Notre Dame is BUILT DIFFERENT! 😤 - Stephen A. DEFENDS the Fighting Irish vs. Cam Newton | First take

#ESPN
Ryan Clark, whose son Jordan plays safety at Notre Dame, Stephen A. Smith and Cam Newton join Molly Qerim on First Take to react to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish's win over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the College Football Playoff Semifinals at the Orange Bowl.

0:00 Notre Dame wins Orange Bowl
1:02 Cam wants Notre Dame in a conference
3:44 Stephen A.'s Notre Dame thoughts
6:25 Cam has been surprised, but not enough
8:28 Stephen A. calls out Cam

[ReaganAndLincolnFan]

Two things Cam can’t do: (1) admit he was wrong, (2) dive for the ball. Go Irish. ☘️

[chatterbox]

ND is playing with a backup o-line (3rd string LT). Two captains out. RB1 playing injured. Best d-lineman out. Next man up mentality. No excuses for these other teams.

[kylep]

Cam Newton has some serious hate in his heart for Notre Dame, and it clearly affects his analysis.

[greenandwhiteever]

8:16 “The road was too easy” Notre Dame has as many if not more quality wins than every other playoff team

[garrettmgyt]

cam saying a natty win doesn’t matter if they’re not in a conference is probably the dumbest thing i’ve ever heard. what a clown

[landisreynolds]

They’ve beaten 3 top 10 teams in the last 3 weeks. I’m no Notre dame fan and I couldn’t decide who to root for last night because I felt bad for whoever lost regardless. But come on Cam. Once you’re in the playoffs everyone has to prove themselves

[RyanRohl]

Cam should be more upset with whoever lays his clothes out for him

[Fight_Brandon_Fight]

Why are haters so obsessed with Notre Dame joining a conference? Worry about yourself. How about that? I get why Cam is a hater. He’s an SEC homer and he’s still butthurt about the Irish whooping on the SEC Champion Georgia Bulldogs. But for others that are hating, go cry in a corner.

[dashx]

Freeman deserves a ton of credit. With all the injuries ND has suffered this season, it is basically amazing they are still standing in the end. The OL and the DL have been fundamentally decimated. And then in the PSU game, on top of all the other losses, they lost 2 OLs as the game went on. Many teams would have just folded.

Also, consider the loss of their best player, .. Benjamin Morrison ... which could have been a death stroke. But a true freshman (and for the recruitniks out there, a consensus 3* player) stepped up and held the line. This team is built on grit, courage, character, and a complete commitment to the "next man in" philosophy. They might not beat OSU or Texas in the final game, but they should have earned everyone's respect.

[dustindavis]

As a bama fan, I’m pulling for ND. Marcus Freeman made me a fan after what he said last night when the reporter tried to make everything about race..

[ayojerkins]

Why do people think Carson Beck is an x factor? He's okay at best lol

[ThatPlantGuy]

Seeing the money that notre dame doesn’t have to share with a conference has a lot of people jealous 😂

[fullbackdive]

I don’t understand the conference argument. Literally everyone said at the beginning of the season this new format will force ND to join a conference because they can’t be seeded higher then the 5 seed. They are given the 7 seed and beat everyone they are matched up against and now all of a sudden them not being in a conference is unfair to everyone else.

Pick a lane being in a conference isn’t mandatory the reason no other schools do it is because no other schools can stand on their own notre dame is the only one that can.

[garyb]

Ryan Clark is such a passionate dad! Love it!

[dajuanhackett]

Well said Ryan Clark, son Jordan Clark also stepped up when Morrison went down on
IR JC held it down big-time thumbs 👍

[redbull]

Cams face during this whole video says everything he's feeling hearing all the Notre Dame love 😂

[Bringmethehorizondude]

Notre dame: beats 7 ranked teams

Cam: but what about a conference?! They don’t play anyone

*facepalm*

[ryanodonnell]

Scam Newton with the “I can admit when I’m wrong” and “even if they win the championship I’m not wrong” combo is hypocrisy at its finest

[mountainsky]

“Notre Dame did not have the toughest road”, is quite the indictment against Georgia, Penn State and Indiana.

[HuntingSanity]

Does cam not know that that ND has a contract with the ACC to essentially play an ACC schedule and just not play in conference championships? They're pretty much an ACC team that doesn't worry about a conference championship