It was the end of the 2021 season and Notre Dame was preparing to take on Oklahoma State in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. It was quite a hit and miss season — Notre Dame started the year with several less-than-great games, including a loss to eventual playoff team Cincinnati — but eventually brought it all together heading into a New Years six-bowl game. The season went as usual, marked by tight matches against a group of five schools and blowout victories over five power schools. However, just before the biggest game of the season, Notre Dame was faced with a huge storyline.
Brian Kelly was gone. He had taken a job at LSU and would no longer be the coach of Notre Dame. For many Notre Dame fans, this was a sign of better times. Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame was infamous for playing at the level of their competition before excelling in big games. If he was gone, that trend would surely change, right? Unfortunately that has not been the case. Through four games into the 2022 season, nothing seems to have changed under Marcus Freeman.
The Fatal Mistake of Notre Dame
This is not an article about betting, but if I had to give betting advice it would be to always bet on the opponent of Notre Dame who is covering the spread. That’s exactly how the team goes: they will always play at the level of their competition. Especially in early season games, Notre Dame plays everyone close, be it Georgia (see 2017 and 2019) or Florida State (see 2020 and 2021). The team struggles to stand out from the mediocre, a trend that has been going on for most of the 21st century.
Then comes the second part of the problem: Notre Dame sucks at big games. As a fan of Notre Dame, it is a disturbing reality. Notre Dame makes a great record, makes the playoffs and then… gets blown out. It is a story as old as time.
Irish fans are still waiting for a breakthrough. We got a taste of what could be in 2020 if Notre Dame #1 defeated Clemson. However, that match was immediately discredited by an ACC championship loss to the same team, this time with the healthy Trevor Lawrence. When things go up, Notre Dame always finds a way to embarrass itself.
The Marcus Freeman era started with a dud
As was heavily publicized, Marcus Freeman is the first Notre Dame head coach ever to start their tenure 0-3. Now the first two losses can be forgiven – playing a good team from the state of Oklahoma at short notice is difficult, and Notre Dame looked very competitive against a top-ranked team from the state of Ohio. Since those games, however, Notre Dame just looks flat. The team embarrassingly lost to Marshall before taking a win against Cal. These two games shouldn’t have been close, and yet they were, in typical Notre Dame fashion.
As I write this. Notre Dame just beat UNC 45-32. It was a step in the right direction for a struggling team, yet it feels typical. It’s a movie I’ve seen a thousand times: Notre Dame loses a tough game close by, plays a bad game against an inferior team, and wins big against a solid opponent. Every season follows this formula and every season ends in a heartbreaking way.
Notre Dame: The Sisyphus of College Football
I like to try to maintain a positive mindset. Notre Dame played well today and that was a step in the right direction. I should be much happier than I am. But unfortunately it’s Notre Dame, so I know what’s coming.
I’ll end today’s article with some Greek mythology. I know, random, but please listen to me. According to Greek mythology, there was a king named Sisyphus who was punished by the God Hades for “tricking death”. Now I’ll spare you the boring details but basically he was punished for rolling a boulder up a hill but every time he reached the top of the hill the boulder would roll back down and he had to start over. This would go on forever.
In this case, the fans of Notre Dame are Sisyphus. Every season is tough, it messes with your emotions, but eventually Notre Dame finds a way to make a big game… and then the boulder rolls back down the hill. Everyone hoped it would change after Brian Kelly. Unfortunately, the Marcus Freeman era begins on the exact same footing.
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