Notre Dame vs. Miami: Stakes, Strengths and Predictions

I got a beef here with my friend, Kevin Watson. Last week, he goes, you know, without taking a shot, it's a subtle, you know, slap a little bit. He said, the ACC sucks. And I'm like, I agree with him, which made me think, is he saying Miami hasn't played anybody? Well, I say to you, Kevin, who has Notre Dame played? I mean, Wisconsin got trucked and dragged by Iowa this past weekend. They kind of struggled the same way a little bit against North Carolina, whose Notre Dame played this year. So, Wisconsin might be like the third best team if they were in the ACC. They did lose to BYU, but they still played BYU. Like, that game still happened. They beat North Carolina by more than Miami beat North Carolina. Although, shout out Belichick, like that UNC team. Here's, okay, here's the deal. People are going to try and say that, you know, oh, you're unfair to the ACC. Here's how I know I'm not. I host college football today on this network. I talk to Dan every week about college football. I love college football. Do you know how I found out the result of Florida State-Clemson when they told me Norvell got fired? I didn't even know. I didn't know the result of the game because those two teams that are supposed to be the other linchpins of this conference are so bad and irrelevant that we didn't cover FSU-Clemson on the show. I didn't bet FSU-Clemson, and I didn't care about FSU-Clemson. So don't get mad at me. Listen, Notre Dame can hopefully handle their business. Miami are handling their business. Let's just kumbaya. It's not our fault that everybody else is a mess. Got it here. But I do love to point out that Miami does have a win against the top 15 team. Notre Dame does not. So we will have that this weekend here. Oh, I get it. I'm with you. Hey, listen, I'll kid aside, Kevin. Miami hasn't played anybody. And I don't know who Mensah is. And I don't know who Tony is. I know they're fabulous football players. And I have been always critical of, you know, you have to play great football teams. I think that BYU game is going to be more essential to this football game this weekend for Notre Dame than any other game they've played this year. Because when you're in big games like that, you know the type of level and the speed of the game you're going to need to play in a game like this. Miami hasn't played in a game like this all year. They haven't. I do think that they're going to be some, there probably will be. Some real nerves for Notre Dame, right? Listen, we're going to have fun, you and I, with this, right? But just from entering into this game, if Notre Dame lose, it will possibly end their season. And all of a sudden, Freeman, who I think is a heck of a coach, will have to look in the mirror and figure out what's going on here. Why, why after a run to the national championship, if we spend two straight seasons feeling like we have one of the best teams in the country, but we can't actually put the wins up when they matter. And what's very interesting to me is if you are out there, a Notre Dame believer or someone who doesn't even believe in Miami, well, the books aren't giving you any type of discount to get in. I mean, I'm seeing five and a half right now. I know home field advantage is, of course, a piece of it, but the books are telling you that Notre Dame are obviously the better team than Miami. I don't think that's fair at all. Again, as an Irish guy, to say Notre Dame are obviously better than Miami, that evidence isn't available to us right now, guys. I think this is a last possession game. I think it's one of those kind of football games. Last year, correct me if I'm wrong, Kev, I think the score was 28-24. I think it's kind of right in that room again this year in South Bend. And I don't really know who ends up getting the victory here. I do think it's going to be a last possession. And if I had to pick the unit for these two teams, I think Notre Dame's defense is going to be the key in this ballgame. If they are able to stop that offense, Notre Dame wins this ballgame. I'm glad you said it. So this is the area of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish that I am most fascinated by. The defensive numbers are all great, but that's where the who have you played comes in. We go back to the game against BYU. And in the first half, they were kind of lifeless. And then in the second half, BYU didn't have a prayer. I mean, they couldn't move the ball. And then, of course, because this is how football works, they did when it mattered. And they put the drive together. We can joke again about who's played who. Notre Dame haven't seen an offense like the Miami Hurricanes. They have not. And for every single one of these guys on the Irish defense who think they're going inside the first round, top 60 draft picks, this is it. This is where it happens. People say, oh, Leonard Moore did a great job with Malachi Tone last year. Congrats. A true freshman's first ever game that nobody, and also I don't even know if that's true. So, there's a lot to be figured out from that side of the ball for Notre Dame. Notre Dame should not have a problem scoring. This is something that you and I have discussed a little bit. Like, the Miami defense would let you get involved.