Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME SHOULD IRISH HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY BE MORE VOCAL ABOUT HIS TEAM DESERVING A SPOT IN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME? Point ✦ Counterpoint: Right To Remain Silent Anything you say can and most certainly will be used against you in the court of public opinion. You have the right to an attorney, but neither you nor he should be plead- ing your case in front of any court for a top-two ranking. Sure, you could talk Mr. Kelly, you have the right to remain silent. By Dan Murphy about your team's No. 1 scoring defense or the five ranked teams you beat or even a signature win over Oklahoma on the road. Everyone who is going to determine your fate knows all the talking points. They know all the rebuttals, too. No head coach has ever been smooth enough to talk his way into a championship if his team wasn't already deemed worthy. Noth- ing good can come of it. But there is plenty of Make Some Noise knock on voters' doors. Run television ads. Sling some mud. If we learned anything from the latest presidential race, it's that politics continue to get nastier and nastier. But at least the way in which a candidate is selected is fair. The BCS? Not so much. That's why Start a campaign. Send out fliers. Have people By Wes Morgan Kelly has gone on record to say that he will lobby for his team if it finishes the regular season 12-0, but until then he is going to focus bad if things go awry. If your team slips and falls short of 12-0, the fingers will point directly at a coach who looked too far ahead. Your team is too mature to actually get distracted by a few throwaway sound bites, but the rest of the world won't see that if you do lose for any reason. You said once you were done with politics. I suggest you remain a man of your (lack of) word. on winning games. PHOTO BY MIKE BENNETT/LIGHTHOUSE IMAGING burgh and Boston College. The mar- gin of victory in those two games was something Notre Dame could control. What hurt were overrated Michigan (7-3) and Michigan State (5-5) squads, both ranked in the top 20 when the Irish won, combining for eight losses, and three-point wins over Purdue and BYU. There's no need for political spin. unbelievable defense isn't enough. There's noth- ing to be lost by saying it loud and saying it proud: "Notre Dame deserves to play in the national championship because …" Take a shot at Oregon's defense. Discount K-State's schedule. Do whatever it takes. Dig up some dirt on Chip Kelly. Opportuni- ties like this don't come around very often. it's important to make some noise. Time is running out, and Notre Dame's No. 3 position in the polls isn't likely to improve even if the Fighting Irish win out and finish 12-0. If No. 1 Kansas State and No. 2 Oregon do the same, Kelly will look back and wonder what he could have done differently to sway the vote. It would have helped to smoke Pitts- Notre Dame isn't Boise State. But it's time Kelly causes a scene and gets folks' attention, because obviously playing