What to Watch For: FSU vs. Notre Dame

Oct 11, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly talks with quarterback Everett Golson (5) in the second quarter against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

2.) Good Guys vs. Bad Guys

This, admittedly, has nothing to do with X’s and O’s, but watch the way that Florida State and Notre Dame are characterized on Saturday. FSU — though ESPN surely won’t be overt about it — will be painted into the role of the villain. Notre Dame — with its gold helmets and rich history — will be college football’s good guys for the evening.

Notre Dame will be characterized as a scrappy group looking to end the reign of the evil empire on its own home turf.

You think I’m kidding?

Notre Dame and its fans have nothing to thumb their noses at Florida State for. Notre Dame is currently embroiled in its own academic scandal. The Irish’s QB just served a season-long suspension himself (count how many times that comes up) and Notre Dame has a shameful history when it comes to investigating its own sexual assault claims.

On Saturday, you likely won’t hear any of that as they shamelessly celebrate the Fighting Irish.

This is nothing new, Notre Dame has always had an egregiously overrated reputation as a “good school.” That’s why they’re allowed to get away with being an independent (a status schools like Miami and Florida State were forced out of in the 80’s). That’s why the standard for Notre Dame’s inclusion in the postseason is substantially lower than for other schools. It’s how Notre Dame could go 0-4 in the BCS era — and aside from 2012 hasn’t been relevant in most of its current players’ lifetimes — but people still pretend its a major program. This is the program that changed how Joe Theismann pronounced his last name for a Heisman campaign. It’s a program that tried to make us care about Rudy, despite the fact nobody liked Rudy according to Joe Montana. It’s the school who asked us to win one for ‘The Gipper’ knowing full well that the ‘win one for the Gipper’ schtick was a huge steaming load of BS.

The whole mythos of Notre Dame is fabricated– it’s all one big act. The legends are exaggerated. The lore is fake. The cake is a lie.

Meanwhile, Florida State can’t go a week without receiving more scorn from the national media.

It’s right vs. wrong. Good vs. bad. Catholics vs. Criminoles.

It will all be on display this weekend– enjoy it!