Post Game Observations (Pitt)...

[BGIF]

Some of you need Jesus.

Some are bright enough to play Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz but they would have kept auditioning ad nauseum.

 

[ulukinatme]

We have to be one of the worst turnover ratio teams in football. I am going to look it up, but we just don't force turnovers. Fumbles or Ints. Its crazy. Maybe if we were playing Tommy we would.

Our turnover ratio probably is bad, but more so because our defense isn't very agressive. Going into tonight Tommy had 8 INTs, which is the same as Johnny Manziel, Taylor Kelly, 3 less than Gardner, and 1 more than Mettenberger. QBs throw INTs. They're not always pretty, but they're going to happen. Quite frankly, we shouldn't have had to rely on Tommy throwing as much as we have this season. We should have focused on our run game and allowed Tommy to take advantage of Play Action.

 

[arndtjc]

Brutal game. I traveled 1000 miles to Pitt to see this game and boy was I disappointed.

Pitt fans are awful and I'll leave it at that

We owed em a game after last years win so we're even in terms of football god/karma...

 

[GATTACA!]

Tommy sucked
The refs sucked
The offensive line sucked at run blocking
Diaco sucked with his "give them 5 yard passes, even though thats all they want to do" gameplan.
Fox and Calabrese always suck
Farley still cant tackle
Cam loves to run into the back of his lineman

TJ played well other than the fumble
Day played well
Daniels is missing Golson
Koyack is starting to look the part

Not many positives tonight. Turnovers and bad calls doomed them.

Aka a dirty Sanchez

 

[NDinFL]

Almost all those close games should have been blow outs and under Urban they would have. We blew it. That guy is elite and last year was a fluke. How many games could this team have lost last year and this year? Fine line between Kelly's so so success and being less successful than Charlie Friggn Weis.

Just go away.

 

[AKRowdy]

Not to blame officiating but is it just me but when Tuitt went out due to that bad call, it seemed to me that Pitt actually believed that they could beat us. It seemed that before that play they were just getting dominated and beat but then Tuitt went out and they just gained a new life.

 

[EifertPower]

1. Tuitt ejection was questionable but the pass interference call on Bennett Jackson was outrageous. That call changed the game more than Tuitt's ejection IMO. I guess it all evens out though since we got many outrageous pass interference calls in our favor against Michigan State.

2. Forget the fact that Day had a bonehead play not recovering that fumble (there were other ND on the field who could have recovered that fumble too by the way), Day played a really good game as did Shembo.

3. Notre Dame is not going to win games when they are -3 in the turnover category and Tommy Rees is your quarterback.

4. Why not more Folston? Our complete inability to run the ball was the most surprising fact of the night.

5. Can't Tommy ever tuck the ball down and run...even if it's just for 2 or 3 yards to keep the defenses honest. He's completely unable to handle any pressure and he hasn't taken nearly the beating that Quinn and Clausen took. Imagine Rees as our quarterback with those offensive lines.

6. The play of our safeties to me is the biggest disappointment of the season. I would have thought Farley would have improved and Collingsworth would've been better.

 

[Luckylucci]

Not to blame officiating but is it just me but when Tuitt went out due to that bad call, it seemed to me that Pitt actually believed that they could beat us. It seemed that before that play they were just getting dominated and beat but then Tuitt went out and they just gained a new life.

No bro, it's not just you. Anybody that actually watches football understandes that those were big calls. They change the game and it was different after that. Now should we have still won, yes. However we Didn't and all the negative nancy's will come and say, we need a new coach, our DC needs to go, and all sorts of garbage. The reality is some times your team plays bad. Either be a fan and move on or be a bitch talk about what everybody else does.

 

[ickythump1225]

1. Tuitt ejection was questionable but the pass interference call on Bennett Jackson was outrageous. That call changed the game more than Tuitt's ejection IMO. I guess it all evens out though since we got many outrageous pass interference calls in our favor against Michigan State.

Bulls**t. Did you even watch that game? MSU defenders were mugging our guys all game, they could have called several more PI calls than they did. MSU is coached that way. There might have been one iffy call but "many outrageous calls" is just bulls**t.

 

[Ignats]

Maybe this loss will wake some of the guys up so that they realize partying late into the night the Thursday before a game every single week doesn't get you focused on the task at hand Saturday.

 

[GATTACA!]

1. Tuitt ejection was questionable but the pass interference call on Bennett Jackson was outrageous. That call changed the game more than Tuitt's ejection IMO. I guess it all evens out though since we got many outrageous pass interference calls in our favor against Michigan State.

2. Forget the fact that Day had a bonehead play not recovering that fumble (there were other ND on the field who could have recovered that fumble too by the way), Day played a really good game as did Shembo.

3. Notre Dame is not going to win games when they are -3 in the turnover category and Tommy Rees is your quarterback.

4. Why not more Folston? Our complete inability to run the ball was the most surprising fact of the night.

5. Can't Tommy ever tuck the ball down and run...even if it's just for 2 or 3 yards to keep the defenses honest. He's completely unable to handle any pressure and he hasn't taken nearly the beating that Quinn and Clausen took. Imagine Rees as our quarterback with those offensive lines.

6. The play of our safeties to me is the biggest disappointment of the season. I would have thought Farley would have improved and Collingsworth would've been better.

Doesnt face guarding only result in pass interference if there is contact? It didn't look like Bennett even touched him?? I was enraged and in public not a good combo.

 

[Rudy89]

I said it after OU and I will say it again we are destined to be a middle of the road football team with a couple good seasons mixed in and maybe a few upsets mixed in. 8-4 7-5 is what will be. How we feel after losing to Pitt is how teams like MSU and ASU feel after losing to us "we let that average little ND team beat us damn". That's us....we are not an elite team and we aren't going to be one on the level of Oregon, Bama, OSU it's not in the cards for us the ship has sailed. We can hope to beat BYU try not to let Stanford go bama on us and hope we can save this year from being a complete failure in the pinstripe, pizza, or Dallas bowl. We will see what happens but Navy might've been the last Irish victory we celebrate this year. On a happy note Thor the dark world was awesome and y'all need to go see it.

 

[Grahambo]

No bro, it's not just you. Anybody that actually watches football understandes that those were big calls. They change the game and it was different after that. Now should we have still won, yes. However we Didn't and all the negative nancy's will come and say, we need a new coach, our DC needs to go, and all sorts of garbage. The reality is some times your team plays bad. Either be a fan and move on or be a bitch talk about what everybody else does.

Yup.

Most of what went wrong was on the player, not the staff. Absolute boneheaded throws by TR. When he finally does throw it out of bounds, he's called for intentional grounding. Missed tackles again doom the defense and its by Farley yet again which results in a long TD. The coaches can only do so much. Its disappointing to see the same mistakes made over and over again. Is that on the coaches? BK owned it but in my opinion, its player execution.

Most of us had the team 8-4/9-3 after the EG incident. The future is brighter then ever and I pray Tuitt comes back.

I still love thee Notre Dame and will not turn my back on the team. I bleed Irish and will die Irish.

 

[EuropeanDomer]

How about Bennett Jackson, he was burned all day long. And some people thought he could be a NFL player. In the other hand, Luke looks like he can be a good press corner.

 

[Irish2155]

Pinstripe bowl sounds about right.

****.

 

[ThePiombino]

Pinstripe bowl sounds about right.

****.

It would honestly be a blessing in disguise. Let's just hope we're healthyish by then.

 

[Bluto]

ND gave it away with turnovers in the redzone. Hit the rewind button to 2010 and 2011.

 

[Grahambo]

It would honestly be a blessing in disguise. Let's just hope we're healthyish by then.

With how 2013 began, I completely agree. Herbie said we're missing 13 of the 22 two deep plus EG. I know we always talk about next year and I hate myself for saying this but the upgrade with athleticism at the QB and LB positions, even the S position will prove to be difference makers next year. Probably the most athletic ND team that we'll see in sometime.

 

[Irish2155]

With how 2013 began, I completely agree. Herbie said we're missing 13 of the 22 two deep plus EG. I know we always talk about next year and I hate myself for saying this but the upgrade with athleticism at the QB and LB positions, even the S position will prove to be difference makers next year. Probably the most athletic ND team that we'll see in sometime.

Probably still will have four losses.

 

[ohara831]

Just a gut wrenching sickening loss. This one hurts.

 

[Seanthornton]

Sloppy on both sides of the ball. We came out of the box flat. Yeah the tuitt call was BS but that didn't change all the lousy throws, dropped catches, fumbles etc.... There was a lot of crap those refs were not calling last night. Pitt was holding all over the place. It is .... what it is this year. Sounds like the Goodrich Tire Bowl this year. Lets not get the guillotine out.

 

[DillonHall]

Yup.

Most of what went wrong was on the player, not the staff. Absolute boneheaded throws by TR. When he finally does throw it out of bounds, he's called for intentional grounding. Missed tackles again doom the defense and its by Farley yet again which results in a long TD. The coaches can only do so much. Its disappointing to see the same mistakes made over and over again. Is that on the coaches? BK owned it but in my opinion, its player execution.

Most of us had the team 8-4/9-3 after the EG incident. The future is brighter then ever and I pray Tuitt comes back.

I still love thee Notre Dame and will not turn my back on the team. I bleed Irish and will die Irish.

I appreciate your positive spin, but I don't see how the defense is going to be any better next year. I don't think the future's all that bright.

 

[kmoose]

Finally saw the play that Tuitt got kicked out for(I was in the bathroom when it happened). What a crock! In keeping with the knee jerk reactivism that so permeates this board at times:

I hope that TJ Jones and Sheldon Day never see the field again. They each cost us a TD. Jones with his fumble, and Day by not recovering that fumble. That would have made the score 35-28. Those two plays made ALL of the difference tonight!

 

[Grahambo]

I appreciate your positive spin, but I don't see how the defense is going to be any better next year. I don't think the future's all that bright.

I believe the influx of athleticism will be huge. Maybe I'm overstating it but EG over TR is a vast improvement. I believe the LB corps will be better overall with Carlo Fox moving on. I believe Redfield over Farley and even Hardy over Collinsworth is an upgrade. The GAIII experiment at RB should conclude too.

 

[DillonHall]

I believe the influx of athleticism will be huge. Maybe I'm overstating it but EG over TR is a vast improvement. I believe the LB corps will be better overall with Carlo Fox moving on. I believe Redfield over Farley and even Hardy over Collinsworth is an upgrade. The GAIII experiment at RB should conclude too.

I think both offensive and defensive lines will regress next year. That's a good recipe for another 3-4 loss season.

 

[Chris P. Bacon]

Before the season started I recall BK in one of his weekly interviews being asked about the new targeting rule and how he plans to practice to avoid these costly penalties. BK basically said he's not going to change anything since that rules been in place already, their just enforcing and watching it closely now. Now I don't remember but I can't seem to think of one time last season that this came into question. Now this season after 10 games we've had two players ejected on terrible calls, even after they've reviewed it.

I was flipping back to the LSU vs BAMA game and watched some other games throughout the day and what Tuitt did was nowhere near some of the big hits I saw throughout the day. The fact that the QB scrambled is the only reason I can think that the call was made, because it was the QB. If that's going to be the case, than the QB's shouldn't be able to scramble.

Speaking of a related issue, when the quick pass to Amir (Who dropped it once again) was thrown to him and he had obviously dropped the ball and didn't have a chance at catching it, the Pitt defender laid some wood onto Amir, no hitting a defenseless player was called there, and Amir looked like he got his bell run a little more near the head than the Pitt QB.

All in all, Tommy had a bad game, TJ probably one of his worst games of his career, the defense was the defense(Farley still doesn't know how to tackle) and what do you know special teams blew it for us again. Look, if BK doesn't want to work on the special teams aspect of the game than I'm beginning to question his coaching and I'm a huge supporter of BK. But special teams is a key factor in every game and you would think by year 4 BK would have some grasp on the situation, but all he seems to do is just brush the issue under the rug any and every time it's brought up. Offensive and Defensive execution, turnovers and special teams, the 4 aspects/battles of the game that you need to win to be successful. We basically start the game off losing one of those battles right off the bat, so were already playing behind before the game even starts. It's tough to win when you're already losing before the coin flip. Yeah I know we're hurting at depth and don't have the right players we need, I've heard that same story every year. I would hope our 2nd, and 3rd stringer scholarship players know how to run in a straight line (fill the running lanes) and tackle, I mean we did offer them a scholarship, are you telling me these guys can't form tackle, or be taught how to tackle. That's football 101, get it together boys!

 

[BobD]

 

[philipm31]

Remember what BK always says guys, it's hard to win games. Regardless of whether or not you're playing a 4-4 team that was averaging 40 yards rushing and lost to Navy. The only positive from this game is that we can't get skullf*cked in a BCS game again. I'd hope we decline a bowl bid but the extra practices will be good for Everett and the younger players.

I am almost positive that EG is not going to be able to practice with the team during the weeks leading up to whatever sh!tty bowl game ND goes to this year.

 

[DillonHall]

I am almost positive that EG is not going to be able to practice with the team during the weeks leading up to whatever sh!tty bowl game ND goes to this year.

Why do you say this?

 

[IrishFan4L]

No bro, it's not just you. Anybody that actually watches football understandes that those were big calls. They change the game and it was different after that. Now should we have still won, yes. However we Didn't and all the negative nancy's will come and say, we need a new coach, our DC needs to go, and all sorts of garbage. The reality is some times your team plays bad. Either be a fan and move on or be a bitch talk about what everybody else does.

If it was just one bad game that would be one thing but the only decent game we've played was against Air Force. So at what point should anyone question the job they've done. Just because you squeak by a bunch of below average opponents doesn't make you a good coach or team. You could also blame the players for poor execution but then again the coaches recruited them. Yes sometimes teams play bad this time the bad team just played worse.