Anyone else feel Bama has all the pressure? I almost feel like our guys will be loose and "carefree " out there. That feeling of no pressure may keep our guys from forcing the ball and making dumb mistakes. Of course the focus will be there but we will get and maintain much respect with a close game even if we fall.Either way ND is back in the spotlight and our program is heading up with or without a win Mon. Don't get me wrong I wanna win so bad I can taste it, but I'm not gonna be crushed if we don't . This team had an amazing year and the resurgence of ND is real. I just can't help to think of how Pete Carrol always had his teams ready to play but they didn't seem so wound up to the point where every play was a pressure filled moment. They always seemed to have fun and just let the games come to them, thus winning ..Alot. Anyways , I'll be watching and cheering but with a sense of ease knowing this is just the start of great times for Irish football.

i feel like we're a year ahead of where we should be. next year we'll be even better with Golson in his second year as starter. I totally agree with the fact that we've got nothing to lose.

what blows is, even if we win, we'll be starting off next year at probably 3 or 4

I agree 100%...I have been saying this since the match up was official! ND has no pressure..Vegas has them a two score underdog, they are playing the ELITE SEC in Miami with the Warm Temps...so there you go! Its Alabama's game to lose!!!!

ND made it to the BCS title game, they have as much to play for as Bama. ND could be a better team next year, but great chance they are not in the BCS title.

Someone posted a link two days ago, and I clicked on links within that link and stumbled upon 2013 CFB projections. We were projected at like 7 or 8.

On another note, I also stumbled upon "50 CFB stars that will make an NFL pro bowl", we had Te'o, Nix, Tuitt, and Eifert.

No pressure? First there's always pressure to win at Notre Dame. Second ND has a rs freshman quarterback about to start in the BCSCG against the defending champions, the Alabama Crimson Tide. That screams pressure to me.

The pressure is on Bama. I saw a couple of our guys out on Ocean Drive last night, not drinking or misbehaving. Just walking around in awe of it all and enjoying the 80 degree weather. Remember, they're experiencing a once in a lifetime experience as very young guys. I give them a ton of credit for not imbibing in the "pleasures" that are in abundance in South Beach. It's a blast down here and I hope the guys stat focused, but enjoy it.

Well it's a fair statement to say there is "pressure", obviously it's for all the marbles. But with that said I feel like since ND is the unanimous underdog, the real pressure is on Bama to not only win, but to win in dominate fashion. The Irish are on the upswing, and as a poster said , we feel to be a year ahead of schedule. Losing half of our secondary before the season even got rolling along with a Freshman Qb could of given this team every reason to go 8-4 or 7-5. But they didn't , they pulled it together and with a little luck and a lot of heart they ended up #1 and 12-0. Pressure is something that can be a good or bad thing depending on how it's delt with. My belief is the Irish used the pressure to their advantage this year and shouldn't have any fear of it Mon night. Bama on the other hand has fell to that pressure thanks to A&M. Maybe , just maybe , with that one loss , the pressure to not let that happen again could implode on Bama. All I know is Im interested to see just how long we have come, and where we measure up to the premier program in the nation.

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--- Jtrigg wrote:

No pressure? First there's always pressure to win at Notre Dame. Second ND has a rs freshman quarterback about to start in the BCSCG against the defending champions, the Alabama Crimson Tide. That screams pressure to me.

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...very few people think ND can hang around, let alone win. 

I wouldn't have it any other way.  Us against the world.  Our team has been doing it all year, so why should the title game be any different?  If they pull it out, they'll be the only ones not considering it an upset.

GO IRISH

Right after the Oklahoma game I pretty much had the mindset that we are playing with house money this year.  Yeah, I badly wanted us to go undefeated but by going undefeated and even being In the BCS game was an underachievement for this team.  Nobody outside the team even thought we would be In a BCS bowl game, let alone the NC game.

Pressure is a mental thing, and I'm not sure either team are going to have much pressure. Pressure is usually brought on when players are put in a big time game and either they do not have the self assurance they will prevail, or they have not been there often and can not handle the build up. Neither Alabama or Notre Dame are in that position. A few points.

1. Notre Dame is in a good position. You are #1, you are playing with great confidence, and you have a coach and staff who know how to coach. In a way, your players know all they need to do is try and keep on doing what they have done all year. You have the tradition, so it is not like you are a new up and coming program trying to prove yourself. The only pressure your players may have within themselves is to prove to the nation you are back and deserve where you are.

2. Alabama on the other hand is in a different position, but a position of little pressure as well. There are players on Alabama who are playing in their 4th, #1 vs #2, their 3rd BCS title game, and they have been in 4 SEC title games, so it does not matter what kind of big time game build up the media puts on this game, Saban and this team have seen it all. So for Alabama there is nothing to prove, just know your assignment and execute, do your job. If your opponent executes better than you and does his job better, he is going to win. So that is the only pressure Saban puts on his players, execute, execute, execute.

It should be a whale of a slugfest.

touchdownJesus7 wrote: Anyone else feel Bama has all the pressure? I almost feel like our guys will be loose and "carefree " out there. That feeling of no pressure may keep our guys from forcing the ball and making dumb mistakes. Of course the focus will be there but we will get and maintain much respect with a close game even if we fall.Either way ND is back in the spotlight and our program is heading up with or without a win Mon. Don't get me wrong I wanna win so bad I can taste it, but I'm not gonna be crushed if we don't . This team had an amazing year and the resurgence of ND is real. I just can't help to think of how Pete Carrol always had his teams ready to play but they didn't seem so wound up to the point where every play was a pressure filled moment. They always seemed to have fun and just let the games come to them, thus winning ..Alot. Anyways , I'll be watching and cheering but with a sense of ease knowing this is just the start of great times for Irish football.

DocSoloman wrote: Pressure is a mental thing, and I'm not sure either team are going to have much pressure. Pressure is usually brought on when players are put in a big time game and either they do not have the self assurance they will prevail, or they have not been there often and can not handle the build up. Neither Alabama or Notre Dame are in that position. A few points.

1. Notre Dame is in a good position. You are #1, you are playing with great confidence, and you have a coach and staff who know how to coach. In a way, your players know all they need to do is try and keep on doing what they have done all year. You have the tradition, so it is not like you are a new up and coming program trying to prove yourself. The only pressure your players may have within themselves is to prove to the nation you are back and deserve where you are.

2. Alabama on the other hand is in a different position, but a position of little pressure as well. There are players on Alabama who are playing in their 4th, #1 vs #2, their 3rd BCS title game, and they have been in 4 SEC title games, so it does not matter what kind of big time game build up the media puts on this game, Saban and this team have seen it all. So for Alabama there is nothing to prove, just know your assignment and execute, do your job. If your opponent executes better than you and does his job better, he is going to win. So that is the only pressure Saban puts on his players, execute, execute, execute.

It should be a whale of a slugfest.

touchdownJesus7 wrote: Anyone else feel Bama has all the pressure? I almost feel like our guys will be loose and "carefree " out there. That feeling of no pressure may keep our guys from forcing the ball and making dumb mistakes. Of course the focus will be there but we will get and maintain much respect with a close game even if we fall.Either way ND is back in the spotlight and our program is heading up with or without a win Mon. Don't get me wrong I wanna win so bad I can taste it, but I'm not gonna be crushed if we don't . This team had an amazing year and the resurgence of ND is real. I just can't help to think of how Pete Carrol always had his teams ready to play but they didn't seem so wound up to the point where every play was a pressure filled moment. They always seemed to have fun and just let the games come to them, thus winning ..Alot. Anyways , I'll be watching and cheering but with a sense of ease knowing this is just the start of great times for Irish football.

You make some good points.

However for the reason you stated above (high lighted), Alabama has to feel the "pressure" to live up to their status & the "SEC is the best" & beat/crush a team alot of people say were extremly lucky not to lose 2-3 games & don't deserve to be in the NC game.

I also think that ND is in the position of having to prove themselves. ND has been out of any national power picture for years. CW's 1st 2 years had many ND fans believeing that the Irish were on the way back, only to fall off the cliff again.
With BK, ND fans are seeing a coaching staff that can recruit & then develop that talent.
So hopefully this year is the start of ND's actual rise back into a continual top 5 team staus for years to come.

The first sentence, I think, is the key to the game.  It's the reason very few teams 3-peat in CFB. 

touchdownJesus7 wrote: Anyone else feel Bama has all the pressure? I almost feel like our guys will be loose and "carefree " out there. That feeling of no pressure may keep our guys from forcing the ball and making dumb mistakes. Of course the focus will be there but we will get and maintain much respect with a close game even if we fall.Either way ND is back in the spotlight and our program is heading up with or without a win Mon. Don't get me wrong I wanna win so bad I can taste it, but I'm not gonna be crushed if we don't . This team had an amazing year and the resurgence of ND is real. I just can't help to think of how Pete Carrol always had his teams ready to play but they didn't seem so wound up to the point where every play was a pressure filled moment. They always seemed to have fun and just let the games come to them, thus winning ..Alot. Anyways , I'll be watching and cheering but with a sense of ease knowing this is just the start of great times for Irish football.