Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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6 JANUARY 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FAN FORUM sion, going toe to toe to a draw as I remember it. I lifted weights at Fr. B.H.B Lange's "gym" for three years after I came back from the service. He'd be an- other interesting story. Third-stron- gest man in America at one time. Keep up the good articles. Dick Maier Via the Internet RESERVE ASSETS It continues to frustrate me how Coach Kelly handles the game with the second or third string, when the outcome of the game is well in hand. In the recent game with Boston Col- lege/Senior Night and with the game 40-7, he started using his second- and third-string players. As a fan, I look forward to seeing these players come in and perform with the same intensity as if the Irish were down by 40-7, regardless of how much time is on the clock. I can't imagine the excitement these reserve players go through when put into a real game situation, then expected to burn time off the play clock and ap- parently instructed to not run plays that could result in a score. It seems counter-productive to ex- pect these young men to train and practice week after week, at their highest level, and not allow them to continue with that theme in a real game situation. I'm referring spe- cifically to the offense here as I'm sure reserve defensive players are expected to and desire to play at their highest level. It appears Coach Kelly does not want to be accused of running up the score on his opponent by controlling the tempo of the game, which pre- vents less snaps for the offense and opportunity for players to perform. I want to see these lower-tier play- ers play at their highest level and expect them to move the chains with hopes of scoring. I also believe the opponent's head coach would un- derstand and expect the Irish to play their best and not intentionally have mercy on his team, regardless of the final score. Let the horses run! Jack L. Schneider Marquette, Mich. The landscape of college football has altered sig- nificantly over the past decade, and it's also re- flected in an outdated bowl system, especially since the inception of the College Football Playoff in 2014. In years past, a 10-2 Notre Dame team would have been virtually automatic to play in a major bowl. Yet today with so many conference tie-ins involving bowl games, the Irish this year were relegated to the Camping World Bowl versus 7-5 and unranked Iowa State. Meanwhile, a 9-4 Virginia team that lost 62-17 to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, and also fell 35-20 to Notre Dame, went to a major bowl (Orange) as the runner-up ACC representative. Many Notre Dame fans shared their frustration on the message board at BlueandGold.com. Here's a small sample: MDMeeker: The college football world is telling Notre Dame to get into a conference or this will be your fate year in and year out. Playing an also-ran, non-ranked team in a "Nothing Bowl" is our future UNLESS … Mgormal1: I think they told us stop losing to top-15 teams by 30-plus points FightinMike87: Notre Dame has been playing in "Nothing" bowls with very few exceptions since 1994. Joining a conference won't change that. Spaddy: I would never join a conference because of bowls. ND's indepen- dence will last a lot longer than the bowl system. Cuffs408: I think the Bowl Committee told ND to stop getting your A$$ kicked on the biggest stage year in and year out. Perception is reality, and the perception by people is ND chokes huge under the brightest lights. Kcndmis97: It depends what you view as "nothing bowls." These days, outside of the playoffs, one could argue all the other bowls are "nothing bowls." If we're talking NY6, then joining the ACC as a full member would have helped us this season as we would be playing in the Orange Bowl if we were in the ACC. Jlemaux: While we would be playing in the Orange Bowl if we were in the ACC, we wouldn't have been in the playoffs last year. This year we got screwed by independence. Last year, it got us into the playoffs. MrND2: Exactly. And this is what the "join a conference" crowd isn't get- ting. Some years, joining a conference would get us into a better bowl. Other years, it wouldn't. This year they're saying "we'd be in if we joined the ACC." Last year, if we were in the ACC, they'd be saying "too bad we're not still independent." But in no years would it change the biggest difference maker: winning. Whether we're in a conference or not, unless we win big games, we're out. FROM THE WEBSITE JOIN THE CONVERSATION! GET A 60-DAY FREE TRIAL WITH CODE IRISH60 .com Notre Dame's reserves had plenty of opportunities this year to see action in blowout wins, especially at home with four victories by 32 or more points. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS