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Wow, there is just one weekend left in the regular season of the college football season and I could have sworn it was August just the other day.
I better get going on my Christmas shopping before these bowl games get underway because time has been flying faster than ever before.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had the toughest schedule in the country heading into the season, but many of their teams have fallen apart this season.
That is far from their own faults, but the Irish have more importantly answered the bell every weekend.
Manti Te’o could be our next Heisman winner, and their defense is as good as any SEC team out there. They can run downhill on any team in America with the best of them, and guess what?
They still stand as major underdogs as the perception is that the SEC is still light years ahead of them, and the ‘experts’ agree overall.
Things may be subject to change, but Alabama is currently 9.5 point favorites over the Irish and Georgia is also favored by a few points.
Obviously the ‘Dawgs may be bigger favorites if they indeed upset Alabama next Saturday at the Atlanta Georgia Dome, but this classical SEC against Notre Dame matchup will be the most watched televised game in the history of collegiate sports regardless of whether we see Bama or UGA.
So, I just have to break this game down since millions are already throwing out their opinions. The biggest weak link if there is any on the Notre Dame would be in the secondary on defense, and at the receiving corps offensively.
The nation has eaten crow because this fabulous Notre Dame team has escaped their gauntlet at 12-0 despite so those so called ‘weak links’ and they deserve some kudos in the process.
Kenny Bell (broken leg, out 5-6 weeks) will be deemed questionable for the BCS National Championship if they defeat Georgia for the SEC Championship, but one stud that is fully healthy at the moment is Malcolm Mitchell of the Bulldogs.
This freak athlete that has breathtaking speed can be a silent assassin in this potential BCS title matchup because he can beat the Irish deep similar to the way Marqise Lee did the other night.
Throw in wide receiver Tavarres King who leads the team in receptions (tied), yards, TD and you have yourself a talented group of skill players in the passing game for Aaron Murray.
Those points may be moot with Nick Saban preparing for the ‘Dawgs as we speak, but this might be Mark Richt’s time?
This coach has been considered to be on life support for coaching standards in the SEC with hotseats always be thrown around in Athens.
He has come so close to BCS title runs in 2002 and 2007 just to fall short as he seemingly never exceeded expectations in recent memory.
That is until this year came crawling and now he has a defense that has more NFL players than any team in the NFL (UF, LSU, FSU, ND, BAMA right there).
In fact, Bacarri Rambo has already stated he believes his team is better in ‘every aspect’ of the game and that could lad more fuel to the fire (not that it was needed).
Both SEC squads have tremendous offensive lines, and signal-callers that rarely struggle when the pocket collapses (which rarely happens).
Murray has only defeated one top 25 team in his career, but this is the first season where he has had not one, but two stellar backs. Todd Gurley is one of the biggest freaks of nature in the country as a freshman, and Keith Marshall is not too shabby either.
The two have combined for 18 TD and 264 carries for over 1,600 yards!
Alabama has a few electric backs of their own in Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon, which would obviously give the Golden Domers defense their biggest challenge of the season by far.
At the moment this Notre Dame team could be compared to the 2002 Ohio State squad with a few more well-known players (Teo, Eifert are All-Americans).
The SEC still gets the slightest of edge for now in my eyes, but what do you think?
Danny V’s Projected Score: SEC Champion (Georgia) 24, Notre Dame 20
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