Scouting next weeks opponent

Submitted by Eastwood on

A little more than half way through the 3rd, Everett Gholson looks to have shaken the rust from his vacation.  He's picked up a couple of TD's on the ground and seems to be distributing to a number of recievers without any int's so far.  The rain will make this game hard to do an apples to apples comparison to the boys in Blue.  Hopefully our more aggressive defensive strategy pays off and we get to Gholson early but are able to contain him.  Looks like Rice is able to get penetration often enough but their secondary is giving too much cushion.  ND's RB McDaniel seems to be a gamer.  I'd love to see Kelly go grape ape again next week!

Boom Goes the …

August 30th, 2014 at 6:11 PM ^

but I don't think they have anyone who can matchup with Funchess.  Especially with their depleted secondary.  I will say 31-21 Michigan

LSAClassOf2000

August 30th, 2014 at 6:29 PM ^

Granted, it's Rice so qualifiers and the standard "it's one data point in the season" disclaimer all apply, but here are the current stats on Golson:

14 completions on 22 attempts for 295 yards and 2 receiving TDs, good for 13.41 yards per attempt and 21.07 yards per completion.

Notre Dame as a whole has, as of the latest update, 487 yards of offense across 55 plays, which 8.85 YPP on offense. They've held rice to 275 yards across 49 plays, or 5.61 YPP allowed. 

UMfan21

August 30th, 2014 at 6:32 PM ^

This game usually does the opposite of what I think.  I would expect an offensive shootout between these teams.  So expect a defensive game instead.

The average margin of victory lately has been 3 or 4 points so I expect it close either way regardless of it's a shootout or a defensive struggle. 

bostonsix

August 30th, 2014 at 9:57 PM ^

diary... and I quote. " This previous moon, in which I laid my head, a terrible occurrence came with-in the deepest of slumbers. It had eleven arms, and a back up of many. His eyes only showed over the top of the laminated tablet, in which not to show the motions of his mouth. The apparatus upon his head was unfamiliar as it seems to only cover the frontal lobe in which the master intelligence comes from... Possibly for comfortability?,... Possibly radiant cooling for Quickend brain waves.
At first I thought it was The_Knowledge, but then I knew this wasn't from any Spacely realm.

NO.

.. This was, an ultimate human, sent to change the hands of time, almost as a punishment for myself and my school, being chickens.

NO.

The_ Knowledge has just appeared to me in the aftermath of my dream, and told me I will receive the "Nuss-Effect".

Instead of Purple, ... my face shall turn Plaid.

This is my greatest fear, as the last time that I had turned plaid, was as a young boy in junior high at a school dance. As I learned to control the face colors the burn inside me raged strong. I knew that one day it would come out once again,.... but not in public, not on my turf, not on my time.... noooooooooooooo!"

and, that was his last diary entry. (in a "Disney princess diary, when opened plays " the chicken dance").

On second thought, maybe this should be posted, as a pos-Bang win/OUR OFFENSE LOOK RICH AS FUCK thread

alum96

August 30th, 2014 at 6:43 PM ^

Yep on paper this looks like a high scoring affair.  Expecting a lot of 3rd and 5 that Golson scrambles to get 9 and make me bang head on wall.  RIce was pretty solid (not great but solid last year) but dont know enough about them this year to know if they fell off or had major graduations.  Better than App State with a lot of Texas athletes out there I am sure, so a good performance by ND. 

I expect a last drive type of game - whoever executes at the end.  Avoid turnovers and we should have a solid chance.   I think we have better skill players and probably their trench play will be better, at least on the offense - they took some serious DL losses to the draft. Hoke needs 1 of these big road games.

RobM_24

August 30th, 2014 at 6:43 PM ^

ND has mostly hit homeruns. They haven't really had consistent drives. Most of their production has been a result of Golson buying time for his receivers to get behind Rice's crappy DB's. If our D-line can get pressure I really like our chances. Overall their defensive unit looks average at best, and their back 7 doesn't look very good at all.

goblue81

August 30th, 2014 at 6:55 PM ^

I just hope Frank Clark, Willie Henry and the rest of the DL go to South Bend with bad intentions.  If Gholson wants to leave the pocket, we need to lay his ass out.  Everyone on the D needs to be in kill mode next Saturday night.

alum96

August 30th, 2014 at 7:04 PM ^

Need the DTs to plug up the middle and then the DEs need to contain.  Rather than sack him, contain him in a pocket.  If he gets outside of the DEs those are the type of runs that kill you.

Of course collapsing the pocket works well too.  But one step at a time.

littlebrownjug

August 30th, 2014 at 6:56 PM ^

Golson looks really good, and their running game is explosive. I think that they will probably beat us deep a few times given how aggressively Mattison called this game. Their secondary was not very good, so I think that Nuss can attack them.

DennisFithian

August 30th, 2014 at 7:52 PM ^

As long as it's not the same officials that did the Michigan State game in South Bend last year. They were Robbed

alum96

August 30th, 2014 at 7:08 PM ^

Kelly has done a good job with their OL - here is a quick scout report on them.  Sound solid as usual.

 

Offensive tackle

Starters: Ronnie Stanley (left), Steve Elmer (right)

No. 2s: Mike McGinchey, Hunter Bivin

In Stanley and Elmer, Notre Dame has two stalwarts at tackle. Stanley is the team's best offensive lineman, while Elmer -- only a sophomore -- is the most promising member of the unit. If either player gets banged up, McGlinchey will slide in on either the right or left side. Bivin is cross-training at guard and tackle.

Guard

Starters: Matt Hegarty (left), Christian Lombard (right)

No. 2s: Conor Hanratty, Mark Harrell, Hunter Bivin

Hegarty beat out Hanratty at left guard during preseason practice, but if center Nick Martin gets hurt Hegarty would slide there and Hanratty would play left guard. Just as McGlinchey is the first man in at tackle, Hanratty is the first man in at guard. Harrell or Bivin likely would be behind Hanratty if Notre Dame needed to dip deeper into its depth chart.

Center

Starter: Nick Martin

No. 2: Matt Hegarty

As mentioned above, Hegarty would slide to center if Martin missed time. A redshirt junior, Martin has a chance to follow in his brother Zack's footsteps and be a two-time team captain -- which, if that happens, would mean a Martin would be a captain on Notre Dame for four straight seasons.

alum96

August 30th, 2014 at 7:10 PM ^

And their DL - Sheldon Day is going to be the key.  DEs seem young.

Defensive end

Starters: Isaac Rochell, Andrew Trumbetti

No. 2s: Grant Blankenship, Romeo Okwara

This is as green a group as Notre Dame has. Okwara is the elder statesman of the group, but is a young junior who played linebacker the last two years. Rochell is a sophomore, while Trumbetti and Blankenship are true freshmen. Jhonny Williams -- another freshman -- will get some third-down snaps as an edge rusher, too.

With underclassmen, the concern often is about playing consistently. Expect plenty of rotation with the guys in this unit -- especially with Trumbetti and Okwara -- and if Notre Dame can find the right formula for success out of these guys, it could go a long way toward the team's defensive success this fall.

Defensive tackle

Starters: Sheldon Day, Jarron Jones

No. 2s: Justin Utupo, Daniel Cage

Day is Notre Dame's best defensive lineman and a team captain as a junior, and his presence is instrumental for the overall success of the Irish D-line. Jarron Jones showed promise toward the end of 2013 but coaches want to see more consistency out of him as he takes on a starting role.

Utupo is a fifth-year senior who's been sparingly used over his time at Notre Dame but knows the program well, while Cage is the opposite -- the 325-pound true freshman will get his first taste of college football backing up Jones. And Cage could see a decent number of snaps, given Kelly said Tuesday another thing coaches want to see out of Jones is an increased ability to stay on the field for multiple plays at a time.

Swazi

August 30th, 2014 at 7:18 PM ^

I'm honestly not all that concerned with their previous leading WR out and their best member of their secondary out.

 

But weird things happen against Notre Dame seemingly every year.

MGoCombs

August 30th, 2014 at 7:55 PM ^

I thought he had to use his legs far too much. Not just to run but to avoid pressure. He had the luxury of finding a few wide open receivers (not too different than Devin) against a very bad secondary. He looked solid, but the O Line looked questionable to me in pass protection. He had to be a little bit too special against a bad defense.



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MGoClimb

August 30th, 2014 at 8:02 PM ^

It's also worth mentioning that one of their captains, starting S Austin Collinsworth, was held out of today's game with an MCL spain. He's expected to miss 2-4 weeks.

Shakes up what is already a shaky secondary.