Notre Dame fans went into Saturday’s ACC championship game against Clemson with the unspoken understanding a College Football Playoff berth already was in the bag for the Fighting Irish.
With a No. 2 ranking and an unbeaten regular season that included an epic, double-overtime win over the then-No. 1 Tigers on Nov. 7 in South Bend, Ind., most believed the Irish basically were playing for seeding purposes only.
While a 34-10 loss to third-ranked Clemson in the rematch Saturday in Charlotte, N.C., probably doesn’t change that perception, the blowout loss at least gives Texas A&M the opportunity to make a case it’s just as worthy as the Irish of a final-four spot.
As bad as Notre Dame looked Saturday, was it enough for one of college football’s most iconic programs to lose a playoff spot it has held since the first rankings were revealed?
It’s often said anything can happen in 2020, but that seems as likely as Touchdown Jesus twerking on TikTok.
Still, you can’t blame Texas A&M coach Jumbo Fisher for lobbying the selection committee after the Aggies’ handy win over Tennessee before the ACC title game kicked off.
“No one-loss SEC team has ever missed the playoff. … If we can’t play in this league and be in the playoff, something’s wrong,” Fisher said, adding that “some schools haven’t even played seven games.”
That was an obvious shot at No. 4 Ohio State, which likely will get in with a 6-0 record after holding off No. 14 Northwestern in a Big Ten title game the Buckeyes didn’t qualify for until the conference changed its rule on the mandatory number of games played.
Both Notre Dame and Texas A&M are one-loss teams whose only defeat came at the hands of another probable CFP team; the Aggies lost 52-24 to Alabama in Week 2 of the SEC season.
We’ll know Sunday whether the selection committee agrees with Fisher, but the odds seem to favor an Alabama-Notre Dame matchup in one of the semifinals, with Clemson and Ohio State in the other.
Notre Dame’s first season playing in a conference in its 132-year history was an unqualified success, though its first ACC title game was an unmitigated disaster in spite of a promising start.
Lawrence, who missed the first meeting in South Bend after being forced to sit because of a positive COVID-19 test, showed why he’s still considered the top quarterback in the nation, even if he might not have played enough games to win the Heisman Trophy. He finished 25-for-36 passing for 322 yards with two touchdowns and an interception while running for another score and can only hope that consolation prize isn’t being drafted No. 1 by the New York Jets.
Clemson back Travis Etienne was also virtually unstoppable, rushing for 124 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
The Irish seemed to be in control early, driving downfield with a 3-0 lead after a Kyle Hamilton interception of Lawrence. But the drive stalled, and Irish kicker Jonathan Doerer botched a 27-yard field goal attempt.
Lawrence, named the game’s most outstanding player, answered with a 67-yard touchdown pass to Amari Rodgers to take the lead for good near the end of the first quarter. After Irish wideout Avery Davis dropped a fourth-down pass from Book to turn the ball over on downs on the next possession, Clemson marched 72 yards on six plays, grabbing a 14-3 lead on Lawrence’s 33-yard strike to E.J. Williams.
Another field goal added to the lead, and Clemson began to pour it on with an 88-yard drive in the final two minutes of the half, capped by a 44-yard Etienne touchdown run with 21 seconds remaining.
Lawrence was 12 of 19 for 199 yards in the first half, as the Tigers amassed 344 total yards, dominating up front. The Clemson star went untouched on a 34-yard touchdown run with 3:43 left in the third to turn it into a rout.
And now the world awaits the word from the CFP selection committee.
