Subscribe
Follow Us
In reality, Notre Dame didn't need to make a statement to the College Football Playoff selection committee on Saturday afternoon. Whether they defeated the USC Trojans by 1 point, 11 points or 111 points, it was overwhelmingly likely that as long as the Fighting Irish finished the season 11-1, they'd be locked into the 5-seed and preparing to host the 12-seed. Now, after defeating USC by the final score of 49-35, there's really no scenario where the Irish aren't hosting a CFP opening round game.
Heading into the game, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman had to have known that this was his team's reality, because following the win, Freeman made it clear that his team was just focused on earning a W against their west coast rival.
“The statement we made was we won our rivalry game against a dang good football team,” Freeman said after the game, according to the Associated Press. “That was the only statement I wanted to make tonight.”
After a stunning early September defeat at the hands of Northern Illinois, it looked like this would end up being another letdown of a season in South Bend. But give credit to the 38-year-old Freeman, who was on something resembling a hot seat following that loss, because he vowed that the Irish would ‘get it fixed,' and thus far, his team has held up their end of the bargain.
“Proud of these guys and the fight they put on,” Freeman said. They’re resilient. They battled. They’re never out of the fight, and that’s what I love about them.”
Preparing for a game against Notre Dame means you are preparing for a fight, and it's one that USC, who fell to 6-6 with the loss, hung around in for a while. It was pair of red zone pick-sixes pushed Notre Dame's 4th quarter lead from 7 to 14 and then from 14 to 21 in a span of under two-and-a-half minutes, but all game long, the Irish imposed their will. Notre Dame ran the ball 37 times for 260 yards and 3 touchdowns, continuing a season-long trend in which they've been able to physically dominate opponents.
Now Notre Dame has to wait until after conference championship weekend has concluded to find out who their next opponent will be. But with this not-a-statement statement win, the Irish are College Football Playoff bound, and will be attempting to win their first National Title since 1988.
