Guess Who Had the Cinderella Season??

 

It wasn’t Alabama! We all got it wrong. I mean the score and the performance. Where was Notre Dame? Did they show up?

Correct me if I’m wrong, and this can be debated till the goal posts come down, but when you win a coin toss, dad-burn it, keep the ball! You don’t give it up that easily. Yes, I know there is theory behind it, but when you haven’t been to the big ball in decades ya don’t just give it up like that.

 I listened to Brian Kelly’s 40-second interview on the field right before the kick-off and knew it was going to be bad for the Irish. You don’t ever want to show signs of weakness, much less speak about it to a reporter. The very exact same thing he told the reporter is the very exact same thing he didn’t want to happen. I cannot recall word for word what he said and will not quote when I cannot find the sound-bite, but it left a lot of doubt over air waves. It would have been better if it went something like this; we’ve got to control the ball early on and keep Alabama out of the red zone. Simple. But he didn’t say that, he left a lot of room to insert doubt. Something that should never happen anytime, anywhere.

 So the vibe of the game started out with two huge mistakes on the Irish. Face mask and offsides. Two very fundamental penalties that any high schooler knows not to do! Notre Dame had the jitters and it showed early on. I would have thought Kelly would have driven the point home this was just another game, we’re gonna make Alabama play our game and forget all the hype.

The fact remains that when you’ve been there and done that, like Alabama had, you certainly don’t need to show-up to the big ball with a weakness in your gut, you need to act like you’ve been there before. Even though you hadn’t. The nerves of the team really rest on Kelly’s shoulders. Lessons learned.

 I felt sorry for the poor ol boys in gold helmets. I really did. This was a butt kickin’ pure and simple. All the sportscasters thought maybe Alabama takes by 10. But this was nearly a wipe-out. I guess we all know who had the Cinderella Season. Still Notre Dame did put together an undefeated regular season and that by all accounts is purdy dang good for any college team these days! They will have no problem with signing the recruits they want and it sounds like they could be back to the big ball next year. Next year is a long way off. Sorta.

 Now, all you Alabama fans can Roll easy for another few months. The recruiting season should be a shoo-in for the Tide. What young fella with stars in his eyes would turn Nick Saban down? I bet there’s not many who don’t have pen in hand!