I’m going to do a daily feature using the first look for each of the playoff games (no full previews other than UGA games).
The first expanded ESPN Invitational (sorry, College Football Playoff) starts on Friday night as Indiana(!) and Notre Dame play in South Bend for the Indiana state championship and the right to take on our Dawgs in New Orleans. The Hoosiers come in with a sparkling 11-1 record made up of their biggest win being against 7-5 Michigan with one big blemish in the only game they played all season against a ranked team against Ohio State that may serve as an omen for how this game could go. The Irish come in with an 11-1 record packed with wins over Almost Competitive Conference teams, service academies, and underachieving USC and Texas A&M teams and a terrible home loss to Northern Illinois. Let’s get to the preview.
Series Record: Notre Dame (not surprisingly) leads the series (23-5-1) and currently enjoys a 6 game winning streak stretching from 1951-1991.
Last Meeting: In 1991, Notre Dame rolled Indiana 49-27 in South Bend in the first game NBC broadcasted under the current contract with the Golden Domers. Rick Mirer (I hadn’t thought of that name in a long time) was arrested earlier in the week for underage drinking and led the Irish to the victory. No one ever says Lou Holtz lost control of his team.
Gambling Degenerate Facts: The Harrah’s sports book at the Venetian has Notre Dame as a 7.5 favorite with a money line of -292 and a point total of 51.
How Should a Refugee Watch This Game: Of course, the winner of this game will advance to the Sugar Bowl. This game will likely be must-see TV throughout the Peach State as Dawg fans try to get a look at the 2 potential quarterfinal opponents. I haven’t really watched Indiana at all this year, so I’ll be trying to assess whether their lines of scrimmage can hold up against the depth advantage we would likely have over them. I have watched the Irish off and on this year, and I’ll really be watching to see if former Duke QB Riley Leonard can throw the ball efficiently enough to allow Notre Dame to find some level of balance against the Georgia defense.
Interesting Statistic: Indiana – 93.94%/81.82% offensive red zone conversion (overall/TD) vs. Notre Dame – 73.33%/56.67% defensive red zone conversion
This statistic seems to indicate a game of the irresistible force versus the immovable object or “Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships.” Cignetti vs. Freeman. Notre Dame hasn’t allowed many trips into their red zone (2 1/2 per game), and Indiana has been efficient scoring touchdowns once in the red zone. Whichever wins out likely has the inside track to win.
Early Outlook
Based on the current weather forecast, temperatures are likely not to break freezing in northwest Indiana and the temperature is going to be in the high 20s at kickoff. That forecast bodes well for the type of game Notre Dame wants this game to be where they are likely superior across both lines of scrimmage.
This game feels a lot like when Georgia and Kentucky play especially when the teams square off in Sanford where superior athletes eventually take over the game . Assuming normal turnover margin, I think Indiana is going to have trouble turning this into the kind of game they need it to be to win where they make the Irish one-dimensional and force Leonard to win the game with his arm. The Notre Dame lines of scrimmage and eventually Jeremiah Love and the Irish defense wear down the Hoosiers and send them back to Bloomington thinking, “Wouldn’t a trip to Orlando on New Year’s Day been more fun than this?”
While I would prefer to see Indiana, the Dawgs get ready to extend our series lead over the Irish in a 1981 Sugar Bowl rematch (“You got the Hunchback! We have the tailback!”) in the Superdome.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
Don’t really GAS who is next for UGA football, still a little bent about UGA football omission from the 2023 invitational….should UGA football get to the final game, maybe a arm wrestle event between CKS and that sec commish would be entertaining….GO DAWGS!!
I will be interested to see how Indiana fares against ND. I wouldn’t be surprised for there to be a pretty big IU contingent in the stands and with exams over on Thursday at ND I won’t be surprised if there isn’t a definitive home field advantage. I’ve only watched one Indiana game all season but I have watched a lot of ND games this season. ND should have an advantage on both lines and ND’s defense has been stout, though this will be the most dynamic offense that ND has faced this season (at least the most dynamic with players that are similar to ND’s athletes).
I am not really sure which I would rather play in New Orleans. ND wants to play very physical, run the ball right at you, and rely on their defense (much like, as EE pointed out, the usual Georgia/Kentucky games). Indiana can light up the scoreboard with huge plays and based on some of the DB breakdowns I’ve seen from the Dawgs this season that could cause issues. All that said, Indiana had the easiest schedule in the B1G this season and got thumped by Ohio State but to their credit IU also beat everyone else on their schedule handily other than the 5 point win versus Michigan. ND had a typical ND schedule but to their credit ND pretty much crushed everyone not named Northern Illinois, Texas A&M, and USC. If I were a ND fan going into this playoff, I would be concerned about how that USC game played out. USC was very much in that game and if not for the insane back-to-back 99+ yard pick sixes with under four minutes to go in that game ND might not have won with the way that USC moved the ball up and down the field. And USC is probably the closest in terms of talent to teams that ND will face in the CFP.
Great comment as always, milton.
This is a stupid game. Great reward to get a home game on a Friday night in the middle of nowhere. But probably more eyeballs watching than if this is a Saturday bowl game in Memphis. TV execs FTW!
Growing up in Disgusta, I watched ‘Hoosiers’ about once a month. Those autumn leaves, man. Those golden fields. Gray skies. Cold weather in…September. BARBARA HERSHEY. I’d have moved to rural Indiana in a skinny minute.
Oh, yeah–ND is going to stomp Indiana. I’d much prefer to play the Hoosiers than the Drinkin’ Irish. That said, if the Dawgs bring their B game to New Orleans, they beat either team comfortably.
Well, since I already have my Orange Bowl tickets, I’m not sure the outcome of the ND-Indy game matters to me that much. That said, I do think ND is too physical for Indiana, though I’m sure ND was too physical for Northern Illinois as well.
Had some friends over a few months ago to watch a game and one of my buddies who lived in Seattle a while back rolls up in a Rick Mirer Seahawks jersey. I asked if it was an ironic statement.
“No,” he said. “Back then he was the greatest thing to happen to the ‘hawks and I ran out to buy a jersey as soon as we drafted him. We had hope and knew we were gonna be great for years. But that…um…yeah…um…that didn’t… Well anyway I still got this jersey…” (stares off into the distance like Andy Dufresne talking to Red about hope).
This gets me wondering if there are any Mike Vick Falcons jerseys still being worn in and around the ATL.
It’s been a few years since I have been to a Falcons game (I guess before covid), but last time I went in 2019 there were still people wearing Vick jerseys to Falcons games.
Interesting. I was a Vick fan until the dog-fighting news broke. Then he was dead to me. Special circle of hell reserved for guys who abuse animals.
The only decent card anyone in our family has ever pulled was a Rick Mirer Seahawks autographed rookie card – Becket said it was worth over $100, but all Jim at the card shop was willing to give my brother for it were a few packs, and it quickly became worth less than the card stock it was printed on…..
“ESPN invitational” is perfect–another bite at the apple for all the teams that couldn’t get it done in the regular season.
I’ll die on the (irrelevant) hill that if you don’t win your conference, you shouldn’t play for a natty, and there are never more than four conferences that deserve an invite (this year obviously only two).
This is the Netflix “enh, I guess I’ll watch this” era of the college football playoffs.
As much as I dislike Notre Dame I hope they embarrass Indiana. Their schedule was a joke. This committee is a disgrace. So far, the 12 team playoff and new college football championship rankings are a sham.
I don’t know which team I prefer playing, but I feel like if we play ND, that it will be a slobberknocker, man-ball type of game. I’m not sure what to expect from Indiana as I haven’t watched them much this year, but in looking at their schedule, I fear them less than before looking at their schedule. When Indiana played Michigan, I thought that they would destroy them and when they did (they only won 20-15 @ home). When Indiana wasn’t even competitive vs Ohio State (15-38 @ OSU) I figured that they could not play on the big stage or cash the checks that their arrogant head coach’s mouth was writing. It looks like it you can prevent the “big play” vs Indiana, that you can beat them as they’ve only had 3 teams within 14 points of them in their 11 wins (Maryland, Washington, Michigan).
Dang, I wish we could edit submitted comments! My English was a bit bad today. What I MEANT to say was “When Indiana played Michigan, I thought that they would destroy them and when they didn’t (they only won 20-15 @ home), I was very surprised as I knew that Michigan sucked this year.”
Yep. IU is not great. Good at best. ND is going to beat them down.