Ok Buckeye fans, stop cringing. Just an interesting look at the comparison between two teams that have a lot of similarities.

Total Offense
2012 Notre Dame - 50th
2002 Ohio State - 70th

Ok, neither team is an offensive juggernaut.

Rushing Defense
2012 Notre Dame - 5th
2002 Ohio State - 3rd

Scoring Defense
2012 Notre Dame - T-1st
2002 Ohio State - 2nd

Margin of Victory
2012 Notre Dame - 17.09 (11 games)
2002 Ohio State - 16.92 (13 games)

Against Purdue
2012 Notre Dame - Scores go-ahead FG late in the 4th quarter and seals the victory with an interception
2002 Ohio State - Scores go-ahead TD late in the 4th quarter and seals the victory with an interception

Against weak 4-6 team
2012 Notre Dame - Beats Pitt in Overtime
2002 Ohio State - Beats Illinois in Overtime

Against another mediocre team
2012 Notre Dame - Trails BYU for most of the game and rallies in the 4th quarter to take the lead and seals it with an interception
2002 Ohio State - Trails Cincinnati for most of the game and rallies in the 4th quarter to take the lead and seals it with an interception

Against Michigan
2012 Notre Dame - Offense struggles but defense holds Michigan without a TD for a 13-6 win
2002 Ohio State - Offense struggles but defense holds Michigan without a TD for a 14-9 win


This is not some sort of "Notre Dame is better than 2002 OSU" or even "ND is as good as 2002 OSU". Notre Dame still has 2 games to win before we could start comparing the two, but I think their seasons have played out very similarly so far. Interesting, no?

No.

Notre Dame still has 2 games to win before we could start comparing the two.

Notre Dame 2012 and Ohio State 2002 have different roster. They cannot be the same.

/Con_Alma'd

Con_Alma;1324747 wrote:Notre Dame still has 2 games to win before we could start comparing the two.

Yeah thanks. Wish I would have said that.

Mooney44Cards;1324749 wrote:Yeah thanks. Wish I would have said that.

You did. I thought it was the perfect response.

Con_Alma;1324753 wrote:You did. I thought it was the perfect response.

It wasn't

Those stats are pretty crazy.

At the end of the year, I hope that there is another stat that is the same.

2002 Ohio State - National Champions
2012 Notre Dame - ???

No x 2

No x3.

sherm03;1324797 wrote:Those stats are pretty crazy.

At the end of the year, I hope that there is another stat that is the same.

2002 Ohio State - National Champions
2012 Notre Dame - ???

No chance unless Georgia or Florida are in the title game. Oregon and Bama will run the train on ND.

Interesting stats, and I'm sure ND hopes the end result's the same. I just want anyone but an SEC team to take home the gold...anyone.

sleeper;1324825 wrote:No chance unless Georgia or Florida are in the title game. Oregon and Bama will run the train on ND.

I'm not as scared of Oregon after seeing what happened when they played a team with a decent defense.

Bama would be tough. But things just keep bouncing ND's way this year. ND would be the underdog. But I think they'd be able to pull it off.

If I were a ND fan, Oregon wouldn't scare me. They've showed time and time again that good defenses can shut down their offense, and their defenses are just average at best. Now, 'Bama, I wouldn't want any part of.

se-alum;1324899 wrote:If I were a ND fan, Oregon wouldn't scare me. They've showed time and time again that good defenses can shut down their offense, and their defenses are just average at best. Now, 'Bama, I wouldn't want any part of.

Agreed, especially a one-loss 'Bama with a chip on their shoulder (see 2011).

If Bucks win by more than 13 - 6 on Sat can it be assumed OSU is a better football team than ND?

I think you might be able to assum that OSU is better than ND when ND played Michian if that happens.

Tiernan;1324944 wrote:If Bucks win by more than 13 - 6 on Sat can it be assumed OSU is a better football team than ND?

Yes of course. The transitive property is always relevant in sports.

Here's a little website you can use to find out how every team is better than every other team: http://myteamisbetterthanyourteam.com/

Tiernan;1324944 wrote:If Bucks win by more than 13 - 6 on Sat can it be assumed OSU is a better football team than ND?

Sure. But then again, it is assumed that ND is a better football team than OSU because ND beat Michigan St. 20-3 and OSU only beat them 17-16.

sleeper;1324825 wrote:No chance unless Georgia or Florida are in the title game. Oregon and Bama will run the train on ND.

Just like Oregon ran the train on Stanford?

sjmvsfscs08;1325030 wrote:Just like Oregon ran the train on Stanford?

Stanford has decades of video tape on Oregon and can craft a perfect game plan. ND has a head coach who's never won anything besides the Big East; a joke of a conference.

Try again.

sleeper;1325092 wrote:Stanford has decades of video tape on Oregon and can craft a perfect game plan. ND has a head coach who's never won anything besides the Big East; a joke of a conference.

Try again.

Considering that Oregon only began this style of play in 2007, most of those "decades of video tape" are rather useless.

sherm03;1325119 wrote:Considering that Oregon only began this style of play in 2007, most of those "decades of video tape" are rather useless.

Interesting; no mention of BK the most overrated coach in the game who's never won anything. It's too bad he jumped ship at Cinci BEFORE the BCS bowl game because he would have gotten BLOWN OUT against much superior competition. It wouldn't surprise me if BK jumps ship to Kentucky just to avoid the embarrassment.

sleeper;1325092 wrote:Stanford has decades of video tape on Oregon and can craft a perfect game plan. ND has a head coach who's never won anything besides the Big East; a joke of a conference.

Try again.

I lol'd.

sleeper;1325128 wrote:Interesting; no mention of BK the most overrated coach in the game who's never won anything. It's too bad he jumped ship at Cinci BEFORE the BCS bowl game because he would have gotten BLOWN OUT against much superior competition. It wouldn't surprise me if BK jumps ship to Kentucky just to avoid the embarrassment.

No need to respond to that point. I just smiled to myself and shook my head...