Despite massive losses in Notre Dame’s past two marquee games, coach Brian Kelly said Monday that the Irish have nothing to prove in Friday’s College Football Playoff semifinal against No. 1 Alabama.
Notre Dame last faced Alabama in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game, losing 42-14. Two years ago, the Irish lost 30-3 to Clemson in the semi-finals of the CFP in the Cotton Bowl.
“We knock on the door every year, play against really good teams and great opponents, and they are elite football teams,” said Kelly. “I don’t know why this story keeps popping up when we’re always in the game. No, we haven’t won a national championship. That’s right. And you know, I’m not changing the record. But we’re there every year and we grind it out. , just like everyone else. “
No. 4 Notre Dame is a 20 point underdog for Alabama, one of the biggest underdogs this bowling season. According to ESPN Stats & Information, this is Notre Dame’s seventh appearance in a BCS or New Year’s Six bowl game since 1998, when the BCS era began. The Irish are 0-6 in those games, having surpassed a total of 144 points. None of the six was decided with less than 14 points. This year they face the challenge of taking on an Alabama team that was wire to wire as the No. 1 team and has three Heisman Trophy finalists: Mac Jones, DeVonta Smith and Najee Harris.
“Only one team can have a party at the end of the year,” said Kelly. “We’ll keep banging, and we’ll keep coming back here, and that’s our job. That’s our challenge every year is to compete for a national championship, and we’ll keep doing that.”
Before the 2018 semifinal, Kelly told Clemson that the program had undergone several changes, including to the strength and conditioning program, field staff and recruiting.
“We are still being compared to what happened in 2012, fair or unfair,” said coach Brian Kelly in 2018. “We need to set a new kind of parameter there.”
But that game ended in disappointment. This year, Notre Dame earned the No. 4 spot despite suffering the biggest loss of an eventual playoff team in the playoff era (24 points in a 34-10 loss to Clemson in the ACC title game).
Despite a top five ranking throughout the season and a 47-40 double overtime win over Clemson on November 7, the Irish know this is their number one chance to prove they are among the best programs in the country.
“It’s motivational,” said Kyren Williams. “Not everyone in the world believes in us, and it’s okay because we don’t want anyone else to believe in us but we do. We’ll go out on Friday and do what we do best. Being an underdog is nothing new to us, and we will continue to prove to the world who we are. “