Yo--ND fan here. Not surprised by the outcome. Based on the game mid-3rd quarter, I was surprised that ND managed to inject any excitement into the game at all--and I'm surprised they managed to make it as close as they did. I predicted an 11-point loss (although with slightly different numbers) in my family pool. So I guess I have that going for me. Hurt SFIrish a lot more than it hurt me. She was muttering about "36 years..." and I was thinking it would be nice if my team ever won a national title.
I'm amused because I think the first time I ever posted on this board was after the 2005(?) bowl game that Ohio State trounced ND in (was it the Fiesta?).
Deja vu, all over again. Or something.
Ohio State deserved it. Freeman is a good (maybe great?) coach, but man, OSU made that defense look silly most of the night. I do wonder about that 3rd down call at the end. Had to know they wanted to get the ball to #4, right? The defensive play call begged OSU to do exactly what seemed like the obvious thing in that situation: throw the ball up to your best receiver, 1 on 1, and hope that he makes the play. Why not pull one guy out of that blitz and make it a little harder to hit #4?
Anyhoo--not too upset about it all. OSU looked great most of the night. ND needed a better defense, or more luck--probably both.
ND under Freeman looks pretty good. I wish the Badgers could be upset about losing the national title game.
