AJ McCarron calls 2013 Notre Dame team 'weak' as Manti Te'o recalls 'long day' vs. Alabama

There have been quite a few national championship game blowouts in recent times. Arguably none more dominating than Alabama taking down Notre Dame in January 2013, 42-14. While the Fighting Irish were the lone undefeated team in college football, Manti Te’o says Nick Saban‘s squad was in control of the game before even taking the field.

“Alabama hasn’t come out yet,” Te’o began. “My guys are hyped, they’re loud, they’re doing their thing… Alabama’s locker room door opens and they start running out. They’re going out and I do remember this very vividly — my soon-to-be teammate, DJ Fluker, and Chance Warmack come running out of the locker room with their jerseys — their big bellies are out. I remember DJ Fluker going by and saying ‘WOMP WOMP. WOMP WOMP.’

“I vividly remember the silence behind me and I kind of glanced back at my teammates and the eyes on them were so large, I knew at that time, I thought ‘Alright, this is going to be a long day.’ To my guys’ credit, they never flinched but let me tell you guys, when we played the Alabama team in 2013, there was a difference. There was a difference with those Bama boys.”

You can watch Te’o tell the whole story here.

Manti Te’o talking about playing Alabama in the 2013 National Championship 🙂🔥pic.twitter.com/uiD7hKydq8

— Alabama DieHards (@DiehardsAlabama) August 17, 2024

When Notre Dame went back up the Hard Rock Stadium tunnel for halftime, they found themselves down 28-0. Some points were eventually put on the board in the second half but the game was not pretty. Alabama put up 529 total yards, 265 of which came on the ground.

For comparison, Notre Dame had just 32 rushing yards on 19 carries.

AJ McCarron, who started at quarterback for Alabama in the game, got in on the conversation as well, having similar memories of the moment. McCarron went on to call that Notre Dame team “weak” compared to what the Crimson Tide put out on the field.

“He is RIGHT about that,” McCarron said via X. “They never flinched or even got started. They stayed completely still, while we came flying off the starting line. Manti was one hell of a player and ND had some great players. I am not bashing them but that Notre Dame team as a whole was WEAK.”

Te’o had an incredible season in 2012, producing 113 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, and 1.5 sacks while adding seven interceptions. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist and finished runner-up to Texas A&M‘s Johnny Manziel.

But Alabama was too much to handle and Te’o knew it the moment he set his eyes on their players.