Im Worried about ND's 5 Wide sets...

Vulnerabilities against this set ARE* glaring. Just kiddin around!

But seriously. I imagine that the coaching staff will review the tape this week, and find a way to defend it. We probably won't lock it down as much as we would like, but it shouldn't concern you. We'll find a way to make the D serviceable, have faith in the staff.

I was worried until yesterday, then realized the defense will only need to play for 20 minutes.  

I thought Crist was a RS Sophomore

We've gone down there with much better squads than we have now, and lost. Weird shit seems to happen down there.

I think a lot of those 5 wide sets are designed to open up underneath routes in man coverage and go downtown in zone. So you have to ask yourself this. When we drop into cover three, will our underneath coverage of Kovacs/LB/Nickel back be able to cover long enough for Roh, Martin and RVB to beat their blockers and put pressure on..

I think a lot of this Irish game will come down to how dirty Crist's jersey is at halftime.

Super dirty: were probably in the drivers seat

Squeaky clean: were probably in trouble, or Denard has run for another 117 in the first half.

I assume the coaches kept a number of blitz packages in the bag and we will work on some specifics for the type of Offense that ND runs. Yet, even then, ND's better QB and receivers will be a real test for our D.

that it took 5 players to block Martin and Roh. If our secondary does an adequate job, it will only be a matter of time before the QB proves he is a freshman. I would love to see him scrambling around with Martin in hot pursuit. I think I saw Roh come around the back side of a couple of plays going in the opposite direction and nearly blow them up, too. There is no substitute for speed.

I will pray to the secondary gods. I am almost ready to get excited about our young defense.

is probably more worried about figuring out a way to stop Denard, and figuring out a way to score enough to keep up with him.

but they only passed for 205 and a TD last week and were far from an offensive juggernaut.  I was more concerned with Denard's ability to pass against another D.  Luckily that concern was squashed rather quickly.

I expect it to be another great game this Saturday.  The inexperienced Crist and his recievers against Michigan's inexperienced secondary is only one of many intriguing matchups.  I am, though, a lot more confident about what may happen than I was on Friday.   I think yesterday's game proves that Michigan is "back," and that predictions of gloom, doom, and a post-season coaching search may have been somewhat premature. 

ND looked a little better than I thought they would, but Michigan looked better than almost everyone who follows football thought they would.  I think that a more-experienced Crist could cause severe problems for Michigan, but I don't see ND's current level of production to be too worrisome. 

I think "bend but don't break" could be a mantra by the end of the year.  I think the defense will yield a lot of yards to ND, but I don't see ND sustaining enough drives to beat Michigan.  Besides, if the game plan is similar to this week's version, ND isn't going to have a lot of clock time with the ball.  It certainly looks like RR wants to "compress" games by keeping the clock running and giving the defense less "opportunities" to give up big plays.

If Denard can keep the offense on the field long enough to make ND's defense tired, keep Michigan's defense fresh, and keep ND's offense from finding continuity, it's the maize and blue eyes that will be smiling on Saturday. 

My early guess: Michigan 24, ND 14.

I told myself no Notre Dame until tomorrow, but after yesterday I want more.

Generally speaking if we are winning the turnover battle or even staying even, we are a very tough assignment for anyone on our schedule on any field.  

I have a feeling we are going to see great energy from this team all year, even if we don't always see exactly what we'd like to see. We are young and hungry and this is fresh and fun to watch. I hope Michigan fans who choose to dislike the new direction, unchoose that  because they are missing a fun process.

I'm waiting to see Brian's UFR on the D, but it seemed from listening (when I was in the car) and watching back at home that our defense on the perimeter was not good. Borderline terrible, and we gave up a couple of long passes and nearly gave up a TD, (a better QB/receiver combo makes that play).

In my mind, we need at least 6 more wins to make a bowl game. We should get two against Bowling Green and UMass. So, should we lose to ND, we need four wins in conference play. Considering how Illinois looked yesterday through its first half against Missouri, they'll be tougher than we'd hoped for, (Scheelhaase looked really good for a freshman). Indiana played very well yesterday, and MSU was on the money after they got the cobwebs cleared. There will be no gimmes after UMass.

Top to bottom, the B10/12 will be tough this season. Maybe better than the SEC overall.

Crist has been in the program for a few years but the program has changed and I think it's insane to think that BK has got his whole offense in the way Weis had his last year. I would be more concerned if this game were in a few weeks rather than now. That said, I don't think ND really opened up the ole' playbook much vs. Purdue. I guess we'll see.

I think the things that could kill us vs. ND will be turnovers and penalties, both of which we managed to stay away from yesterday. If our offense can play something like it did yesterday with long drives, those ND fans are going to put a ton of pressure on Crist to deliver and every time they punt it's going to just ramp right up. That's a fan base that's really pretty close to as antsy as this one and they will be putting a ton of weight on next week's game.

I expect the ND fans to boo their own team next week at some point in the game.

I think ND is going to come in more prepared, scheme-wise at least, for Denard's ground game than UConn was (obviously). Not that it will matter a lot, but it will matter some. Therefore, I think Denard will put the ball in the air more. Stonum and Hemingway will have to have big games; the O-line will also have to have another big game in order to temper whatever ND has planned for Denard's ground game. Denard will have to balance # of passes and runs more. Unless, well, he is again unstoppable.

As for the D, having fast guys who swarm to the ball is our strength. JT Floyd or Rogers will not be able to cover M Floyd. Also, unlike UConn, their receivers will not help us with dropped passes. We will have to do what we do best - swarm, fly around, use our collective speed to keep their offense contained - just enough.

ND is going to put some points on the board next week.  I didn't watch much of the game, but from the box score they didn't pass much more than we did this week, but they were efficient in doing so. They'll probably pass more against us, especially if they can't get the running game going. They still only put up 23 on Purdue, which isn't great.  I think the 3-3-5 set will help out a lot against ND's passing attack next week.  I saw many examples in the UCONN game where their QB was confused by our D.  For example, in the game I remember on a third down (3rd and 5) we had a DB playing 10 yard off the WR (at which point I'm thinking "not this crap again") - the QB saw this and planned to throw to him to get the first down, but as the ball was snapped James Rogers stepped in to cover him from the middle and made a play on him to force the incompletion and I could see that Frazier wasn't expecting this..  

The ND defense looked pretty darn slow (heck, Marve had a 23 yrd TD run), so we're going to put up some points too.

Should I be worried that we registered zero sacks on UConn?

Michigan will be fine. ND put up 23 against Purdue, a team not exactly known for defense.

Going 5-wide also limits the protection for the QB.  Hopefully we can get some sacks and force some throws to offset the increased pressure on our secondary.  Crist has the tools, but he still lacks game experience.  Most of ND's big plays seemed to be the result of Purdue's poor tackling rather than outstanding passing.

... 5 wide means no RB for protection. Id say that our D line did very well against uconns O-line, and they have arguably one of the best units in the country. Imagine what were going to do to notre dames offensive line. You don't have to be afraid, and if you still are just think about how bad their defense is.