Indiana is the best team Notre Dame has faced this season.
Around campus and within the sphere of Notre Dame fans, Indiana is not being taken seriously. Students are talking about getting tickets for the Sugar Bowl already, and the spread is currently sitting at -7.5 in favor of the Irish. At the time of writing this article, ESPN gives Notre Dame a 70.4% chance of winning against the Hoosiers. While Notre Dame has been dominant on the gridiron since a brutal loss to Northern Illinois, Indiana will not be a cakewalk.
Curt Cignetti has his Hoosiers firing on all cylinders. Their passing attack is no joke, and they rarely turn the ball over. Louisville and USC, both with good air attacks, played the Irish very closely. In fact, without a clutch pick-six from sophomore cornerback Christian Gray, there was a good chance USC would have forced overtime. The Irish have performed well with the loss of junior Benjamin Morrison and senior Jaden Mickey in the cornerback room, but their secondary is still susceptible to fatigue and an injury could rattle the Irish secondary. Additionally, Notre Dame is struggling to make field goals. In a close game field goals are crucial, just ask Ryan Day and Ohio State. Notre Dame-Indiana will be a close game, and Irish fans and players need to prepare for a dogfight inside Notre Dame Stadium.
Another aspect that could hurt the Irish is that Notre Dame Stadium is notorious for being overtaken by away fans, particularly against teams in red. Most recently, it looked like Christmas during the Ohio State game. But other instances of this occurring were against Cincinnati in 2021 and Georgia in 2017. All three of the aforementioned games resulted in Notre Dame losses. The Irish lost to Ohio State 17-14, lost to Cincinnati 24-13 and lost to Georgia 20-19. Georgia in particular was one of the most embarrassing stadium takeovers in recent history. A simple Google search will reveal that Georgia fans took over the whole south end of the stadium. It was frankly embarrassing. Ohio State was not as bad in terms of a stadium takeover, but Notre Dame’s campus was flooded with Buckeyes. There were more fans in red at the grotto than green, and there were more Ohio State fans taking pictures with Touchdown Jesus than Irish fans. Buckeye fans were even present at South Dining Hall on Friday night, taking up a whole table to themselves. Droves of Ohio State fans were tailgating in Stadium Lot as well.
It would be one thing if Notre Dame was playing a team from the South who wouldn’t want to play in the bitter cold of South Bend in December. But this is an in-state game. Indiana isn’t going to be affected by the weather, and neither are their fans. Indiana fans haven’t had a season like this one ever. This is a once-in-a-lifetime season for Hoosier fans, who were going to travel well regardless, but now they don’t even have to cross state lines. Notre Dame also has the most friendly fans in college football. Away fans love coming to Notre Dame, seeing the beautiful campus and enjoying the company of welcoming home fans. To away fans, Notre Dame is a five-star, all-inclusive resort destination for football. On a TikTok posted by @handshakebets, two Indiana graduates could be heard saying, “We want Notre Dame,”“It’s a home game” and “One of the most overrated teams [in college football].” I don’t blame them. It is the most optimal matchup for the Hoosiers and the least hostile trip.
Indiana is the best team that Notre Dame has faced this season. We need to make our presence felt when Indiana fans flood the campus. We need to be loud in the stadium. We have to dominate physically if we want to win. We cannot sell a single ticket to an Indiana fan. This is the rhetoric that Notre Dame fans need to spread. Notre Dame is the better team, and it has the advantage over Indiana in terms of talent, but Indiana is not going down without a fight. Notre Dame fans and players alike need to be ready to defend the Cathedral of College Football with a tenacity and ferocity, unlike any game in Notre Dame history.
