ND Observer's Take...RR Had The Easy Job Saturday.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:13 PM ^
I mean, he's not the only one. A lot of people think RichRod - despite inventing this zone read offense he and so many others run, despite tailoring the offense you see today that runs play never run last year - is just the beneficiary of a really sweet QB - ignoring the maneating offensive line, the terrific downfield blocking by the receivers(and their pass-catching), and a myriad of other things.
Just let the train roll. There's no victory in defeating a weak opponent. Michigan already beat the only people at ND that matter.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:15 PM ^
...asshattery!! plus 1.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:27 PM ^
Nevermind that of those 8 penalties fro 99 yards, two or three were very questionable AND called at very inopportune times for Michigan. But that would be thinking logically, so...
September 13th, 2010 at 5:36 PM ^
Agree, My favorite parts:
1) I like how the he doesn't give credit to RR for developing Denard into a QB.
2) The he says RR is "entirely too dependent on Robinson" but gives BK a break because Crist got hurt.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:16 PM ^
if you completely ignore the fact that Michigan had a freshman punter, a rs freshman kicker, a secondary filled with a walk-on, 2 rs freshmen, 1 true freshmen, and 2 players who switched positions. Oh and the refs called a really crappy game. But yea RR should be blamed for the kicking game and bad penalties
September 13th, 2010 at 5:16 PM ^
So Kelly gives them a decided schematic advantage in every game? Jeez, where have I heard that weak shit before?
I remember when Charlie Weis was a hero after a close loss to USC. Willingham was pretty popular in the beginning too. You would think these clowns would learn seeing as how no coach of theirs has won a bowl game played in the continental United States in almost twenty years.
I can't wait to watch Rodriguez knock this guy's dick in the dirt for the next 3-4 years before they hire the guy who will engineer ND's next "Return to Glory."
September 13th, 2010 at 9:37 PM ^
...wasn't it the grumble grumble of our own fanbase about schematic advantage and Lloyd Carr's alleged deficiencies v. the spread just a few short years ago?
September 14th, 2010 at 7:59 AM ^
Lloyd Carr DID have trouble beating good spread teams. We didn't claim we had a schematic advantage every time we lost. We complained that the offense and defense both seemed stuck in the past. And we were proven right. We're not yet back to winning 9 or 10, but we're no longer getting beat because "that fast guy can throw, too!", and when Carr finally opened his playbook for Florida, it was beautiful!
September 13th, 2010 at 5:16 PM ^
So, apparently, RR gets absolutely no credit for finding Denard, and building him into a Heisman candidate that is pretty much unstoppable. Not to mention putting him in the offense that lets him take advantage of his talents. It's as if coaching is only play calling or something and no preparation at all.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:58 PM ^
Right, because it's not like everyone was blind to the fact Robinson was going to be a human dynamo as a quarterback. Everybody knew he was a Star and that's why every coach in the nation offered him a scholly to play QB.
wait, wut?
September 13th, 2010 at 11:45 PM ^
Coaching is little more than being a day-care coordinator. You really don't have anything to do other than provide adult supervision. It's just the lucky ones that get kids like Denard that win games....
Right?
September 14th, 2010 at 8:01 AM ^
on why Michigan is more believable this year. It's because Denard is having a great season WITHIN the confines of the offense. All this stuff he's doing? It's not improvisation. This is how the offense is supposed to look.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:18 PM ^
One coach had a very easy job Saturday: snap the ball to a dynamic quarterback and let him make you look like a football genius. Then, hold your breath that your quarterback outscores the other team on his own.
Yeah I mean it isn't like RR decided to offer Denard, recruited him, coached him, taught him the offense, helped refine his passing mechanics, taught the other guys on the field to block and support Denard and so on and so forth. Well not all of that was RR, but that was the coaching staff overall, which RR assembled.
Yes Denard is freakily fast, but there have been a lot of fast people that were washouts (looking at you Ted Ginn Jr.). Denard is on the field and getting to showcase his skills because of the team RR assembled.
What's really funny is right now the Irish are defending Kelly the same way they used to defend Weis. Give it a few years and they could be screaming for Kelly's head.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:19 PM ^
And because every other major program in the country thought the kid couldn't play quarterback. Think Florida wouldn't want to rethink that decision now?
September 13th, 2010 at 5:45 PM ^
...but there have been a lot of fast people that were washouts (looking at you Ted Ginn Jr.).
September 13th, 2010 at 7:45 PM ^
The water's fine. You know you want to. You're far too witty, (not to mention "level-headed", "scholarly", and "good natured") to be an OSU fan.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:27 PM ^
Yeah, I agree that Ginn, Jr. has been thus far somewhat underwhelming as a player who was drafted #9 overall, but he is a pretty damn good kick returner.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:39 PM ^
Ginn was anything but a washout in college (which is what Denard plays, let's not forget). Who cares what they do in the pros.
September 13th, 2010 at 6:32 PM ^
Probably Dolphins fans. Teehee.
September 13th, 2010 at 9:32 PM ^
Yeah, I bet all 7 of them are pissed.
September 13th, 2010 at 8:41 PM ^
Ask Morgan Trent if Ginn was a washout in college
September 13th, 2010 at 5:47 PM ^
I just don't know why we need to bother with the rest of the offense. We should just put a long snapper and DRob out there and spend the rest of the scholarship money developing replacement DRobs in a cloning lab. How the hell to the give the sports-writing beat in that town to someone without any more of a nuanced perspective on the sport.
September 13th, 2010 at 6:02 PM ^
If I were more motivated, I'm guessing I could find some similar articles from early in Weis's tenure.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:17 PM ^
domers being domers.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:23 PM ^
domers gonna dome?
September 13th, 2010 at 5:27 PM ^
Domers gonna dome.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:17 PM ^
With the exception of the last play of the 1st half, I actually don't think Kelly did that poor of a job. This guys article trashes RR way too much though, but he has some legit points. The penalties need to stop in b10 play. That will kill us. He fails to mention the lack of turnovers though, which also shows a well coached team.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:29 PM ^
In all fairness, each QB had 1 interception, so if Crist had stayed in, that likely wouldn't have been a point to be made.
I think going for it down 14 going into the half and knowing that the other team gets the ball first in the second half is completely reasonable. I'd be screaming for RR to go for it if the situations were reversed. However, the Go-for-it-no-wait-let's-punt BS cost them a timeout. That's what he should be getting reamed over.
September 13th, 2010 at 9:36 PM ^
Michigan was the least penalized team in the Big Ten last year. Saturday was one game. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Plus the refs were screwing us all day.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:18 PM ^
Hmm, what I dont understand is how Kelly teams dont give away games with TO's.....I'm not the smartest guy but I could swear ND had 3 TO's. Penalties on the other hand, all i can say is that I found it rather odd that everytime we had a big play in the 2nd and 3rd qtrs it mysteriously came back for some questionable holding calls. All in all though it's the usual ND perspective.....Like Coach Rod says, he wants to have 2 or 3 QB's he can win with and I guess Kelly only wanted 1 he can win with.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:24 PM ^
With a healthy crist in the entire game, the Rees and Montana interceptions likely aren't replicated. Of course, the author does completely ignore the shanked punts giving ND good field position, the 2 missed FGs prompting RR to basically run the last drive as 4 downs or bust, the crap secondary which the genius kelly didn't take advantage of (seriously, where was Floyd? he was my matchup nightmare).
September 13th, 2010 at 5:28 PM ^
I'm sure Kelly WANTS more than one QB he can win with; he is just a first year coach who hasn't had time to develop depth yet. Looking at where we still are in our coach's third year, you should understand that.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:49 PM ^
They may not have been great calls, but when you have aggressive blocking by a bunch of young guys all over the field, I imagine refs are going to have a couple of more close calls to blow than usual.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:18 PM ^
This is one of the most poorly written articles in some time. It really shows how insane Notre Dame fans are. No longer can they respect a young Michigan team that came in there and beat the Irish, the refs, and the OMG brilliant best head coach in world history, Brian Kelly. Give me a break. Kelly openly put down Denard Robinson before the game calling him a running back. Kelly openly belittled his quarterbacks dropping as many F-Bombs on them as Rex Ryan on hard knocks. Let's not forget coach Kelly's brilliant decision to go for a touchdown instead of taking the points at the end of the first half. The guy is so stuck on his own arrogance that it's genuinely funny to watch. Keep up the amazing work BK, what an astounding coach you are...That's why Michigan didn't even want to interview you, you clown.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:19 PM ^
Guffaw. Snort. Laugh hysterically. Sad little ND fan. So cute.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:22 PM ^
Take a deep breath guys and let it go. That article displays one of the most glaring deficits in understanding of the systemic aspects of an offense that I have ever seen. The author is too ignorant to trouble yourselves over.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:22 PM ^
Never mind the fact that RichRod was the only coach in the country willing to let denard play qb in the first place.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:23 PM ^
insulting
September 13th, 2010 at 5:31 PM ^
Hmmm.....who gives a fuck
September 13th, 2010 at 5:40 PM ^
Let's assume that what this writer says is true, and that RR's gameday job is easier than everyone else's. If that's the case, then Kelly and everyone else is a complete idiot for not following suit, and making their job more difficult than it needs to be.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:44 PM ^
All I can say is that I wish people would have wrote articles supporting coach Rod like that in a loss. Stupid article? yes Jealous of the kind of press Kelly gets in a loss? yes
September 13th, 2010 at 6:13 PM ^
[email protected] , would indicate he's a student. The Michigan Daily, also written by students, has been fairly supportive of RR during his tenure, I think.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:48 PM ^
Because turing a raw talent from a liability who gets an occasional series to change things into an instant Heisman candidate where there was no previous hype take zero coaching. Neither do the play calls or general offensive system that the player runs.
As a matter of fact, why don't we go back to the 1880s when there were no coaches?
LOL Notre Dame press.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:48 PM ^
It's like their press is the exact opposite of ours. No matter what, there's a silver lining.
Did anyone catch Lou Holtz after the game? He said something along the lines of, 'First I have to say the ND defense did a great job...'. Seriously, whatever ND fans are smoking, I want to go to there.
September 13th, 2010 at 6:11 PM ^
if you count moral victories. Which of course they do. Don't forget ND won the greatest moral victory in college football history in the Bush Push game. They have a whole wing dedicated to them, I suspect. An entire hallowed hall.
Paul Horning will tell you they can't compete with other schools because they their academic standards are too high--just ask him. (He'll plug his ears with two fingers if you say, "But Stanford ...")
As you note, ND also has a silly mouthpiece on ESPN that spins the virtues of Irish moral victories weekly, even though everyone outside of ND family thinks the dude is a harmless if delusion grandmother of fourteen.
In some ways I feel for them. Michigan's been down for 2 years. But these guys are going on more than a decade with only a couple of bright spots. It's got to be killing them.
September 13th, 2010 at 8:44 PM ^
My boss is an Irish fan, and the moral victories are insufferable.
"I like ND because they win the right way, unlike with Rodriguez."
"Ah, and what's that mean?"
"ND players go to class and remain in good academic standing."
"So do Michigan's players."
"Ha, you really believe that Dick Rod doesn't find illicit ways to keep the thugs he recruits eligible?"
"No. A large chunk of the reason that Tate lost the starting job was because he had an incomplete in one of his classes."
"Yeah, right."
September 13th, 2010 at 9:40 PM ^
are the only kind they've had for a long, long time...
September 13th, 2010 at 9:59 PM ^
But you misspelled "weakly."
September 13th, 2010 at 5:53 PM ^
James Rogers, JT Floyd, Cam Gordon and Jordan Kovacs on the road to play against Mike Floyd and Kyle Rudolph and co. With a bunch of true freshmen backing them up.
Easy equals = taking a raw, extrememely athletic shortish runner quasi-QB and in about 1-year turning him into an assassin passer who recognizes Ds, taking advantage of his wheels to put the secondary in a world of hurt. (Is there another player who's been "coached up" more than DRob in this short of time? I'd like to see him.)
Easy = having your kids give the ball to the refs after they score; not letting it go on the two yard line.
The flags did fly in this game. The personal fouls were questionable. Not unfair, but certainly questionable. Kovacs and Cullen were bang bang. I can't complain. Dorrestein's "clip" was a pretty weak call, it seemed. He reached but didn't quite get there. Horrible call? No, but still very borderline. ND was fortunate they didn't get a couple called themselves. DRob took a shot to face. ND homer NBC guy saw it. The zebras didn't. That's how it goes sometimes.
Clay Davis read the link and says "Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiit."