Notre Dame Offense

I totally agree, I think Notre Dame will surprise people with how well they play through the season, with a lot of cupcakes and a hyper-powered offense. We should absolutely cheer for Notre Dame, every big win for them makes us look even better.

I don't know if I can bring myself to root for them, but I thought that offense was at least the best U of M has faced since the Dennis Dixon Oregon team in '07. It's a joke, I think, that ND isn't in the top 25...Floyd is one of the best players in the country at any position.

I also agree that Michigan's defense will generally look a lot better than they did on Saturday.

Perhaps it is only because I want there to be a darn good reason why our defense looked so overmatched for all but the third quarter of that game, I don't know, but I agree.

I think you are bang on in your assessment other than perhaps the offensive line, I think that is their only question mark. We didn't do much to test them but with our d-line being a question mark it is hard to gauge how good their o-line really is. Was our d-line good but they were just better or did we stink and just make them look good? I'm not sure yet but I hope it is just that they were that good.

I have to say that I was really impressed with their offense and don't think there will be any that we will face that will be as explosive as their's and that is including OSU and PSU (OSU especially).

It would be great to see Notre Dame go undefeated or look very strong the rest of the season. That makes our win over them that much more special.

I'd argue that Illinois and Benn have a pretty good receiving corp, but ND is definitely better and have a better player throwing the ball to them.

I just want us to win these next two games convincingly, while giving our backups and young guys a LOT of game time reps to prepare them for the rest of the season.

We'll see...

I might put us better at TE (Koger!), and Darryl Clark is still probably the best QB in the Big Ten. But other than that, I agree. As long as the OL blocks like they did against us, I think that's one of the best offenses in the nation. One concern, has anyone heard about the status of Floyd? I think that would be a major injury and could stymie their effectiveness the rest of the way. Shaq Evans didn't look quite ready for prime time.

I agree.....before the final drive in the ND game IMO I couldnt help but feel that Notre Dame had the better athletes. It just goes to show you that better coaching/strategy can go along way.

They have great talent, but I'm not sure about the coaching. We won't see a pair of WR's that good again this season.

Benn is the only other receiver who is on par with Floyd or Tate that we will face. Clark is probably a better QB than Clausen, but he doesn't have the receivers or good run blocking to provide balance.

I would say that Minor is better than any back ND has. I'm assuming that he got limited touches because he still has lingering effects from the injury, but he managed to shred the ND defense over and over and he did a fantastic job in pass protection. One of the primary reasons that the ND running game was so effective is that Michigan had to keep their safeties back, as well as their cornerbacks and occasionally a linebacker or two to defend the pass (especially the long ball). ND's ability to beat up (and by beat up, I mean consistently hold like nobody's business) the front four and then grab swaths of yardage while the rest of the defense got back into the action.

I agree with the rest though.

Probably better than Benn in terms of production

I agree with the basic premise of your post. ND has a good offense. But:

QB: Tate won the game without Hemingway (or Floyd for that matter). TP didn't have his best game against SC but he's still basically Vince Young in scarlet and gray.

RB: I'm not sure what Armando had for breakfast on Saturday but I don't expect him to average 6.6 ypc for the rest of the year. And as far as depth, ND doesn't have any. There was a notable drop off when Jonas Gray, who would be maybe 5th string if we would have offered, came in.

WR: I agree.

TE: Um, Eric Decker?

OL: Same line of Yakety Sax fame albeit with more experience. OK, they looked much improved Saturday when they weren't getting called for holding. OSU has a better line.

Offense
QB: 1-Jimmah (2-Forcier, 3-Clark, 4-Cousins, 5-Pryor)
RB: Minor
WR: 1-Floyd (2-Benn, 3-Tate, 4-Decker)
TE: Koger
OL: OSU

Defense
OSU by far.

Coach
1-RR, 2-Ferentz, 3-JoePa, ... 11-Tressel, 12-Weis

I also have more respect for Notre Dame after the game than I did before it (at least as far as the athletes on the field go). They were not overrated and were possibly even a little better than advertised. I think Michigan's play calling, adjustments, and clock management (in other words gameday coaching) was one of Michigan's strengths. The other--for the first time I've ever seen--was the noise from the home crowd (which exacerbated the problem of the offensive plays getting to Clausen late). After that, Michigan flat out played their asses off and never gave up.

I actually think Notre Dame has a shot at beating USC this year.

I’ll have a difficult time actually rooting for them against anyone other than USC (hate them, too). It’d be an injustice for them to win out and make a BCS bowl while Michigan does not. I suppose the best thing for Michigan would be for Notre Dame to lose to Michigan State or Purdue—or both--since Michigan also plays them and they pretty much cancel each other out.

I think the ND offense will prove to be prolific but I would not rate them as "one of the best" right now. We don't know enough and I tend to think their line play is just mediocre. Yes, the WR and TE and probably the nation's best and JC is a very good QB. But I think the line is just average to good (despite our lack of pressure) and in games where JC is "off" they may struggle at times to be dominant on the ground. Just as guess as the data is limited. We will learn more about ND this Saturday vs. MSU.

Two things. First, right now, disregarding fandom and personal bias, I'd take Tate over Clausen. I'm not saying Tate's "better." They are two different kinds of QBs. Clausen is obviously more polished and experienced, and won't make freshmen mistakes. But I take Tate for raw talent, the "IT" factor, and his scrambling/running ability.

Second, I want ND to beat USC. In fact, I want them to mop the floor with everyone else on their schedule. Makes Michigan's victory over them so much sweeter.

QB Whenever Clausen get’s time he’s money. Without time he’s avg. I put Clark and yes Forcier over him b/c of the decision making and scrambling ability.

RB Royster is only averaging about 3 ypc against cupcakes so I’m not impressed. I think so far Minor, McCray (from Indi) and Bolden (Purdue) are better.

WR Benn’s been hurt, but I would still put him ahead of Tate, probably tied with Floyd.

TE Koger is the best in the Midwest hands down.

OL I like our line. I don’t know if Minor and Tate are making them look good or what, but I think our line is better.

They have good talent in every position, but I don’t think they face a secondary that can hold their receiving corps.

I agree that RichRod had things together Saturday and the evidence suggests he has been considered a great coach everywhere he has been. It still seems a little premature to me to declare him great. He has to prove more to me before I believe he's the best in the big 10. Unfortunately, Tressel likely has a lock on the lead.

Forcier on the other hand seems to be the real deal. I would take Forcier over any other QB in the B10 and including Clausen. Does anyone remember watching Henson? It is the first time since Henson that I have wanted to see the QB take off (i.e. Navarre made me cringe if a play lasted more than 3 seconds).

Before we get too carried away, let's just hope that Forcier is an above-average QB in the Big 10. If so, that's a HUGE step forward. He has shown incredible poise and decision making for a true frosh but he is still only two games in. Let's see how he performs against MSU, PSU and OSU before we say he is near the top of the QBs in the conference (seems to have that potential however).

Now I worry what if Forcier gets injured? I hope that we can get DR many passes in the next two games so he can get some confidence and balance in the offense when DR is in.

And if they meet or exceed 9-3, which is possible, I bet they will be swaggering by the end of the season. The voters will breathe a collective sigh of relief and install ND ahead of us in the polls even if we have the same record (just because it's ND). One caveat to the rankings -- even if ND wins out, I think we will be higher if we beat PSU and tOSU because that could make us the story of the year.

BTW, I am a long time reader of MGoBlog but a new poster. I am looking for a swingin' avatar, but I'm not all that computer savvy, so my posts will probably always look as plain as Penn State's uniforms.

Notre Dame is the best offense we will see this year. Clausen has matured as a passer and with any amount of time he's money. He throws with good velocity and touch and his receivers are as good a tandem as CFB has to offer this year, maybe even #1 overall. We will however see teams much better on the ground and a few with QB's who have Tate's same ability to make plays with their feet - Clark (PSU), Pryor (OSU), Williams (Illinois), Nichol (MSU).

I think you are absolutely correct.

I think this is a good offense we're talking about, and I agree that they'll do well down the stretch. They have mostly cupcakes left on the schedule, though USC should smack them down, PSU should beat them, and Washington could be surprisingly tough, considering how bad they've been. I bet they end up with 3 losses and go to a good, but not BCS, bowl game. End up ranked somewhere in the 20s.

They definitely have the best pass offense we'll see all year. But to get into the minutiae, is Jimmah really a better QB than Darrel Clarke at this point?

I think ND has a real shot at beating USC. I'm not sold on Matt Barkley at all. He is holding SC's offense back right now and might not get it together by midseason (when they play ND). I'm also not sure how good SC's defense is, with eight new starters and a new DC. Yeah, they looked good against OSU, but Tressel was even more gutless in his playcalling than usual.