The Unlucky Irish
Notre Dame continues their trend of struggling in the big game as they fall to Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
Ian Book and the Fighting Irish fell short today in the Rose Bowl to the absolute juggernaut, Alabama. The Tide controlled the game from the first snap and held a steady lead, eventually winning 31-14 to advance to the National Championship.
Alabama QB, Mac Jones, and receiver Devonta Smith, who are both Heisman Trophy finalists, had themselves a day. Jones was 25/30 passing with 297 yards and 4 touchdowns, 3 of which Smith reeled in. To go with his 3 touchdowns, Smith had 130 yards receiving.
On the defensive side of the football, Alabama defensive back DeMarcco Hellams recorded 12 tackles and 1 sack. The defense for Bama stood tall the whole game giving up one touchdown in each half.
For the Irish, in Ian Book’s last game with Notre Dame, he threw for 229 yards, 1 interception, and rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown. The run game was just about the only thing that, somewhat, worked for Brian Kelly and Notre Dame as Kyren Williams ran for 64 yards and 1 touchdown.
The big question that comes into play now is; Is it time for the Irish to move on from Brian Kelly? Since being at Notre Dame, Kelly is 81-39 and 5-5 in bowl games but, has not won the “big game”.
Kelly brought the Irish to a National Championship in 2012 and were throttled by Alabama 42-14. In 2016, the Irish squared off vs Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl and lost 44-28 and then in 2018, in the College Football Playoff, Notre Dame was demolished 30-3 by Clemson.
This year was no different. Notre Dame was the 4th seed in this years College Football Playoff and were matched up with Alabama again. Going into the game, Notre Dame was a 20 point underdog and lost 31-14.
As a Notre Dame fan, I love Brian Kelly but, change needs to come sooner vs later. The Irish are always competitive year in and year out but, fall short on the biggest stages.
Alabama is set to face the Ohio State Buckeyes in this years National Championship game which should be entertaining for every college football fan across the nation.