Biggest game since?

johncu

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I think that, for a lot of reasons, this is one of the biggest games in a looooong time.

1) It's the first time we've ever been considered even a longshot NC contender in the PJ era. Winning Saturday would put us firmly in the position of contender.

2) We've played plenty of tough games, but it doesn't get much more "prime time" than Notre Dame. Lots of people will be watching, and most of them will probably be cheering for us.

3) A win Saturday would be a big first step to change the perception of the program, which could really help recruiting.

Thoughts? When's the last time we had a game this big?
 

BioJacket06

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Nah. It is a big game but I dont consider it any bigger than the orange bowl, ACC championship game, or UGA game last year. It is an important game that will shape expectations for the rest of the year, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
 

johncu

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Nah. It is a big game but I dont consider it any bigger than the orange bowl, ACC championship game, or UGA game last year. It is an important game that will shape expectations for the rest of the year, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
I'm a fan, I can get ahead of myself if I so choose to.

Fair point about other games being big, but I still think the ramifications of this one are bigger. Imagine the national conversation next week if we win.
 

BioJacket06

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I'm a fan, I can get ahead of myself if I so choose to.

Fair point about other games being big, but I still think the ramifications of this one are bigger. Imagine the national conversation next week if we win.
Do you have any butthurt shares you'd like to sell?
 

DC Bee

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Nah. It is a big game but I dont consider it any bigger than the orange bowl, ACC championship game, or UGA game last year. It is an important game that will shape expectations for the rest of the year, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
While I generally agree with this premise, I think this game is bigger because of item #1 in the OP, which is that at the moment, the game is generally considered a "must win" for playoff contention. And the games get even bigger from here with a win.
 

coit

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It is only Notre Dame. We butt stomped them into the ground the last time we played them.

I don't and never have felt that ND was anything special. GT has every bit as much the college football pedigree, and probably more if you add everything up.

ND is no bigger than Tulane in my mind. Every ACC game is bigger.

Now when ND finally decides to come to the ACC table well then it will be a big game. A new rivalry even.

ND's glory days are long gone.
 

gtrower

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Hard to gauge really, here are some candidates:

UGA '09. We were 10-1 and still had an outside shot at leapfrogging people if things went our way (Tech over UGA, Clemson over USCe, Tech over Clemson, teams ahead of us losing). Also a chance to have CPJ go 2-0 and possibly get Richt fired. This was a monumental letdown.

VT '09. Kind of a similar situation. Coming off a big season the year before and playing a marquee opponent to cement our status as contenders or pretenders.

Actually those are the only two I can really think of. I guess the Orange Bowl last season was big for perception, but it wasn't as program-defining as I think those were. This one is huge for sure because we'll get SO much pub if we can win. I could see us vaulting to #7 or so in the polls if we win by a few scores.
 

00Burdell

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Not counting bowl games, I think this game is the biggest game in a very long time. There were games against "bigger" opponents in recent history but the implications of a win this Saturday are bigger than any I can remember since 1990.
 

coit

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Not counting bowl games, I think this game is the biggest game in a very long time. There were games against "bigger" opponents in recent history but the implications of a win this Saturday are bigger than any I can remember since 1990.

What are the implications of this game? I say none.

We lose, doesn't impact our ability to win the ACC. We can easily go on and win out after a ND loss and be in the playoff.
 

The Jacket

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Hard to gauge really, here are some candidates:

UGA '09. We were 10-1 and still had an outside shot at leapfrogging people if things went our way (Tech over UGA, Clemson over USCe, Tech over Clemson, teams ahead of us losing). Also a chance to have CPJ go 2-0 and possibly get Richt fired. This was a monumental letdown.

VT '09. Kind of a similar situation. Coming off a big season the year before and playing a marquee opponent to cement our status as contenders or pretenders.

Actually those are the only two I can really think of. I guess the Orange Bowl last season was big for perception, but it wasn't as program-defining as I think those were. This one is huge for sure because we'll get SO much pub if we can win. I could see us vaulting to #7 or so in the polls if we win by a few scores.
This. The closest thing to those, you have to go back to Notre Dame in 2006.
 

Flywheel

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Biggest regular season game in a while, OK. The 2014 OB was bigger. I would go back to Clemson 2011 for the last game this big during the season (they were #4 and we upset them at home).
 

cincyjacket

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If we want to be in the conversation for the playoffs, we need to win this game.
 

00Burdell

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What are the implications of this game? I say none.

We lose, doesn't impact our ability to win the ACC. We can easily go on and win out after a ND loss and be in the playoff.
I don't think a 1-loss ACC team will make it into the playoff; I think the implication of a win is that we shoot up in the ranking and join (somewhat) the Playoff conversation.
 

andrew

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Biggest since the Orange Bowl. We got a lot of love this offseason and pre-season, and all because of that game.

If we had lost, the narrative would have been back to us not being able to beat the big boys, having lost to an overrated FSU and the mighty SEC to close the season. It might have taken half the season or more to dispel that notion and climb in the rankings. Instead, we are viewed as a legitimate threat and ranked high for this weekend, ready to vault into playoff contention if we have another dominating performance.

Dominating the SEC in the Orange Bowl was huge for this program.

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The V

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Biggest early season game, a Clemson game a few years ago had plenty of hype. Biggest game of a regular ACC season 11-3-1990; GT vs UVA.
 

johncu

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What are the implications of this game? I say none.

We lose, doesn't impact our ability to win the ACC. We can easily go on and win out after a ND loss and be in the playoff.

Unlikely, but possible.

Regardless, there's a big difference between sneaking into the playoffs at the very end and being a part of the discussion all season long. If we're talking about long-term, program-building type of impact, this type of win that puts in the national title conversation is just different than a nice win over a highly ranked team.
 

Akinji07

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The game is huge for us to show the nation that we're no longer a dark horse but a legit contender. It's our biggest test since the Orange Bowl. Having said that, it's still not as important as any uga game for me.
 
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