September 7th, 2013 at 11:49 PM ^
September 7th, 2013 at 11:50 PM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 12:25 AM ^
We lost the battle on both lines, but still were sitting in a comfortable position for most of the game until The Incident.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:58 AM ^
Well for the umpteenth year in a row, we beat Notre Dame almost entirely because a QB had a lights out game. Chad then Tate then Denard then Denard then Denard then Devin.
It is bizarre that we were thoroughly pwned in the trenches and still scored 41 points and won
September 7th, 2013 at 11:50 PM ^
What was with that DL rotation? Why didn't Gordon play much at all?
I really don't care. We won.
September 7th, 2013 at 11:53 PM ^
I'm assuming Cam Gordon? Didn't even notice his absence because we played so conservative on D. Also Beyer got our loan sack at the most opportune time so I'm fine with him being in there.
September 7th, 2013 at 11:51 PM ^
ALL HAIL PRO-STYLE BORGES
September 7th, 2013 at 11:51 PM ^
September 7th, 2013 at 11:51 PM ^
If I were the defense I would not be looking forward to the next practice...
September 8th, 2013 at 12:23 AM ^
For all the shit we give Tommy Rees, you gotta hand it to him.... the guy did a great job making the right checks and putting the ball where it needed to be all night. Our defense was in bend don't break mode all game aside from a few key calls to bring pressure. It ended up being the right call as or offense was able to pull away.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:30 AM ^
I thought he had an outstanding game.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:39 AM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 12:55 AM ^
It shouldn't be that surprising. The guy has started and played in a ton of games and won most of them.
September 7th, 2013 at 11:53 PM ^
September 7th, 2013 at 11:53 PM ^
September 7th, 2013 at 11:57 PM ^
Really curious about the scheme in the secondary. SOOO much cushion. Hard to say if it's because we just don't have the speed in the secondary to hang or because Mattison schemed it that way because of what he saw in ND's offense.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:29 AM ^
I think we're still protecting our safeties. There was still some rotation back there so I don't think the coaches have options they really love. We did adjust with more press coverage from the CBs but then we were dropping LBs back and getting burned by their TE underneath. I'm kinda surprised we stuck to the 4 man rush since they weren't getting there, especially on the quick hitters.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:30 AM ^
'Cause we haven't had an interception on a pass greater than 20 yards in a long time. So this means Tommy Rees should've been going deep all night; obviously, Mattison watches what Holtz says on Game Day to make last minute adjustments to his game plan...
September 8th, 2013 at 12:32 AM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 12:05 AM ^
I didn't see him on the field all night.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:09 AM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 1:01 AM ^
Cam Gordon laid a couple of big licks tonight, but they were at the end of plays, rather than at the LOS or in the backfield. He was dropping rather than charging. Mattison really showed a LOT of respect for Rees arm tonight, to the point that it opened things up big time for the ND Rush game.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:07 AM ^
The D gave up 23 points against a senior-led offense . . . and without Jake Ryan. Let's keep that in mind. It bent but did not break. Did ND have a play of 30+ yards?
September 8th, 2013 at 12:12 AM ^
This. It was all "keep in front and inside" defense, requiring Rees to repeat his success many times in order to gain points. A little worrisome at times, but proven to have succeeded. Glad Mattison began dialing up blitzes a bit in the second half.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:59 AM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 7:13 AM ^
Gardner shined in spite of the pressure, either making quick decisive throws or using his athleticism to get outside and keep the play alive.
Most QBs would have wilted under that pressure, but Gardner has the tools/smarts to deal with it. He's special.
September 8th, 2013 at 8:54 AM ^
Yeah, what snarling wolverine said. I'm a little surprised to see so many complaints about the defense.
We held ND to under 100 yards rushing, and in the air, the strategy was obviously to make Tommy Rees beat them over time via consistently accurate throws and good choices. The strategy was proven right as Tommy couldn't do that. His first interception was the turning point in the game. His first touchdown was a deflected pass that took a very lucky (for the Fig Things) bounce on third down; you can make an argument that our defense was unlucky to cede more than a field goal there. His second interception was not deflected because of luck; it was deflected because of skill. Morgan was all over that and Rees made a bad choice on 1st down to try to force a pass there. It was luck that Countess intercepted it, but the tip itself wasn't luck.
So the D gave up 23 points, and if it weren't for a lucky deflection bounce in the endzone, it would have been 19. That's pretty good.
September 7th, 2013 at 11:53 PM ^
September 7th, 2013 at 11:57 PM ^
but i felt like the line was super porous (man, ND is scary up front), but Borges and especially Gardner overcame it
September 8th, 2013 at 12:00 AM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 12:23 AM ^
Fitz averaged 4.7 YPC against what is basically an NFL defensive line that was selling out to stop the run for good chunks of the game. We will be able to run the ball just fine this season against all but maybe two other teams (MSU and OSU).
Edit: 4.7 YPC until those terrible horse collars at the end, which brought him down below 4.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:26 AM ^
ND definitely horsecollared/facemasked him multiple times. I could not believe it was never flagged.
September 8th, 2013 at 9:19 AM ^
I agree with what you are saying, but before we attack the officials, lets not forget the GIFT pass interference call late in the 4th. That was just a great play by the ND Cb and we benefitted from that hard
September 8th, 2013 at 10:12 AM ^
thank you for makeup calls for not calling the two facemasks and horsecowler
September 8th, 2013 at 12:12 PM ^
September 8th, 2013 at 12:33 AM ^
September 7th, 2013 at 11:55 PM ^
well played by Borges. We could not run with Fitz till the very end. still put up 40 and win it.
the inner line got burnt all night and the DL got almost no pressure, so we have stuff to work on.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:42 AM ^
Borges != Debord. That was my biggest concern with the Hoke hire when it happened.
September 7th, 2013 at 11:54 PM ^
so good to have you back, Blake Countess
September 8th, 2013 at 12:43 AM ^
Would have won us the bowl against S. Car last year. Then the Clowney hit would have been anticlimatic and ESPN would have moved on to something else to hype.
September 7th, 2013 at 11:54 PM ^
If you think about it the D only surrendered 23 points, which - while not amazeballs - is probably acceptable against a top 20 opponent. I woulda liked to see less of the Tommy Rees air raid, but the D got stops when they absolutely had to. And this was with playing a lot of first and second year guys against an O-line laden with seniors. We'll be fine and we'll be downright lethal come the end of season, which is when we'll need the young guys to really step up.
Also - was I missing something or was there not a lot of Avery in the game? He might be still dinged up
September 8th, 2013 at 12:06 AM ^
Looking forward to when giving up that many is unnacceptable no matter who it's against. They obviously have some work to do but that's the end of my Debbie Downerness. Just jacked that they sent purple face away without the win.
September 7th, 2013 at 11:54 PM ^
Post Michigan night game run down on ESPN reads Clowney, Clowney, Manziel, Manziel, Manziel... thanks guys.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:11 AM ^
To be fair, they basically spent the first fifteen minutes of the show on UofM.
September 8th, 2013 at 12:14 AM ^
I've never seen a 'highlight' where the quarterback completes a twenty yard pass and the focus is a Dlineman who grabbed his arm?
fuck ESPN
September 7th, 2013 at 11:54 PM ^
Defensive strategy was a bit strange, but the offense absolutely crushed against probably the best DL we'll face all season. Not at all unhappy with what we saw here today. Gardner to Gallon = victory.
September 7th, 2013 at 11:59 PM ^
absolutely crush = alabama vs. nd ncg. we're still a couple years away from manbaw domination
September 8th, 2013 at 10:05 AM ^
You don't have to manball someone to crush them. We still put up 41 points on the either best or second best defense we'll play all year