Todd’s Take: Indiana-Notre Dame Is Dream Come True In The College Football Playoff

Indiana and Notre Dame don’t play often, but this time it will have more meaning than ever.

Indiana's Ty Son Lawton (17) celebrates a touchdown during the Indiana versus Purdue football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When the chips fell after the conference championship games played out in thrilling fashion on Saturday, there really wasn’t a bad option for Indiana as far as its College Football Playoff opponent.

While Indiana coach Curt Cignetti worked the pregame shows in an effort to lobby for an Indiana home game – a mission that was definitely worth trying but was never going to succeed given Indiana’s weak strength of schedule – the list of opponents came into sharper view.

All were college football royalty. All had their charms.

Texas? It was the exotic option. A trip to Austin where Bevo roams. A college football power that’s a bit of a mystery to hard-bitten Big Ten fans, at least as far as the college football culture clash is concerned. Think of Texas and you think of the old Southwest Conference, option football and those iconic burnt orange uniforms.

Penn State? Not exotic as Indiana played the Nittany Lions annually as of last season. Still, this would be unlike any Indiana-Penn State game played to date. Indiana would have received the full dose of Beaver Stadium passion. You also would have had former Indiana coach Tom Allen on the opposite side of the field as Penn State’s defensive coordinator.

Ohio State? Indiana just played the Buckeyes in Columbus and lost 38-15 on Nov. 23. A rematch would have been juicy – especially given some of the shenanigans that occurred late in the game. It would have given Indiana a chance at redemption for its only loss.

Which gets us to the final option – Notre Dame. This was the best choice of all.

Notre Dame is in-state, but their scope is national. The Fighting Irish have never focused inside the state borders. Whether they deserve it or not, they always draw national eyeballs. They play games in Ireland and New York City. They’re on a different level of appeal than Indiana football.

Indiana rarely plays Notre Dame in football. The last meeting was in 1991 – though they are scheduled to play a home-and-home series in 2030-31. This isn’t like Purdue, who plays the Fighting Irish semi-regularly. For Indiana, this is a novelty worth getting juiced up about.

Touchdown Jesus. Notre Dame’s gold helmets - which seem to be especially gold in recent seasons. The lore of both Notre Dame coaches and former players. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Notre Dame is what college football is all about.

Add in the close proximity, and Notre Dame was the best option for Indiana. Who better for burgeoning college football power Indiana to test itself against than the bluest of the college football bluebloods?

The College Football Playoff delivered in a big way for Indiana fans when it pitted the Hoosiers against the Fighting Irish. The No. 10-seeded Hoosiers will play at the No. 7-seeded Fighting Irish at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 20.

It’s a wonderful opportunity, because it’s a chance for this upstart Indiana team to put that chip on their shoulder they so adore.

Fans gather in front of the Word of Life mural, commonly known as Touchdown Jesus, before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Northern Illinois Huskies at Notre Dame Stadium. / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Indiana’s all-time record against Notre Dame is 5-23-1. Most of those games are ancient history, with all but one of those games played before 1958.

Notre Dame has a rotation of Big Ten teams it plays. Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue have been semi-regular foes. Even Northwestern jumps in from time to time. Ohio State was a recent Notre Dame opponent.

By its exclusion, Indiana has always seemed to be beneath Notre Dame’s notice in football. For years it seemed the vibe was, “We’ll play you in basketball, but football? Nah.”

Indiana had to fight for this opportunity to play Notre Dame. This is a great chance for the Hoosiers to continue to build its national football credentials against the biggest college football brand of all.

Moreover, it’s a winnable game.

Notre Dame is 11-1 and deserved to be ranked ahead of Indiana based on a solid road win at Texas A&M to start the season, a victory Indiana can’t match.

After that, though, Notre Dame’s schedule was only marginally better than Indiana’s. In ESPN’s strength of schedule rankings, Notre Dame was 58th and Indiana was 68th.

Big Notre Dame wins over service academies Navy (51-14) and Army (49-14) earned notice, but those teams proved to be over-ranked and were definitely overmatched.

Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts (0) celebrates getting an interception during a NCAA college football game against Virginia at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Past that, the next-best Notre Dame win is a 31-24 victory over Louisville. Then, of course, there’s the 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois, a dent in their schedule Indiana doesn’t have. The Fighting Irish are very comparable to the Hoosiers.

The Fighting Irish have some traits to be concerned about, to be sure.

Notre Dame is opportunistic – they are tied for second nationally in turnover margin at plus-16, one of just three teams ahead of Indiana at plus-15. The Fighting Irish co-lead the nation in defensive touchdowns with six. They rank third nationally in fewest passing yards allowed. Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke and the Hoosiers receivers have their work cut out for them.

Much like Indiana, they have a running back-by-committee system with Jeremiyah Love (949 yards) and Jadarian Rice (721 yards) leading the way. Quarterback Riley Leonard (721 yards) can also run – a concern as running quarterbacks have given Indiana some trouble at times.

All things to concern Indiana, but Notre Dame has plenty to be worried about, too.

Indiana’s defense has been fantastic in the last half of the season. In its last four games, the Hoosiers have allowed just 195.5 yards per game. The combination of sacks and a solid run defense has meant Indiana opponents have averaged just 40.2 yards per game over that stretch.

Indiana’s offense has averaged 6.7 yards per play and is ranked 24th nationally in total offense. Notre Dame’s defense has plenty to concern themselves with.

Apart from having something to prove and what happens between the lines, this is a dream matchup for Indiana fans who always wanted the chance to measure themselves against Notre Dame.

I would imagine Indiana fans have already reached that amped level of anticipation about what winning a playoff game over Notre Dame would feel like. It would be a rush.

This will be fun in the sense that it will split some households around the state. Households? It may split some people around the state. There are plenty of folks who are fans of both schools.

Indiana and Notre Dame fans rarely have the chance to crow at each other – they don’t even play regularly in basketball anymore, sadly – so this creates that rare opportunity for some Hoosiers-on-Fighting Irish enmity.

There’s a cultural divide. Private school vs. public school. Notre Dame is located in northern Indiana, but it feels more like a big-city school, as if it’s a Boston, New York or Chicago school placed in South Bend. Indiana belongs to the people inside the state borders. Two very different outlooks.

The Big Ten has its own traditions and sacred cathedrals it rightfully holds dear. However, the chance to play a meaningful game inside Notre Dame Stadium is special. It’s something many Indiana fans likely never thought the Hoosiers would get a chance to do. This chance has to be taken advantage of.

Indiana has been an underdog in football, and in terms of national prominence, remains so. One great season doesn’t create a national brand. Winning a game against the biggest brand of all, at a place Indiana hasn't won at since 1898, is a great way to continue to change that narrative.

There is no downside to this matchup. The College Football Playoff committee gave Indiana fans an early Christmas present to unwrap. This is going to be a lot of fun.

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