Hot! Notre Dame Should Have Learned 3 Lessons From Alabama

BY MARK LAZERUS mlazerus@suntimes.com

Alabama's Eddie Lacy works during the first one half of the BCS National Championship university footballing video game towards Notre Dame Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, throughout Miami. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. Zeke Motta dreamed about it, nonetheless by no means thought it could basically happen. Tyler Eifert said your dog only planned to play, and not realized it had been your legitimate possibility. Kapron Lewis-Moore said he / she often believed this Notre Dame group may very well be special, but in which it had been a little bit far-fetched should be expected something fairly like this.

Notre Dame travelled 12-0 in the regular season and played inside BCS national tournament game. That in once more can be an remarkable accomplishment, and also scars some sort of magnificent resurgence that Irish.

But the particular long lasting graphic on the 2012 season, reasonable as well as not, will be Alabama tailback Eddie Lacy stomping, lowering along with spinning his means through your vaunted Notre Dame defense. It ll end up being A.J. McCarron reducing way up the Irish secondary. It ll often be the particular Irish trudging over field Lewis-Moore on crutches, Louis Nix throughout pain, Manti Te o throughout tears following your demoralizing 42-14 shellacking in the arms on the mighty

Crimson Tide.

Alabama required Notre Dame that will school with Monday night. Here are generally three lessons the Irish much better include learned, once they desire to help to make the actual soar for you to another amount to be able to Alabama vertisements level.

1. Get bigger, tougher and also faster. All season long, the discuss had been about how exactly Notre Dame had SEC-caliber talent, SEC-caliber measurement and also SEC-caliber strength about defense. Then your Irish used 60 minutes obtaining pressed all around because of the Tide offensive collection and missing tackles on Lacy.

They ended up absolutely, by far, the actual fastest, biggest, strongest team we've got played, ND linebacker Danny Spond.

Irish coach Brian Kelly stated he expects this particular lesson to show itself alone in the offseason.

We ve got a chance to obtain bodily stronger, pursue to close the gap there, and only total you need to see just what exactly it looks like, they said. Our individuals clearly determine what it appears to be like. They re back-to-back country wide champs. So that will s precisely what it seems to be like. Measure your self towards that, plus I imagine it was pretty very clear over the panel cures should do.

2. Peak for the perfect time. Notre Dame had eight extended months out of involving this USC adventure and the Alabama game. Kelly consulted with additional mentors to view just how many people completed enough time off as well as saved their clubs fresh nonetheless sharp, and also frequently said the actual goal was to be able to busy on Jan. 7.

Alabama which had six days off, plus whom ersus performed that once or twice now have just that. Notre Dame became available flat and negative on both equally attributes with the ball, slipping at the rear of 21-0 right after rarely 15 minutes with play.

I estimated Alabama that can be played Alabama football, Nix said. I didn capital t count on Notre Dame to be able to perform non-Notre Dame football. That s exactly what happened. We didn t have fun with our video game tonight.

Added receiver T.J. Jones: I imagine execution appeared to be that change tonight. Alabama completed their own plays on offense plus protection as excellent as a person could. We messed up loads of plays.

3. Experience counts. If the layoff seemed to be an enormous motive to get Notre Dame utes terrible performance, this strain could possibly have been, too. Most involving Alabama verts important players had been recently with the nation's title game before. Nobody with the particular Irish sideline had.

The time seemed a bit also major for any Irish, in particular early on. Interestingly enough, redshirt freshman quarterback Everett Golson performed and also any kind of ND player, hurling for 270 yards and also a touchdown, together with one tipped nterception. That s while big a positive because the Irish can get with this game, and it s a major one moving forward.

But that experience difference downplayed most of full week by way of both equally sides appears performed your role.

I could state so, yeah, mentioned ND tailback Cierre Wood. If everyone ve been recently now there many times, you recognize tips on how to act, you already know what must be done that they are profitable in this kind connected with game. We just simply didn t possess the item lower pat like many people did.

Well, the Irish have encounter now, even when this verts one they will d love to forget. Now they will know very well what you will need to obtain here, after which it what it takes to be able to have great results here. The classes will be clear. If they'll utilize the 1st one inside offseason, the second just one while in the postseason, as well as next you will need to they previously have back for the hobby ersus biggest stage, might be they are able to help make this leap.

For now, education verts out. It ersus time period to attend work.