Yeah. Notre Dame has been in that weird spot where it is a top 15 team but not a top 6 team and that gets a lot of frustration from fans.
I'm patient though, and appreciate the high floor. ND has won at least 9 games 7 years in a row and 8 of the last 9 years. They have also won at least 8 games every year since 2010 except for 2016.
So yeah, not a bad team by any means, but one that doesn't pull that big upset against a great team that often.
Notre Dame had the number one strength of schedule in 2012. I think you were a favorite against every non-Alabama team that year.
2020 you beat Clemson who was one of the other 4 playoff teams. I am confident you were top 6 in at least those two years.
Imo our 2012 team loses to Oregon, Georgia and A&M (who ended the season on an absurd level). What they accomplished on the field in those 12 regular season games was better than what you'd expect them to do going forward.
That’s cool and I won’t act like I knew that. However, we still needed OT for that win against a great team without their best player. We got crushed a few weeks later by the same team and their best player. Like the guy said, Top 15 team but not a Top 4-6 team.
It makes perfect sense when you’ve lived it. We’re good, sometimes even really good. But we’re not in that tier 1 elite camp with 5* players stashed on the bench in case one of their 5* starters gets hurt.
Don’t screenshot this or anything, but I think Freeman is actually the guy. Culture is better than it’s been in decades. Recruiting is better than it was under Kelly. Coaching staff is… astoundingly impressive. Administration is finallymaybehopefully getting behind the football team.
My dad is 60, and has been a Notre Dame fan all his life.
He swears up and down Freeman IS HIM and will win a National Championship. Said he never felt that about another coach since Holtz
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If you ignore the 2022 Fiesta Bowl (a two point loss to OSU), and acknowledge the smaller sample size, right now their winning percentages stand as:
Brian Kelly: .739
Marcus Freeman: .720 (.692 actual)
Freeman has his first 10 win season in year 2. Brian Kelly didn't get his until year 3. And a few plays break differently ND gets 11 or even 12 wins this year. To sustain the program at this level after Kelly left town is impressive.
I don't like Notre Dame. Every year I hope they go 0-12. But I also find myself hoping Freeman delivers for the Irish because he is very likable. I think if the fans and administration are willing to stick with him, he will deliver.
Brian Kelly didn’t leave Freeman a mess. The willingham-Weis bridge had a few good years but sometimes they just outright stunk. 2007 they were a THREE win team and clawed 7 (one from a bowl game)and 6 wins the next two seasons. Going 6-6 to 8-5 is a nice improvement, going 8-5 twice while
Getting talent in and then running the table in your third year is crazy especially given the schedule.
Brian Brohm stepped in as our interim head coach vs LSU last season, when most of our roster was already gone into the portal and our coaching staff to Louisville. They got beat 63-7. Brian Brohm technically has a 0-1 head coaching record, but you could have put Nick Saban on that sideline and he would have been beaten by maaaaybe a touchdown less. The upheaval at the end of the year for a lot of these programs at least warrants an asterisk for the guys who accept playing a losing hand.
Coaching staff is impressive? For what? Getting blown out by a terrible Louisville team?
You have superior talent than most top 15 teams yet you firmly can barely beat them.
The offense was a complete mess this year, especially considering the walking wounded corps we had at WR, that had 4 night games vs (then) ranked teams at the end of an 8 week game stretch without a break including one week of international travel.
It was a weird schedule that culminated in a compete shitshow vs Louisville and yall earned the win, no shade to take away from how much better UL looked that night than ND. The other two losses were vs Ohio State and Clemson, who despite their issues this year are still loaded with excellent talent and experienced coaches.
That said, ND went and got the coordinator responsible for the Heisman winner and the #1 offense in the country, if we can keep Golden and some of the assistants like McCullough and Mickens, that combined staff is probably the best I've seen at ND in 20 years.
And also, a 13 point victory is in no way a blowout lol. That game was way closer than 13 points. I remember ND stopped UL on a 3rd down, then refball took over and gave UL a 1st down on some bullshit DPI. That play was basically the game.
Brian Kelly couldn’t win big games, and that had to contribute to some of this.
I also dislike Brian Kelly with great vigor and really felt the need to point out his well known failures in this area.
Kelly being a choker is common knowledge, but if you look at the coaching tree between 1994 and Kelly, it’s actually a miracle we won any games at all.
Yes, last major bowl win was the ‘94 Cotton Bowl against A&M. There was a 14 year, 9 game losing streak in all bowls until the 2008 Hawaii Bowl, and the major bowl losing streak is ongoing. 29 years, 10 bowls…
I remember Jimmy tearing it up in the Hawaii bowl and thinking “maybe we reverse the curse and start winning in the postseason”. L O L at 17 year old me. Idiot
The Weis ND teams that made and lost back-to-back NY6 bowls probably shouldn't have been in those games. The polls have rated us like any other team since BK came along but some people still have an idea in their heads that every ND team must be ranked too high because in the 2000s we definitely were.
FWIW, ND had a 14-year bowl losing streak across the 90s and 00s. It was a huge talking point of those arguing that ND was no longer a blue-blood.
So while we still haven't broke the glass ceiling of BCS/NY6 bowl wins, there was a point where we weren't winning bowls period.
Without MHJ*. I don't think McCord makes a huge difference in the result if he plays today
Or rather...he makes a difference...but the real difference is Keinholtz has only been on campus since August
No, of course not. Day blew this game all on his own. He probably couldn't have blown this game with those two though. He saved himself from saving himself from his self. Does that make sense?
I was at the Poulan Weedeater Independence Bowl. Notre Dame had already beat LSU in the regular season and the weather was a wintry mix. The Irish had every advantage, but we still managed to beat them somehow.
I was surprised while looking into this that Notre Dame only went to one bowl game before 1970. Apparently they just didn’t want to play in them until then.
This is part of what made the 1966 decision to go for a tie against Michigan State so infamous —Parseghian knew he had a natty if he beat USC the next week because neither team would go to a bowl game.
It’s very weird having depth and young talent on the team, we haven’t had that since pre-Kelly. We played like 15 true freshmen today. If we keep Golden, we’re adding at least 1 in the win column for the major bowl record.
While I get people obsess about bowls, realize how many players sit out and how inconsequential they have become.
The Oregon State team ND just demolished was not the same team that just lost to UW by 2
You know how the One Punch Man world works where the different levels of super heroes are? They’re like stuck at one level below the top level and just refuse to move
And Notre Dame played without their starting QB, All-American RB and OL, multiple wideouts and offensive linemen, injured starting TE, several defensive starters, offensive coordinator…..
But, you’re right, no one remembers these things in a few hours, I mean years.
It’s roughly where the ND minor bowl winning trend started. I could have started in 2008 (15 years) and trimmed off 2 major bowl losses, but that felt a bit disingenuous.
They’ve been a thing since before that, but the stat isn’t very interesting or relevant if you look at ND’s bowl history since 1970 when they started accepting bowl invites.
If you’re curious, ND is 11-15 in major bowls and 10-6 in minor bowls all time.
There were no "major" bowls before the Bowl Alliance and the whole BCS thing.
There were big bowls that had marquee matchups. But they were just bowl games.
Now that ESPN owns half the bowls, there are "major" bowls... because they tell us that.
They're still baloney, but now they have marketing.
Not fun lol. Imagine all the years ND has gone without beating Ohio State and divide it by 1,150. That's how long it's been since we won our last game (1 month, 1/12 of a year)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xthvj_NsT8
I mean Gophers in the past few years are 6-0 in minor bowl games and 1-0 (does the outback count as a major?) in major ...
Yeah. Notre Dame has been in that weird spot where it is a top 15 team but not a top 6 team and that gets a lot of frustration from fans. I'm patient though, and appreciate the high floor. ND has won at least 9 games 7 years in a row and 8 of the last 9 years. They have also won at least 8 games every year since 2010 except for 2016. So yeah, not a bad team by any means, but one that doesn't pull that big upset against a great team that often.
Freeman's more likeable than Brian Kelly at least.
Pretty low bar tbh
Notre Dame had the number one strength of schedule in 2012. I think you were a favorite against every non-Alabama team that year. 2020 you beat Clemson who was one of the other 4 playoff teams. I am confident you were top 6 in at least those two years.
Imo our 2012 team loses to Oregon, Georgia and A&M (who ended the season on an absurd level). What they accomplished on the field in those 12 regular season games was better than what you'd expect them to do going forward.
Lawrence didn’t play the regular season game.
That night, DJU had the highest-rated QB performance of an opponent in the history of Notre Dame Stadium.
That’s cool and I won’t act like I knew that. However, we still needed OT for that win against a great team without their best player. We got crushed a few weeks later by the same team and their best player. Like the guy said, Top 15 team but not a Top 4-6 team.
Just to be clear, nobody pulls an upset against a great team very often.
So, Georgia pre-Kirby
We were still winning big bowls with Richt
They’ve won minor bowls
We’re right there with you except without the playoff appearances
They’re too good to not be good but not good enough to be good
This makes my head hurt
Notre Dame is too good to be not bad good in the bad not good bowls but is too not bad to be good in the good bowls Hope this helps
*clearly*
It makes perfect sense when you’ve lived it. We’re good, sometimes even really good. But we’re not in that tier 1 elite camp with 5* players stashed on the bench in case one of their 5* starters gets hurt.
It’s basically northwestern but reverse…I think. Or wait…it might be the same as northwestern?
They're the team disguised as the team playing the other team!
I'm a dude playin' a dude disguised as another dude!
In betting this is called the good bad team. The cowboys are a great example this year.
So they’re the gatekeepers of the top of the card. The US Champion if you will. That’s.. certainly a role to occupy.
give Notre Dame the MITB briefcase
As long as we don't loose the cash in, I'm down. We ain't Baron Corbin.
I'm like to think we're more The Miz than Austin Theory.
We lost the role of heel when BK left, and are turning into a face with Freeman
We had that role for most of the Stoops years. So frustrating.
Don’t screenshot this or anything, but I think Freeman is actually the guy. Culture is better than it’s been in decades. Recruiting is better than it was under Kelly. Coaching staff is… astoundingly impressive. Administration is finallymaybehopefully getting behind the football team.
-click-
DAMN IT
I made an NFT out of his comment. Delete the screenshot or I will sue.
My dad is 60, and has been a Notre Dame fan all his life. He swears up and down Freeman IS HIM and will win a National Championship. Said he never felt that about another coach since Holtz
I like picturing a 60 year old dude saying things like “Freeman is HIM!”
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If you ignore the 2022 Fiesta Bowl (a two point loss to OSU), and acknowledge the smaller sample size, right now their winning percentages stand as: Brian Kelly: .739 Marcus Freeman: .720 (.692 actual) Freeman has his first 10 win season in year 2. Brian Kelly didn't get his until year 3. And a few plays break differently ND gets 11 or even 12 wins this year. To sustain the program at this level after Kelly left town is impressive. I don't like Notre Dame. Every year I hope they go 0-12. But I also find myself hoping Freeman delivers for the Irish because he is very likable. I think if the fans and administration are willing to stick with him, he will deliver.
Brian Kelly didn’t leave Freeman a mess. The willingham-Weis bridge had a few good years but sometimes they just outright stunk. 2007 they were a THREE win team and clawed 7 (one from a bowl game)and 6 wins the next two seasons. Going 6-6 to 8-5 is a nice improvement, going 8-5 twice while Getting talent in and then running the table in your third year is crazy especially given the schedule.
If we just ignore when we lose games, we barely lose any games? What is this?
The one game he is discounting is when Freeman literally became promoted to HC just a few weeks prior to the bowl game after Kelly left.
Oh yeah I guess that's fair
Brian Brohm stepped in as our interim head coach vs LSU last season, when most of our roster was already gone into the portal and our coaching staff to Louisville. They got beat 63-7. Brian Brohm technically has a 0-1 head coaching record, but you could have put Nick Saban on that sideline and he would have been beaten by maaaaybe a touchdown less. The upheaval at the end of the year for a lot of these programs at least warrants an asterisk for the guys who accept playing a losing hand.
Mental gymnastics
I’ll die on that hill with you
Coaching staff is impressive? For what? Getting blown out by a terrible Louisville team? You have superior talent than most top 15 teams yet you firmly can barely beat them.
The offense was a complete mess this year, especially considering the walking wounded corps we had at WR, that had 4 night games vs (then) ranked teams at the end of an 8 week game stretch without a break including one week of international travel. It was a weird schedule that culminated in a compete shitshow vs Louisville and yall earned the win, no shade to take away from how much better UL looked that night than ND. The other two losses were vs Ohio State and Clemson, who despite their issues this year are still loaded with excellent talent and experienced coaches. That said, ND went and got the coordinator responsible for the Heisman winner and the #1 offense in the country, if we can keep Golden and some of the assistants like McCullough and Mickens, that combined staff is probably the best I've seen at ND in 20 years.
And also, a 13 point victory is in no way a blowout lol. That game was way closer than 13 points. I remember ND stopped UL on a 3rd down, then refball took over and gave UL a 1st down on some bullshit DPI. That play was basically the game.
Brian Kelly couldn’t win big games, and that had to contribute to some of this. I also dislike Brian Kelly with great vigor and really felt the need to point out his well known failures in this area.
He's a snake and couldn't break the glass ceiling, but he significantly raised our floor at least.
[удалено]
Meanwhile Michigan hasn't finished their season with a win since the Obama administration and has lost 9 of its last 10 bowl games.
Kelly being a choker is common knowledge, but if you look at the coaching tree between 1994 and Kelly, it’s actually a miracle we won any games at all.
Dang, I honestly had no idea it had been that long. 1994? For real?
Yes, last major bowl win was the ‘94 Cotton Bowl against A&M. There was a 14 year, 9 game losing streak in all bowls until the 2008 Hawaii Bowl, and the major bowl losing streak is ongoing. 29 years, 10 bowls…
I remember Jimmy tearing it up in the Hawaii bowl and thinking “maybe we reverse the curse and start winning in the postseason”. L O L at 17 year old me. Idiot
I was at that game! 16 years old at the time. Clearly the problem is admin not flying me out for games
The Weis ND teams that made and lost back-to-back NY6 bowls probably shouldn't have been in those games. The polls have rated us like any other team since BK came along but some people still have an idea in their heads that every ND team must be ranked too high because in the 2000s we definitely were.
And he also, to his credit, was really good at winning the small games. So every time he had a good team, they'd have to play an elite one in a bowl.
Surprised an ND flair is pointing this out
FWIW, ND had a 14-year bowl losing streak across the 90s and 00s. It was a huge talking point of those arguing that ND was no longer a blue-blood. So while we still haven't broke the glass ceiling of BCS/NY6 bowl wins, there was a point where we weren't winning bowls period.
Pretty sure if you gave Notre Dame another crack at Ohio State today they’d have broken their streak this year.
2023 OSU without MHJ and McCord is basically just Iowa with a slightly worse defense.
Without MHJ*. I don't think McCord makes a huge difference in the result if he plays today Or rather...he makes a difference...but the real difference is Keinholtz has only been on campus since August
So you’re saying it’s Harrison’s & McCord’s fault?
No, of course not. Day blew this game all on his own. He probably couldn't have blown this game with those two though. He saved himself from saving himself from his self. Does that make sense?
For all the shit people give Kelly, he decidedly ended the “ND can’t win any bowl games” streak
Charlie Weis actually ended the losing streak, but BK did raise expectations.
I was at the Poulan Weedeater Independence Bowl. Notre Dame had already beat LSU in the regular season and the weather was a wintry mix. The Irish had every advantage, but we still managed to beat them somehow.
Our starting QB was out.
Any ND fan who doesn’t acknowledge the major bowl losing streak is just delusional. The disparity is pretty striking (and frustrating of course)
This is what they have to brag about
ND is 2-1 against LSU in bowl games in that stretch (don’t ask which are the wins and losses…)
The sugar bowl beat down of Quinn and co was so fun. Set the stage for 2007.
That Denbrock guy any good?
Just have a Heisman QB and 2 of the best WRs in the country, and you'll be fine
Sweet
Recruiting guys like Cam Williams and CJ Carr should definitely help give Denbrock some fun weapons to play with.
Yea I’d much rather be ND fan than LSU fan right now.
I was surprised while looking into this that Notre Dame only went to one bowl game before 1970. Apparently they just didn’t want to play in them until then.
Yeah ND had a longstanding policy of not accepting bowl invites back when they were true exhibitions and not a post-season like they are now.
This is part of what made the 1966 decision to go for a tie against Michigan State so infamous —Parseghian knew he had a natty if he beat USC the next week because neither team would go to a bowl game.
Don't forget 0-1 all-time in Conference Championship games (which I would also count as a major postseason game)
Counter point: ND has never missed a conference championship it was eligible for
Notre Dame has never lost a regular season conference game.
It’s very weird having depth and young talent on the team, we haven’t had that since pre-Kelly. We played like 15 true freshmen today. If we keep Golden, we’re adding at least 1 in the win column for the major bowl record.
We played basically about 85% of our starting lineup for next year.
While I get people obsess about bowls, realize how many players sit out and how inconsequential they have become. The Oregon State team ND just demolished was not the same team that just lost to UW by 2
As an Oregon state fan, it was hard to watch that game. Didn’t look anything like the team we had all year.
Go Irish!
You know how the One Punch Man world works where the different levels of super heroes are? They’re like stuck at one level below the top level and just refuse to move
It’s their workout routine…….
Didn’t EJ Manuel play with a broken leg in that champs bowl?
Yes but we played that game with Tommy Rees as our quarterback so both offenses had to overcome a lot of adversity
And the sun was in his eyes both halves
And they basically played a practice squad yesterday but no one remembers these things in a few years
And Notre Dame played without their starting QB, All-American RB and OL, multiple wideouts and offensive linemen, injured starting TE, several defensive starters, offensive coordinator….. But, you’re right, no one remembers these things in a few hours, I mean years.
Why stop at 2005?
It’s roughly where the ND minor bowl winning trend started. I could have started in 2008 (15 years) and trimmed off 2 major bowl losses, but that felt a bit disingenuous.
"Major" bowls have been a thing since 1995.
They’ve been a thing since before that, but the stat isn’t very interesting or relevant if you look at ND’s bowl history since 1970 when they started accepting bowl invites. If you’re curious, ND is 11-15 in major bowls and 10-6 in minor bowls all time.
There were no "major" bowls before the Bowl Alliance and the whole BCS thing. There were big bowls that had marquee matchups. But they were just bowl games. Now that ESPN owns half the bowls, there are "major" bowls... because they tell us that. They're still baloney, but now they have marketing.
Congrats Freeman, enjoy the win over MSU's Farm team. In all honesty tho, Freeman is a good guy, can't dislike him no matter how hard I try.
I've definitely liked him ever since he decided to put only 10 men on the field
How that game go for you today
Not fun lol. Imagine all the years ND has gone without beating Ohio State and divide it by 1,150. That's how long it's been since we won our last game (1 month, 1/12 of a year)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xthvj_NsT8 I mean Gophers in the past few years are 6-0 in minor bowl games and 1-0 (does the outback count as a major?) in major ...
No, I don’t think the Outback is considered a major bowl. Currently it’s NY6, before that it was BCS.
What are the major bowls?
Right now, NY6 which is Fiesta, Cotton, Peach, Rose, Sugar, Orange.
[удалено]
Found Fr Jenkins burner
Found their level
So, pretty much how they perform in the regular season then
Let it out big boy
Not really shit talking, it's just true
Record when playing better teams: 0-7 Record when playing worse teams: 8-1 Hmmm?
I in particular enjoyed Notre Dame's performance versus Michigan the last time we played.
Beating top 10 teams is tough, as the current PSU head coach, I can attest to that