Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JAN. 1, 2021 43 the seven-year history of the CFP. The previous standard was the 2018 Orange Bowl, when the Crimson Tide was a 14.5-favorite over Okla- homa, though it did not cover in a 45-34 victory. Earlier that day, Clemson was an 11.5-point favorite over the Irish and recorded a 30-3 victory prior to also demolishing Alabama (44-16) for the national title more than a week later. Among the 14 CFP semifinal games (including the two to be played this Jan. 1), four had a team favored by double digits — and Notre Dame was/is that underdog in two of them. The fourth was the 2016 Peach Bowl semifinal when Alabama was a 14-point favorite versus Washington and won 24-7. Head coaches Brian Kelly and Nick Saban last met in the BCS Na- tional Championship Game in Janu- ary 2013. Even though No. 1-ranked Notre Dame was 12-0 and allow- ing only 10.3 points per game, the 12-1 Crimson Tide was installed as a 9.5-point favorite. As much as the Irish tried to use the "disrespect card," Alabama dis- played its dominance, taking a 28-0 lead by halftime that soon stretched to 35-0 before putting it in cruise con- trol in the 42-14 victory. On one hand, Alabama subcon- sciously could feel overconfident about this game, while Notre Dame is the wounded animal determined to redeem itself and show the college football world it indeed does belong among the top echelon. On the other, the 52-46 SEC Cham- pionship outcome probably was the ideal result for Saban — a victory, but enough deficiencies on defense to fire up that unit to also atone. Count on Saban to use his "rat poison" speech on his heavily favored squad. Back in 2017 after beating Texas A&M only 27-19, Saban noted how players buying into the outside world telling them how superb they are can be detrimental. "I'm trying to get our players to listen to me instead of listening to you guys," he told the media after that close win versus the Aggies. "All that stuff you write about how good we are, all that stuff they hear on ESPN, it's like poison. It's like taking poison. "Like rat poison." NICK'S KNACK Amos Alonzo Stagg, Ara Par- seghian and Nick Saban. That is the elite list of coaches who were or are 4-0 all time against Notre Dame. Stagg's University of Chicago Ma- roons achieved it from 1893-99, when the Fighting Irish were in the infancy of their program. Parseghian accomplished it at Northwestern in four consecu- tive years from 1959-62, and it sig- nificantly aided his hiring at Notre Dame in December 1963 that would result in two consensus national titles and a shared one in his 11 seasons from 1964-74. And now, Saban will attempt to become the first to get to 5-0 against the Fighting Irish. It began with a 3-0 mark — wins in 1997 (23-7), 1998 (45-23) and 1999 (23-13) — during a three-year stretch at Michigan State. The fourth was the 42-14 triumph in the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 7, 2013. That dominant win gave Saban the fourth of his six overall national titles, with the first coming at LSU in 2003 and the other five at Alabama since 2009. Saban joins five other coaches who defeated the Irish at different schools: Howard Jones (Iowa and USC), Johnny Majors (Pittsburgh and Ten- nessee), Dennis Erickson (Miami and Oregon State), Todd Graham (Tulsa and Arizona State) and Jim Har- baugh (Stanford and Michigan). ✦ GAME PREVIEW: ALABAMA The Crimson Tide's Nick Saban will attempt to become the first opposing head coach to compile an all-time record of 5-0 against Notre Dame. PHOTO COURTESY CRIMSON TIDE PHOTO/UA ATHLETICS Predictions Todd Burlage: Alabama 42, Notre Dame 17 And we all thought Clemson was loaded on offense. Alabama is scoring 49.7 points per game and, other than No. 7 Florida, it has beaten each of its 10 other opponents by at least 15 points. With six projected first-round picks in the 2021 NFL Draft in the Crimson Tide lineup, the talent advantage over Notre Dame may be bigger than the nearly three-touchdown spread. Patrick Engel: Alabama 41, Notre Dame 27 I'm not going to bet on an offense that averaged 49.7 points in 11 SEC games suddenly failing to reach 30 points for the first time since 2018. Alabama's defense is not the brick wall Notre Dame faced in the 2013 BCS title game, but it's still upper-level. The Irish will acquit themselves better than they did in the ACC Championship, but not quite enough to topple the king. Andrew Mentock: Alabama 45, Notre Dame 27 DeVonta Smith and the other Alabama wide receivers expose Notre Dame's secondary early while building a double-digit lead. The Irish come on in the second quarter with a pair of touchdowns, and it's a one-score game at the half. Alabama turns up the heat in the second half and covers the initial 17.5-point spread. Mike Singer: Alabama 37, Notre Dame 24 Notre Dame has a very, very good football team this season, but Alabama is just on a different level. The "gap" is closer than it's been in the past decade. Nick Saban's squad is too good to lose this game, though. Lou Somogyi: Alabama 33, Notre Dame 20 I'm anticipating a strong-willed and prideful performance from the Fighting Irish in a nothing-to-lose, what-tho'-the-odds situation. The defense will force field goals, as it did against Clemson on Nov. 7, and hold Alabama to its lowest point total this year. A defensive or special teams touchdown would help a lot, too.