CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: ELA on January 03, 2025, 03:24:12 PM
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Can't wait to watch this with my PSU fan BIL (who has never been to Happy Valley) and my Notre Dame fan FIL (who has never been to South Bend).
In case anyone wonders why this is the ultimate hate Final 4
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we might never see a team have such an easy path to a Natty appearance as Penn State.
Penn State has to play SMU (Lmfao), Boise State (LOL), and ND in order to make it to the final dance. No disrespect to ND, but do they win that game if Carson Beck doesn't get hurt? I doubt it.
Ohio State had to play...Tennessee, Oregon, and Texas.
Franklin is just failing upwards. It's incredible.
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Carson Beck went from being a massive disappointment to being why Georgia lost
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we might never see a team have such an easy path to a Natty appearance as Penn State.
Penn State has to play SMU (Lmfao), Boise State (LOL), and ND in order to make it to the final dance. No disrespect to ND, but do they win that game if Carson Beck doesn't get hurt? I doubt it.
Ohio State had to play...Tennessee, Oregon, and Texas.
Franklin is just failing upwards. It's incredible.
I liked because I agree that PSU's path has been ridiculously easy. However, I think it is an overstatement to say that Franklin is "failing". He had a rough 2020 but since then they've been pretty good. PSU losses 2021-2024 (final rank that season):
- 2021 Iowa (by a FG) #23
- 2021 Illinois (9OT) nr
- 2021 Ohio State (by 9 on the road) #6
- 2021 Michigan (by 4) #3
- 2021 Michigan State (by a FG) #9
- 2021 Arkansas (by 2 TD's) #21
- 2022 Michigan (by a lot) #3
- 2022 Ohio State (by a TD) #4
- 2023 Ohio State (by 8 on the road) #10
- 2023 Michigan (by 9 at home) #1
- 2023 Ole Miss (by 13) #9
- 2024 Ohio State (by a TD) Final ranking TBD but tOSU is one of the last four standing
- 2024 Oregon (by 8) Final ranking TBD but Oregon was #1 in the last poll before their loss to tOSU
In four years they've had 13 (14 if they don't win the NC) losses but 10 (11) were to teams that finished in the top-10. Obviously everybody wants to win those games but the teams that finish in the top-10 don't lose much and since 2021 they haven't lost to a team that finished outside the top-10.
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Athletic pointed out that he only has one loss as a favorite, and it was against Ole Miss in an irrelevant bowl game. You would think he would win a game as an underdog at some point, but he also doesn't lose games as a favorite
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Athletic pointed out that he only has one loss as a favorite, and it was against Ole Miss in an irrelevant bowl game. You would think he would win a game as an underdog at some point, but he also doesn't lose games as a favorite
Winning the games you are supposed to win is a highly under-appreciated accomplishment. Ryan Day similarly, hadn't lost to an unranked team until Michigan this year.
People say it is easy but if it was easy, everyone would do it:
- Ask #11 Alabama how easy it is to beat unranked teams. They missed the CFP because they lost not once but twice to unranked teams.
- Ask #13 Miami how easy it is to beat unranked teams. They missed the CFP because they lost to unranked Syracuse.
- Ask #14 Ole Miss how easy it is to beat unranked teams. They missed the CFP because they lost not once by twice to unranked teams.
- Ask LSU how easy it is to beat unranked teams. They lost to one (Florida) and another that was ranked when the game was played but finished unranked (USC). LSU would be in the CFP if they had won those.
- Ask aTm how easy it is to beat unranked teams. They missed the CFP because they lost not once but twice to unranked teams.
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Two good defenses with solid defensive lines. Notre Dame moves the ball on the ground well, with a game managing QB who isn't likely to gift a lot to the other side. Penn State is a balanced team with a better throwing game, also unlikely to throw many INTs.
They had two common opponents. Both destroyed Purdue, ND by a little more. Both had to fight to beat USC in Los Angeles, though PSU needed OT, whereas ND dominated the 3rd quarter to give themselves a solid, if not safe, lead to the end. If those common opponents tell us anything, ND has an edge, but within a reasonable margin of error.
ND's win over Georgia was a "better" playoff win than PSU has, but it's not as though they had any impressive offensive production. ND dominated Indiana more than the score showed, but PSU stomped SMU and easily dispatched Boise State.
I expect a low scoring, defensive battle. A "classic" kind of a college football game between a pair of traditional Kings of the sport. In this kind of a game, turnovers and the kicking game feel like they will rule the day. The kicking game is a place ND should be somewhat concerned. Their kicker and their return for a touchdown essentially won the Georgia game for them, but throughout the season their field goals were a bit like my golf game: you never really know what you're going to get, and it's not what you want more often than you'd care to admit.
I think ND is rightly ever so slightly favored, but don't be surprised if this is a 13-12 kind of a game, with one team staring down a FG for the win at the end of regulation.
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In four years they've had 13 (14 if they don't win the NC) losses but 10 (11) were to teams that finished in the top-10. Obviously everybody wants to win those games but the teams that finish in the top-10 don't lose much and since 2021 they haven't lost to a team that finished outside the top-10.
Yeah, I've always hated the "well they have trouble beating top-10 teams!" as a criticism of a program.
MOST schools have trouble beating top-10 teams. That's because top-10 teams are usually pretty effin' good!
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Idk call me crazy but Franklin has been there what 11-12 seasons and has how many wins over Michigan or Ohio State combined? Two? Maybe three?
Big Game James beats up on patsies and then gets his shit pushed in whenever he faces an equal or better team.
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well, better teams
by Vegas lines
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In four years they've had 13 (14 if they don't win the NC) losses but 10 (11) were to teams that finished in the top-10. Obviously everybody wants to win those games but the teams that finish in the top-10 don't lose much and since 2021 they haven't lost to a team that finished outside the top-10.
How many have they played
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Carson Beck went from being a massive disappointment to being why Georgia lost
I disagree with the latter point, and think his poor performance relatively is due to losing two pass catchers of note in particular, and playing a tougher slate.
I think Stockton played "about as well" as Beck would have, I did think Gunner was slow to get rid of the ball often as not. UGA had more total yards and a lot fewer rushing yards, you don't often win running for 66 yards in 29 attempts. Two turnovers to naught and a kick off return for 6, few teams overcome that.
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I disagree with the latter point, and think his poor performance relatively is due to losing two pass catchers of note in particular, and playing a tougher slate.
I think Stockton played "about as well" as Beck would have, I did think Gunner was slow to get rid of the ball often as not. UGA had more total yards and a lot fewer rushing yards, you don't often win running for 66 yards in 29 attempts. Two turnovers to naught and a kick off return for 6, few teams overcome that.
I just saw a bunch of people saying ND "beat Georgia's backup QB", after wondering what was wrong with Beck for the 2nd half of the season
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I don't think Gunner is why UGA lost, at all.
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he started well
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This was a mystery UGA team all season, to me. They stopped Texas' running game cold, and UMass ran all over the same defense. Carson Beck had a great first year and often looked lost in his second year. The OL was seasoned and deep but couldn't seem to generate much of a running attack. Their WR dropped a record number of passes.
They had a LB who won the LB national award (Butkus) and several others who had been excellent in years past.
Just a weird team, to me, but some of the above is due to losing Bowers. Bowers caught a lot of balls that were a bit off target than most TEs wouldn't, and McConkey was a great route runner with sure hands. I think those two players made up much of he difference.
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Winning the games you are supposed to win is a highly under-appreciated accomplishment. Ryan Day similarly, hadn't lost to an unranked team until Michigan this year.
People say it is easy but if it was easy, everyone would do it:
- Ask #11 Alabama how easy it is to beat unranked teams. They missed the CFP because they lost not once but twice to unranked teams.
- Ask #13 Miami how easy it is to beat unranked teams. They missed the CFP because they lost to unranked Syracuse.
- Ask #14 Ole Miss how easy it is to beat unranked teams. They missed the CFP because they lost not once by twice to unranked teams.
- Ask LSU how easy it is to beat unranked teams. They lost to one (Florida) and another that was ranked when the game was played but finished unranked (USC). LSU would be in the CFP if they had won those.
- Ask aTm how easy it is to beat unranked teams. They missed the CFP because they lost not once but twice to unranked teams.
So you're saying the SEC is really deep?
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Not a good take there.
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I think Notre Dame wins this easily. The Irish defense is quite good.
Notre Dame 34
Penn State 10
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The SEC spin cycle has been cranked up to turbo this postseason. Bucha carnival barkers.
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I think Notre Dame wins this easily. The Irish defense is quite good.
Notre Dame 34
Penn State 10
I don't think it will be easy but I'm takin the Irish
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I’m quite biased, but our defense is also quite good (especially if Carter can play).
Penn State 28
Notre Dame 24
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The SEC spin cycle has been cranked up to turbo this postseason. Bucha carnival barkers.
I don't disagree in spirit, because the SEC is always spinning something, but curious what specifically you're referencing? Because there are a lot of spin options available...
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This is odd for me. Ordinarily, I'd root against Notre Dame unless they were playing the Taliban (even then it would be difficult) but I REALLY don't like rematches especially when my team won the first game. I just think it is tough to beat a team twice so if Ohio State manages to beat Texas in Dallas (a big "if"), I'd rather they face Notre Dame in Atlanta than a rematch with Penn State. OTOH, if my Buckeyes lose in Dallas then I would strongly prefer Notre Dame to lose this game.
I guess I'll just be a disinterested observer.
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I think Penn State is a solidly good team, but not a spectacularly good team. A notch below OSU and Oregon, as we've seen. I'm sticking with my low-scoring prediction, but I think PSU needs some turnovers to win this game. A bunch of 18-22 year olds could very well commit some turnovers. In its loss to NIU, ND threw two INTs and missed two field goals. That's the recipe for a PSU win. Not that PSU is the same as NIU, but ND isn't going to light up the scoreboard, not against PSU's defense.
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Notre Dame is the perfect matchup for Penn State. Notre Dame is a one dimensional team that can't throw the football. Penn State literally could not have had an easier road to a Natty appearance....SMU, Boise State, and now Notre Dame.
As long as Penn State doesn't give up a big special teams play TD (unlike Georgia) and as long as Drew Allar does not turn it over- Penn State wins going away. Take care of the football on offense and don't give up a special teams score and Notre Dame will have serious trouble driving the length of the field to score points.
The great equalizer in this game however is James Franklin. He'll find someway or somehow to fuck it all up. It's just what he does.
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Yeah, I've always hated the "well they have trouble beating top-10 teams!" as a criticism of a program.
MOST schools have trouble beating top-10 teams. That's because top-10 teams are usually pretty effin' good!
The correct criticism, imo, is not "He can't beat Top 10" teams since as pointed out, most teams aren't favored against a top 10 team. Rather, it's why isn't PSU a legit top 10 team more often? In other words, why can't Franklin field a team that is not a consistent dog to top teams?
I give him credit for beating who he's supposed to and only losing to who he's supposed to, but it's still a fair knock to argue his list of People I Should Lose To should be, on the whole, shorter, across time.
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I’m quite biased, but our defense is also quite good (especially if Carter can play).
Penn State 28
Notre Dame 24
I think it'll be something like that.
I'd actually go
Penn State- 20
Notre Dame - 17
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The correct criticism, imo, is not "He can't beat Top 10" teams since as pointed out, most teams aren't favored against a top 10 team. Rather, it's why isn't PSU a legit top 10 team more often? In other words, why can't Franklin field a team that is not a consistent dog to top teams?
have you tried to recruit top ten classes to Happy Valley, Pennsylvania???
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Are these the 4 best teams? Or more precisely, is the best team one of these four?
This is what I don't like about this year's version of this playoff.
Ohio State very well could be the best team....but they lost twice, including to an average UM team.
They revenged their other loss, which is a plus, and by a much larger MOV, another good sign.
But in this format, OSU lost to Oregon and the Ducks went on to win the rest of their games as OSU lost to UM.
So OSU loses to Oregon, loses to another team, but then just needs to beat Oregon in a rematch to advance further than the team with fewer losses that they split with. Hmmph.
ND could be the best team. Great season aside from the rogue-wave loss. Most national champs have their close call, often to some random-ass teams of varying quality. One brain fart game doesn't prevent them from possibly actually being the best team/season.
Penn State is probably not the best team...in the Big Ten. They've only lost to very good teams, but that's true every season. They get to advance by avoiding big-boy teams and playing G5 teams (SMU was G5 until this year). Hmph.
Texas probably isn't the best team. They had 2 shots at UGA and lost both. Both were close, but both were losses. It's hard to be the best team in the country when you're someone's bitch.
Oregon is far more likely to be the best team, compared to either Penn St or Texas is, right? So is this a good system?
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Playoffs have only ever determined a tournament champion, not necessarily a "best team" but that's nothing new. Same as it ever was.
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Then why do we lie and call them champions?
I don't expect perfection or even prudence, but I don't understand the willful intellectual dishonesty. With this, with the Heisman, etc.
Do what you're doing, just don't lie about it. Right?
The oddest lies are the unnecessary ones.
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I think Texas, Ohio St. or ND could be the best team in the country this season
more likely Ohio St. or ND
I think it's very likely if one of them wins their next two games against that competition
if Texas wins against Ohio St. and then beats the Irish, who's to say the horns weren't the best team?
the Dawgs might speak up, but they also had their chance
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With a backup QB. How would ND or Penn State fare with their backup QB?
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pretty sure every team is playing with a backup or two in January
similar to FSU last season
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FSU sucked without Travis. You're agreeing with me. So just agree with me.
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Georgia lost two games this season with their starter. They may or may not be the best team in the country but they were hardly invincible with their starting QB. There's no reason to believe they wouldn't have lost another game in the playoff with that starter.
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you didn't want FSU in the 4 team playoff w/o their QB last season
Georgia isn't in the final 4 this year
we agree again
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The committee had them in and gave them 2 games to show they were still elite.....they weren't.
Georgia did lose twice.....and Oregon was undefeated. Yet here we are.
Ask Texas how good Georgia is.
OSU has 2 losses and everyone is crowning them the NC.
In a year where the top 4 seeds all lost, maybe ranking teams by number of losses will now be viewed as childish. Oregon had a big, round zero in the loss column....didn't seem to matter.
Maybe Herbstreit wasn't so silly after all....especially if you listen to the very next sentence after the widely-shared quote of 'absurdity.'
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Clearly, the "best team" has a relatively small shot at winning the NC. Most of the CFP teams are very good, if not elite, and can win, or lose, against most of the others on a given day. All it takes is a tipped pass, a missed penalty, turnovers, some unpredictable play in a close game to decide it.
Playoffs are not meant to determine the "best team". "We" call the winner "national champion" out of historical tradition. Is there any other kind?
There is no practcable way to determine who is the "best team". I guess we could have "experts" vote on it.
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bitter drunken sportswriters?
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bitter drunken sportswriters?
Ed Zackery in particular would be my choice.
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Clearly, the "best team" has a relatively small shot at winning the NC.
Gator Guys argument is the 9-7 Giants beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2012 for a 2nd time. But I agree about stopping at 4 or 6 in the CFB POs,the season has to count
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At this moment, I suspect "sportwriters" would vote Ohio State #1, but ND would get some votes too, and Texas might get a couple.
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well, it was very regional, so .............
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have you tried to recruit top ten classes to Happy Valley, Pennsylvania???
Is Happy Valley a particularly bad craphole compared to all the other craphole college towns that still bring in top classes? Does PSU lack any elite players? If you can get some of them, you can get others.
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(https://s3media.247sports.com/Uploads/Assets/723/858/12858723.jpeg)
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This is a very interesting game. I guess I haven't personally been sold on Penn State all year. I think Allar, even though he's a local kid that grew up a stone throw from MB and a 5 minute car ride from me, I believe he's wildly overrated. I'm still surprised Penn State has found a way to make it this far as they should have lost to Minnesota, scrambled to beat USC late which could have easily been an L and mightily struggled against a very mediocre Bowling Green team. They did play OSU tough, which imo was their best performance of the season even though it was a loss. I think their path has been favorable.
Both defenses are indeed solid defenses so on paper looks like it will be a lower scoring, close game that will boil down to one factor. Coaching. I think Franklin chokes in key situations and I think Freeman is an incredible coach that is just beginning to hit his potential. Sure, we can claim Franklin's losses are to top 10 teams, but that's not just it.. he chokes in big moments where his team could have won and probably would have won with better coaching. With two even teams, I'll put the advantage on the shoulders of Freeman. The Buckeye will carry his boys to the title game.
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In a year where the top 4 seeds all lost, maybe ranking teams by number of losses will now be viewed as childish. Oregon had a big, round zero in the loss column....didn't seem to matter.
On thing that *SHOULD* change but probably will not is that in the era of 16-18 team mega-conferences, we can no longer view all SEC schedules nor all B1G schedules as equal.
Compare the toughest (based on conference record) to easiest B1G games for Ohio State and Indiana (Ohio State listed first):
- 9-0 Oregon / 7-2 Ohio State
- 8-1 Penn State / 5-4 Michigan
- 8-1 Indiana / 4-5 Washington
- 6-3 Iowa / 3-6 Nebraska
- 5-4 Michigan / 3-6 MSU
- 3-6 Nebraska / 3-6 UCLA
- 3-6 MSU / 2-7 Northwestern
- 2-7 Northwestern / 1-8 Maryland
- 0-9 Purdue / 0-9 Purdue
You can certainly argue the specific merits of individual teams. For example, based on the RB result, Indiana's toughest game was arguably tougher than Ohio State's. However, the bottom line is that Indiana played only two B1G teams that finished with winning records in the league and they went 1-1 in those games. Ohio State played five such teams and went 3-2. My point is that these two league schedules, despite both being B1G schedules, are nowhere close to equal.
Similarly from the SEC, here are Florida's and Mizzou's 2024 SEC opponents sorted by SEC record (Florida listed first):
- 7-1 Texas / 5-3 Bama
- 6-2 Georgia / 5-3 USCe
- 6-2 Tennessee / 5-3 aTm
- 5-3 Ole Miss / 3-5 Arky
- 5-3 LSU / 3-5 Vandy
- 5-3 aTm / 2-6 Oklahoma
- 1-7 Kentucky / 2-6 Auburn
- 0-8 MissSt / 0-8 MissSt
You can again argue the merits of individual teams but the bottom line is that Mizzou played three SEC teams that finished with winning records in the league and lost to all three. Florida played twice as many winning SEC teams and went 2-4 against them. Mizzou finished 5-3 in the SEC while Florida finished 4-4 but it is pretty obvious that Florida was a MUCH better team they just had a MUCH tougher SEC schedule.
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Florida is an interesting team, they came on late when I thought they might completely fold. Their coach was "almost" fired, and then they started playing quite tough. Lagway is a good young mobile QB who will improve. But, to your point, some SEC teams also dodged the better teams a lot more than others.
Missouri this year never impressed me after the start, they were edging poor teams barely and missing most upper level teams.
They were like Indiana somewhat, only worse.
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Florida is an interesting team, they came on late when I thought they might completely fold. Their coach was "almost" fired, and then they started playing quite tough. Lagway is a good young mobile QB who will improve. But, to your point, some SEC teams also dodged the better teams a lot more than others.
Florida did come on late in that their two big wins (5-3 LSU and 5-3 Ole Miss) were their last two SEC games. In the four games prior to that Florida went 1-3 but to their credit the three losses were to the three best teams in the SEC.
It is hard to say how much of it is coming on late and how much is just the way the schedule worked out. I mean, if they had defeated LSU and Ole Miss earlier in the season then lost their last two SEC games to Georgia and Texas people would probably say that they "folded down the stretch" but those are the exact same results just in a different order.
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Yeah, but they also beat preseason top ten FSU late too.
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Is Happy Valley a particularly bad craphole compared to all the other craphole college towns that still bring in top classes? Does PSU lack any elite players? If you can get some of them, you can get others.
Hayden Fry had turrible things to say about the bus ride to Happy Valley
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https://twitter.com/HorsemenPod/status/1875020502181519630
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Can't wait to watch this with my PSU fan BIL (who has never been to Happy Valley) and my Notre Dame fan FIL (who has never been to South Bend).
In case anyone wonders why this is the ultimate hate Final 4
No one from Pittsburg or Philly has ever ventured out beyond their own outer belt.
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No one from Pittsburg or Philly has ever ventured out beyond their own outer belt.
As someone who lived in the Philadelphia "outer belt," went to Penn State, moved to DC, then back to the Philly burbs, then Phoenix, and now Virginia... you're at least wrong once.
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Notre Dame 28, Penn State 24
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Internet rumor going around that ND has the flu running around its locker room. Wouldn't surprise me at all if true, it's definitely making the rounds all over the country.
Last year when I had the flu, it's the worst I've ever felt. 3-4 days of just body-aching misery. I can't imagine trying to play football with even a mild case of it.
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Internet rumor going around that ND has the flu running around its locker room. Wouldn't surprise me at all if true, it's definitely making the rounds all over the country.
Last year when I had the flu, it's the worst I've ever felt. 3-4 days of just body-aching misery. I can't imagine trying to play football with even a mild case of it.
Our middle one stayed home today with a stomach flu, which means in a few days either the older or younger one will get it, then finally the third, which will be just enough time to circle back to Patient Zero.
Winter with kids is great
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Our middle one stayed home today with a stomach flu, which means in a few days either the older or younger one will get it, then finally the third, which will be just enough time to circle back to Patient Zero.
Winter with kids is great
Tell me about it. I got the flu from my kids last year, although honestly it only knocked them out for maybe 24 hours so perhaps fit football athletes in their prime might be able to shrug off the worst of it.
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Internet rumor going around that ND has the flu running around its locker room. Wouldn't surprise me at all if true, it's definitely making the rounds all over the country.
Last year when I had the flu, it's the worst I've ever felt. 3-4 days of just body-aching misery. I can't imagine trying to play football with even a mild case of it.
I also saw an internet rumor of food poisoning making its way around the Penn State locker room. Hard to know what to believe anymore.. but if the game looks like an old school sluggish three yards and a cloud of dust football maybe they were true.
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Internet rumor going around that ND has the flu running around its locker room. Wouldn't surprise me at all if true, it's definitely making the rounds all over the country.
These ain't regular folks, these are some of the most supremely in shape athletic people on the entire planet and oh yeah they're 18-22 years old and their bodies recover faster than shit. Jordan had the flu dropped 38 and played lock down D in the finals.
ah the infamous built in "bUt wE hADz dAh fLu wAh WaH wErE PuSsiEs" pre-excuse for when ND loses. Ohio State used this one in '21. Oh that and the "dErP bUt iT wAz SnOwInG aNd CoLd" - then in '22 it went to "bUt wE WaZ bEtTeR iF nOt fUr FiVe PlAyz...wE wOuLdVE wOn iF wE juSt DeDnT gAvE uP 5 eIgHTeE yArD tOuChDowN dErP dErP dErP" then in '23 it was...."BuT Da SigNz DeRP dErP Me reTaRD DeRp deRP", '24 it was "rYaN DaY sUcKs it'S alL hIs FaUlT...FiRe HiM nOwWwW!"
Any time you hear this kind of excuse before hand- expect a beat down coming. I already thought Notre Dame was probably overrated and offensively challenged with a shitty QB that can't pass the ball at all and that they'd lose in a close one to Penn State. Switching it up to the blow out. Penn State big.
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These ain't regular folks, these are some of the most supremely in shape athletic people on the entire planet and oh yeah they're 18-22 years old and their bodies recover faster than shit. Jordan had the flu dropped 38 and played lock down D in the finals.
ah the infamous built in "bUt wE hADz dAh fLu wAh WaH wErE PuSsiEs" pre-excuse for when ND loses. Ohio State used this one in '21. Oh that and the "dErP bUt iT wAz SnOwInG aNd CoLd" - then in '22 it went to "bUt wE WaZ bEtTeR iF nOt fUr FiVe PlAyz...wE wOuLdVE wOn iF wE juSt DeDnT gAvE uP 5 eIgHTeE yArD tOuChDowN dErP dErP dErP" then in '23 it was...."BuT Da SigNz DeRP dErP Me reTaRD DeRp deRP", '24 it was "rYaN DaY sUcKs it'S alL hIs FaUlT...FiRe HiM nOwWwW!"
Any time you hear this kind of excuse before hand- expect a beat down coming. I already thought Notre Dame was probably overrated and offensively challenged with a shitty QB that can't pass the ball at all and that they'd lose in a close one to Penn State. Switching it up to the blow out. Penn State big.
This is one of your most asinine posts ever and that is quite a high bar.
I saw this report:
https://www.on3.com/college/notre-dame-fighting-irish/news/notre-dame-locker-room-battling-flu-outbreak-ahead-of-orange-bowl-vs-penn-state/
I came here to share and saw that it had already been discussed. I agree with @utee94 (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=15) :
Last year when I had the flu, it's the worst I've ever felt. 3-4 days of just body-aching misery. I can't imagine trying to play football with even a mild case of it.
Yes, these are:
some of the most supremely in shape athletic people on the entire planet and oh yeah they're 18-22 years old and their bodies recover faster than shit. Jordan had the flu dropped 38 and played lock down D in the finals.
But so are their opponents and you can't convince any thinking person that having the flu wouldn't massively impact performance. The fatigue factor alone would be debilitating.
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I think the problem is that most people don't understand that the difference between the flu and "the flu" is profound...
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Yeah I wasn't sure if I'd ever had the flu. I didn't think I had, but wasn't sure. Then last year when I actually got it, I knew for sure I'd never had it before.
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ah the infamous built in "bUt wE hADz dAh fLu wAh WaH wErE PuSsiEs" pre-excuse for when ND loses. Ohio State used this one in '21. Oh that and the "dErP bUt iT wAz SnOwInG aNd CoLd" - then in '22 it went to "bUt wE WaZ bEtTeR iF nOt fUr FiVe PlAyz...wE wOuLdVE wOn iF wE juSt DeDnT gAvE uP 5 eIgHTeE yArD tOuChDowN dErP dErP dErP" then in '23 it was...."BuT Da SigNz DeRP dErP Me reTaRD DeRp deRP", '24 it was "rYaN DaY sUcKs it'S alL hIs FaUlT...FiRe HiM nOwWwW!"
Any time you hear this kind of excuse before hand- expect a beat down coming. I already thought Notre Dame was probably overrated and offensively challenged with a shitty QB that can't pass the ball at all and that they'd lose in a close one to Penn State. Switching it up to the blow out. Penn State big.
The amnesia is strong in this one. That's what we said when booger backed out in 2020 but had a full pad practice instead
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Yeah I wasn't sure if I'd ever had the flu. I didn't think I had, but wasn't sure. Then last year when I actually got it, I knew for sure I'd never had it before.
I seem to be immune to the flu, fortunately. Covid, not so much. I've watched a lot of people with the flu and from what I've seen, I want no part of it.
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that ASU RB may have had the flu, seemed like it on the sideline a few times
but, during the 4th quarter he seemed OK
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Our middle one stayed home today with a stomach flu, which means in a few days either the older or younger one will get it, then finally the third, which will be just enough time to circle back to Patient Zero.
Winter with kids is great
This is why when the pandemic of all pandemics hits, all that will be left is cockroaches and teachers.
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I don't get the NFL love for Allar AT ALL. Same with the LSU QB. What in the holy hell can make up for poor decision-making and failing to find wide open spaces when you have two 1,000 yard RB threats behind you.
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I am enjoying actual man-up football. Both teams have 2 dudes at RB. As a HS lineman myself, I dig it.
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I don't get the NFL love for Allar AT ALL. Same with the LSU QB. What in the holy hell can make up for poor decision-making and failing to find wide open spaces when you have two 1,000 yard RB threats behind you.
Well this aged well.....immediately, lol.
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Notre Dame 28, Penn State 24
Ah, better luck next time
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Didn't know this Penn State's back up QB Beau Pribula portaled out on Dec 15. He was 18 of 23 in '24 for a QB Rating of 185. Allar was 12 of 23 for 135 yds last night and no completions to Wide Receivers.Think PSU would try kick starting things by giving it a try if he was still there.
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Didn't know this Penn State's back up QB Beau Pribula portaled out on Dec 15. He was 18 of 23 in '24 for a QB Rating of 185. Allar was 12 of 23 for 135 yds last night and no completions to Wide Receivers.Think PSU would try kick starting things by giving it a try if he was still there.
He won the game for PSU in Madison this year.
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I didn't see the game but from all the comments across cyber space Allar wasn't exactly throwing darts.Three yrs in that shouldn't be the case
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I wasn't able to watch the game because of a work thing, but watching the extended highlights, Allar had a terrible game. Leonard was never going to have a good (throwing) game. Freeman appeared to make good adjustments at half time, but Penn State weathered it, despite a big momentum swing in the 3rd quarter. At the end of the day, unsurprisingly, little things made the difference. PSU should have had a touchdown on that first FG drive. Receiver drops the ball. ND was lucky to recover the fumble at the end of the first half, leading to a FG. PSU DB falls down, giving up the tying TD in the 4th quarter. Then Allar makes his third--and worst--mistake throwing the ball to the other team.
I also agree that ND doesn't look like a team that will push OSU all that hard, but maybe they have a better secondary than OSU is used to facing? And they can grind the clock with their running game, and can put pressure on OSU's thinned out offensive line? They do appear to have a very good defense.
As for Texas vs. ND? I just don't know Texas well enough to have an opinion.
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As for Texas vs. ND? I just don't know Texas well enough to have an opinion.
I'd like our chances-- a lot-- against this ND team.
Would have to get through Ohio State first, obviously, which is a much taller order IMO. They're favored for a reason. Gonna need a few extra things to go our way tonight if we want to win.
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Big Game Frames...
https://twitter.com/dnpsportsburner/status/1877582102155100358
https://twitter.com/BrandonKoretz/status/1877569937511743824
https://twitter.com/sbell021/status/1877580718286438674
https://twitter.com/sbell021/status/1877569957094920540
https://twitter.com/FrankieV_UHND/status/1877576642911994281
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https://twitter.com/ThePhillyPod/status/1877567626769010727
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That's perfect.
"We can fix him."
It's always good to fly in the face of all available evidence. NFL GMs with big salaries have some sort of cheat code of life.
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Notre Dame 28, Penn State 24
Kudos but swung and missed on the other though 😎