Notre Dame is “without a doubt” among the top 4 teams despite losing the ACC Championship match

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said the Irish No. 2 was “without question” one of the top four teams in the country, even after losing to No. 3 Clemson in the ACC 34-10 championship match.

The Fighting Irish beat Clemson 47-40 in double overtime in November, but their Saturday night performance in Charlotte, North Carolina was very different, as they were late early and were unable to make it a match after halftime.

Clemson Quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Who missed Notre Dame’s first match after contracting the Coronavirus, was a big difference this time as he threw 412 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday’s win.

The Tigers have also had several major defensive starts, including full-back James Skalsky And address defensive Tyler Davis, Who were big difference makers.

Since Notre Dame lost their first all-season, they are now no longer guaranteed a spot on the College Football Playoff. And that means Kelly must start the pressure for his team, the way Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher did earlier on Saturday.

“We had two of our top 15 wins,” Kelly said. “We had a win over this Clemson team that was number 1 in the country. I don’t know anyone has a résumé of these two victories, and we’ve played 11 games. That’s important, you’ve played 11 games. Test your team week after week, I think on my mind puts us no Doubt as one of the four best teams in the country. “

Kelly was clearly referring to Ohio State, which won the Big Ten championship but only played six matches and needed the conference to change its rules on eligibility for the tournament game to reach it.

Quarterback Ian Bock He echoed this sentiment when he described the physical and mental losses that occurred after playing 11 matches to six.

Bock said, “You prepare every day for so long, go there, put your body to the test in every game, and you mentally have a 60-minute battle.” “I’m not the committee, but it’s tough. I don’t even remember who played the sixth week, it’s been a long time, but this is part of the game and we’re happy because we played 11 games and managed to win 10 of them. I think there are teams, but it’s not in my hands.” .

Clemson coach Dabo Sweeney also pressured Notre Dame into the top four after his team won the ACC Championship.

Sweeney said: “It definitely deserves to be.” “They are 10-1. They played 11 games. They went into the ring with Clemson twice. They definitely deserve to participate. There is no doubt about that. I will not punish anyone for playing more games. That is what it looks like we are doing the following: Reward for playing less games and punish for … Play more. Don’t get it. “

Winning the convention championship seemed to boost Buckeyes’ status – even though they played fewer games.

The day before that, Kelly said his team might not even want to participate in the playoff match if families weren’t allowed to attend.

The book appears to offer a different perspective on Saturday night.

“We just want to play again,” he said. “We’ll see who to play and when to play, but we just want to play another game together.”

In the playoff game, it is preferred.

“I think you’re looking at the structure of the business in terms of what we’ve done throughout the year,” said Kelly. “Obviously we lost to the number 3 team in the country tonight. It wasn’t our best effort, but consistency – when you play 11 games and beat the first team in the country and then beat an outstanding team in North Carolina, I don’t know you need to look at Beyond that “.