September 9th, 2010 at 1:54 PM ^
Good God the Notre Dame video (featuring Freekbass!) is awesome.
September 9th, 2010 at 1:57 PM ^
Those musical splices were a terrible shock each time, even though I knew they were coming. That must be what epilepsy is like.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:00 PM ^
Crist is not great under pressure.
We should never be fooled by the read option fake handoffs. Crist is not going to get anywhere if he keeps it. He IS handing it off.
Our DLine is better than Purdue's.
I'm much more confident now than I was. Thanks for the video!
September 9th, 2010 at 2:06 PM ^
I thought Kerrigan was a pretty good player.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:06 PM ^
That's exactly what I was thinking. Their tackles look horrible against Purdue. I think we get to Crist a lot and we see a lot of turnovers because of it. I feel this is much more in our favor after watching that video.
September 9th, 2010 at 10:03 PM ^
Crist running the Read Option == Threet running the Read Option.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:00 PM ^
4:17 .... uhhhhhhhhh
1. Rudolph scares me more than Floyd.
2. I attribute more of the successful runs to the Purdue's bad LB play than good ND OL play.
3. 80%+ Crist hands off in the zone read, I don't expect that to change to much this Saturday.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:20 PM ^
dayne "how does my scrotum taste?" crist is definitely the highlight of this video.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:03 PM ^
is going to be trouble...
Thanks again Pahokee. Love these.
ND does look like UCONN on the first few snaps. They also dropped their second pass. Let's hope that continues throughout the game and on Saturday. But even if it doesn't, the nature of Bend-But-Don't-Break is waiting for O's to beat themselves. Make them kick a FG. Nobody executes perfectly each down. Especially relatively inexperienced QBs like Frazer and Christ. We can worry about blitzing-mad formations for State/Iowa/Wiscy, when we'll need them. For now, keep it all in front of you and take selective risks.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:03 PM ^
Crist made the wrong read on every zone read.
They single blocked the nose tackle every play. I don't think that's going to happen against Martin.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:16 PM ^
Does that mean that they aren't actually reads, possibly? As a first year QB,
Wood seems to have some good scamper ability. Let's hope Kovacs can stay on top of that.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:05 PM ^
Is it just me or does Crist look really uncomfortable in the pocket. He looked very Threet-like in terms of missing receivers and getting happy feet.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:27 PM ^
I thought that was a pretty good performance, considering. But he was getting really good protection most of the time. If our D-line can get to him I think we can rattle him.
September 9th, 2010 at 3:06 PM ^
He isn't a freshman. He's a redshirt sophomore.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:06 PM ^
It's going to have a lot of fun sending this to my ND friends and waiting for the "DOH!" when they get to the first Freekbass splice
September 9th, 2010 at 2:30 PM ^
"It's going to have a lot of fun sending this to my ND friends "......When did you start referring to yourself in the third person?
September 9th, 2010 at 2:08 PM ^
ND's Offense liked to fumble the ball against Purdue. Now, add rain.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:10 PM ^
I was thoroughly, thoroughly unimpressed with ND. THAT'S their high powered passing offense? Terrible pass blocking, Floyd didn't get open that often and when he did they rarely converted, and I saw 2-3 missed INT opportunities. Isn't Purdue's secondary pretty suspect, too? I saw a number of ball control issues and that safety was ugly.
I'm mildly worried about their running game, but not that much. We defend the zone read all day long in practice against much faster players. Crist has Threet speed and is a nonfactor in the zone read. ND's run blocking didn't impress me much either.
Unless we really don't show up I'm thinking we win by at least 2 TDs.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:17 PM ^
-ND offense looked better in the first half then the second, whatever that means.
-Why would Purdue have a 4 man D-line and drop one into coverage? That DT had zero depth and was basically useless. I understand schematically why you would do that, but it was so unsuccessul with there already poor pass rush.
-On the other hand, blitzing Crist seems like a great idea because of his indecision and long developing WR routes. Did anyone else catch how long it took Floyd and that Komara (sp?) kid to get into their patterns. The only problem I see is Armando Allen killing us with draws and a few of those cheap shuffle passes.
-I only counted 2 plays where Purdue brought 4 (similiar to our 4-4 under look) with a running back next to Crist where the play gained 5+ yards...both were Cierre Wood.
-RR can out-coach Kelly here and get a win.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:13 PM ^
The game is generally won in the trenches. I like our advantage there on both sides of the ball. I really think our offense is too potent for them to consistently stop us. I also think that our defense is quick enough to make enough plays to hold the big 3 to a minimal impact, which will result in a 31-21 Maize and Blue victory.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:15 PM ^
After watching the Michigan D-Fence Purdue looks absurdly slow running to the ball. Also ND offense looks sloppy. We definitely have to take care of Rudolph but for the most part I am pretty confident that our D-Line is going to destroy the QB and RB's all day.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:19 PM ^
Are seriously the greatest analysis tools ever. We can watch the Michigan ones while looking at UFR, and get a solid look at an upcoming opponent in less than 7 minutes (at least for one side of the ball). I can't heap enough praise onto MgoVideo for making these. Awesome.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:20 PM ^
I feel better about our defense after watching their offense against Purdue. Seems like Purdue's d-line got consistent pressure against ND's O-line. I was amazed at the ball security issues from veterans like Crist, Floyd, and Allen as well.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:42 PM ^
Actually ND's run game scares me a lot more, that was definitely their strong point against Purdue. If they can control the line of scrimmage, we may have to put more people in the box, which would expose our secondary. Hopefully Ezeh has a better day and actually plugs some holes next week.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:24 PM ^
but at the 3:21 mark of the ND vid, with 2:49 left in the first half and they are up 10-3, they show the Michigan/UCONN score and we're up 21-3 with 4:21 left in our first half, oh let do it...
September 9th, 2010 at 6:34 PM ^
Must I keep being reminded about all of the DB's that didn't qualify, got hurt, or transferred? Fuck I just want to enjoy a great UConn win and see what happens against ND. Boyz in Da Pahokee thanks for the video. You are definitely my football crack dealer.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:24 PM ^
Purdue's defense was just slower than ours. Plus, our defense should be well-equipped to handle their rushes and fakes from playing against RR's read option in practice. This game is no gimme, but I am a bit more confident after watching this. Good post.
Freakbass, wow. Amazing.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:24 PM ^
THIS AFTERNOON!!!
September 9th, 2010 at 2:27 PM ^
My confidence is growing.
Beat ND.
September 9th, 2010 at 6:31 PM ^
where da freekbass at
i want da freekbass
September 9th, 2010 at 2:29 PM ^
...but watching that video made me feel much better.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:32 PM ^
I didn't Realize purdue only scored 3 points through the first half and a lot of the 3rd....Is nd's defense that good? Or does purdue suck that much?>
September 9th, 2010 at 2:32 PM ^
they've got a fine receiver and Crist is a promising frosh. Purdue got some pressure; sure hope we can. They look better than I expected--I look forward to the game.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:40 PM ^
He may have redshirted in '08, but he's at least a RS sophmore
September 9th, 2010 at 2:34 PM ^
1) That offense really doesn't scare me, largely because...
2) I was under the mistaken impression that Crist was mobile, and video evidence seems to confirm otherwise. He's Nick Sheridan mobile... just mobile enough to take off from time to time, but not mobile enough to force the defense to, you know, care.
3) The running backs looked good, but I wonder how much of that was the acres of space they had.
4) The best hit of the day seemed to be on the last play, where Michael Floyd pwned the Purdue drummer. This seems to be an Irish tradition:
September 9th, 2010 at 2:36 PM ^
I don't think Notre Dame looked bad against Purdue. Boring, maybe, but they ran about four offensive plays. They especially kept Floyd under wraps. Two designed routes and a couple of half-hearted bombs...he's lurking. Their knack for third down conversions vexes me. A number of dudes looked as good or better than I expected them to (Rudolph and Wood chiefly), but Crist...that guy is vulnerable. For reals. I don't know if we can expect stratospheric improvement from him in just one week
September 9th, 2010 at 2:36 PM ^
Made me feel very confident we can stop Notre Dame. The part that makes me happiest is their O Line. They dont have very quick feet for 1, which is a bad thing when your trying to run the spread. Add to that the fact they seem to be very lackluster in pass blocking. That probably means Martin, Roh and RVB will be able to get pressure on the QB.
Crist looks like a freshmen back there(go figure) so if we put pressure on him we should be able to force some bad decisions.
The only thing that scares me is the other skill position players. Recievers and backs are pretty good so I am sure they will make some good plays.
All of that being said, I like our offense to score a lot of points, and with the weaknesses I watched on their Offense, we should be able to come up with some stops.
September 9th, 2010 at 5:38 PM ^
"Crist has Wood to the right of him" ....
September 9th, 2010 at 6:28 PM ^
While I wonder how effective the zone-read can be with relatively immobile Crist, they definitely had success on the ground with both backs (6 YPC is pretty damn good). And while their o-line looked a bit suspect on the pass rush, they threw a lot of quick passes where the blitz didn't matter. Maybe a couple over thrown balls but overall Crist looked pretty accurate. I imagine the playbook is going to get bigger and bigger each game and the offense should likewise improve with more experience.
September 10th, 2010 at 12:45 AM ^
for a suspect purdue team to control the spread uptempo kelly has designed has me laughing just as hard as the freekbass! No way you double team MM all day and not get to Crist. If UCONN has this NFL ready oline, what is NDs. Allen and Wood will get some touches, but if Mouton, and Ezeh read it the holes right, yikes. Kovacula coming in to make all those tackles, i can't wait! And ND is a 4.5 point favourite as per Vegas odds.