Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/601719
UNDER THE DOME "I'd say my 12 games are harder than their 13. I'd take a 13th if they'd let me." — Head coach Brian Kelly on the Rich Eisen Radio Show (four of the five power conferences hold a championship game, leaving only the Big 12 and independent Notre Dame without a 13th game) "I really don't. If I'm sitting there looking at the teams, I think being in it now for 25-plus years, you're looking at strength of schedule, the eye test, who they played, how they've played, and I think we all want to get it right, get the four best teams and have them play. I don't think that you can stumble more than once. I think that's where the cutoff point is. "You can't be inconsistent and be really good, because that can't be part of the equation. But I have no problem with one loss in that group." — Kelly on whether a one-loss team should be able to finish ahead of an undefeated squad in the College Football Playoff rankings "That Notre Dame team, because everything they have been through [injuries] … Now that the com- mittee has put them at No. 4, they keep winning games, including Stanford at the end of the year, I would not want to be behind Notre Dame with four weeks to go. "If Notre Dame wins out, based on what they have already done and what they have left to play, that will leave the Pac-12 and potentially the Big 12 on the outside looking in." — ESPN/ABC lead analyst Kirk Herbstreit's reaction after the College Football Playoff selection committee slotted Notre Dame No. 4 in the Nov. 10 rankings "We went 1-0 this week. We know if we continue to go 1-0, [reaching the playoff is] something that could end up happening. Until then, we're going to continue to play out this great schedule we have at Notre Dame." — Sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer when asked about the team's favorable position in the College Football Playoff rankings THEY SAID IT "Projected as a 2016 first-round pick, Jackson will have a chance to show what he can do this season as a featured scorer. The past history of coach Mike Brey's featured scorers suggests the results could be very impressive indeed." ESPN.com on ranking junior point guard Demetrius Jackson as the 13th-best player in the nation entering the season TWEET OF THE WEEK @JerryTillery: "This team is on a mission. #notdoneyet" Freshman nose guard Jerry Tillery on Notre Dame's pursuit of a College Football Playoff berth PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND