A few ND blog observations about the Irish

Submitted by MGoRob on

I went across a couple ND blogs and put together some very "telling" comments.  I mostly picked out the "bad" passages as that'll make me sleep better at night. Enjoy.

From http://www.uhnd.com/blog/

Notre Dame has major problems defending the perimeter which should be a big concern with Michigan and Denard Robinson coming to town next weekend.   Look for Notre Dame to play a lot of nickel next week to get more speed on the field.

 

The front 3 got a nice push at times, but were pretty inconsistent.  Ian Williams did a nice job collapsing the pocket at times, but outside of the first drive of the second half, the push just wasn’t there from the front 3 most of the time.

 

The offense had its moments, but was very inconsistent.

 

Dayne Crist ....  On the negative side, he threw underneath too often and had trouble putting touch on his passes down the field.  He had Floyd open for touchdowns twice in the 4th quarter but over threw him.  He needs to just keep the ball in play there and let Floyd get it.   Crist also had Rudolph open for a touchdown in the second, but air mailed it forcing Notre Dame to settle for field goals both times.

 

The offensive line is still a work in progress.  Both new tackles - Zack Martin and Taylor Dever - struggled at times both with their assignments and their blocking when they did get their assignments right.  It’s tough to start two tackles with such little experience so this much is to be expected.  Both will benefit the most among the offensive line from film study.

 

From http://www.subwaydomer.com/2010-articles/august/the-purdue-game-dissent…

The push from the defensive line was better and the secondary did a good job keeping things in front of them most of the day, BUT, the tackling still left a lot to be desired

 

This defense has got to figure out a way to contain the QB option prior to Michigan’s arrival next week.

 

I can’t shake the feeling that, were Purdue playing with a more experienced QB and line (to say nothing of Ralph Bolden), this game could have been much different.

 

Crist did a nice job managing the game, but definitely missed opportunities to hit open men (particularly in the red zone) against a very bad and inexperienced secondary (he also nearly had two passes picked off, including his first of the day). It was his first game and, generally, he played well, but as the season progresses and the defenses improve, he needs to start seeing the field better.

 

The coaches are going to need to work on ball-handling this week. Crist was stripped in the first half, Allen fumbled and got it back (he also lost the ball as he was going out of bounds on his great punt return) , Floyd had his big gaffe and Cierre Wood fumbled on his kickoff return in the fourth quarter. The Irish were lucky this wasn’t something that hurt them too badly this week, but it needs to be addressed before it becomes a major issue.

 

alwaystrueblue

September 7th, 2010 at 1:37 AM ^

for posting that.   Some pretty interesting reading there.....

 

Sounds like they are as worried about us as we are about them.

I dont have a real good feel for this game yet.  I was very confident of us winning rather easily vs. UCONN (as my prediction of Michigan 42-UCONN 17 will attest). 

Seems like both of these teams may have played it pretty close to the vest as far as the amount of stuff they showed and ran on offense.

If Denard carries 29 times against the Irish....chances are good they will rack him up a few times. These are the big boys now.  

If we play as error free this week as we just did...we have a great chance of a big road win.

 

Oaktown Wolverine

September 7th, 2010 at 1:50 AM ^

Dayne Crist ....  On the negative side, he threw underneath too often and had trouble putting touch on his passes down the field.  He had Floyd open for touchdowns twice in the 4th quarter but over threw him.  He needs to just keep the ball in play there and let Floyd get it.   Crist also had Rudolph open for a touchdown in the second, but air mailed it forcing Notre Dame to settle for field goals both times.

 

I hope he throws to JT Floyd all day.

bklein09

September 7th, 2010 at 2:16 AM ^

You definitely selected the things you WANTED to hear, uh, read from those blogs because the blogs I visited seemed extremely confident in basically every aspect of their team. '

It really is incredible the change in attitude that Kelly has brought to everyone in their program. You would think that after 2 coaches came and went AFTER getting off to hot starts, they would temper their expectations (as many of us have after 2 seasons). 

Yet, they really think that their 11 point win over Purdue is an indication that they are a lock for 9+ wins.

I will be very honest. This game scares me. But it scares mostly because of the last two seasons, not because of anything I have seen from Michigan or ND in the first week. I guess over the past few years I have learned not to take anything for granted, and that anything is possible on the football field. 

I'm confident that we SHOULD win this game. But I'm scared that we won't...and that will be extremely disappointing given the potential of this team.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. We're gonna destroy them. 

Michigan 35 ND 17

Buzz Your Girlfriend

September 7th, 2010 at 2:18 AM ^

Yeah, but they are homer domers. They are extremely confident even if they are headed for a 6-6 season. I think you give ND fans way too much credit, they are delusional optimists. I'm glad the OP posted all of the negatives (he probably had to read 10,000 words to find these) and I am even confident to magnify these problems to account for the Domer baseline which is 25 optimist points ahead of any other fan base.

MGoRob

September 7th, 2010 at 9:04 AM ^

You definitely selected the things you WANTED to hear, uh, read from those blogs because the blogs I visited seemed extremely confident in basically every aspect of their team. '

Yes, yes I did.  I also stated as much in the first line of my post.  As the previous commentor said, I'm much more likely to believe the negative things they said vs the positive on the standpoint of closest to the truth.  Every fan is a homer no matter how hard they try to deny it.

Meeechigan Dan

September 7th, 2010 at 6:43 AM ^

If Denard gets 11 possessions, then it would be 77 points. The math isn't hard, folks. I assume the refs give Notre Dame at least a couple TDs they don't deserve.

77-13.

26 rushes (they cut back) for 406 yards.

15-16, 231 yards passing (not much need, one tipped ball because he's not 6'6")

pdgoblue25

September 7th, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^

Sorry, posted this in another thread, but it's more appropriate here.

My Observations:

-Manti Te'o is a beast, he delivers bone crushing hits, I was very aware that he was on the field

-Overall I couldn't believe how much ND's tackling was improved saturday, there seemed to be hardly any yards after contact, their tackling was sound.  Just one game, but ND has been consistently one of the worst tackling teams in the last decade, so it was surprising

-Dayne Crist is talented, but was very indecisive.  This is to be expected from a quarterback running the zone read/spread offense for the first time.  However, he is a much better athlete then he gets credit for, and he is not to be underestimated when he decides to run.  He was having trouble with the zone read when deciding whether to hand it off, or run, again, this is to be expected.

-Cierre Wood is FAST, and Armando Allen is very talented.  I was very impressed by this RB tandem,  Wood was exploding through the holes

-ND's pass blocking is shaky, it was very obvious that they had new starters on the line

-Rudolph is a monster and I'm not sure why Crist wasn't targeting him more, he was a complete mismatch

-Purdue fans are annoying as hell, a bunch of nerds

Should be a fun game to watch next saturday

phork

September 7th, 2010 at 7:55 PM ^

Since I can't post, I'll throw it on here..  First of all congrats on your win v. UConn.  That Robinson is quite a character.  Saying all that I must admit that I am neither nervous or scared of this game this week.  I am looking forward to a sporting contest between our squads and hope for a great game.

Frankly if you were lulled into some sense of security with that Purdue snoozer I think you might have another thing coming.