IN THE TRENCHES ANDREW OWENS
M
ore than ever, every aspect
from every game is scrutinized
and challenged in the race to
assemble the best four-team College
Football Playoff field.
Style points are emphasized and ev-
eryone has their criteria for determin-
ing a top four, but in the end it will
only matter what the 12 people chosen
to make the decision think about con-
tending teams.
Entering Notre Dame's final game
at Stanford Nov. 28, the Irish were in
the thick of that conversation. Notre
Dame will travel to Palo Alto, Calif.,
after consecutive poor — or at least un-
derwhelming — performances in a 28-7
win over Wake Forest and 19-16 victory
against Boston College.
In Notre Dame fans' ideal world,
the Irish would've soundly beaten the
ACC bottom feeders and added style
doing so. Regardless of how Notre
Dame stacks up with Oklahoma, Iowa,
Michigan State and others right now,
the Irish must win at Stanford for the
first time since 2007.
"We got a victory today, and we've
got to play one more game. All we're
thinking about is Stanford," fifth-year
Will Simply Winning Be Enough?
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly's team is right where it hoped to be during the preseason — knocking
on the door of a College Football Playoff invitation.
PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA
