Endless Nonsense
UHND.com - Michael Stoepler
December 11, 2000
Now that Notre Dame has received one of the coveted BCS bowl bids, earning a trip to Tempe, Arizona to take on the Oregon State Beavers in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, there is much talk of the undeserving nature of this years version of the Fighting Irish to be invited to such a prestigious event. Even the South Bend Tribunes own David Haugh has insinuated, based on Notre Dame’s schedule strength, deemed weaker now than it was at the beginning of the season, and it’s current ranking in the polls, that the Irish probably do not merit the illustrious invite and perhaps, in a more perfect world, should and would be relegated to the less lucrative Gator Bowl.
Nonsense!
Notre Dame is more than deserving. This is a team that led the nation with the lowest amount of turnovers, an astounding 8 in 11 contests. Six of the eleven teams that N.D. played are headed for a postseason bowl of their own. Four of the teams they played were ranked at the time Notre Dame played them and three of the teams they played finished the season ranked in the top ten in total offense.
Likewise, N.D.’s special teams finished the season ranked in the top 5 while its rushing offense topped out at no. 14 with 213.5 yards per game.
As for the two defeats that the Irish suffered, one was in overtime to then no.1 ranked Nebraska. The second setback, that to the Michigan State Spartans, a team that finished the year ranked 22nd in total defense, a team that beat the snot out of eventual Big Ten champion Purdue, N.D. was without its starting quarterback and at that time most productive offensive weapon, Arnaz Battle.
No! The question is not whether or not Notre Dame is deserving, but rather, whether or not another team, namely Virginia-Tech and/or Nebraska is/are more deserving.
More nonsense!
How on earth can anyone, save those that only base their decision making process on how the BCS ranks a team, consider a Virginia Tech team that played but one top twenty-five team and lost to them as being more deserving than the Irish. Other than the Hurricanes, who now rank third in the BCS, the Hokies did not play a single team that was even ranked at the time of their meeting let alone at the end of the year.
Virginia-Tech is the Kansas State of the east, stomping on poor to mediocre teams, padding their stats and getting themselves ranked by playing the likes of Akron, Central Florida and East Carolina in their out of conference games.
As for Mr. Michael Vick, well…. Let’s just say he is not a Heisman Trophy candidate.
And neither is Eric Crouch.
Yes, Nebraska did defeat the Irish. But that was early on and in overtime. Nebraska, unlike the Irish, failed to improve itself as the season progressed. They lost two of their final four games and just narrowly escaped a third setback to lowly Colorado in their season finale. Clearly the Cornhuskers are on a downswing whereas the Irish are on the rise.
Of course, if you read Mr. Ben Smith of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, you might get a different perspective.
In his article, ‘N.D. Laughs All The Way To The BCS Bank’, Mr. Smith tries to substantiate his claim that both Nebraska and Va.-Tech are indeed more deserving than Notre Dame of a Fiesta Bowl invite with the following arguments.
Compare Notre Dame, he writes, who is 9-2 played only two teams in the top twenty-five and six teams with winning records to Nebraska who plays in a Big Twelve conference that had 7 teams with winning records and 4 teams ranked in the top 12. Compare that, he proclaims, to Virginia-Tech who lost to only no. 2 Miami and played in a Big East conference where six of the eight teams had winning records.
Never mind the fact that Nebraska only played three of those seven winning teams and lost to two of them. Never mind the fact that they themselves are one of the seven teams of which he refers. Never mind the fact that four of the six winning teams he refers to who played in the Big East were all 6-5 and that the other two teams were Miami and Va.-Tech.
In fact Mr. Smith, never mind your article, because it is, as most of the talk that criticizes Notre Dame’s worthiness to play in the Fiesta Bowl, nonsense.
Endless nonsense!