A Win is A Win

[jiggafini19]

Removed.

 

[jiggafini19]

Guilty as charged. I'm a fool.

Great read. Beats losing to Pitt on Senior Day, right?

 

[Stalking_Eagle]

I never really thought of it like that. Great post.

 

[bigdon]

Look, I have been through a lot of good, bad, great, and so-so years with ND, I watched every game and almost cried during the Faust years. Like all of us I am a confirmed ND rooter.

When they play well I say so and when they don't say so. I can't accept the notion that is disloyal to the team. The points made in the post are legitimate. We can carry the logic to all kind of extremes but If ND had played that poorly against Michigan we would have lost.

I think my devotion to ND when things were awful gives me the right to be a little bit judgemental now. One man's opinion.

 

[Domer95]

Guilty as charged. I'm a fool.

Great read. Beats losing to Pitt on Senior Day, right?

Or Air Force.....

 

[BGIF]

A win is a win. And we should take ‘em no matter how they come.

Sounds like Willingham's mantra.

 

[jiggafini19]

The funny thing about it is that it was 34-10.

It wasn't a narrow escape where they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat (or whatever Bob Costas metaphor you like).

This defense was a bit different than the others ND has seen this year. Chalk it up to a pretty good effort by Cuse and an off day for the ND O.

 

[BigIrish]

When they play well I say so and when they don't say so. I can't accept the notion that is disloyal to the team. The points made in the post are legitimate. We can carry the logic to all kind of extremes but If ND had played that poorly against Michigan we would have lost.

I think my devotion to ND when things were awful gives me the right to be a little bit judgemental now. One man's opinion.

i'm going to have disagree on that. not that it's disloyal, but at the same time, we're only 10 games into the weis era. 10 games removed from absolute misery on the sidelines (i sat through the bad years too). and evidently, 10 games is the statute of limitations on when you can begin complaining about the way in which the irish win.

it's kind of like winning a million bucks in the lotto and complaining that it should have been more. it might make the guy sitting next to you (sparty, panthers, the vols, wolverines, etc., etc.) more than a little resentful.

it should be pointed out too, that despite the less than stellar performance, this win was different from the way we've won a lot of games recently. the game was never in doubt. the irish played below their typical standards, but they also played the role they should be playing - the role of the better team, who's able to dominate in spite of the fact that they've underperformed. the win was a steady, methodical, grinding win.

in previous years, we relied on lucky breaks and fortunate calls to win games like that.

you can say that we didn't play well enough to beat stanford, or any number of teams that we'll likely wind up playing in a bowl game. that's true. but we didn't play any of those teams on saturday. we played a bad syracuse team and beat them by nearly 30 points (i refuse to credit syracuse with a garbage touchdown in the fourth quarter while charlie was trying to make sure that even the waterboy got a few snaps), and could have beaten them by more.

yet here we sit discussing the poor play of an overachieving irish squad. nevermind the fact that the irish are one of the most highly anticipated games for every single team on its schedule. every team in the country gets fired up to play them. never mind the fact that charlie was doing everything he could to keep these guys focused on a 1-8 syracuse team when there are much bigger games on the horizon.

the fact of the matter is that every team plays one or two games a year on autopilot, when their heads just aren't in the game. i'm glad we did it against a team like syracuse. we'll be better focused next week because of it.

so yes, it's nitpicking at this point to gripe about a 24 point win. and no, enduring the bad years isn't nearly enough of a penance to justify looking down your nose at a win like that. it is what it is.

 

[scooper]

it's kind of like winning a million bucks in the lotto and complaining that it should have been more.

I'd say it's more like winning a million bucks and complaining that the bills aren't new or crisp enough. You still got the money.

 

[domerfor life]

My how times have changed. How many points would we have scored against this same 1-8 team last year? Remember those close games with Navy? Remember losing to BYU last year? Charlie has come in and raised the expectations of this program. I have to admit. I was a bit disappointed that we didn't hang half a century on this team Saturday. It was a sub-par performance and they still had over 400 yards total offense, scored over 30 points, and Brady had a "sub-par" day throwing for 270 yards and 2 TDs w/ no INTs. Last year, those numbers would have been pure miracles. I always enjoy the analysis of if this would have been such and such, then they would have lost. Well, it wasn't and they didn't. Chalk one up to them coming out flat and playing down to the level of their competition. They're still kids, man. It'll happen from time to time. The difference is now when they do it, they win by 20+. That touchdown by Syracuse was garbage. They left their first unit in against our seniors. That's not the first time that's happened this season. Many teams have scored TD's in garbage time when their 1st stringers are going against our 2nd stringers. This beats the alternative, which is coming out flat and losing. I beg to differ with the overachieving claim. This team is not overachieving. It's just amazing what can happen when you mix talent, preparation, and confidence. They always had decent talent, but they didn't have the preparation or the confidence until this year. I think as fans we have a right to be a bit disappointed with that performance, but we should also keep things in perspective. We can't act as if there was no drop-off after Lou left. We should really appreciate this team for what they have been able to accomplish after being written off by so many people.

 

[jiggafini19]

I've been looking through the archives at the things I was saying back in July and August.

Me of little faith.

 

[grantland]

it should be pointed out too, that despite the less than stellar performance, this win was different from the way we've won a lot of games recently. the game was never in doubt. the irish played below their typical standards, but they also played the role they should be playing - the role of the better team, who's able to dominate in spite of the fact that they've underperformed. the win was a steady, methodical, grinding win.

That's what I say.

At any point in the game was anyone concerned that the Irish had any chance of losing this game?

 

[LuckoftheIrish86]

Same goes for this Saturday, We Should really be able to smoke this Stanford team but it may not happen. All we need to do is WIN the game. 56-0 or 28-24 doesn't matter...If we get it done its time to bust open some Tostitos and grab the salsa

 

[bigdon]

i'm going to have disagree on that. not that it's disloyal, but at the same time, we're only 10 games into the weis era. 10 games removed from absolute misery on the sidelines (i sat through the bad years too). and evidently, 10 games is the statute of limitations on when you can begin complaining about the way in which the irish win.

it's kind of like winning a million bucks in the lotto and complaining that it should have been more. it might make the guy sitting next to you (sparty, panthers, the vols, wolverines, etc., etc.) more than a little resentful.

it should be pointed out too, that despite the less than stellar performance, this win was different from the way we've won a lot of games recently. the game was never in doubt. the irish played below their typical standards, but they also played the role they should be playing - the role of the better team, who's able to dominate in spite of the fact that they've underperformed. the win was a steady, methodical, grinding win.

in previous years, we relied on lucky breaks and fortunate calls to win games like that.

you can say that we didn't play well enough to beat stanford, or any number of teams that we'll likely wind up playing in a bowl game. that's true. but we didn't play any of those teams on saturday. we played a bad syracuse team and beat them by nearly 30 points (i refuse to credit syracuse with a garbage touchdown in the fourth quarter while charlie was trying to make sure that even the waterboy got a few snaps), and could have beaten them by more.

yet here we sit discussing the poor play of an overachieving irish squad. nevermind the fact that the irish are one of the most highly anticipated games for every single team on its schedule. every team in the country gets fired up to play them. never mind the fact that charlie was doing everything he could to keep these guys focused on a 1-8 syracuse team when there are much bigger games on the horizon.

the fact of the matter is that every team plays one or two games a year on autopilot, when their heads just aren't in the game. i'm glad we did it against a team like syracuse. we'll be better focused next week because of it.

so yes, it's nitpicking at this point to gripe about a 24 point win. and no, enduring the bad years isn't nearly enough of a penance to justify looking down your nose at a win like that. it is what it is.

Excuse me BigIrish--I do not "look down my nose" at this win!!! I merely said what every scribe in America said--ND did not play well. If you want to sugar coat this win go ahead. But when they don't play well I will contunue to say it. Just as I praise them when they DO play well.

 

[BigIrish]

ha! sugarcoating a 24 point d$ck stomping that could have been bigger had charlie even kept in the second team. yeah...whew...that was a nail biter.

i do appreciate the fact that praise is now meted out based on how good we won rather than IF we won.

meh...this debate is getting stale - i'm out.

 

[jiggafini19]

i do appreciate the fact that praise is now meted out based on how good we won rather than IF we won.

BigIrish and everyone, I think that is what this author is trying to say. At least, that's what I read in between the lines and was the reason I posted it.

USC has had off days and still managed to win 33 in a row. Not every win is going to be Michaelangelo like. But you keep winning. You find ways to win and stay efficient. Fix mistakes long and short term.

Coaching is mostly masking your weak areas and exploiting that of the opponent. Notre Dame has the guy to do it.

Quinn threw for 2 TD and Walker had over 100 yards. They scored 34 on an off day. Due to the fact that they were 35 point favs and everyone was expecting to score half a hundred, this game was deemed disappointing.

That defense was a lot better than we all thought over at Cuse. Personally, I thought they played worse against Washington than they did against Syracuse. And they won both games.

 

[Domer95]

Not every win is going to be Michaelangelo like.

Jigga,
Are you channeling Dickie V??????

 

[jiggafini19]

Not every win is going to be Michaelangelo like.

Jigga,
Are you channeling Dickie V??????

Oh god.

No. Absolutely not. I forgot that was one of his phrases.

Brady Quinn sure is a Rolls Roycer.

 

[Batch]

10 games into a new offense... You won't hear me complaining about a 34-10 win.

The kids were flat plain and simple and whether any of us like it or not, it is going to happen. The difference is last year you couldn't tell if they were flat or clicking on all cylinders...

-Batch

 

[TomFoolery]

here we go again