ND Game Wrap (with pics!)
[Ed: Bump. I am not entirely sure I want to ride again. A nice, relaxing weekend against Eastern sounds pretty good right about now.]
I wanna ride again!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XQzQYFYfy8
Words can't describe it
So here's a graph:
This is a graph of what I thought our chances of winning were throughout the game. That really erratic part at the end is the reason why my neighbors knew I was watching a sporting event.
I don't really know what to say that hasn't already been said, and I don't know where to start. All I know is that it was amazing, and horrifying, and awesome, and I wish I had been there. So I guess I'll just start at the beginning.
Buckle in kids, this is going to be a long ride (warning some NSFW language).
Pregame 51%
Maybe? I don't know. Home field, under the lights, Brady Hoke's Magical Golden Poop. So what if they got higher rated recruits and have had an extra year of experience in that system. We got Denard and Mattison, so the defense CAN'T POSSIBLY be as bad as last year. With so many unknowns, it might as well be a coin toss, but vegas favored ND. Vegas is almost always wrong in this series.
1st Quarter
13:02 49%
Three and out on the opening drive, no reason to panic yet.
Desmond Morgan didn't look very good early. He started the game with 2 missed tackles in 2 plays
[Ed-M: We're doing more breaks so you don't have to scroll so much. Much more after the jump]
1:56 35%
2nd Quarter
3rd quarter
4th quarter
ETC.
Stupid Uniforms
I know they've grown on some people, especially considering how memorable the game will be, but let's never use these again.
I mean, seriously.
WTF is that? It looks like he's wearing a bar code.
And they look even worse on the cheerleaders.
And this is coming from a guy that usually likes to see a girl in a Jersey. They were that bad.
It's true that they aren't as hideous in the wide angles. But that's not a compliment. Imagine if you tried to use that rationale when describing your boyfriend or girlfriend...'If you don't stand too close, she's not really that ugly.'
Let's not kid ourselves. They looked awful. But at least they are made of crappy material
and tear apart easily (yes I know Jersey's are supposed to do that, /sarcasm)
But really.
And someone should remind ND that it's 4 leaf clovers that are rare and lucky. 3 leaf clovers are common, nothing special, weeds that animals take a dump on because they make nice soft patches.
Not that having a 4 leaf clover on their helmets would have made a difference. If even Jesus is not helping you win, then some silly superstition won't help either. But I repeat myself.
Rees's Pieces (yes I went there)
So I basked in the delightful tears of sorrow on some ND message boards. And I'm amazed that they can pile so much hate onto Tommy Rees. Yes the guy had 3 turnovers. But only one of them was really bad. (But it was a doozy!) The kid had 2 INTs in the first half both of which I credit to Mattison messing with his (sophomore) head. And his team was still up by 2 scores.
He completed his first 8 passes, made a ton of big third down conversions, and walked off the field with 30 seconds left, after leading his team to an apparent victory. He was 27 of fricken 39, for 300+ yards, 3 TD's, and that's not counting the pass interference penalties we commited.
And on top of that, he audibled like a boss.
Early in the game, it's a pass on 2nd and long. He sees the blitz coming.
We've got 4 guys on the short side of the line, so he calls a run sweep to go away from it.
You can tell it's a run audible because the WR's have no idea what's going on and Rees doesn't seem intent on telling them.
The rush comes, but his fake is just enough to hold the blitzers from tackling the HB. (bad assignment football on our part. If you've got lots of rushers over there, one guy should always be punishing the running back.
From behind the play we can better see what Rees saw. I'm guessing he can count and realized that four is a lot more than zero.
When they talk about holes you could drive a truck through, this is one of those.
Later, in the 2nd quarter He sees that we've got no MLB.
This was a risky call by Mattison, but I think it's just part of his setup for third down.
But Rees is smart enough to take what's being given, so he audibles out of the pass to a draw play.
When we get more advanced and experienced, this is when the defense should do the double check and re-audible just to screw with the QB and maybe force him to call a time out. But I guess we need to focus on more basic things right now.
Because it's a draw play, the D-linemen still read pass protection. Mike Martin flies out of there. And it turns into a huge gain.
Coaching Styles, Hoke vs. Kelly
After one of Denard's interceptions, this is Hoke having a chat with him.
Let's see if you can spot the difference compared to Brian Kelly of a week ago.
(BTW Meta: I'm glad people like my screencap. But how am I not the first link?
And would it kill ya to link back or put some credit?)
The point is this; which coach do you think does a better job of getting through to his players?
For most people, they can only get yelled at so many times before it starts to just roll off them. It's good to develop a little bit of a thick skin, but you don't want your players to develop thick heads.
Etc, etc.
- Scoreboard stats seemed improved this week.
- This story about Desmond meeting Denard is just all kinds of wonderful
- The trajectory on the xtra points looks better this week. And props to the holder who snagged a lot of off center snaps and got them down in time.
- Demens and Hawthorne look like real B1G linebackers.
- The secondary is still raw but improving.
- If you're a 5* running back, we've got a scholarship waiting for you, and playing time up for grabs.
- Michael Floyd, dude dominated us. JT put up a good fight, but wow. I only M. Floyd take one play off, (but I noticed it because the RB coulda had another 20 yards if Floyd hadn't been standing around) when Rees audibled to a run. I almost feel sorry for the guy. After losing a game like that, I bet he could use a drink. He's a first rounder for sure.
- Also, pom poms!
Pom poms make everything better.
They can even hid those horrible "throwback" (fictional) jerseys with the cracked M.
September 12th, 2011 at 11:55 PM ^
Rees called his audibles very slowly and thouroughly. I'm surprised we did not back out of some of those blitzes.
September 13th, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^
so might not have made much of a difference.
September 12th, 2011 at 9:25 PM ^
for helping cut the game down to bare bones. I always enjoy reading your perspective on games. As a part-time MS Painter myself, I thoroughly enjoy your fine annotations to screencaps.
Also, Michigan Stadium looks like an NFL stadium in that picture.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:08 PM ^
It makes me laugh when ND fans use the yellow line as gospel (lols) for the first down marker. They complain that Denard didn't convert on that 3rd and 2. The yellow line isn't really on the field, that's just for the TV audience, and I'm pretty sure it's approximated (and pretty thick too). The sticks and the spot said otherwise, so quit whining, especially when Cierre (girl's name) converted a 3rd where he didn't even make it back to the LOS because of a generous spot.
September 12th, 2011 at 10:35 PM ^
September 12th, 2011 at 10:55 PM ^
Ha, I'm feeling the flickr account name
September 13th, 2011 at 12:03 AM ^
Everytime I read your screen caps I always end up laughing. "PSYCHE!!! Where's the Ball?" or "Y Dis so Hard? I just rest here". Great Job!
September 13th, 2011 at 12:31 AM ^
Very well done, BlueSeoul. You're very good at this.
September 13th, 2011 at 9:51 AM ^
The sisters and the dog comments were priceless. I'm getting funny looks at work laughing so loud...
Thanks and damn you all at the same time!
September 13th, 2011 at 2:38 PM ^
Does the win % graph remind anyone else of the trajectory of human history where you have to zoom in on the last little tiny bit of the time line to see recorded history? 58:47 minutes go by, but all the last 1:12 is what we all will remember.
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