on the opening drive in Miami, it might have changed the total outcome of the season. We shut up the Miami fans, they leave by halftime, we get confidence rolling and take them down. Maybe that little extra bit of mojo gives them a win at the Farm, and a one loss team rolls into the playoff. Who knows?

That I really feel confident saying was much better at the end of the season than the middle (I think all teams get better the first few weeks, but 2017 especially peaked in the middle of the season. Much has been made by some of the 2019 team's post-Michigan response, but I didn't really see much change from the team, so much as the teams they played weren't very good.

One could make a similar argument about this year (and it has merit), but I think most would also agree that the settling of the offensive line and stability at the QB position has resulted in real improvements as well.

If the question is:
"Which team, at the end of the season, would win more against the others" I think it's a fight between 2019 and 2021.

"Which team was best at it's peak?" 2017 in a landslide.

"Which team had the best overall season performance?" Probably 2021, but maybe 2019? Two blowout losses against good but not great teams in 2017 kicks that one out for me so far. Toledo is a countervailing point for this year though.

Just because you're not playing against a ranked opponent (Navy was ranked FWIW) doesn't mean we should totally disregard the result. One sign of a great team is its ability assert its dominance over a weaker team and not let them hang around until the 4th quarter. To me, that's the difference between the 2019 and 2021 teams.

After a three game stretch in which the Michigan debacle was bookended by narrow home wins over USC and VT, these were the results of the final 5 game stretch:

38-7 @ Duke, who finished 5-7. That game was already 21-0 midway through the 2nd quarter.

52-20 over Navy, who was ranked #21 on gameday and finished 11-2 and ranked #20, despite the loss. That game was 38-3 at halftime.

40-7 over BC, who finished 6-7. That game had a slower start, as we were down 7-6 midway through the 2nd quarter, but we led by 9 at halftime and it was a 33-7 blowout by the end of the 3rd quarter. Total yards were 501-191.

45-24 @ Stanford, who finished 4-8. Another slow start that turned into a blowout. An early 17-7 deficit turned into a 4 point lead at halftime, 11 points by the end of the 3rd quarter, and the 21 point final margin was reached with 5 minutes left, before the teams traded TDs at the very end.

33-9 over Iowa St in the bowl game. Iowa St finished 7-6 but that record was a result of losses by 1 points to Iowa (10-3), 2 points @ Baylor (11-3), and 1 point @ CFP semifinalist Oklahoma (12-2). This game was over when we went up by 21 points two minutes into the 3rd quarter. Given Iowa State's performance against the top teams in its league, not even the most pollyanna ND fan predicted that we'd win by 24 and outgain them 455-272.

Sure, these weren't playoff contending opponents but they weren't "buy games" either. I don't think there are many teams that would have beaten all 5 of those teams consecutively by 20+ point margins, and in hindsight I think it was a sign of things to come in 2020.

The main reason for that late season run was a defense that only allowed 7 TDs in the final 5 games. I guess the 2021 team has a chance to repeat that, having allowed no TD's in either of the last 2 games, but I'd argue that these last 4 opponents (considering the injury to UVA's QB) are even shittier than the last four 2019 opponents, and I expect this year's average MOV's to be lower.

That team beat the piss out of 6 straight teams (20+ points), including Pac-12 champ USC, a 10-win Michigan State team (on the road) and 9-4 NC State. Even when that streak ended, it was an 11-point win over Wake that we were never remotely in danger of losing.

Then everyone figured out Wimbush couldn't throw and that was that. But it was a hell of a fun few weeks.

I know they were kind of frauds that year, but had USC won that game (and assuming no other changes to the space-time continuum), then USC would have become the 4th Playoff team.

I'd grant the playcalling with Coan in terms of short, quick drops has improved results.

But it appears ND's 3 toughest opponents were Purdue, Cincinnati, Wisconsin. The recent slate of Va Tech, UNC, even USC, and of course Navy and UVA are just downright bad teams. It stays bad with Georgia Tech and Stanford.

I'd call the improvement incremental.

Because, as you correctly note, the schedule has turned into total mush. But we can look at how we've done compared to other teams our opponents have played.

Through Va Tech, our best rushing performance was Va. Tech, and it was for 4.0 ypc. Since then our worst mark has been 4.1. So, our absolute performance has improved, but so has our relative performance. It's gone from absolute disaster to mediocre.

FSU - 1.9 - 10th
Toledo - 3.4 - 8th
Purdue - 3.5 - 8th
Wisconsin - 0.1 - 9th
Cincinnati - 3.0 - 6th
Va. Tech - 4.0 - T-8th
---
USC - 4.1 - 5th
UNC - 7.2 - 1st
Navy - 4.8 - 3rd
UVA - 6.6 - 5th

It was one of the top five worst offensive lines in the country. Playing against decent but not great teams does not explain how badly they performed. I think ND went from looking like the 2009 team early on to looking like the 2013 team. It likely won’t quite get to the 2019 team. But I would say the improvement is notable.

No advantage for them it just turned out we caught most of the bad luck and then they just beat the piss out of us from there. The blocked punt that gave them a first down was a start and we never seemed to recover. I was worried the teams were more even than everyone thought going into that game.

2017 and 2019 Georgia games were similar yet dissimilar. We controlled most of the 2017 game. A bogus roughing the passer call helped them start a long touchdown drive that would have been a punt. The 2019 game Georgia controlled (much moreso than we controlled the 2017 game). It was only close because Georgia muffed a punt and then Kirby went into conservative mode when they could have went for the throat and a 17 point lead late in the game on a 4th and inches.

But I thought ND held their own just fine until halftime. Smart made adjustments at half, and ND couldn't do a thing on offense until it was too late.

left. I wonder how thw can't win the big one narrative changed if we get that one score...

However, UGA dominated the second half. ND's offense really struggled. I thought there was PI on the final heave to Claypool, but alas, it wasn't called. Que sera.

Tony Jones have great career. I have to think Kyren could have helped a little bit. Claypool and Boykin could have helped in the 2017 UGA game.

By every account, Kyren really dedicated himself to the game on a different level after being put in the freezer for most of 2019. The 2019 version of him wouldn't have been helpful vs UGA.

They lost to Penn State the prior week and seemed desperate. ND has had issues at Michigan, particularly at night. Kelly should have prepared the team better.