Bullet Points
General Thoughts
Golden Tate is a punk..a pretty good wide receiver, but a whiny dropping big passes douchebag.
Michael Floyd is a monster, but if he was sitting out the end of the game for stitches he needs to man up. Jabba the Weis gave him a little pussy dig at the press conference.
Jimmy Clausen is good and annoying, hope he has a monster rest of the season and bolts.
We got the benefit of the calls today, but the one caveat for the crybaby ND fans is that you got called for holding quite a bit...and it should have been more. B. Graham was being treated like it was a MMA bout out there. He was being tackled every play.
I think we need a full blown coaching clinic on what these CB are being taught to do. You can chuck the WR before the pass is thrown. Get your hands on that punk Tate and disrupt the routes. Playing man with no jam makes little sense to me as a general concept.
QB's got to give the RB's the dam ball. They seem to pull it out too often when it's not neccesary on the zone read.
Obi Ezeh....um get your act together brother. Keep playing like that and I say JB gets a chcnce.
Brian needs to upgrade Tate's comparison from Drew Tate to Joe Montana
I think MSU is a pretty good team, but they are heading for a beat down next Saturday if they don't get there act together.
September 13th, 2009 at 12:45 PM ^
and they beat a very good team.
The coaches know how to improve this team.
Weis = dead man walking now, especially if he loses to Sparty.
I think the ceiling on this season raised yesterday, as well as the floor. Let's enjoy it and get ready for Eastern and Indiana.
September 13th, 2009 at 3:21 PM ^
State is going to get eviscerated, provided Floyd is healthy.
September 13th, 2009 at 7:20 PM ^
Their secondary struggled to cover CMU's WRs. How are they going to stop ND's?
September 13th, 2009 at 7:39 PM ^
The talent level of ND is so high that they really should end up 10-2 at the end of the year. They will suffer their annual curb-stomp by SC but who else on their schedule could really pull the upset? Let's not kid ourselves, Weis may be garbage water as far as coaching is concerned but the vast discrepancy in talent between them and 9 of their next 10 opponents is huge.
September 13th, 2009 at 12:46 PM ^
as I watched Forcier yesterday, I felt like he's comparing Tate to the wrong Drew. He reminds me of a mobile Drew Brees with his accuracy and playmaking ability, not Drew Tate.
September 13th, 2009 at 1:13 PM ^
Drew Brees ran for 521 yards his senior year at Purdue.
September 13th, 2009 at 1:00 PM ^
*Brandon Minor should run the ball more. He needs 20 carries a game. That guy is a beast. I just luv him to death.
* The lack of a pass rush yesterday was evident. Jimmy had ALL DAY to throw the ball.
* If RR wants to win National Championships, he needs a better defensive line. Better pass rushers specifically.
* Tate is a fucking madman. I can't believe how good he is at his age. An incredible playmaker.
*Great win, they played hard, and its the beginning of a great future for the program.
September 13th, 2009 at 1:26 PM ^
The D-line was constantly rushing 4 vs 6, and every time there was a chance at a sack, ND just held the player. I was ok with this.
September 13th, 2009 at 1:47 PM ^
It's hard to get pressure on the QB when it is 7 vs. 4 and everyone except Roh is double teamed. We seemed to get pressure whenever we blitzed but we couldn't blitz too much or they would just throw quick slants and with no LBs and CBs playing 10 yards off, thats pretty much a guaranteed 10-15 yards.
September 13th, 2009 at 1:02 PM ^
and playing bump and run might be fine for donovan but boubacar had a bum shoulder and was giving up like 5 inches and 30 pounds to the receivers. I think the scheme (bend but don't break) had a lot to do with booboo "looking bad". I thought he played bravely and WE FRICKEN WON!!
September 13th, 2009 at 1:48 PM ^
I think it would be interesting to see J.Turner up against floyd in a redzone D. he has the height to compete with floyd and he could bump him and not have to defend a deep threat.
September 13th, 2009 at 1:55 PM ^
Doesn't Clausen have to bolt anyways? I hope ND goes undefeated the rest of the season. I'd be very happy if they did that actually.
September 13th, 2009 at 3:58 PM ^
Charlie Weis will be fired, and Clausen will bolt. I don't see him staying his senior season trying to deal with a new coach and learn a new playbook. This goes for Golden Tate and Michael Floyd too - they bolt. This will signal the beginning of another downward spiral into the abyss for the Irish.
September 13th, 2009 at 2:03 PM ^
Obi Ezeh...."um get your act together brother. Keep playing like that and I say JB gets a chcnce".
Thats exactly what I was saying, actually screaming at the television yesterday. He was being completely manhandled.
September 13th, 2009 at 2:04 PM ^
You can't call Golden Tate a punk without calling Boubacar Cissoko one as well.
September 13th, 2009 at 2:17 PM ^
If Boobi wasn't seriously limited by the nerve, then that guy was either extremely over-rated, or Greg Robinson is an absolute idiot with regards to CB coverage. He gave nearly 10 yards cushion on nearly every down, and ND simply ate the right side of the field alive on 70% of their plays. Warren was a bit suspect as well, but clearly much better than Boobi. On several plays Boobi was a good 5-7 yards away from the spot that the ball was caught. Hopefully that was just the injury that showed up, because if he's our 2nd best CB, we're in trouble.
September 13th, 2009 at 3:44 PM ^
boubacar probably wouldn't have played if it wasn't the ND game so yes he was seriously limited by his shoulder. from what i understand he can't lift his arm above shoulder height right now. i've had a similar injury before...it's fucking terrible
September 13th, 2009 at 7:21 PM ^
I had wondered if his health had an impact on his performance. If what you say is true (and I have no reason to doubt it), his performance was quite admirable.
September 13th, 2009 at 3:02 PM ^
While there was an alarming cushion given to the ND receivers we have to trust than GERG knows the strengthens and weaknesses (injuries included)of his players and developed a strategy based on the opponent. Hey they beat a very good & motivated ND team. It also shouldn't be forgotten that this is the 3rd Defensive Coordinator in 3 years and with only 20 hours a week to work with the coaches it will take a while for the defense to reach it's potential (and I'm only half joking about the 20 hr time constraint). Hope the next two opponents give them a chance to hit their stride before they go on the road to East Lansing.
September 13th, 2009 at 3:10 PM ^
Cissoko and Warren didn't allow any huge plays over the top. That was the main thing we should have been concerned about, and it didn't come to fruition. The overall defensive scheme receives a +1 in my book, although the execution wasn't that great.
September 13th, 2009 at 3:23 PM ^
I agree that he was clearly giving big cushions (under direction from the coaches) to avoid giving up the big play, so I will not criticize him for that. However, it appeared that once the ball was in the air, he usually reacted slowly to the ball, allowing the receiver to catch it unchallenged before moving for the tackle. Perhaps it was by design, but it was frustrating to watch.
September 13th, 2009 at 3:05 PM ^
lots of bitching in your bullet points for a game MIIICH won
September 13th, 2009 at 3:39 PM ^
I thought the same thing, I would hate to see what happens when Michigan loses.
September 13th, 2009 at 6:46 PM ^
Most of it was praise for Notre Dames offense. Obi played bad and it wasn't so much a bitch about the corners as it was their technique. I played CB in high sachool and don't get what they are trying to do. I know Gerg knows what he is doing so I want to know the why
September 13th, 2009 at 3:46 PM ^
Don't you guys think you might not be giving Notre Dame's offense enough credit? Tate and Floyd are both very good, and Clausen was as heralded as they come. Add in Rudolph and the screen game, and that offense is very difficult to stop. Steve Sharik said it all last week, when a wide receiver and cornerback of equal talent go against each other, the wide receiver wins. We just saw two very talented receivers make plays, that's nothing to be too worried about
September 13th, 2009 at 4:01 PM ^
Floyd and Tate were the best receiving duo we'll see all year, hands down. I'm not gonna get too worried about the defense yet, I still remember how well they played against Western.