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Northern Illinois

Notre Dame has been mentioned about 20 times the last three weeks in the NIU games.

@savvyandsassier I thought NIU played very well in that game. They were the better team. Like the 95 yard TD pass. That was a great job by the QB delivering a perfect pass with Mills barreling down on him. Got everybody blocked up in the run game. The QB made other good throws. High level football IMO. They played good defense too.
I don't know, I"m sure they did play well, for them. I just mean they didn't seem that formidable. This isn't some badass team that's going to tear up the MAC, and challenge for the G5 playoff spot or anything like that. The whole game was slow and labored, and even though we have a great defense, they were unthreatening on offense, and just slow and plodding overall. And sure enough, they got their little FG at the end to pull ahead and get the win. Good for them.

Bottom line, I suppose it was a letdown after the offseason-long buildup to the big game at Kyle Field. And our offense was finding itself, so it was just one of those things. And NIU stepped up. But to our great credit, we totally bounced back, took away the right lesson, and now pretty much are steamrolling our way into the playoff, with two legit opponents remaining, but we should be alright, we'll handle them. And I think it's possible to think of it as at least both a blessing and a curse. Obviously you don't want to lose to MAC teams, but we got our act together, and if MF really has been invoking it, what better way to totally motivate you for the rest of the season. So at the end of the day I'll take it. This has been a very good season. The games aren't competitive, and we are fairly dominant. I honestly think we could be a dark horse in the playoff. Knock on wood.
 
I don't know, I"m sure they did play well, for them. I just mean they didn't seem that formidable. This isn't some badass team that's going to tear up the MAC, and challenge for the G5 playoff spot or anything like that. The whole game was slow and labored, and even though we have a great defense, they were unthreatening on offense, and just slow and plodding overall. And sure enough, they got their little FG at the end to pull ahead and get the win. Good for them.

Bottom line, I suppose it was a letdown after the offseason-long buildup to the big game at Kyle Field. And our offense was finding itself, so it was just one of those things. And NIU stepped up. But to our great credit, we totally bounced back, took away the right lesson, and now pretty much are steamrolling our way into the playoff, with two legit opponents remaining, but we should be alright, we'll handle them. And I think it's possible to think of it as at least both a blessing and a curse. Obviously you don't want to lose to MAC teams, but we got our act together, and if MF really has been invoking it, what better way to totally motivate you for the rest of the season. So at the end of the day I'll take it. This has been a very good season. The games aren't competitive, and we are fairly dominant. I honestly think we could be a dark horse in the playoff. Knock on wood.
We have to get by Army and USC and we’re only a four-point favorite at USC.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, we are not in the playoffs yet
 
Agree. That was my point earlier: it's like the NIU loss never really mattered b

Credit to Freeman and the staff. He got the team to put their heads down and commit to the work.

Things turned out alright.
Where it does matter is in ND's last couple of games. If ND losses at USC, they are out. Had ND beaten NIU like they should have, a loss at USC would not have eliminated them.

I know USC has underachieved versus expectations this year, but it still USC and it's still in Los Angeles, California.
 
Where it does matter is in ND's last couple of games. If ND losses at USC, they are out. Had ND beaten NIU like they should have, a loss at USC would not have eliminated them.

I know USC has underachieved versus expectations this year, but it still USC and it's still in Los Angeles, California.
Saying the NIU loss never really mattered is silly.
 
We have to get by Army and USC and we’re only a four-point favorite at USC.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, we are not in the playoffs yet
We don’t play. Neither do you. We can get ahead of ourselves, any fan can, all they choose.
 
I hope so.

The projections have all locked IU and PSU into the 5th and 6th slots with some saying ND will have to travel in the first playoff round. That might change or it might just stay dumb if those two buggers finish 11-1 each having a quality loss and no quality wins. I believe thus far the Hoosiers have not played any of the 7 top teams in their conference.
Every projection last 10 days has ND hosting

ESPN already planning ND to host first CFP game Friday evening 12/20
 
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