Tech’s playing a pretty good Notre Dame team on Saturday. This Irish iteration isn’t as good as last year’s squad, though they’re better than the team Tech beat in their first-ever meeting. They’re 5-2 with wins over Louisville, Bowling Green, New Mexico, UVA, and USC-W; a tight loss to UGA; and most recently a blowout loss to Michigan.

The Michigan game has gotten a ton of hype, but don’t read too much into it. Tech doesn’t have the same ponies as Michigan, but you already knew that. The rain was also pouring. Yes, both teams played in it, but some teams handle it better than others, and unless someone on Tech’s staff is moonlighting as Thor, it’s probably too much to expect similar weather. The ND guys were having footwork and position issues on both sides of the ball they just didn’t have in other games.

The game was also at Michigan, which led to screwed-up snap timings and things like that. And Notre Dame brought the wrong game plan on offense. A few years ago, Don Brown was the best defensive coordinator in college football, and he’s still a good one; you could tell he was throwing zone wrinkles at ND they weren’t expecting.

Second, it’s still Notre Dame. Talent-wise, most of their starters would be starters for Tech. Yet, for whatever reason, a team that’s very similar to last year’s playoff squad isn’t living up to their billing.

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