There’s a wee Irish tinge to the offerings today.
- The Dawgs enjoyed a good bit of success running out of four-wide sets against Missouri. (In fact, I think the TD pass to King came out of a five-wide, empty backfield set.) Will the offensive line be strong enough for Georgia to keep on doing that?
- If you believe that the biggest difference between the SEC and the rest of college football is the quality of the defensive linemen, then this story will make complete sense to you.
- Mars needs women, but colleges need men. Football, testosterone and Stanford.
- Tyler Wilson looks like he may be ready to show up for Alabama. The question is whether his offensive line will do the same.
- Mark Richt has lost control of LSU’s academics.
- Notre Dame’s move to the ACC – and the news that it will schedule five games a year with that conference’s members – means it’s got some scrambling to do on the scheduling front.
- Jim Delany whistles in the dark about the move, even though it’s likely to impact teams in his conference fairly significantly. (And even though Delany wanted the Irish for the Big Ten.)
- And Ivan Maisel thinks the move signals the death knell of Notre Dame’s independence.
- ACC votes to bump exit fee to a whopping $50 million immediately; FSU voices displeasure after voting against the change.
Get The Picture 
I became lost and disoriented at “Stanford is a football powerhouse.”
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Can someone please tell me why the media keeps calling it the ‘traditional’ matchup with Stanford? They have only played 28 times in the 120 year history of ND football. Whereas they have played Purdue almost 90 times.
Notre Dame’s scheduling is cold and calculated. And while I give them points for scheduling Navy every year, they couldn’t give two flips about Stanford if it didn’t mean getting out to the west coast at least once every year (they alternate with USC and Stanford). The media eats up ‘traditional’ and doesn’t even question it.
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Who does not love “traditional”?
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Wow Stanford is Powerhouse. Where I com from we call them a Jr. College.
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Soo…ND’s not actually in the ACC for football, so they don’t qualify for the ACC Champ game, right? They’re just gonna do them a favor and play them. So they’re still the same pompous assholes they’ve always been, just without all that “winning games” stuff? Got it.
Also, did they just join a conference without having to join a real conference? Interesting…
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The Domers are going to show Texas how it’s done
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This is actually a brilliant move for both the ACC and ND. The ACC gets the ND moniker and gets 5 games per year from ND against ACC schools. The public won’t care that those are non-conference games. They’re just games. If the playoff landscape changes ND can just go all in with the ACC, become a full football member and get into the playoff by winning the ACC. That is a conference that ND can compete in successfully. You will remember a few months ago when the playoff business was still in flux there was a lot of discussion on this blog about how ND would fit into that and the conclusion for some was for ND to either join or create a conference that it could win on a regular basis gaining entry into the playoffs that way. Voila! Enter the ACC. Not to mention the symbiosis for basketball and other sports. And we all thought the ACC was asleep at the switch. Looks like they outfoxed everybody.
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Any mid tier SEC school would win the ACC every year, hence why VT wins the ACC. every. year. Then gets beat every time they go out of conference. LIke I’ve said before, prior to the year’s conference realignment they were hands down the worst football conference in America. West Virginia as a school has won more BCS games than the ACC as a conference (3 vs 2), the ACC hasn’t beaten an AP top 5 team in 6 years, and until last year when the Sugar bowl picked VT for the money, they had never received an at large BCS bowl bid.
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I agree with everything you said, which makes this move even more attractive for the ACC and even smarter for ND. My take several months ago was that ND should rip off a few MAC teams, a Big East team or 2 (Cincy?), get Army and Navy together and form a conference that ND could win every year. ND would then be assured a place in a playoff of 8 or more made up of “conference champions.” Now they can have it both ways.
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But.. but.. “tradition!!!!1!!”
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Does ND qualify to play in an ACC slot in a bowl game?
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Sorry. Someone else brought the question below.
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Then why didnt they just join the ACC. Its not exactly a powerhouse conference. ND could win the championship frequently and then the national hype behind them could push them into a great bowl or the champioship playoffs.
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Correct me if I am wrong here but wouldn’t the 4 and 5 wide sets actually benefit the line by showing exactly where the pressure is coming from pre-snap? It’s also a numbers game, if you go 4 wide then it should be 5 vs 5 or 5 vs 6 in the box which is favorable for running plays.
From what I have gathered from reading about the “spread” is that by stretching the defense from boundary to boundary it limits where you can bring pressure from due to pure distance, it also limits the type of pressure you can bring (I’ll take our RB against a S/CB blitz all day vs an ILB/OLB) which should make the line calls easier for Andrews.
I am not a spread fan but you have to admit for all the bitching and complaining about Bobo, he is making an effort to get his best players on the field in favorable matchups. The best part is we can still line up in the I and pound the rock at the end of games to salt away wins and break the other teams will a la Missouri last week where a true “spread” team wouldn’t be able to do that.
Good move by Bobo!
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I blame Mark Richt.
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Mark Richt has, as we have all understood for a long time now, lost control of Mark Richt.
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I’m actually Robt. Cray (in sheep’s clothing) (not that it matters much!).
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Are you sure you aren’t a sheep in Robert Cray’s clothing?
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Lemme think on that; but you may indeed have a point there. Either way I’m no sheep like the Au fan base going over the cliff, or likewise the Domer creeps who may have a stiff shutout beating headed their way this weekend!
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And I know whereof I speak about sheeps and grazers, out here on the range and all.
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Damn him!!!! Damn him to hell!!! He has lost control of everything from world peace to Santa Claus. Take him out and have his ass shot!!!!!
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Maybe our wideouts are better than our TEs and Fullbacks. Getting the best players on the field cliche seems to be at work here. Well at least as long as it is working.
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Good point about the D needing to more directly broadcast where the pressure is coming from when spreading it out.
Beyond CB blitzes, which AM should be very able to read and check out of the play, the blitz packages should be pretty vanilla
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Right now, I trust/hope/pray everything CMB is designing is to take pressure off of the OL weaknesses (especially RT…sigh…). Quick strikes out of the 5 wide spread can help (Theus kind of got a downfield shield block on the WR screen play), but I suspect 1st & bomb won’t happen now without keeping a TE or RB in to assist with the rush. Murray was just getting creamed in the 1st half due to poor pass protection.
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Am I the only one who thinks the ACC comes out of this Notre Dame deal looking like a used and abused groupie?
So… ND will play five games against ACC teams, and ND will benefit from the ACC’s bowl contracts, but ND isn’t a “football member” of the ACC? Doesn’t that mean there’s a good chance, ND will be bumping a real, honest-to-goodness football member of the ACC out of a bowl every year?
The end result is ND gets to cling to their cherished independence (ya know, because they are too good to really join the ACC) while getting all the benefits and likely screwing another school out of what should be rightfully theirs. Sounds like they’re gonna get the milk without having to buy the cow, to use an “old man” phrase…
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Plus, the Domers avoid having to play Tech in the ACC championship game…that’s what this is all about, really. Mark Bradley told me that last night on the phone.
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No doubt…
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I think you are the only one. My assumption is that the members of the conference will get a nice chunk of change if ND is taking one of their bowl slots…
Anyway, you think Tech isn’t itching to get a game with ND set up in the Dome or the new Stadium in 2017(?). Miami, FSU, Syracuse, and Pitt are the obvious matchups…but schools like Tech, Clemson, NC State, Virginia, Va Tech, Maryland…it will help their schedule.
Oh, one side note…Notre Dame will use this to recruit the southeast. I would be willing to bet they play at least 1 game each year in SC, GA, or Florida. And before anyone gets to excited over the distance issue…just realize that South Bend is only 675 miles from Atlanta and that Delta flies 3 or 4 direct flights there every day. It’s much easier to get there than Columbia, MO …and Mizzou is already starting to have a little success in our area.
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(quick follow up…my implication and guess is that ND is not taking an ACC bowl slot. I think they will make more money and will have better options in the new system without being tied to a conference.)
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I certainly don’t know all of the facts, but I did read a specific reference in an article yesterday where the author said ND will benefit from ACC bowl agreements.
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ND will bring lots of money to the ACC. Go Fighting Irish and may the luck of the Irish take you to the ACC championship the first year.
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You point seems to be that the ACC is, in fact, being used and abused by ND, but the ACC doesn’t mind because they are getting paid. If so, you are quite possibly right.
My point was to say the ACC made this agreement from a postion of weakness and looks weak because they made it. If you don’t agree with my opinion, ask yourself if the SEC would have ever agreed to this sort of deal.
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Two things…First, here is some relevant info on the bowl structure…
“The Irish will be part of the ACC bowl structure, though not eligible to take the league’s spot in the Orange Bowl, where the conference champ will play. It is possible the ACC champ could meet Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, however.” So, basically, in terms of the BCS playoffs or the Orange Bowl, ND is an independent….but they would be able to take invitations from bowls like the CFA in place of another ACC team. I’d be curious if the ACC gets any cut from ND if they go to a bowl outside the ACC structure.
Second, if you think this move makes the ACC weak or is a sign of weakness, you are being naive..your pride is blocking your vision of reality. I don’t know if the Big 10 or SEC would have taken ND as a partial partner…but I sure think they would have. You know why? They like money. Do you know what kind of TV rights the SEC could negotiate if they could wrestle even half of the SEC vs. ND game each year from NBC? Bama v. ND, UGA v. ND, A&M v. ND, Florida v. ND…those games alone would be worth millions….
When the ACC renegotiates its ESPN deal and when they negotiate bowl payouts and bowl contracts, they are going to be able to sell Notre Dame. And don’t discount the other sports programs aspect…Basketball and an ever expanding lacrosse TV audience will be a nice chip at the table.
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Maybe you are right. This certainly wouldn’t be the first time my pride (or pig-headedness) was an obstacle. 🙂
But I still don’t think the SEC would have done this deal. My (completely unsubstantiated) opinion is they wouldn’t have to. They are doing pretty well in the confrence money race, and I think they will find a way to continue doing relatively well without prostrating themselves on the altar of any single team.
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I’m as prideful as the next guy, I promise. (I will say that I’m going to be pretty jealous that I’m not putting a UGA-ND game in South Bend on the schedule…one of the best experiences of my football life was 96 Ohio State-ND at South Bend). I think you hit a strong point on the fact that the SEC wouldn’t have to do this deal in the sense that unlike the ACC, the SEC is on the top tier and not really in danger. I don’t think the ACC was about to die…but they just wanted to make sure they finished off their rivals. Like a double-tap to the head of the Big East.
The ACC has basically set a mission of making sure it isn’t left out once the dust settles…and in that time has done as good of a job as anyone in killing the Big East. There are only 5 ‘power’ conferences left…and I wouldn’t be surprised if the next move isn’t to 4. Texas most certainly has to be eyeing this deal with a bit of envy, and if they ever leave the Big 12…it’s all over.
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ND is in a spot where it’s a BCS bowl or Shreveport. That’s kinda feast or famine. ND also needs a place for their non-football sports to play. In exchange for these two items they are willing to play at 2 to 3 ACC schools per year. That helps the ACC have nationally relevant games being part of their TV contract and gives those ACC teams a guaranteed sell out.
Seems like a fair trade to me.
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The horse has been out of the barn for awhile now vis-a-vis Notre Dame using whatever is at hand for its own benefit, to employ another “old man” term.
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Is this supposed to make ND relevant again? Nice try, but I think they came up a bit short. So they are going to play a bunch of ACC teams and the outcome doesn’t count towards the conference standings of a conference that nobody really cares about anyway.
As far as recruiting, the ND and Missouris will pick up a few of the tier 2 and 3 recruits out of GA every year and it will have basically no impact on UGA.
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I think it’s about scheduling. ND is worried in an era of conference expansion that it’s going to get harder and harder for an independent to put together a quality schedule year after year.
BYU begs to differ, of course.
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I really thought BYU going independant was a bad move at first but it looks like they are scheduling quality opponents with national appeal. It looks like they have annual games with Boise, Wazzu, Utah and ND. They have also scheduled home and home series with Tech, Texas, Wisconsin over the next few years.
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My Questions is “Why is this being allowed?” I think that access to the playoffs and national championship should be restricted to teams that are members of a certain set of conferences to ensure that they are having to come through a championship game to get there. I have never understood why everyone has bent over backwards to accommodate ND. Why should they have a seat at the table along with the conference commissioners? Really doesn’t make sense.
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Anything is allowed when the Golden Goose is on the table.
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Senator, the other interesting thing about all this is the increase in the exit fee. FSU and Maryland voting against the increase says something beyond simply them thinking that $50 Mil is too high on a philosophical basis. And the manner in which it was done and the suddenness of the inception date screams “poison pill.” Did somebody think somebody was planning to leave?
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My guess is that the ACC is using the “inclusion” of Notre Dame as a hedge against FSU or Maryland or [some other outlaw] hitting the road for the SEC. Were those defections to occur, the Domers would slide in as a permanent replacement. There has been substantial strategizing at play in Charlotte; Pitt and Syracuse are ready-made NE TV market games to match with Notre Dame.
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I don’t think ND wants to be a permanent football member of the conference. As long as the ACC is willing to whore themselves out, why would ND change? ND gets to keep their exclusive deal with NBC, maybe even get a better deal because they can appeal to more markets through the ACC, plus potentially throw in some sort of basketball package as a sweetener. And the Domers don’t have to share any bowl money with the ACC. On the ACC side of things, they at least get to put more asses in more seats for the games, which they might be struggling to do these days.
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Plus Swofford pledges to do everything possible to ensure that when Brian’s brain explodes, that detonation will occur during a nationally televised game against an ACC team
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Re: four wide sets article
I know all I ever do is ask questions on here, but how is it that Artie Lynch is “struggling”? Because Rome caught a pass and he hasn’t? Have they even thrown a pass his way? Has he run his routes so badly that no QB can chuck it to him? I don’t recall anyone saying that Lynch was struggling – except Emerson. Someone ‘splain it to me.
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IMO, with the young line Lynch is needed for blocking. According to CMR Jay’s blocking needed some work. At least it did in fall camp.
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So, Artie= not struggling as a receiver. Just as I thought.
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Mark Richt is losing control of Bobo’s inability to be creative on offense
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ND to the SEC in football……..Why not.
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