After wrapping up their spot in the national championship game, Notre Dame has the luxury of sitting back and watching as both Alabama and Georgia duke it out for BCS tickets of their own. While the Fighting Irish will be ready for either the Crimson Tide or the Bulldogs, Notre Dame may prefer to face off against one or the other, as each opponent brings different strengths and weaknesses to the table. On the one hand, the Crimson Tide are much better on the ground than they are through the air, which would play into Notre Dame’s hands almost perfectly. The Fighting Irish have one of the best rushing defenses in the country, and have allowed only two rushing touchdowns all season long. While the Alabama running back tandem of Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon is one of the best in the nation, they would definitely find it much more difficult to find running room against Manti Te’o and Co. Georgia is a much-more balanced team through offensively, and offenses that do everything well are much harder to stop than one-dimensional attacks. However, while Georgia is a good defensive team, they have not performed to the level of Alabama this year. In particular, the Bulldogs have been susceptible to getting gashed on the ground by good running teams, and are currently ranked 67th in rushing yards allowed per game. Notre Dame has a great running back tandem in senior Theo Riddick and junior Cierre Wood, and quarterback Everett Golson is also a serious threat to take off running from time to time. Alabama has the second-ranked rushing defense in the country, and would pose a much bigger threat to the Fighting Irish’s running game. Either opponent will be a tough task for Notre Dame, but for now, Fighting Irish fans can wonder who they would rather see in Miami on January 7th.
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