Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said the Irish no. 2 are “without a doubt” one of the top four teams in the country, even after losing to No. 3 Clemson in the ACC 34-10 championship game.
Fighting Irish defeated Clemson 47-40 in the double overtime in November, but their performance on Saturday night in Charlotte, North Carolina was much different as they fell behind early and could not make it a game. after the break.
Clemson’s defender Trevor Lawrence, who missed the first Notre Dame game after contracting the coronavirus, was a huge difference this time, throwing 412 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday’s victory.
The Tigers also had several key defensive beginners back, including defender James Skalski and defensive forward Tyler Davis, who were big differences.
Since Notre Dame lost all season for the first time, a place in the college football playoffs is no longer guaranteed. That means Kelly needs to start lobbying for his team, as Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher did earlier Saturday.
“We have two wins in the top 15,” Kelly said. “I won this Clemson team which was number 1 in the country. I don’t know if anyone has a resume that has these two victories and I played 11 games. That matters, playing 11 games. Testing your team weekly and weekly, I think that in our minds he questions us as one of the top four teams in the country. “
Kelly was clearly referring to Ohio State, which won the Big Ten championship but played only six games and needed a conference to change its rules on championship game eligibility to get to the championship game itself. .
Defender Ian Book echoed that feeling when he described the physical and mental value that appears after playing 11 games compared to six.
“You prepare so much every day, you go out there, you put your body on the line at every piece and mentally it’s a 60-minute battle,” Book said. “I’m not on the committee, but it’s hard. I don’t even remember who I played in Week 6, it’s been so long, but that’s part of the game and we’re happy to have played 11 games and managed to win 10 of I think there is a difference, but it is not up to me. “
Clemson’s coach, Dabo Swinney, also lobbied for the inclusion of Notre Dame in the top four, after winning his team’s ACC championship.
“Absolutely Notre Dame deserves to be,” Swinney said. “They’re 10-1. They’ve played 11 games. They’ve stepped into the ring with Clemson twice. It’s absolutely worth it. There’s no doubt about it. I wouldn’t punish anyone for playing more games. That’s it. what we seem to be doing: rewarding playing fewer games and punishing for playing more. I don’t understand that. “
Winning a conference championship seems to strengthen Buckeyes’ case – even if they played fewer games.
A day earlier, Kelly said her team might not even want to play in the playoffs if families were not allowed to play.
The book seemed to offer a different point of view on Saturday night.
“We just want to play again,” he said. “We’ll see who we play and when we play, but we just want to play another game together.”
In the playoffs, preferably.
“I think you’re looking at the body of work in terms of what we’ve been doing all year,” Kelly said. “Obviously, we lost to the 3rd ranked team in the country tonight. It was not our best effort, but consistency – when you play 11 games and you have a victory over the No. 1 team in the country and then you wins against a remarkable North Carolina team, I don’t know you have to look any further than that. “