Manti Te'o Says Notre Dame Was Scared of Alabama as Soon as They Came Out of the Locker Room in the 2012 National Championship Game

It has to be the most helpless feeling in the world to go undefeated for an entire college football season, enter the BCS National Championship Game at 13-0 having prepared for a month and feeling like you're ready to go to war with Alabama only to have them walk out of the locker room and immediately put the fear of God in you. That's the difference in good recruiting and Nick Saban recruiting.

I actually similarly remember sitting in the first few rows of Neyland Stadium for No. 1 Alabama vs No. 9 Tennessee in 2016 and being right behind the Tide's defensive line during warm-ups. Upon looking at what the Vols would be dealing with that day up close, I was stricken with a similar feeling to the Fighting Irish players. Alabama, of course, kicked our ass just it they did Notre Dame's in 2012.

That Notre Dame squad was a very good football team that had some really nice wins and they didn't even belong on the field with Alabama. Even the 42-14 final score doesn't illustrate how non-competitive that game was. Bama could have won that game 56-0 if it really wanted to.

I'm so fascinated to watch what happens with the Crimson Tide in the next few years. They've just been through one of the greatest stretches in the history of college football and their fans absolutely expect it to continue, even when there's really no way anyone — other than potentially Kirby Smart, who is never leaving Georgia — could do what Saban did. They're going to be one of the most interesting teams in college football for the next five seasons.

I'm sure most people who had to line up against one of Saban's teams would have gladly traded it for the opportunity to play Bama under Kalen DeBoer, though.