Notre Dame’s Fairytale Season Has Done the Impossible; Made Irish Fun | News, Achievements, Highlights, Statistics, and Rumors

Long ago, in early September, before the impossible happened and the most popular form of college football turned into a beloved postseason tournament, the bottom line was known.

Final score: Northern Illinois 16, Notre Dame 14.

The result continued for months. It undermined the Irish’s renewed pressure to progress slowly in every way, even with the victories saved and the feeling of ambition becoming something else.

As a result, results that a team with Notre Dame’s history should not produce, feed the content machine.

Specifically, it gave those who wanted the program dead for months. And let’s be honest about that last part.

There are a lot of you out there.

On Thursday night, after four months, Notre Dame defeated Penn State in the Orange Bowl in a thrilling way, securing a place in the national championship for the first time in 2012 after a 27-24 victory.

The challenger will be chosen soon, as will the title race for the first time since 1988.

However, at this point, this rush seems to be less immediate. Notre Dame, through heartbreak and injury, through deficits and doubts, has climbed its way to the bottom line.

In doing so, the group did the impossible.

Fittingly, the Irish stayed behind on Thursday. Things looked bleak as the team fell behind 10-0. Of course, though, Notre Dame found a way.

With quarterback Riley Leonard out of the game due to concussions, Steve Angeli, who just completed a pass on Thursday, led his team to a much-needed field goal before halftime.

At that moment, the power changed. The veins went from boil to boil. Notre Dame, still behind, found its footing.

The second half had more points and penalties, and the threat increased.

Ultimately, with help from Penn State QB Drew Allar, who we’ll talk about in a moment, Notre Dame won the game on a Mitch Jeter field goal with the clock running out. .

As with most things this year, it wasn’t easy. One could take that sentiment further and say that it was a very dirty night.

But Notre Dame has created ugly beauty.

There is nothing better than Riley Leonard’s throwing or driving style. There is beauty in the way running back Jeremiah Chikondi runs the ball, but even he, like many of his peers who hurt him, is dealing with pain.

Marcus Freeman, who was on the hot seat four months ago, has built a defense that can compete with anyone, an offense that thrives on necessity and an attitude that is incredibly contagious.

He has established a team unlike anything Notre Dame has produced in our lifetime – a program that many people will recognize and start. In short, he has turned one of the most popular sports into something incredibly fun to mess with.

Indeed, many expected a win over Indiana in the opening round. But Georgia’s wins against Penn State have allowed hopes and fandom to blossom all at once.

It’s hard to put your finger on when it happened exactly, but the movement is undeniable. The mindset that the team took from Freeman, who is neither too high nor too low, is what started it all.

An elite, established community doesn’t hurt either. The final definition was fully displayed.

So, here we are, ages since it all began.

One of the biggest losses in the program’s long history was just the beginning of one of the greatest seasons of the program’s long and storied history. If so, it makes the movement more powerful.

Of course, Notre Dame lost a football game they couldn’t lose. It turned out to be one of the worst losses the program has ever faced – a black eye that helped lead to 13 straight wins and many assists.

Another success, of course, would result in the last book being told. Even before the enemy is convinced by the pressure of the next chapter, one should not go beyond what has happened here.

Notre Dame, rock bottom so far away, is having its moment in a new playoff format that has allowed the flowers to bloom as they should.

There is work to be done. The head coach and quarterback will be the first to admit it.

But for now, with everything that has happened and the journey this team has been on, one can’t help but admire how far they’ve come.