AnTostal

Didn’t see the game but the highlights and stats show a dominating performance. Here's question: other than the playoff teams, should rankings change after bowl season any more? Ohio State lost but had so many opt-outs and transfers. Oregon State and ND both had many of those as well. The teams that show up to play in non-playoff bowls are not the teams that played the entire season and earned the bowl bid. A depleted Florida State team plays a depleted Georgia team in what otherwise would be a hugely compelling game. I love ND’s win. They’ll probably move up in the polls. But should they?

And it is fairly quick, about as quick as a flight from Dallas to Chicago. I agree Denbrock would probably benefit from being in El Paso for game prep and the game itself. I don't know if he has started in the position of OC already, or if that starts after the game. Either way, being involved with the coaches and players now would help in his developing his new offense before spring ball arrives.

You know the drive. I think that drive is the reason energy drinks were created. D-E-S-O-L-A-T-E

The drive distance from Baton Rouge to El Paso (1014 miles) is a little further than the distance of driving from New York City to Jacksonville, Florida (937 miles). As a Texas person, I can say that the drive to El Paso, once you've passed San Antonio, is about as desolate as it gets. And it's still a looooonnnnggg way.

I suspect part of Denbrock's quick announcement was that he had coached at ND two times previously, and ND had already done due diligence during those hires. Less to do this time (?).

Players gotta play. Coaches gotta coach. And, you need an administration that really wants it. Third OC in three years. New athletic director. New President. Hopefully this will be the correct mix, and hopefully they can make it all happen before the end of August!

It's always hard to tell how good the competition is, but Kedron looks like a beast. Running through tackles and over people, then pulling away from the defensive backs. You have to like the group ND has assembled at RB.

I thought I followed recruiting pretty closely, but I totally whiffed on today being signing day. Sounds like it went well, no negative surprises.

Great for him. Really. I hope he does great at Troy. I also hope ND brings in an experienced, creative OC.

Yup. 2023 5 star QB's now in the portal: Malachi Nelson, Dante Moore. You can get 'em, but can you keep 'em? Every upper tier school (and UCLA isn't exactly one of those) wants to have a proven guy to be 'the guy'. Nelson leaving because USC is shopping around for a transfer, maybe the K-State QB.

Marcus has had two years practicing to be a head coach. It's his team now. His coaches, his players. And the portal has made it easier to get good, proven players than ever before. The hardest games next year: A&M, USC. Maybe Florida State. Put up or shut up. No excuses. No 10 men on defense on the last play of the game in the biggest game of the year. Just win, baby!

I agree. At the same time, it is the way every school is doing it. ND just so happens to have taken a top QB in the last two years. But, every school is looking to fill every need they have. Sometimes it's a QB, other times it's a DB or RB or something else. No matter the position, when you bring someone in from the portal, someone currently on the team who plays that position is going to be looking in the next portal. Solution? Who knows. Getting a 5 star QB stud every year does not guarantee anything. UCLA outbid everyone for Dante Moore last year. He's in the portal. We all hope Carr is the guy. If he is the guy, he'll show it in practice and he'll end up starting soon enough. If he isn't, or if he doesn't show it, rest assured ND will take another QB from the portal next year. My belief is that high school QB's understand this is the way things work now. I don't like it. But, it's still new-ish and I'm sure I'll adjust.

I thought ND was expecting a Riley commitment today(?).

The dude’s obnoxious. But, he’s not really wrong in some of the things he says. And he sometimes brings in numbers/research to back his points. I pretty much detest how he presents almost everything. But I’ll give credit where it’s due, and I find myself agreeing in principle with some of what he says. I may actually just have thrown up in my mouth a little bit.

Well, that's most guys. But Evan Carter of the Texas Rangers did. He started the 2023 season in Double A at Frisco (Texas), Over 97 games for Frisco, he hit .284/.411/.451/.862 with 12 home runs, 62 RBI, and 22 stolen bases. He was promoted to the the Round Rock (Texas) Express (Triple A). Over 8 games, he hit .353/.436/.382/.818 with 3 RBI and 3 stolen bases. He was moved up to the Rangers on September 8th and hit 306/413/645/1.058 with 5 home runs, 12 RBI, and 3 stolen bases from then through the World Series. I'm a Rangers fan, and this guy was UFB. It's possible to perform at the highest levels even after not having competed against the best players. It's just not common.

That's probably a pretty accurate take. Collins at least was a starter on a legitimate P5 school for almost all of his time there. By itself, to me, that says something. While he may not have had the biggest numbers, he was a starter for 27 games at Clemson. Probably leaving because they've recruited a couple receivers after him who will be jumping him as starters. I know Mitchell has been productive. I'm just not sure how the competition has been. I suspect these guys will be pretty good players. They've shown they've adjusted to college life in general. They just won't be WR1 type guys, like you said. Nice depth guys who may get a fair amount of playing time.

Nah. The University will more likely post your DD remarks on the video board and wonder why you had it so right and all of the actual talent evaluators had it so wrong.

2nd time in program history to play for the championship. They won it all in 2013.

But, The 2018 and 2020 teams were much, much, much more than a QB away from a national championship. They lacked a lot, including significant defenses and great coaching. A 5 star QB on either of those teams would not have made much of a difference. Put substantial defenses in there and those score differentials would have been less. ND still wouldn't have won, but I think those teams deficiencies were largely defensive. The 2012 team was pretty good, but also lacked a lot more than just a 5 star QB. I do agree that ND needs to recruit stellar QB's. But, Wimbush and Buchner were very high 4 star recruits. They didn't turn out to be great college QB's for whatever reason. Recruit great players, develop those players, create offenses that play to their strengths...its' the whole package. If Carr is the player you seem to think he is, given that he's coming to ND for bowl practices and will start school there in January, it wouldn't surprise me that he takes over the starter role at some point in the 2024 season. But I'd be very surprised to see him be the starter for game 1, no matter whether Leonard transfers to ND or not.

ND now 4-4. Will be fun watching this team develop this year.

It's just the reality of college football in the day of the portal. A ton of 4-5 star quarterbacks coming out of high school don't develop into what anyone thought they might. Many of them do. There's no way to accurately predict it. And that's not in any way unique to Notre Dame. I suspect recruiting will be important, but the portal may become even more important. At least portal players will have shown they can play, whereas recruits may not develop into significant players. I'm a fan. I don't know how to evaluate QB's other than, does the team win with them or not? I don't love the idea of a 1 year rental QB. Seems like that may limit the playbook and limit development of the QB's you recruit. But, competition is the key. Create meaningful, fair competition in the spring and summer, then let the guy the coaches think gives the team the best chance to win take the reins in the fall. QB's will transfer if they don't like it, just like every other position group player. This door opened a couple years ago and it's never going to close.

You did some digging to come up with those numbers! Thanks!

Clemson and West Virginia meet in the other semifinal. 2nd time in the last 3 years that ND has been to the final 4; 3rd time in program history.

True for Texas in general, with maybe a very few small town exceptions. It's a major part of the identity of the state, with El Paso being on the forefront due to its border location. The people I've known from El Paso really liked it and go back often. It's just a little remote for me. But, still debating going to the game. The whole scene is part of the experience, and El Paso is probably unique in this regard compared to other bowl games.

I thought of that before I typed it, but don't they really go by NDSU? Or North Dakota State? North Dakota State Bison.