, though, to limit Georgia to LONG DRIVES given their own potential issues with an unproven and possibly UNSPECTACULAR QUICK STRIKE QB. In which case, if ND can muster enough offense of its own, it's IN THE GAME and could perhaps force a CRITICAL TURNOVER and/or HAVE THE BALL LAST.
Or it could simply score at the kind of clip it did against Army and USC. Meaning that IT'S DONE THIS BEFORE. But, of course, this is Georgia, meaning ND would almost have to play a flawless game OFFENSIVELY. A kind of OVER THE TOP PERFORMANCE. I'd say it's possible though a lot LESS LIKELY.
Still, even if ND prevails, how does it then GET UP for PSU, a likely winner, and then, should it prevail again, Oregon, OSU or Texas.
And the WHOLE TIME with that GUTTED DL.
We're looking at a TALL ORDER for as long as ND can stay alive.
