I agree. I have NEVER seen a defense as good as the 2011 version. To put up the numbers they put up in this day and age in the SEC was unreal. I've been lucky enough to see the 92, 09, and 11 title teams and the 11 version was the best ever for Bama and best I've ever seen in my life. Bama's defense this year is better than Notre Dame's and yet this is not our best version by far.ND's defense is not even close to the 2011 BAMA and LSU defense...much less 2012. I guess I'm a homer. Good luck against the SEC in Miami...
I can honestly say if Notre Dame played in the SEC they would have lost 1-2 games easily. Granted I think ND has played a tough schedule, but to skate against the teams like Pitt that they should have blown out and was taken to 3 OT's makes me scratch my head. I just don't see how ND would be able to move the ball against Bama either.
Like others have said this game will come down to offense, with Bama just having too much and Notre Dame not having enough. ND's offense is the type of offense a Bama defense thrives on. With no big passing threat, Bama will wear down their offense and totally shut the running game down. The rushing/passing stats and pretty much even but the biggest stats come down to QB play (efficiency and INT's). McCarron alone has the yards that all of ND's QB's have together, but McCarron's rating is 40 points higher than ANY Notre Dame QB. Then add to that ND has thrown 3x more INT's than Bama and Bama also has a better completion percentage. Bama also has 2x as many passing TD's, and 10 more rushing TD's.
I and a lot of others think Bama would be able to move the ball better against ND's defense than ND doing it to Bama's defense. That should be the difference in the game. I think UGA will give Bama a tougher game than ND would just because UGA has a better rushing threat along with the fact we MUST respect their passing game with Aaron Murray.