Make no mistake about it: Notre Dame football was manhandled in the Cotton Bowl last year. What looked to be a close game leading into the half quickly became a game where a win seemed out of reach. In the wake of a blowout loss such as the one suffered by the Irish in the College Football Playoff, it might be appealing to make sweeping generalizations about disparities in talent between the two programs in the contest.
Brian Kelly was quite clear in his post-game conference. His opinion was that he did not witness “an overwhelming difference in terms of talent.