Urban Meyer admits he got emotional watching Notre Dame 'put it all over an SEC team'

Going into the Sugar Bowl, Notre Dame was looking to prove that it was a true national championship contender. The Irish did just that, winning a hard-nosed game against the SEC Champions and winners of two of the previous three national championships, Georgia.

In the wake of that win, former coach and current analyst Urban Meyer shared on The Triple Option that he actually got emotional watching the Irish do what they did to an SEC team.

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“I recruited there and it’s a great school,” Urban Meyer said. “It’s a hard, hard job. Marcus Freeman — we’ll talk about that in a minute. I have to talk about that in a minute because I really admire the guy. Notre Dame, only a certain player will go there. Academics are a premium. It’s not the online. You’re going there. I don’t know their whole NIL, they must be doing very well with that because they have a really good team, but I watch those players speak, I’ve been there, I know that culture, and I got a little choked up watching Notre Dame just put it all over an SEC team.”

Urban Meyer himself has head coaching experience in multiple conferences, including the SEC where he won two national championships coaching at Florida. He had chosen to go to Florida over Notre Dame when he took the job in 2005, even though he’s emphasized his respect for the Notre Dame job in the past. On top of that, Meyer also spent time at Notre Dame as an assistant coach.

It’s that experience that Meyer has at Notre Dame that has helped him understand how difficult it is to do what the Irish did due to the standards around the program.

“A few years ago, you never even thought that would happen. I was at the Notre Dame vs. Alabama national championship game and it was big boys vs. non big boys. I mean, Alabama just took them all over the field. So, that was a great moment for the subway alums of Notre Dame, for the coaching staff, most importantly the players,” Meyer said. “But enjoy that. It’s seven degrees right now in South Bend and they’re trying to recruit players, recruiting season is December, January still, and I remember it’s only a certain player you can get up there.”

Notre Dame dominated the game against Georgia physically in many ways. That included out-gaining the Bulldogs on the ground 154 yards to 62 yards. They also won the turnover battle, taking two fumbles away from Georgia in the 23-10 win.

Now, Notre Dame will look to “put it all over” a second Big Ten team when the Irish take on Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Thursday, which will act as the College Football Playoff semifinal.