This Notre Dame team with Ian Book at QB is much better than the Wimbush team you faced.
Before the switch, Wimbush led ND eeked out wins against Ball State and Vanderbilt. After the change, they've curb stomped Wake Forest and Stanford. Likely, voters value this current Notre Dame team more than the team you faced.
Those are fair points for sure. Like I said, the talent is definitely there, you've recruited and developed well. However, playing against such poor offenses kind of skews the statistics for the defense. For Notre Dame's sake, I guess I'm just hopeful that the hype is just that. As others have mentioned, we struggled against elite defenses.
His ability to run is why he is starting. However, in big games against top defenses, he really struggled to get out of the pocket and do damage with his legs. I actually like his arm - 49% completion percentage is rough. I forgot the stat completely, but if he completes an additional 2.3 completions a game, it puts him at like 63%. He can complete NFL type throws, the problem is the next one he throws is a duck into the ground. He completed at a 72% clip in high school in a similar spread offense. I think it is mostly between the ears with him.
There are rumors that Dexter Williams will be able to play, but I can't imagine that is very likely. All practices he's been 4th string. He averaged 9.3 yards a carry last year in limited touches and has a lot of big play potential. None of the other RB's really excite me. Tony Jones Jr. will get the start, but I don't see him moving the chains against the Michigan defense on a regular basis. Jafar Armstrong has gotten really good reviews out of camp, but he is a converted WR, more of a Theo Riddick type.
Notre Dame shat the bed late in the year. Part of this was poor play by Wimbush and failure to adapt by our coaching staff. Another part of it was more mental. I think Notre Dame didn't really know how to respond to success. We got our ass kicked by Miami and never really recovered. We honestly didn't look good against LSU, save some late game heroics.
I don't think Notre Dame's defense was great last year, but I think they have pieces at every level that can compete at a very high level. If I had to guess, they should finish as a top 30 defense, but they won't be considered dominant.
I think you guys have to look at Michigan's defense a little more objectively. Are they good? Do they have the talent? Absolutely. However, you played 7 offenses that rank 99th and above in the NCAA. The 3 top 50 offenses you played against averaged 32 points per game when they played you. Again, part of that was your QB play was atrocious and put unnecessary pressure on the defense, but it is important to note that your defense did buckle against good offenses. Your defense was efficient from a yards per play perspective, but also extremely susceptible to the big play.
I think it is going to be a 28 - 24 kind of game. Big plays are going to define this game. I think if Patterson is able to protect the football and make a big play or two, I think you win. I think we've got to get a few turnovers and take advantage of a short field once or twice to take this one.
Either way, I'm going to the game with a few Michigan buddies and am looking forward to it.
P.S. Despite popular opinion on this board, we are kindly requesting no balls or taints in or around our faces on September 1st. Thank you.
Listen, I'm a Notre Dame fan, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt, but I find it astonishing how confident you guys are.
After watching both of our schools over the past 10 years, I'm not sure how you get past the self-deprecation and crying stage.
I won't even be confident vs. Ball State. You guys could very well come in and blow the doors off, but as others in this thread have suggested, history doesn't really support that.
Notre Dame was a 10 win team last year that still returns quite a bit of talent and we've recruited well. It will be interesting to see if Dexter Williams plays, in limited carries he averaged over 9 yards per carry. Wimbush was a glorified RB last year with a decent long ball. He struggled with the short to medium game, rumor has it that this has improved, but we will see. If he struggles early, you might see Ian Book. WR's will still be strong. Boykin is an absolute monster. Defense has talent and a lot of returning players. They won't be on Michigan's level, but they should be pretty decent.
I think it will be a close game, within 1 score either way.
I think we are probably a 9 win team this year, give or take a game.
Our schedule was ranked 16th toughest, Michigan is ranked 24th... so not sure I understand the schedule hate.
Meh, who knows, we'll see. I usually refrain from making bold predictions. Under promise, over deliver in my industry.
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This Notre Dame team with Ian Book at QB is much better than the Wimbush team you faced.
Before the switch, Wimbush led ND eeked out wins against Ball State and Vanderbilt. After the change, they've curb stomped Wake Forest and Stanford. Likely, voters value this current Notre Dame team more than the team you faced.
Those are fair points for sure. Like I said, the talent is definitely there, you've recruited and developed well. However, playing against such poor offenses kind of skews the statistics for the defense. For Notre Dame's sake, I guess I'm just hopeful that the hype is just that. As others have mentioned, we struggled against elite defenses.
His ability to run is why he is starting. However, in big games against top defenses, he really struggled to get out of the pocket and do damage with his legs. I actually like his arm - 49% completion percentage is rough. I forgot the stat completely, but if he completes an additional 2.3 completions a game, it puts him at like 63%. He can complete NFL type throws, the problem is the next one he throws is a duck into the ground. He completed at a 72% clip in high school in a similar spread offense. I think it is mostly between the ears with him.
There are rumors that Dexter Williams will be able to play, but I can't imagine that is very likely. All practices he's been 4th string. He averaged 9.3 yards a carry last year in limited touches and has a lot of big play potential. None of the other RB's really excite me. Tony Jones Jr. will get the start, but I don't see him moving the chains against the Michigan defense on a regular basis. Jafar Armstrong has gotten really good reviews out of camp, but he is a converted WR, more of a Theo Riddick type.
Notre Dame shat the bed late in the year. Part of this was poor play by Wimbush and failure to adapt by our coaching staff. Another part of it was more mental. I think Notre Dame didn't really know how to respond to success. We got our ass kicked by Miami and never really recovered. We honestly didn't look good against LSU, save some late game heroics.
I don't think Notre Dame's defense was great last year, but I think they have pieces at every level that can compete at a very high level. If I had to guess, they should finish as a top 30 defense, but they won't be considered dominant.
I think you guys have to look at Michigan's defense a little more objectively. Are they good? Do they have the talent? Absolutely. However, you played 7 offenses that rank 99th and above in the NCAA. The 3 top 50 offenses you played against averaged 32 points per game when they played you. Again, part of that was your QB play was atrocious and put unnecessary pressure on the defense, but it is important to note that your defense did buckle against good offenses. Your defense was efficient from a yards per play perspective, but also extremely susceptible to the big play.
I think it is going to be a 28 - 24 kind of game. Big plays are going to define this game. I think if Patterson is able to protect the football and make a big play or two, I think you win. I think we've got to get a few turnovers and take advantage of a short field once or twice to take this one.
Either way, I'm going to the game with a few Michigan buddies and am looking forward to it.
P.S. Despite popular opinion on this board, we are kindly requesting no balls or taints in or around our faces on September 1st. Thank you.
Listen, I'm a Notre Dame fan, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt, but I find it astonishing how confident you guys are.
After watching both of our schools over the past 10 years, I'm not sure how you get past the self-deprecation and crying stage.
I won't even be confident vs. Ball State. You guys could very well come in and blow the doors off, but as others in this thread have suggested, history doesn't really support that.
Notre Dame was a 10 win team last year that still returns quite a bit of talent and we've recruited well. It will be interesting to see if Dexter Williams plays, in limited carries he averaged over 9 yards per carry. Wimbush was a glorified RB last year with a decent long ball. He struggled with the short to medium game, rumor has it that this has improved, but we will see. If he struggles early, you might see Ian Book. WR's will still be strong. Boykin is an absolute monster. Defense has talent and a lot of returning players. They won't be on Michigan's level, but they should be pretty decent.
I think it will be a close game, within 1 score either way.
I think we are probably a 9 win team this year, give or take a game.
Our schedule was ranked 16th toughest, Michigan is ranked 24th... so not sure I understand the schedule hate.
Meh, who knows, we'll see. I usually refrain from making bold predictions. Under promise, over deliver in my industry.