Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IN THE TRENCHES ANDREW OWENS In that statement, Kelly likely summed up the most important sto- ryline for both teams heading into the Jan. 1 clash in the desert — mo- tivation. Just weeks prior to the bowl an- nouncement, Ohio State was No. 3 and Notre Dame No. 4 in the College Foot- ball Playoff rankings. The Buckeyes lost 17-14 to Michigan State Nov. 21, while the Irish slipped out of the cov- eted top four with underwhelming wins over Wake Forest (28-7) and Bos- ton College (19-16) before the remain- ing hopes vanished with a 38-36 loss at Stanford Nov. 28. "We had a season that's going to go down in history at Notre Dame. We've been very successful and obviously we're right around four points away from being one of the top teams in the country," sophomore quarterback De- Shone Kizer said. "Now we're going to go play a team that's one field goal away from being one of the top teams in the country. "Just to have the opportunity to go out and prove ourselves one last time is going to be awesome." Both teams had plans to be at a na- tional semifinal Dec. 31, but instead the powerhouse brands will face off the following day with pride and a New Year's Six win on the line. Will that be enough to motivate the defending champion Buckeyes? How about the Irish, who have professed since early August that the sole mis- sion was to reach the College Football Playoff? "We need to play well, and we need to win the game to validate where we are as a football program," Kelly said. "I think that we've shown that this year, but we're going to get one more challenge against what could be the best team in the country. "Who's to say they're not? I know the committee decided who the four were, but you could take any one of eight teams and make the case for them. We've got one more challenge on our hands, and that's to play well against Ohio State." For a program that has fallen short of a major bowl win for 22 years, beat- ing a program chock-full of NFL talent would be a crucial step in legitimizing Notre Dame football now and for as long as Kelly decides to stay in South Bend. One of those opportunities on the national stage during the past two de- cades came 10 years ago when these programs met in the Fiesta Bowl, with OSU winning 34-20. Urban Meyer was not yet with Ohio State, but had spurned Notre Dame's advances a year prior. Since then, he has won three national championships at two schools, while the Irish have struggled to consistently remain in the top 25, never mind among the nation's elite. There might not be a champion- ship game berth on the line Jan. 1, but winning in the desert should still mean something. Especially for Notre Dame. ✦ Andrew Owens has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2013. He can be reached at aowens@blueandgold.com