Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 10, 2014

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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IN THE TRENCHES ANDREW OWENS epidemic across the country, not just an issue in Irish circles — the weekend proved to be a fitting reminder that Notre Dame first needs to take care of its own business or else the playoff conversation will be rendered moot. Including this year 's tilt, Navy has either beaten the Irish or come dangerously close in six of the last eight meetings. The Midshipmen run a solid program and play a unique brand of football that consistently gives Notre Dame, as well as other "Power Five" schools, fits. Just this season, Navy trailed Ohio State 20- 17 in the fourth quarter before the Buckeyes eventually pulled away for a 34-17 victory. "I challenge anybody to put these guys on their schedule," head coach Brian Kelly said after the game. "Ev- erybody thinks Navy is an easy team to play. It's very, very difficult — and I've got some great defensive coaches back there." Until Notre Dame makes its own statement — and it can do so at Ari- zona State in its next game — it will be a prisoner of the moment. "They're not worthy of a playoff berth," critics will claim. "They barely beat Navy!" That's the problem with college foot- ball's version of recency bias, and it's something the playoff selection com- mittee claims it will fix. Instead of putting out an initial top 25 and simply rewriting a newer ver- sion of that poll each week, the commit- tee claims it will start from scratch each time. That's important — a September win against Texas A&M or an October triumph over Stanford doesn't carry the same weight it did at the time of the game. Résumés change, and the com- mittee needs to consider every detail. Notre Dame entered November needing to add five games to the win column. It passed the first test, though not easily, against Navy. The question marks the Irish might have created nationally with a close win over the Midshipmen can be thrown out the window with a strong win against the Sun Devils. "We're happy that it's over," soph- omore linebacker Jaylon Smith said. "We can go back to quote-unquote regular football now. We know how to enjoy a victory for 24 hours, and then get ready for Arizona State." The mantra remains the same: If Notre Dame takes care of its own busi- ness and wins out during a grueling November, it has a strong chance of reaching the College Football Playoff. Several top-10 opponents will bow out in the coming weeks, and the Irish need to make sure they don't fall in that column. "It's positive," sophomore running back Tarean Folston said of the narrow win over the Midshipmen. "Every- thing that we did tonight is positive. We're moving forward into the fourth quarter of the season and we need to continue to win out … and play Notre Dame football." If they do that, it will be quite a state- ment. ✦ Andrew Owens has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2013. He can be reached at aowens@blueandgold.com

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