Stats, turning point, storylines and more in our game summary.
https://notredame.rivals.com/news/rapid-review-alabama-31-notre-dame-14

I cannot stand Kelly personally. Notwithstanding, he’s a top 5-10 coach.

I think he realizes he cannot win a title at ND. The 2022 schedule is brutal. Texas and/or USC will likely need a coach in 2022. I think Kelly ends up at one of those schools and he wins a title.

Swarbrick needs to start tomorrow planning for the next HC.

I will post updates from Kelly's postgame presser here.

Kelly would go on TV and politic and pontificate about how ND deserves to be there. Day stays quiet and Ohio state comes out with fire in their eyes. So sick of Kelly’s arrogant pontification

Backup Oklahoma QB.

The failure to develop the more gifted player and keep him on the roster haunts this team.

It was very obvious that Saban took his foot off the gas when he realized that there was no risk of losing, midway through the third quarter. He stopped throwing the ball at that point....up to that point we had zero answers for Davonta Smith & co. Saban could have named his score.

Is indicative to me of Good play idea, stupid use of Personnel.

But watching this game it is very clear. We need a defense similar to what we have paired with a dynamic offense (which we clearly don’t have). Best way to beat an elite team? Throw some offensive haymakers and make them play from behind.

Momentum and emotions are real. We won’t win a college football game minus a super lucky matchup unless we keep our defensive efficiency and pair it with a high powered offense.

I’m not suggesting that is easy to do. I’m just saying if we want to keep any delusions of winning a title that’s what it is gonna take

I don’t mean milking then clock, but the plays are so slow to develop. And it can’t just be “talent”. Alabama (yes they have studs everywhere) just passed quick then 1 step and gone, every player on offense was playing fast putting the defense on their heals from the onset. Even the running plays, Harris just takes off, he doesn’t just wait and wait.

First of all, it was good that ND held Alabama to its lowest point total of the year and 19 points below their season total. But it is a pyrrhic accomplishment since ND was never in the game. They never at anytime challenged Alabama.

Two things stood out to me. One was that once more the offense failed to show up in a marquee game. Secondly, where was the pass rush? To me, that was the biggest problem in the game, lack of pass rush - next of course to the offense not showing up.

Kelly has brought back the ND program back to prominence in 3 stages. Stage one was placing ND in the 20th to 15th range in the rankings. Stage two was moving the program up into the 14th to 10th range. The 3rd stage is where the program is currently at - the 9th to 5th range.

I think that Kelly has a lot of parts to make an occasional foray into the 4th to 1rst. But he has to someway be able to recruit and sign that elite quarterback and 3-4 speed guys at the skill positions.

Can he do that? I don't know, but until he does, we will be seeing rerun after rerun of what we have seen in the big marquee games since Holtz.

We went as far as we were able this year.... Playoffs is a terrific achievement...

I am GREATLY disappointed in our performance in the last two games. But it has exposed what we need to do to take the next step... we need offense.... it starts with an elite QB... MAYBE Buchner is that guy....

Now hire an elite DC... continue our play on defense.... (held Alabama to 31 points... lowest total in something like 30+ games..) now we need a DC to make the defense even better.

hopefully Kelly can move forward and coach a team that makes the playoff again next season...

Cot Dam...

Story: https://notredame.rivals.com/news/top-players-against-alabama

First time they’ve been held to 31 or less since 2018 and ND still gets blown out. The offense is embarrassing

Notable data from the 31-14 loss to No. 1 Alabama in the College Footall Playoff.
https://notredame.rivals.com/news/notre-dame-alabama-by-the-numbers

IMO, the program is still trending in a positive direction despite the loss, but there are still some holes in the depth chart that still need to be fixed because of poor recruiting.

QB - I think that if Jurkovec was still at ND, the QB depth chart would look pretty solid with Buchner enrolling early. As it stands now, the depth chart looks below average.
RB - Kyren Williams was a revalation this year, and the combination of Tyree and Flemister is pretty solid, with Tyree having great potential. With Estime coming in, and presumably a second RB, ND looks pretty solid here. I'd call it above average.
TE - Not going to waste time. TE is loaded.
WR - I'm a huge fan of the last two classes that ND has signed, and now they need to develop these guys alone with Austin and Lenzy. On paper, ND should be really good here if they can develop these guys.
OL - Not going to waste time. OL is loaded.

DL - Elston has done a great job and the depth chart looks really good here. There is a willingness to recruit, rotate players, and get younger guys playing time, and it shows.
LB - Not a huge fan of only taking 2 LBs over the past two years, but there is talent and the depth chart looks good to me.
DB - Kyle Hamilton is amazing, and it sucks that ND only has him for one more season. Overall, this is the biggest issue on the defensive side of the ball. Mediocre recruiting has resulted in ND taking a bunch of DBs, and bringing in grad transfers like McCloud to put a band aid on the depth chart. The good news is that the 2021 class is loaded, and Clarence Lewis was good enough to play a ton as a true freshman.

By my count, the QB and WR positions on offense and the DB positions on defense are all that ND is lacking from a roster standpoint. Agree or disagree?

Can’t believe I am rooting for OSU but hoping sWhiny goes home.

1. If you start ripping players and getting nasty, we'll do you a favor and take away your posting privileges for the day. No hard feelings, we just don't want that garbage on our site.

2.Please use the game thread. If you start a new thread that has no substance, then it will be merged to the game thread. If you have a topic that you believe should be discussed in its own thread, then feel free to post, but only posts with actual effort during the game will be allowed. Otherwise, just post in the game thread.

3. Be a good person. It's not that hard.

He doesn't give a crap about special teams. Lou Holtz said it's just as important as the Offense or Defense.
Look at what the rocket did to Michigan and other teams while Holtz was there.
Back then we took the Frank Beamer approach to special teams. Now we have fair catch Kelly.

One of Notre Dame's biggest targets in the 2022 class... Great looking RB.

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It's really that simple to me.

Alabama's recruiting classes year-in and year-out are significantly better than ours. Over the last 5 years, they have signed 22 5* recruits. We have signed two. Their average recruit has been a 4*. Ours is about 3.5*. Their practices are probably more competitive than most of their games.

Nick Saban >>>> BK. He is also the defect DC. He is way more experienced and proven than Clark Lea. Same story with Steve Sarkesian and Tommy Rees. They aren't even close in terms of experience and success.

Honestly, I don't know how you close the recruiting gap. If someone else does, I would love to hear it.

After Elko left, I think that Lea was the best choice for DC. But he's not Nick Saban at this point. The next hire has to be someone who will keep pushing the defense up the ladder. Getting the most out of the talent that we have on it. That should be good enough to compete at the highest level.

Hiring Rees made no sense to me. Unless it was a situation where it is really BK as the OC. I haven't seen great improvement in the players when he was the QB coach. That weakness is all on BK.

Story: https://notredame.rivals.com/news/quick-hitters-brian-kelly-after-a-31-14-loss-to-alabama