Here are tonight's Lucky Charms...

*** St. Louis John Borroughs School class of 2022 defensive end Tyson Ford tweeted out that Georgia, Missouri, Notre Dame and Oklahoma are his final four schools ahead of his Jan. 18 decision date. I haven't done a ton of digging on Ford's recruitment yet as I've been more focused on the 2021 cycle this month, but the word I've received so far is that Oklahoma is the team to beat. He may not have made the final call yet, but it looks like ND and OU are the lead schools.

*** College Park (Ga.) Woodward Academy class of 2022 running back Damari Alston tweeted today that he'll have some news to release on Jan. 1. I'm told Alston will trim his list down to about 10 schools, and I'd be shocked if Notre Dame didn't make the cut, especially considering his teammate Khari Gee signed with the Irish last week. Alston received an offer from Notre Dame a few months back, and he's long been interested in the Irish as he visited campus last November for a game day. My gut still tells me that Alston stays in the south, but Lance Taylor is working on this one, and Gee might be ND's ace in the hole.

*** Notre Dame hasn't expressed much interest yet, but keep an eye on Greenwood (Ind.) Center Grove class of 2022 quarterback Tayven Jackson. He didn't receive his first offer until earlier this spring so his recruiting process is still in its early stages, but he's seeing his stock really rise here of late. He led Center Grove to a state championship this fall and threw for 1,756 yards on 182 attempts and threw 17 touchdowns and five interceptions, while adding six rushing scores. His game is comparable to Gavin Wimsatt who Notre Dame has already offered this cycle, at least in my opinion. Jackson is an in-state kid too, so you hope the Irish are taking a close look at him.

*** And to close with a random 2023 note.... The chances that Notre Dame go into South Florida to win out a recruitment for an elite receiver talent like Nathaniel Joseph from Miami Edison are slim, but the Irish receivers coach Del Alexander has done a nice job early on in this recruitment. Joseph is the first wide receiver who Alexander offered in the 2023 class, which meant a lot to him. But still, I have a tough time seeing this one happen.

Activities today.

Notre Dame in rare position to defeat No. 1-ranked team twice in one season.
https://notredame.rivals.com/news/can-notre-dame-pull-off-the-2-time-feat-

Mackey, Rimington and Outlands combined in the last 10 years.....just seems odd

Not counting the playoffs. I'm interested in seeing

UGA Cincy
Liberty Coastal
UF Ou
aTm UNC
Auburn NW
And hopefully WVU gets paired with Pitt.

Here is the complete 2020/21 bowl list for those who haven't seen it yet

MONDAY, DECEMBER 21

Myrtle Beach Bowl
Appalachian State vs North Texas

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Tulane vs Nevada

Boca Raton Bowl
UCF vs BYU

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23

New Orleans Bowl
Louisiana Tech vs Georgia Southern

Montgomery Bowl
Memphis vs Florida Atlantic

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24

New Mexico Bowl
Hawaii vs Houston

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25

Camellia Bowl
Marshall vs Buffalo

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26

Gasparilla Bowl
UAB vs TBD

Cure Bowl
Liberty vs Coastal Carolina

First Responders Bowl
Louisiana Lafayette vs UTSA

Lending Tree Bowl
Western Kentucky vs Georgia State

Independence Bowl
TBD vs Army

Guaranteed Rate Bowl
TBD vs TBD

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28

Military Bowl
TBD vs TBD

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29

Cheez-it Bowl
Oklahoma State vs Miami

Alamo Bowl
Texas vs Colorado

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30

Duke's Mayo Bowl
Wake Forest vs Wisconsin

Music City Bowl
Missouri vs Iowa

Cotton Bowl
Florida vs Oklahoma

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31

Armed Forces Bowl
TBD vs TBD

Arizona Bowl
Ball State vs San Jose St.

Liberty Bowl
West Virginia vs TBD

Texas Bowl
TBD vs TCU

FRIDAY, JANUARY 1

Birmingham Bowl
TBD vs TBD

Peach Bowl
Georgia vs Cincinnati

Citrus Bowl
Auburn vs Northwestern


SATURDAY, JANUARY 2

Gator Bowl
NC State vs Kentucky

Outback Bowl
TBD vs TBD

Fiesta Bowl
Oregon vs Iowa State

Orange Bowl
Texas A&M vs North Carolina

Story: https://notredame.rivals.com/news/f...notre-dame-versus-clemson-in-acc-championship

How do you mess that up?

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That was one of the things many anti-rees people feared. Now he has an opportunity to learn from this.

It was pointed out throughout the telecast by Herbstreit.

In game 1 (Nov 7th), Clemson went out "all blitz" up the middle and the sides. Both the interior and sides blitz PASSED the Line of Scrimmage. The blitz was picked up by K Williams and company. In addition, it allowed Ian to roll out of these blitzes and made him a runner.

In game 2, Clemson blitz up the middle and the sides. However, on the sides, they kept and stayed close to the line/home. Think they called this the "pinch" on the telecast. This forced Ian to stay in the pocket. When he tried to scramble to the sides, the DE was there to take him down.

What was odd to me was that, K Williams was not needed as much to block as much. In fact, after painfully reviewing the telecast, in many instances, K Williams had NO one to actually block. He sat in the pocket in front of Book.

I bet BAMA is watching this tape. Hopefully, Kelly and Rees will make the proper adjustment to have K Williams sneak out between the lines and throw some middle screens. This would have worked beautifully against Clemson blitzes... but, we didn't adjust our offense....

Playoff worthiness, the offense, Alabama and more are featured today.
https://notredame.rivals.com/news/3-2-1-notre-dame-observations-questions-prediction-15

Passed away at 58. Way too young.

Notre Dame won't play at Syracuse tomorrow due to "positive tests in a recent Syracuse opponent, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing required for the Syracuse men's basketball team."

Four games off the schedule due to opponent issues for ND this year. Won't be the last...

Any inside info regarding ticket opportunities for Season Ticket holders ?

According to "rumors" around the web. Navy Coach Ken Niumatalolo is a primary target to replace Kevin Sumlin at Arizona. He dismissed the rumor in an interview earlier today. Saying "there is nothing to it". Arizona offered him the job 3 years ago. Not sure what to make of this rumor. The "triple option" offense in the pass happy PAC 12? Odd fit for sure. Then again stranger things have happened.

Call me crazy, deranged and/ or whatever. Would love the opportunity to play Alabama. There are some glaring weaknesses on defense. Lots of missed tackles in open space tonight. Najee Harris is the real deal. Although he is not as explosive as Ettiene. Am so fed up with Alabama fans constantly harping on the 2012 NC game. Their defense is not anywhere what it was in 2012. Let’s play them.

He has to figure out a way to run the ball. Hoping he instructs Book to take chances and not play to lose.

I just listened the Mike and Lou podcast and I'm sure this has been mentioned in other posts, but why are people calling this a drop? Book made a bad throw behind him he should not have caught that. That was on Book.

Kelly knew were in the playoff win or lose. He knew Clemson was in a must win situation and would put all of their cards on the table. Expect Clark and Tommy to put together an entirely different strategy in the playoff fellas......

With the postponement of Tuesday's slated game at Syracuse, the Irish have scheduled Bellarmine (1-2) on Wednesday, December 23, 2020, at 12 p.m. ET. The Irish were originally scheduled to play at Syracuse on December 22, but that game was postponed due to COVID-19 contact tracing issues within the Orange basketball program.

The game will not be broadcast on television or any streaming service due to the late addition and holiday staffing protocols. It will be broadcast live via the Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network, which is available locally on WSBT-AM 960/FM 96.1 and worldwide on und.com. There will be no public ticket sale for the game.

The Irish and Knights are meeting for the second consecutive season. Bellarmine visited Purcell Pavilion for an exhibition game last season, a 61-51 Notre Dame victory on November 1, 2019. Bellarmine made the move up to Division I this season and have faced Duke (76-54 loss), Howard (84-63 win) and Chattanooga (77-68 loss). The Knights have not played since December 9, however, as scheduled contests with Middle Tennessee and Miami (Ohio) were canceled due to COVID-19 issues.

Just watched Brian Kelly’s interview on the Playoff Selection show.

HE WAS MAGNIFICENT.......

On a day where so many “fans” on this site are bad-mouthing the ND team, a positive comment is warranted.

Sure we are all disappointed, upset, shocked ... about the team’s performance last night. But this has been a GREAT season.

Kelly’s description of how hard it was dealing with COVID this year and coaching and playing through it makes a 10-1 season, a win over the #1 team, a 2Nd playoff in 3 seasons even more satisfying.

let’s let the coaches and players come to grips with what happened last night and let’s let them put themselves back together for the Bama game.

I think we will put the wheels back on the wagon and play well against Alabama.

Story: https://notredame.rivals.com/news/snap-counts-clemson-vs-notre-dame-in-acc-championship