Kelly: I don’t know if they (Bama) were 21 points, 28, 35 (better)....
While Kelly acknowledges Alabama was the better team, he seems to think the score is misleading.
“Now it’s up to those that return to take it one more step, and we saw that that step needs to happen. We were beat today by a better football team. I don’t know if they were 21 points, 28, 35 (better), but they beat us today, and we’ve got another step that we have to take in the development of our program.”
January 8th, 2013 at 4:05 PM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 4:56 PM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 4:05 PM ^
Kelly is a turd. ND will lose 4-5 games next year.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:22 PM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 8:48 PM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 9:31 PM ^
Meh, I don't disagree in general, but their strength of schedule this year wasn't the issue, they ran the table against some pretty good teams. Obviously anyone that saw HOW they won those games knew they didn't belong, but it's hard to make the argument they got to the championship by playing cupcakes.
January 8th, 2013 at 10:20 PM ^
They got incredibly lucky against Pitt. OU and Stanford. With what, 6 turnovers against us, they put up 13 points. Played an overrated, Barkley-less USC. Had to have seen this coming.
January 8th, 2013 at 9:40 PM ^
NDs bowl record 15-17. UMs bowl record 20-22.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:07 PM ^
This one is easy. Based on the score, I'm pretty sure they were 28 points better.
January 8th, 2013 at 5:27 PM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 5:40 PM ^
Mrs. Prokop? Sadly enough, she is likely to have passed on by now.
January 8th, 2013 at 6:13 PM ^
let up. That is how they can be more than 28 points better.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:07 PM ^
Kelly's right. They are actually 50 points better than ND. They got off easy.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:10 PM ^
Yes Coach Kelly, they were that much better than you. You had no place on that field.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:11 PM ^
Not even thinking Brian Kelly would try to downplay the assbeating his team took last night. Yeesh.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^
Bama could have won that game by as much as they wanted too. I think Saban took his foot off the pedal after being up by 28.
Sad to say, I think he did the same thing to us.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:37 PM ^
I would agree, but we werent pounding our chests saying that we were the number 1 team in the country heading into the game
January 8th, 2013 at 5:07 PM ^
I'm as big a Notre Dame hater as there is, but they were the Number 1 team in the country heading into the game.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:25 PM ^
Kelly's comment right before halftime was the best. Something like: "If Bama doesnt come out after the half we might have a chance?" Can't remember exactly. What a guy.
[EDIT] Found it! Brian Kelly's Solution To Stopping Alabama In The Second Half: Maybe They Won't Come Out
January 8th, 2013 at 4:18 PM ^
One of their defenders was quoted at saying something like, "They didn't dominate us. We missed a lot of tackles and they made a lot of plays."
HUH?!
That is pretty much the meaning of the word "domination." Almost six yards per carry is domination. ND was dominated much like M was.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:25 PM ^
Well, ND lost by 28 and he did say that Alabama might be 35 points better (acknowledging that Saban let off the gas late and probably could have won by more if they wanted). I'm not sure what else Kelly is supposed to say here.
January 8th, 2013 at 5:37 PM ^
But you must admit, only a total strumpet eats a Saltine that way. A respectable lady bites the corner first.
January 8th, 2013 at 5:43 PM ^
That's one giant saltine, man.
January 8th, 2013 at 8:01 PM ^
Good heavens - I believe she may be consuming two crackers, stacked on top of each other, at once!
*Faints*
January 8th, 2013 at 4:33 PM ^
I think you're taking his quote the wrong way. I don't believe he means to say they aren't that much better. He is saying they are that much better, maybe a little more, maybe a little less.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:34 PM ^
They didn't deserve to be in that game anymore than we did. They lucked into the game....anyone that watches and understands college football knew that before the game.
They are exactly who we thought they were, a good but not great team that should have lost 2 or 3 games this year. They ran into the best team in college football and it ended in a near identical score as our game with Bama.
No Notre Dame is not back. They are relevant because of history, but nowhere near nationally elite. To all the "They find ways to win" derp derp commentators, this is why you need to watch games and understand football before just declaring a team legitimate or deserving. Who you play, how you win, and how much you win by does matter. While the transitive property does not always hold in sports, anybody that watched what Bama did to us the first game of the year, and how we played even with Notre Dame at South Bend and threw the game away on turnovers should not have been surprised by yesterdays scores. OSU beating Miami in 2002 was a fluke....almost always a team with 3 times the NFL talent of another team will beat them.
The depressing aspect of this, while we didnt need last night to realize it, is that Michigan = ND. Our games with them over the past 5 years have all been nail biters. We got stomped by Bama just the same. We are a traditional power not in the elite right now. While we have had more BCS wins, thankfully, don't see much of a difference between our programs as painful as it is to say. As for recruiting, both programs continue to pull in top 5 classes. Perhaps it is SEC oversigning, or football first culture. Hopefully Hoke's manball can close the gap.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:40 PM ^
But Michigan is not and will never be the clusterfuck that is Notre Dame. I call them that because they lose due to the overblown sense of entitlement over at that school...and I reach this conclusion based on process of elimination.
Michigan, on the other hand, has rarely, if ever, been mediocre or worse because of this problem. We've had talent deficiencies and coaching problems, but the only loss I can think of that was due to coasting from hubris was The Horror.
January 8th, 2013 at 8:09 PM ^
like a DQ vanilla.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:54 PM ^
I don't have the data right in front of me, but I'm pretty sure there wasn't anything close to a 3:1 difference in NFL talent in that '02 game. Quite a few of the OSU guys played in the NFL.
- - -
While I'm here, I'd like to give thanks to Kansas State and (to a much lesser extent) Oregon for screwing up near the ends of their seasons.
Why? ND might then have avoided playing the ESS EEE SEE's best. Those @#$%s could very well have become national champions. Gives me the shivers ...
January 8th, 2013 at 6:06 PM ^
Sure 2002 OSU had some journeyman NFL players, but 2002 Miami had Pro Bowlers.
OSU:
Michael Jenkins, Chris Gamble, Mike Doss and whatever you want to classify Clarett. In fact, most of their better players were underclassmen on the bench (Bobby Carpenter, AJ Hawk, Will Allen, Nick Mangold). None of those players strike fear into me.
Miami:
Willis McGahee, Kellen Winslow, Vernon Carey, William Jospeh, DJ Williams, Jonathan Vilma, Antrel Rolle, Kelly Jennings and Sean Taylor are the key players. Add Frank Gore and Vince Wilfork off the bench and that's a scary college team.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:35 PM ^
... but it seems like a perfectly reasonable quote. He said the other team was better and it is difficult to put an exact measure on it, but they were clearly better. His team has work to do to get better.
Guy's a tool, but this quote is not an exhibit in that argument. You only need one exhibit, and it's purple.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:43 PM ^
Kelly is a toolbag but that's got to be one of the least toolish things he's said.
Bama could have scored much more if they weren't playing conservatively. Their entire game plan was right out of the Lloyd Carr playbook. Constant runs straight up the middle (the majority of which were 7 yard Mike Hart like runs) with occasional passing and a bomb or two.
The quotes I mostly want to hear are from Lou Holtz. For the last 2 decades, any time ND has started out 1-0, he's predicted them to play for the national title. And I know he had to have picked them last night.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:53 PM ^
It's not terribly exciting other than the fact that it starts with him looking a bit like someone slaughtered his cat, but he also starts with, "How did it happen? I really don't know..."
January 8th, 2013 at 6:02 PM ^
Loved David Pollack talking about how an offense like the spread involving a running QB isn't needed when you're Alabama...in front of Urban Meyer, who was then quick to point out just how good Johnny Manziel was to have beaten them in Tuscaloosa.
I wish one of those ESPN heads had the nerve to say "So, Urban...I guess we understand now just why you got the hell out of Gainesville a couple of years ago."
January 8th, 2013 at 4:47 PM ^
but was there as much of a shit show as i thought there would be when espn gave Urban Meyer hours of face time before the game?
"hmm, there is one team that has played both participants in tonight's game. we should interview that team's main rival's coach before the game for hours, give him a ton of exposure and time to talk."
January 8th, 2013 at 5:05 PM ^
Actually interesting point, I wonder why they didn't ask Hoke (or Borges/Mattison) to chime in on the two teams and that match up.
January 8th, 2013 at 5:57 PM ^
really wouldn't have answered that question.
January 8th, 2013 at 4:48 PM ^
... if he said that his program needs to take at least 21 steps, possibly as many as 35 steps in the development of their program to compete with Alabama; points my ass. The only thing that stopped Alabama was Alabama, but only in the sense of momentum, like when you were a kid running downhill you'd go too fast and fall... only you didn't stop, you just kept rolling forward. That is exactly what last night looked like to me.
This was ND's last, best shot for some time to come, because their luck ran out last night.
January 8th, 2013 at 5:09 PM ^
I'm kind of confused by these statements. We lost to Alabama virtually in the same fashion, almost identical score. Last year, we found a way to get into and win the Sugar Bowl. ND did basically the same thing, except they didn't lose those two games so they had a chance at the title. Their recruiting class is looking quite strong, and Kelly seems to be a promising coach for them... so what is it about ND that you think that this was their best shot for some time to come?
January 8th, 2013 at 5:16 PM ^
They said the same things about Weis and Willingham. Their recruiting classes have been very strong for the past decade, they are losing key players on both sides of the ball, and they got luckier than anyone to get where they were.
Kelly's gone for the NFL soon...perhaps this year.
A better question...given ND's recent past, what makes you think they'll be any different?
January 8th, 2013 at 6:18 PM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 6:26 PM ^
If Kelly stays, he's the best coach they've had since Holtz. He seems to recruit well, despite the purple-face-on-the-sideline episodes from last year. True, Weis and Willingham both had good recruiting classes for the most part, but neither of those guys were very good coaches. Look at the tire fire Washington turned into under Willingham.
I don't think it's a given that Kelly goes to the NFL, either. I'm sure he's going to look into it, but he may also use it to squeeze a little more money out of Notre Dame.
January 9th, 2013 at 1:21 AM ^
that was given any hope in having success against Alabama was their defensive line. Their defensive line was utterly destroyed.
Their quarterback was forced to pass: he can't pass.
Because their quarterback can't pass, their offense will perpetually suffer from a lack of identity (which sounds familiar).
They were completely out-game-planned: not only was their defense physically manhandled, they appeared lost the entire game.
Their best player (who was the Heisman runner-up) was a non-factor, and his weaknesses were exposed, so much so that many are already saying his draft stock is plummeting.
Their best player is leaving.
Sometimes the ball just bounces the right way, and it did many times for ND this year. Stringing together wins only goes so far. When a team like this goes up against a team with a solid philosophy and the means to acheive their philosophy, they will be (and were) dooooomed.
Notre Dame 9-4 to 8-5 next year (and we will deal one of those losses to them)
January 8th, 2013 at 5:27 PM ^
Quotes like these make my laughter from last night simply continue.
January 8th, 2013 at 5:41 PM ^
January 8th, 2013 at 5:48 PM ^
It was a frustrating game to watch. ND players where in position to make plays in the first half but just couldn't get it done. Eddie Lacey shook Teo out of his draws a few times. If the they made half the tackles they missed in the first half it would have been a different game.
Thats the big difference between the michigan / Alabama game and the ND / Alabama game. With Michigan the Alabama RB's where 7 yards downfield before they got touched, the ND Linebackers and safeties missed a ton of tackles behind the line of scrimage. Put that with the fact ND's secondary just didnt show up and you got a blowout
January 8th, 2013 at 7:20 PM ^
ND got dominated in every phase of the game for 60 minutes (or at least until Saban pulled the starters). They didn't lose because of a few missed tackles.
January 8th, 2013 at 8:54 PM ^
So if ND made the tackles it would have been the same game? I kind of doubt that.
January 8th, 2013 at 11:02 PM ^