NCAA Football

[moonslav59]

ND won their biggest game since maybe 1992. The broke their record for most wins in a season.

Penn St v ND Jan 9

Ohio St v Texas Jan 10

(Just like the old days.)

Championship game is Jan 20th.

If it was up to me, to rank the teams, right now, I'd go:

1. Notre Dame 13-1

2. Texas 13-2

3. Penn St 13-2

4. Ohio St. 12-2

5. Oregon 13-2

Not many of us felt this was possible, after that loss to No. Illinois.

 

[Old Red]

39 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

ND won their biggest game since maybe 1992. The broke their record for most wins in a season.

Penn St v ND Jan 9

Ohio St v Texas Jan 10

(Just like the old days.)

Championship game is Jan 20th.

If it was up to me, to rank the teams, right now, I'd go:

1. Notre Dame 13-1

2. Texas 13-2

3. Penn St 13-2

4. Ohio St. 12-2

5. Oregon 13-2

Not many of us felt this was possible, after that loss to No. Illinois.

 

Nice win by ND, but I think Ohio State is the team to beat right now.

[moonslav59]

51 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Nice win by ND, but I think Ohio State is the team to beat right now.

Hard to know. I thought Oregon was over-rated, so maybe their big win vs the Ducks is not such a big deal. (OSU lost to Oregon, earlier.) Losing to Michigan in a big game was not so long ago.

While GA might have been ND's only real big win, this year, we are undefeated vs all ranked or previously ranked teams, this year.

We shall see. Texas might give OSU a run.

Penn St is no slouch, either.

I like this playoff action, despite its many flaws.

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Hard to know. I thought Oregon was over-rated, so maybe their big win vs the Ducks is not such a big deal. (OSU lost to Oregon, earlier.) Losing to Michigan in a big game was not so long ago.

While GA might have been ND's only real big win, this year, we are undefeated vs all ranked or previously ranked teams, this year.

We shall see. Texas might give OSU a run.

Penn St is no slouch, either.

I like this playoff action, despite its many flaws.

ND needs to get more offense to move on IMO. Should be two good games.

[moonslav59]

21 minutes ago, Old Red said:

ND needs to get more offense to move on IMO. Should be two good games.

Our O has looked pretty balanced. It's may not be the best of the 4 remaining teams, but the D has looked strong.

I think the odds are pretty even, all around.

[Old Red]

8 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Our O has looked pretty balanced. It's may not be the best of the 4 remaining teams, but the D has looked strong.

I think the odds are pretty even, all around.

One good thing is that the place kicker looks healthy, and back to normal.

[dgalehouse]

Excellent game by N.D.  Well played and well coached. The Fighting Irish are just two wins away from their twelfth national championship, the first since 1988. Go Irish. Beat,Penn St. 

[dgalehouse]

7 hours ago, Old Red said:

One good thing is that the place kicker looks healthy, and back to normal.

Good point. And it was good to see. These final two games could possibly be decided by one kick. 

[moonslav59]

Only 4 of the top 13 CFP rankings won and 5 of the top 16. Of course 4 and 5 of those losses were to other top 13 and 16 teams, but maybe these guys didn't really get it right.

The 18-22 teams went 6-0 and the 18-25 teams went 8-1.

#6 OSU beat #1 Oregon (who beat them earlier)

#5 ND beat #2 Georgia

The SEC is 8-6 in bowl games, but their top 4 teams are  1-3.

The Big 10 is 8-5, and their ranked teams are 5-2, with one loss vs another Big 10 team.

Independents are 3-0 and the American Conference is 6-1. The MAC is 4-2.

 

[moonslav59]

Orange Bowl nailbiter:

Penn St 24- Notre Dame 17 with under 8 minutes to go. ND ball.

[moonslav59]

Tied up: 24-24 on 54 yard TD pass.

[moonslav59]

No Penn St completions to a WR.

Notre Dame wins 27-24 after a late game INT and a 41 yard FG with 7 seconds left.

WOW!

[Old Red]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

No Penn St completions to a WR.

Notre Dame wins 27-24 after a late game INT and a 41 yard FG with 7 seconds left.

WOW!

Great game with lots of ebbs, and flows. Great win for ND.

[Old Red]

On 1/3/2025 at 3:09 PM, dgalehouse said:

Good point. And it was good to see. These final two games could possibly be decided by one kick. 

Called it.

[Old Red]

On 1/3/2025 at 7:21 AM, Old Red said:

One good thing is that the place kicker looks healthy, and back to normal.

Called it.

[moonslav59]

17 hours ago, Old Red said:

Called it.

Yes, you never gave up on our chances. You thought we could win it all from day one.

[dgalehouse]

The Penn St.  game was a thriller and a chiller. Great win, overcoming a very good opponent and a couple of dubious pass interference calls. One more to go. But a very tough one. Of all the playoff teams, I think Ohio St. is the most difficult matchup for N.D.  They will have to be at their best to beat the Buckeyes. Go Irish. Beat Ohio St. 

[moonslav59]

Ohio St is looking really good. Texas was no slouch.

I think ND played better than the score indicated, and not just counting those bad calls. They had to play with their back-up QB for a while and stopped Penn St very well, except for Singleton.

No WR caught a pass, all game. That is some lock-down coverage!

I really like our coaching, too. We seem confident but not cocky. Our GB play is not great, but he seems to get it done, when needed. Our running game is better than it looked vs Penn St, but their D was tough on the runs.

I hate Ohio St almost as much as Alabama. We gotta beat their ass!

[Old Red]

Total BEAT DOWN by Ohio State in first half. Not a surprise at all.

[moonslav59]

We came a lot closer than we have in decades, but OSU was just too talented to overcome.

I'm excited about our coaching, and maybe getting this far will help with recruiting, going forward.

The 2025 schedule:

at Miami FL

Texas A&M

Purdue

at Arkansas

Boise St

USC

Navy

at PItt

at B C

N Carolina

Syracuse

Not an easy schedule, but not super difficult.

[Old Red]

On 1/2/2025 at 9:20 PM, Old Red said:

Nice win by ND, but I think Ohio State is the team to beat right now.

This was an easy one. Not only did Ohio State have a tougher road to the Championship, but they were just a better team. ND didn’t really stop Ohio State last night on D, and only getting 16 yds rushing from their running backs was just to much to overcome. 

[Old Red]

9 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

We came a lot closer than we have in decades, but OSU was just too talented to overcome.

I'm excited about our coaching, and maybe getting this far will help with recruiting, going forward.

The 2025 schedule:

at Miami FL

Texas A&M

Purdue

at Arkansas

Boise St

USC

Navy

at PItt

at B C

N Carolina

Syracuse

Not an easy schedule, but not super difficult.

Tougher schedule next year after a relatively easy one this year. Navy, and Army being underfeated when they played them showed how College football was down this year..

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, Old Red said:

This was an easy one. Not only did Ohio State have a tougher road to the Championship, but they were just a better team. ND didn’t really stop Ohio State last night on D, and only getting 16 yds rushing from their running backs was just to much to overcome. 

You certainly win the "Gloater of the Year Award."

You were dead right about the Domers from day one. (sarcasm alert.)

[Old Red]

8 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

You certainly win the "Gloater of the Year Award."

You were dead right about the Domers from day one. (sarcasm alert.)

Thank you, and I accept. I got quite a few things right on ND this year.🤫

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, Old Red said:

Tougher schedule next year after a relatively easy one this year. Navy, and Army being underfeated when they played them showed how College football was down this year..

That's always your excuse when a team you think is not good, does better than you expected: "It must be the other teams weren't very good."

Georgia was a damn good team. Penn St, too. Indiana might not have been as good as their record indicated, but they were no slouch.  Army won their bowl game, as did USC over a decent A&M team we beat. Navy, MIA OH, No. Illi and Louisville  all won their bowl games, too. GA Tech and  A&M lost theirs. I think only 2 teams we played did not make a bowl game. We played 5 ranked teams, during the season and went 5-0.

So, Alabama was not "Alabama," this year. That does not mean the rets of the NCAA was watered down.

 

[moonslav59]

The NCAA has to schedule their playoff games better, next year. Some were during NFL games, including the U of Texas game during the Texans game.

I'm glad they kept Alabama out of the playoffs rather than bow to the pressure.

The system is flawed, but it's better than the ones they had before. I don't think it's fair to give the top 4 seeds only to the big 5 conference winners, but I see the reasoning behind it. Some teams, like ND did not have to win an "extra game" with a conference championship game.

Maybe ND joins a conference, at some point. The AAC looks like an easier one to win, and we are part of the AAC for basketball.

[Old Red]

10 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

That's always your excuse when a team you think is not good, does better than you expected: "It must be the other teams weren't very good."

Georgia was a damn good team. Penn St, too. Indiana might not have been as good as their record indicated, but they were no slouch.  Army won their bowl game, as did USC over a decent A&M team we beat. Navy, MIA OH, No. Illi and Louisville  all won their bowl games, too. GA Tech and  A&M lost theirs. I think only 2 teams we played did not make a bowl game. We played 5 ranked teams, during the season and went 5-0.

So, Alabama was not "Alabama," this year. That does not mean the rets of the NCAA was watered down.

 

I said back in Sept that i didn’t think this was one of ND better teams, and I’ve been following them since the early 1960’s.  Georgia, and Alabama were both shells of their usual selves IMO. I really don’t put much stock into what teams do in bowl games as lots of players sit out. We discussed that a year ago. Yes we played a bunch of ranked teams, but even in a down year teams still get ranked. Beating Georgia with a backup QB made it a lot easier too.

[dgalehouse]

The Irish pass defense had been highly regarded. But the Ohio State receivers were getting open all night and Will Howard was finding them with deadly accuracy.  A game that started off so well went South in a hurry.  Ohio State was clearly the better team. The only consolation is that N.D. showed some fight and didn't let it become a blowout.

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

The Irish pass defense had been highly regarded. But the Ohio State receivers were getting open all night and Will Howard was finding them with deadly accuracy.  A game that started off so well went South in a hurry.  Ohio State was clearly the better team. The only consolation is that N.D. showed some fight and didn't let it become a blowout.

Agree with all. The lack of much of a pass rush didn’t help either, or containing the QB when he ran. ND did come back some in the 2nd half, which made the score look closer than the game actually was.

[moonslav59]

5 hours ago, Old Red said:

I said back in Sept that i didn’t think this was one of ND better teams, and I’ve been following them since the early 1960’s.  Georgia, and Alabama were both shells of their usual selves IMO. I really don’t put much stock into what teams do in bowl games as lots of players sit out. We discussed that a year ago. Yes we played a bunch of ranked teams, but even in a down year teams still get ranked. Beating Georgia with a backup QB made it a lot easier too.

You crack me up.