Notre Dame Offense
Am I delusional or is the Notre Dame offense better, by far, than anything in the Big 10 and top 5 nationally. Position by position, can you think of a team as complete on offense?
QB - At this point, better than anyone in the Big 10 (I think Tate's the closest, but we don't have much data).
RB - As good as Minor, maybe only Royster better.
WR - Best by far.
TE - Best, although the data are limited.
OL - Maybe Iowa has some hype, but who else?
My point is:
* ND runs the table except for USC, but they will be competitive in that game; I think Carroll will get to Clausen some way. And we should root them on.
* That our defense is not as scary and shaky as Saturday would suggest, although PAINFULLY thin.
* That we do not face a team with some offensive power until the end of October, a lot of time for Justin Turner, Vlad the Impaler, and William Campbell to come online, and for Williams, Woolfolk, Roh and Cissoko to get vastly more seasoned.
Litmus Test (to see if my assumptions are correct):
# ND destroys MSU, Purdue and Washington
# Our defense looks dominant against Eastern, Indiana and MSU
September 15th, 2009 at 1:52 PM ^
Barkley didn't look good at all to me during that game. I had a hard time believe SC was a part of the national elite on that night. OSU's play calling was pathetic and Tressle should have been kicked in the ass for that loss. OSU could have (and should have) easily won that game. I see ND having a very good chance against SC this year.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:17 PM ^
There is very little doubt that ND has phenomenal athletes on the offensive side of the ball. Their WR's might be the best duo in the country, Allen is an absolute stud at TB, Rudolph is one of the best TE prospects in the nation, Clausen looks much more seasoned and poised, and their OL is chalk full of top tier recruits with tons of experience who just might finally live up to the hype this season. Their offensive statistics will be great this year because they will continually throw the ball deep on their inferior opponents, which their schedule has plenty of. I just feel that their passing game is unimaginative. Weis continuously runs Floyd and Tate on go routes and has Clausen lob the ball in the air to them in jump ball situations, which Michigan got burned on a number of. Against very poor secondaries ND's WR's are behind everyone and they go for long TD's (see Floyd's numbers vs. Nevada) and against Michigan they are jump balls that Floyd wrestles away from Cissoko. However, against a good secondary like USC I see these plays getting shut down. I don't see them having near the success rate with these plays when Taylor Mays is ball hawking deep. Barkley is a freshman and he has not impressed me that much as basically nothing challenging was asked of him against OSU, including the last drive when he threw screens, swing passes, and handed the ball off. That being said, he will have 3 Pac 10 games under his belt by the time they play ND, including a road game against Cal. I think that SC's line and skill players, coupled with their stout defense give them a distinct advantage against ND and their unimaginative passing game. If Weis would mix up their routes and passing play calling their offense could be truly great, however, I cannot see him doing that.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:29 PM ^
that is exactly what I saw,and I think goin up against some taller corners, or with some extra safety help, the jump ball will be less successful, and the receivers won't be wide open deep(at least not as often) but if Clausen can make some better touch passes he still has the two best receivers and if their lne is really that good I think they will be successful. I think nd has a chance, but they will need to be really clicking and work on some routes that aren't just deep streaks and jimmah can't just throw the ball up for his receivers to jump for
September 15th, 2009 at 12:34 PM ^
I feel like based potential NFL talent that ND might have the best offense in the country. Clausen will certainly be a high pick whenever he decides to leave ND. Floyd in my opinion might be the best receiver in the country and is only a sophomore. Golden Tate has speed that any NFL team would want and is also a first round caliber player. Then you look at Rudolph who isn't a strong blocker but is a great receiver who will only get better as time goes on. Sam Young is also very impressive at tackle and will probably be a first day pick at the draft.
I don't think Michigan will play an offense even close to this for the rest of the year. Penn State has Clark and Royster but they lack downfield threats and their offensive line has struggled to get royster going against lackluster opponents.
Ohio State is very mediocore offensivley. Pryor is not an accurate thrower and the vest doesn't use his god given ability as well as he could. Their highly touted Offensive Line prospects have not panned out and Boom Herron is a very shaky performer in the backfield often jumps around hesitates too much in the hole. Their receiving corps has shown no flashes of a player that can go deep or make a big play. They have a solid possesion guy in sanzenbacher but Deveir Posey has not shown much as of yet. He is supposed to be their big play guy this year.
We played one of the most talented offenses in the nation and we prevailed and in the third quarter looked dominant against them. Our defense is thin but it is talented. With these next two games we can get guys like Turner and Campbell involved and we will be a very good defense and ready to take on the meat of our schedule.
I am very confident in Robinson and our talent to say the least.
GO BLUE!
September 15th, 2009 at 3:16 PM ^
I tend to agree with you...they will be the best Offense that Michigan plays this year... Im not sold on their OL that much though, I just thought they held on just about every play and there were only so much that the refs could call logically