Notre Dame looked like a shell of themselves in that game, and it had much to do with the time off and inexperience preparing for a game with six weeks off. Alabama, and Saban know how to prepare for a game with this lead time, and they looked better than they did in the regular season. Notre Dame’s D looked like they hadn’t seen a game speed running back or receiver ever before.
Alabama always had the upper hand in that game, but the first half was just a mess for Notre Dame. The fact that they were able to score in the second half is to their credit. Of course with their lead, Alabama certainly dailed it down on offense, especially in the 4th quarter. I hated to see that game go the way it did because Notre Dame was better than that. They have real talent on that team, and it should have been a reasonably competitive game, at least for awhile. As it was, that was just ugly to watch.
Bull. ND got exposed for what they were. A fraud. They lived off publicity from the a loving ESPN and press all year. They barely beat Pittsburgh and that after Pitt blew a 20-6 lead and missed an OT chip shot FG. Pitt was mauled by an poor Ole Miss team in Birmingham bowl. Alabama was a superior team that handed the fraud their butts. Ta’O got shown for what he was, slow, and not able to handle those big OL or the Bama RBs. He will be a flop in the NFL.