I'm not gonna pick this apart by pointing out some other blown assignments that lead to big plays and or TD's. Anyhow, I'm not sure how a legitimate criticism amounts to "bashing" someone. There's always room for improvement. Needless to say I'm sure everyone (myself included) is pleasantly surprised with the DB play this season.
Here the facts about big plays from the Who is D is better, Alabama or ND thread:
"Opponents have struggled to move the ball through the air against both Alabama and Notre Dame. Both teams have allowed just six pass touchdowns and rank in the top 11 in pass efficiency defense."
"Notre Dame’s secondary has been questioned, but the Irish have allowed just seven completions on 41 pass attempts thrown 20 yards or longer downfield. The Tide have allowed 13 completions on 50 such passes."
"Notre Dame has allowed 14 plays that have gained 25 yards or more, tied for second fewest in FBS. Alabama has allowed 20 such plays, tied for 13th in FBS. Alabama and Notre Dame are tied with Florida for the fewest touchdowns of 25 yards of longer (1) allowed this season."
"Notre Dame is one of the best red zone defenses in recent history. The Irish have allowed a touchdown on 24.1 percent of their opponents’ red-zone drives this season, the lowest percentage for any FBS team in the last eight seasons. Overall, Irish opponents have scored seven touchdowns and committed five turnovers in 29 red-zone possessions."
Source ESPN
So yes, it is very legitimate to talk about the facts. The fact is ND has given up big plays and touchdowns at a historically low rate.
Other questions:
Is the D-line loaded? Yes, potentially Tuitt and Nix are All Americans (2nd or third teams).
Are the LB's elite? With a potential Heisman winner, Spond is playing AA caliber, the emergence of Shembo and Williams, and the Fox Cambrese tandem..... yes, it's an elite unit.
Has the DLine and LB play helped our secondary? Yes, without a doubt.
Is the secondary the weakest unit on the defense? Sure, I'm not sure anyone can say it isn't, give the quality of the other units.
But when looking at secondary play, ND simply hasn't given up big plays or passing TD's (as compared to other teams this year.).
When Lo Wood went down, We were all nervous. BUT when Slaughter went down, this board thought the secondary was toast. It simply didn't happened. Mathias Farley has been played at a level no one anticipated this year. He played four days after having two screws placed in his wrist. He's good, he's still learning, he's tough. The dude deserves mad props for his play.
