I definitely don't think it was development of the players. Brian Kelly coached them up and they played over their talent level in my opinion. They had a strong front 7 on defense, some good (but not outstanding running backs) and a great tight end who was their only real receiving threat in my opinion. They beat some very good teams on their schedule (Stanford, USC, Michigan, Michigan State, Miami, and Oklahoma).

However, while they had some good talent littered at certain positions (Linebacker - Manti Te'o, Prince Shembo Defensive End - Stephon Tuitt, Nose Tackle - Louis Nix, Tight End - Tyler Eifert (their only real receiving threat in my opinion), Running back - Theo Riddick and Wood), they had a lot of weak spots in my opinion. Their secondary was slow and small. Their offensive live was "so so". They have a freshman QB in Gholston who was not prepared to face that fast, nasty defense. And, as good as their front seven was, it was not prepared for that huge Alabama OL and their tandem running backs. Keep in mind that Alabama's offense and QB excel at play action (especially when you can run the ball that well). They could stack the line and limit the run, but AJ McCarron would have destroyed their weak secondary.

ETA: Also, the way the Notre Dame offense was performing (3 and outs), it was only a matter of time before that defense got gassed out. Those 3 and 4 yard runs (if ND stacked the line), would have turned to 8+ runs.

This post was edited on 7/30/13 at 11:26 am