Denard's stat line for ND predictions
In 2010 Denard threw for 244 yards and 1 TD and rushed for 258 and 2 TDs.
In 2011 he threw for 338 yards and 4 TDs and rushed for 108 and 1 TD.
Like Michael Jordan playing the Knicks, something about Notre Dame brings out the best in Shoelace. He clearly is the Irish's Kryptonite.
He now is in his 3rd year of starting and 2nd year in Borges' offense. However, ND's defense appears to be better this year than in the past two years as well. So, how will he do?
I think he's improved as a passer to the point that he will surpass 2011's throwing totals, racking up 350 in the air and 5 TDs passing (and he's going to have a far better completion percentage than last year's game), and I think he's going to bust at least one long run allowing him to break 125 on the ground and pick up another rushing TD.
Am I crazy? Over exuberant? Or is this going to be Denard's best game yet in a career of wow moments and it will put him back into the Heisman conversation?
Oh and it was also mentioned on the board it's his birthday Saturday. Not sure if that will have an effect on his performance or not, but maybe it'll help the team to perform so they can give him a birthday win.
EDIT: I forgot to mention this is my first forum topic that I've started so also I'd appreciate any suggestions for improving these in the future or any feedback to improve my writing as well, thanks!
September 18th, 2012 at 10:01 PM ^
I think this is a game where someone other than Denard could really shine, like Gardner. ND's secondary is decimated, and an athletic freak like Gardner could really take advantage of that.
This is going to be another game that comes down to whoever has the ball last.
September 18th, 2012 at 10:10 PM ^
I think the two Devin's have a real opportunity; Funchess will be going up against linebackers and safeties that will be cheating towards the line to keep Denard in check; being taller and faster than them are large added bonuses.
Also, I really like the chances of Gardner on the freshman CBs.
ND will be definitely keeping 7 in the box; hopefully Borges will take the wraps off of our passing offense and not run right into the teeth of the defense's strength.
September 18th, 2012 at 10:12 PM ^
September 18th, 2012 at 10:19 PM ^
27 of 42 for 379 yds, 3 scores and an Int in the air
109 and a score on the ground
"I think the two Devin's have a real opportunity" lol The Two Devins seems to be a growing nickname for the pair.
September 18th, 2012 at 10:28 PM ^
290 yards passing 2 TD's
75 yards rushing 1 TD
Rushing will be difficult, the grass may be knee high by Saturday.
September 18th, 2012 at 10:46 PM ^
400 yds rushing to 2 tackles
September 18th, 2012 at 10:53 PM ^
I'm going to take a shot with the team stats here.
Offense:
Denard: 255 yds. through the air, 3 TD, 1 INT ; 35 yd. rushing
Gardner: 100 yds. through the air, 1 TD
Funchess: 55 yards, 1 TD
Gallon: 35 yards
Roundtree: 35 yards, 1 TD
Touissant: 85 yards, 1 TD
Defense:
JT Floyd: 1 INT
Clark: 2 Sacks
Campbell: 4 TFL
Linebackers will continue to make mistakes on D-line slants, Golson ends up scrambling a lot of the time, ND runs for 200+. Only throws for 100 though. 3 TD on the ground, 1 TD through the air.
Final score: Michigan 31 Notre Dame 28.
September 19th, 2012 at 5:18 AM ^
Holy shinto...I'd believe Denard running/passing for eight TD's than Campbell getting FOUR TFL. I hope you're right!
September 19th, 2012 at 9:39 AM ^
September 18th, 2012 at 10:54 PM ^
Denard: 19/27, 272 yards, 3 td's 1 int; 21 rushes 133 yards, 1 td. 405 combined yards
Fitz: 14 rushes 52 yards, 1 td
gardner: 4 rec, 63 yards, 1 td
gallon: 3 rec, 38 yards (2 recs off of LaZer screens)
roundtree: 2 rec, 29 yards 1 td
Dileo: 3 rec, 52 yards
Funchess: 4 rec, 77 yards, 1 td
I think the O-Line has been very strong with pass protection, and I think we can take advantage of their injured secondary. And Denard will get his yards rushing I believe, but it will take a few carries to get there.
38-35 win.
September 19th, 2012 at 8:20 AM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 9:44 AM ^
The O-line has been better at pass-blocking than run-blocking this season, so ND might not get away with rushing only 3. Bottom line, I'm agreeing with the majority here that if Michigan is unable to pass effectively against the Irish, we are probably in for a long night.
September 18th, 2012 at 11:02 PM ^
Also, Denard will eschew the NFL for professional racing and will be the first person to win the Indy 500 on foot. I will miss him next year.
September 18th, 2012 at 11:11 PM ^
That'd be great, but c'mon. Not even Brady, Henne, Griese, Grbac, Henson, Navarre, or Harbaugh did that.
14-27 for 215 yds 2 TDs 1 INT; 85 yds rushing 1 TD
Fitz 65 yds rushing, no TDs, one fumble
ND 32 UM 27
September 18th, 2012 at 11:16 PM ^
Denard + 2(Devin) + 1Gallon of Gallon - 2(ND DBs) = F the Irish
Dilithium stat line: 310 passing, 180 rushing, 4 total touchdowns, 1 INT
Norfleet busts a kick return for TD
Kelly busts a vessel, purple head asplodes
ND fans spontaneously combust
D Rob's smile shields all Wolverines from any collateral damage
September 18th, 2012 at 11:18 PM ^
Denard breaks his own record for longest TD run in South Bend.
September 18th, 2012 at 11:21 PM ^
Fuck it, I'll play along.
Passing: 17/26, 265 yards, 3 TD
Rushing: 14 carries, 186 yards, 2 TD
38-28 Michigan.
September 18th, 2012 at 11:45 PM ^
Denard is going to pass all over them... just watch... Maxwell had open receivers all night, but he was so keyed into his first options, he missed them....
Passing- 19/31 for 284 yards and 2 TD's
Rushing- 17 carries for 78 yards
BUTTTT..... they will focus on Denard a little too much, and FITZ rushes for 117 and a TD
September 18th, 2012 at 11:49 PM ^
Passing 21/31 302yds 3TD 1INT
Rushing 16 carries 52YDS 1TD
Receiving 1 72yds 1TD
September 19th, 2012 at 12:56 AM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 7:49 AM ^
September 18th, 2012 at 11:51 PM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 12:00 AM ^
17 of 25 for 281 yds 13 carries 86 yds 2 picks Fitz - 19 carries for 116 no fumbles rawls gets 3 carries for 16 yds Gardner 2 tds 76 yds funchess 1 rd 110 yds 3 for 3 field goals 40-30 Go blue!
September 18th, 2012 at 11:59 PM ^
75 yards running, 75 passing,and 2 TD's: in the last 5 minutes for another crushing blow to ND's spirit.
September 19th, 2012 at 12:01 AM ^
I would say denard passes against Nd week secondary for 347 yds 3tds, rushes for 125 yards and michigan wins 42- 31
September 19th, 2012 at 12:08 AM ^
Denard will need to scramble for a lot due to that D-Line's improvement. But, his scrambling will also lead to defenders forgetting their assignments and coming up to stop him which allows receivers to break free...so...
17/31, 241, 2td, 2int
22 carries, 187 yards, 1 td
September 19th, 2012 at 12:35 AM ^
115 yds rushing 1 TD
September 19th, 2012 at 12:05 PM ^
Notre Dame, our guys are gonna stomp your grass and Kelly is going to be the new bluebook. M41 ND27
September 19th, 2012 at 6:50 AM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 7:19 AM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 7:22 AM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 8:01 AM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 8:13 AM ^
So, I went back to the beginning to 2010 and got ND's stats between then and now for all 29 games played in that time frame. Discovering that they have allowed an average of 208 yards passing and 144 yards rushing per game in that space, I then averaged Denard's performances against them. Denard's average numbers against ND are 28.5% better than the combined opponent average, so adjusting upward, I arrived at an estimate of 267 yards passing with 2 passing TDs and 185 yards rushing with 1 rushing TD.
September 19th, 2012 at 8:54 AM ^
Obviously hoping that this doesn't happen, but if we somehow lose to ND, MSU and OSU this year and wind up in a mediocre bowl, what will Denard's legacy be?
September 19th, 2012 at 9:25 AM ^
In your scenario his legacy would be that of one of the most amazing players ever to don the maize and blue, but one that didn't have the pieces around him to win the big games in his senior year.
He'll still own most of the record books at Michigan in terms of total offensive production.
Basically in my mind he's like Michael Jordan in the 1980s. A breathtaking player that has the potential to wow you on every play and a once in a lifetime sight, but without the pieces around him to win everything no matter how hard he tries on his own.
September 19th, 2012 at 9:10 AM ^
Rushing 122 yds, 2 TD
Passing 18/30 316 yds, 2TD
September 19th, 2012 at 10:52 AM ^
ND matches-up well against MSU...ND has a strong front seven, and MSU is a VERY traditional, run-oriented offense with a so-so offensive line.
ND does not, however, match-up as well against us. Purdue had some success against ND, and our offense uses some of the same elements, but is much better. There are several ways we can attack the weaknesses in ND's defense:
- Use max protect and look for deep/short route combinations to force the ND secondary to cover for longer than they are comfortable
- Use quick, short passes (think 'Bama gameplan) to beat their DBs one-on-one and pick up YAC, and then use the loosened box to run
- Use traditional spread formations with 4 WRs (or 3 WRs and Funchess) to force ND to put even more DBs on the field (taking some of their better LBs/DL off the field)
- Bunch WRs to force ND to show their coverage, then attack the weakness
- Use traditional sets with Funchess as an in-line TE, and wheel him out or send him on seam routes
Other than the wrinkles with Funchess, I would expect a VERY similar gameplan to what we used against 'Bama. I know that will make a lot of MGOusers upset, but it's a gameplan that can work against a strong front seven that stacks against the run. And I think Denard is ready to blow-up as a passer on a national level, and that we'll win in a close game.
20/33, 298 yds, 3 TDs, 89yd rushing, 1 TD
Michigan 31 - ND 27
September 19th, 2012 at 4:42 PM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 10:58 AM ^
301 in the air (18 for 32) for 3 TDs
127 Yds on 18 carries for 1 TD
My Pick was 34-27 UofM wins but this might be closer and could go either way........Damn
September 19th, 2012 at 11:10 AM ^
My prediction for the team before the season was probably overly optimistic. I thought that UM would lose to only Alabama and ND. I don't have a good feeling about this game. I do that the tough non-conference schedule will leave UM better prepared for the conference schedule than other teams. I am standing by my prediction that we lose this one, but then run the table.
September 19th, 2012 at 12:46 PM ^
I feel that Denard will be tamed a lot more this game and thinking of maybe about 150 yards passing with about 80 yards rushing. Also, I expect at least one interception in this game that will really hurt M. I hope I am wrong and will gladly eat crow if he proves me wrong.
September 19th, 2012 at 12:49 PM ^
Guys, I crunched some numbers using a highly advanced algorithm, and I think that I've got this pegged.
Denard will be 5/14 for 468 Yards, 7 TDs (amazingly) and 6 INTs
| Year | Comp | Att | Yards | TDs | INTs |
| 2010 | 24 | 40 | 244 | 1 | 0 |
| 2011 | 11 | 24 | 338 | 4 | 3 |
| 2012 | 5 | 14 | 468 | 7 | 6 |
9 carries for 45 yards and 1 TD
| Year | Carries | Yards | TDs |
| 2010 | 28 | 258 | 2 |
| 2011 | 16 | 108 | 1 |
| 2012 | 9 | 45 | 1 |
September 19th, 2012 at 12:56 PM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 2:23 PM ^
I feel like it's bad karma to make specific predictions . . . but I feel cautiously optimistic.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:23 PM ^
One fact that might be overlooked is that this is NDs 3rd game of the season. If I'm not mistaken the last two years we were their first or second game. The fact that the ND defense is more experienced and had time to jell gives them the advadtage. My hope is that Borges has saved some new looks to confuse the ND defense and Denard has a great game. My hope is that turnovers by Denard are non exsistent.
September 19th, 2012 at 4:25 PM ^
They've beaten Navy, Purdue, and Sparty.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:42 PM ^
to last week...300+ passing 100+ rushing 4tds and i think he's gonna throw one clunker pick.
And I'm not sold on ND d. they struggled against Purdue, and stopped a very one dimensional offense in Sparty. 8/9 in the box vs a 1st yr qb and Leveon Bell usually wins.
September 19th, 2012 at 3:51 PM ^
ahhhh if they are 1 dimensional what are we? not trying to be bogus but 8/9 in the box and make denard throw