Post Game Observations (North Carolina '14)

[Rocket 94]

I think it is on some stuff. But I do think that ESPN has a habit of trying to downplay ND every chance they get. Look at the text underneath the video:



There were 47 seconds left, after the kick. And North Carolina would only have tied the game, had they managed to score in that time. I'm not saying that it would have been impossible for North Carolina to have scored, but this game was over when ND went up by 14 points, with 2:19 left.

Another narrative that ESPN is pushing, is that "Notre Dame needed another 4th quarter comeback to win, just like against Stanford". ND was losing at the start of the 4th quarter yesterday.......... by ONE point. So being down by 1 going into the 4th, and winning the game, is the same as having to score a TD in the final 3:01?

Continuing on this topic it is funny to hear ESPN always mention ND's opponent records against "Power Five" teams. That stat dork with the glasses was really hammering that point yesterday on GameDay. ND's opponents have a 2-10 record against Power 5 teams blah blah blah. Funny that they didn't mention all the OOC cupcakes that SEC teams play and those opponent records. ESPN has continually had an agenda against ND dating back to 1993.

 

[luckathe1]

IMO
CBK always seems to prepare/motivate the team to the level of the opponent, always has, always will.
Golson has some very bad ball carrying habits, always has always will.
The O line is showing very little improvement.
Folston might have clicked for the season, showed a lot more patience.
BVG better figure out a better scheme for up-tempo O's. Can you say Arizona State.
ND tackling was piss poor. Wouldn't want to be in that film room with BVG this week.
The officiating was, whatever, guess I shouldn't expect any better.
ND is a fairly good team, that could be great next year. This year just seems like its four or five players short. Oh! snap!

 

[Me2SouthBend]

I don't get the "we don't stick w the run commentary". They rushed 43 times yesterday for 219 yards. They passed 38 times for 300 yards. They likely would have run even more had they not been put behind the chains w penalties particularly in the 2nd half. They were effective w the run even though they had some no gain or net negative plays. Patience me boys.

 

[kmoose]

I don't get the "we don't stick w the run commentary". They rushed 43 times yesterday for 219 yards. They passed 38 times for 300 yards. They likely would have run even more had they not been put behind the chains w penalties particularly in the 2nd half. They were effective w the run even though they had some no gain or net negative plays. Patience me boys.

How many times yesterday did we run the run ball two plays or more in a row? And I am not talking about Golson scrambling, I am talking about called run plays.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

How many times yesterday did we run the run ball two plays or more in a row? And I am not talking about Golson scrambling, I am talking about called run plays.

I'll be honest, I don't know the answer off the top of my head. I think down and distance dictated much of what was called yesterday, be it due to penalty or the success/failure of plays.

 

[kmoose]

I'll be honest, I don't know the answer off the top of my head. I think down and distance dictated much of what was called yesterday, be it due to penalty or the success/failure of plays.

5 times. And 4 of those drives were in the second half. The first drive of the second quarter was the only one in the first half. On that drive, the 4th and 5th plays were back to runs; one by Carlisle for 12 yards, and then a 5 yard run by Bryant.

That was all I said, is I don't understand why Kelly will not commit to running the ball in the 1st quarter. Set the tone. Tell the other team that you are going to smack them in the mouth, over and over again. Especially against an offense like North Carolina's. In his post-game presser, Kelly said that the coaches knew that North Carolina's offense was going to give them trouble. So control the ball, run the clock, give your defense a good rest(and time to make schematic alignments on the sideline), and RUN THE BALL.

 

[Classic Irish]

Wow Kelly had a demeanor I haven't seen in a while during the post game conference...wow I think our boys are in for a tough week of practice!!!'

Kelly is a phenomenal!!

I agree. I've watched every post-game presser this season, and he was markedly different in his demeanor after yesterday's game. He was happy that we won, but generally displeased.

 

[pkt77242]

5 times. And 4 of those drives were in the second half. The first drive of the second quarter was the only one in the first half. On that drive, the 4th and 5th plays were back to runs; one by Carlisle for 12 yards, and then a 5 yard run by Bryant.

That was all I said, is I don't understand why Kelly will not commit to running the ball in the 1st quarter. Set the tone. Tell the other team that you are going to smack them in the mouth, over and over again. Especially against an offense like North Carolina's. In his post-game presser, Kelly said that the coaches knew that North Carolina's offense was going to give them trouble. So control the ball, run the clock, give your defense a good rest(and time to make schematic alignments on the sideline), and RUN THE BALL.

I agree with you that it would be nice if we established the run game early. I believe that Kelly's play calling philosophy is similar to Rich Rod's in that you run plays based on what the defense is giving you. So if they stack 8 in the box you throw the ball, if they are playing 2 deep safeties with only 6 in the box you run it. Some coaches call plays to their strengths no matter what the defense is doing (Alabama and Stanford come to mind) while other coaches call plays based on what the defense is doing.

 

[IrishLax]

Better late than never...
-Mack Hollins should've been called for taunting twice. Did it right in front of the ref both times too.
-Ronnie Stanely should've been called for holding zero times.
-There were at least 6 OBVIOUS holds on Sheldon Day that were inexplicably not called... not to mention general holding by their line on almost every play... which IMO is a big reason why we weren't able to get the drive killing negative plays like we usually do.
-Interior of the OL is still beyond atrocious in pass protection, but our OL did the best job in weeks run blocking. It seems obvious that this will be our biggest issue against Florida State.
-Florida State gave up 41 points to an NC State team that is 0-3 in the ACC and scored 0 points against Clemson and only 14 on 200 yards against Boston College. So I'm not really concerned about us having one bad game in the grand scheme of things.
-Our linebackers collectively played like total ass. Was painful to watch. Jaylon screwed up numerous plays, as did Joe Schmidt.
-The tackling. Woof.
-DBs did alright I thought overall. Couple breakdowns, couple mistakes but most of the plays they hit were because Williams had a clean pocket to make the play. Safeties I thought were sorta exposed on some QB runs or when left 1v1 in coverage... but you shouldn't be leaving safeties 1v1 in coverage if you're not going to get home.
-Stopped runs by RBs well as we have all year, so it's pretty clear that teams are going to have to go one dimensional to beat us through the air or with QB runs if they want to score.
-Our WRs looked good but they were going against possibly the worst secondary in the nation.
-Our OL and Folston looked good but what happens when they have DBs and LBs that can tackle?
-If Golson continues to turn it over like that we won't be able to beat "great" teams. You cannot, CANNOT, CANNOT make 21 points worth of turnovers against an elite team and survive.

 

[ThePiombino]

Better late than never...
-Mack Hollins should've been called for taunting twice. Did it right in front of the ref both times too.
-Ronnie Stanely should've been called for holding zero times.
-There were at least 6 OBVIOUS holds on Sheldon Day that were inexplicably not called... not to mention general holding by their line on almost every play... which IMO is a big reason why we weren't able to get the drive killing negative plays like we usually do.
-Interior of the OL is still beyond atrocious in pass protection, but our OL did the best job in weeks run blocking. It seems obvious that this will be our biggest issue against Florida State.
-Florida State gave up 41 points to an NC State team that is 0-3 in the ACC and scored 0 points against Clemson and only 14 on 200 yards against Boston College. So I'm not really concerned about us having one bad game in the grand scheme of things.
-Our linebackers collectively played like total ass. Was painful to watch. Jaylon screwed up numerous plays, as did Joe Schmidt.
-The tackling. Woof.
-DBs did alright I thought overall. Couple breakdowns, couple mistakes but most of the plays they hit were because Williams had a clean pocket to make the play. Safeties I thought were sorta exposed on some QB runs or when left 1v1 in coverage... but you shouldn't be leaving safeties 1v1 in coverage if you're not going to get home.
-Stopped runs by RBs well as we have all year, so it's pretty clear that teams are going to have to go one dimensional to beat us through the air or with QB runs if they want to score.
-Our WRs looked good but they were going against possibly the worst secondary in the nation.
-Our OL and Folston looked good but what happens when they have DBs and LBs that can tackle?
-If Golson continues to turn it over like that we won't be able to beat "great" teams. You cannot, CANNOT, CANNOT make 21 points worth of turnovers against an elite team and survive.

Pretty much nailed it with this post.

 

[N_D_Fighting_Irish]

5 times. And 4 of those drives were in the second half. The first drive of the second quarter was the only one in the first half. On that drive, the 4th and 5th plays were back to runs; one by Carlisle for 12 yards, and then a 5 yard run by Bryant.

That was all I said, is I don't understand why Kelly will not commit to running the ball in the 1st quarter. Set the tone. Tell the other team that you are going to smack them in the mouth, over and over again. Especially against an offense like North Carolina's. In his post-game presser, Kelly said that the coaches knew that North Carolina's offense was going to give them trouble. So control the ball, run the clock, give your defense a good rest(and time to make schematic alignments on the sideline), and RUN THE BALL.

I agree. What irritated me the most was the empty set on med to short yardage situations. No threat of a run, screen, nor an outlet for Golson. Too many third and longs. We were VERY luck to win the game. Play calling became way too predictable.

On defense, Stanford game took a lot out of them. JSmith, I think, is playing at 80-90 percent healthy. Redfield is dinged. They gave up some yards, but they made crucial stops in the third and fourth quarter...which the offense squandered. Defense did its job in this game.

 

[dmort]

The OL is unable to consistently blow the opposition off the line.That makes it tough on the run game.On the other hand the screen plays were well executed and effective.

 

[jspags10pg]

Better late than never...
-Mack Hollins should've been called for taunting twice. Did it right in front of the ref both times too.
-Ronnie Stanely should've been called for holding zero times.
-There were at least 6 OBVIOUS holds on Sheldon Day that were inexplicably not called... not to mention general holding by their line on almost every play... which IMO is a big reason why we weren't able to get the drive killing negative plays like we usually do.
-Interior of the OL is still beyond atrocious in pass protection, but our OL did the best job in weeks run blocking. It seems obvious that this will be our biggest issue against Florida State.
-Florida State gave up 41 points to an NC State team that is 0-3 in the ACC and scored 0 points against Clemson and only 14 on 200 yards against Boston College. So I'm not really concerned about us having one bad game in the grand scheme of things.
-Our linebackers collectively played like total ass. Was painful to watch. Jaylon screwed up numerous plays, as did Joe Schmidt.
-The tackling. Woof.
-DBs did alright I thought overall. Couple breakdowns, couple mistakes but most of the plays they hit were because Williams had a clean pocket to make the play. Safeties I thought were sorta exposed on some QB runs or when left 1v1 in coverage... but you shouldn't be leaving safeties 1v1 in coverage if you're not going to get home.
-Stopped runs by RBs well as we have all year, so it's pretty clear that teams are going to have to go one dimensional to beat us through the air or with QB runs if they want to score.
-Our WRs looked good but they were going against possibly the worst secondary in the nation.
-Our OL and Folston looked good but what happens when they have DBs and LBs that can tackle?
-If Golson continues to turn it over like that we won't be able to beat "great" teams. You cannot, CANNOT, CANNOT make 21 points worth of turnovers against an elite team and survive.

The bolded points are our biggest flaws from yesterday. The poor play of the LB's and Golson's turnovers resulting in 21 points can not continue if we want to finish the year with one or less loss. We will lose 3 or 4 games down the stretch if this trend continues.

And I hate to be "that guy" but the holding calls that the refs let go on Sheldon all game long were really pissing me off. Like you said Lax, that's a huge reason why we didn't have any negative plays and why Williams either had a clean pocket to throw from or a huge hole to take off from. We need those sacks or at least pressures on the QB to force bad decisions or throwaways for our D to be successful. Sheldon would have had a great game if he wasn't busy fighting off a possible rape every play.

Great post on every point you made.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Put in Bivin at center


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[Bogtrotter07]

Better late than never...
-Mack Hollins should've been called for taunting twice. Did it right in front of the ref both times too.
-Ronnie Stanely should've been called for holding zero times.
-There were at least 6 OBVIOUS holds on Sheldon Day that were inexplicably not called... not to mention general holding by their line on almost every play... which IMO is a big reason why we weren't able to get the drive killing negative plays like we usually do.
-Interior of the OL is still beyond atrocious in pass protection, but our OL did the best job in weeks run blocking. It seems obvious that this will be our biggest issue against Florida State.
-Florida State gave up 41 points to an NC State team that is 0-3 in the ACC and scored 0 points against Clemson and only 14 on 200 yards against Boston College. So I'm not really concerned about us having one bad game in the grand scheme of things.
-Our linebackers collectively played like total ass. Was painful to watch. Jaylon screwed up numerous plays, as did Joe Schmidt.
-The tackling. Woof.
-DBs did alright I thought overall. Couple breakdowns, couple mistakes but most of the plays they hit were because Williams had a clean pocket to make the play. Safeties I thought were sorta exposed on some QB runs or when left 1v1 in coverage... but you shouldn't be leaving safeties 1v1 in coverage if you're not going to get home.
-Stopped runs by RBs well as we have all year, so it's pretty clear that teams are going to have to go one dimensional to beat us through the air or with QB runs if they want to score.
-Our WRs looked good but they were going against possibly the worst secondary in the nation.
-Our OL and Folston looked good but what happens when they have DBs and LBs that can tackle?
-If Golson continues to turn it over like that we won't be able to beat "great" teams. You cannot, CANNOT, CANNOT make 21 points worth of turnovers against an elite team and survive.

I agree with most of what you say, and always respect your opinion.

I am using your post because it is so complete; it touches on so many points others have made.

And I am going to disagree with one or two things. Not that your points are wrong, but I would like to massage them a little.

First. Yesterday's game by my count had UNC running about 84 plays, and ND running about 81. That is moving! It is another dimension that taxed our team and made it rough for BVG to get our sub-packages and plays in.

This was even exacerbated by the way NC had in running up to the ball. UNC times it purposely so you don't get a correct pre-snap read most of the time. This really helped UNC play against a more talented, but less experienced young Irish defense.

Smith, Onwualu, and a few others were making wrong reads. Because Collinsworth went out early Redfield, Farley, and Shumate were too. Cole Luke plays like a senior. The touchdown pass over the middle in the second half was Redfield and Shumate both coming down to fill in the void in the middle. One should have gone downfield, and one should have come up.

So missing Collinsworth really hurt.

AND, I believe with bad reads, our guys were out of position, and that was the major reason we were a bad tackling team. When that has been one of our strengths all season. You have to take your hat off to the UNC staff! They did a lot of little things well. I watched the UNC press conference and if it weren't for the b.s. indignation at the roughing the snapper call, I would have had nothing but total respect for them.

By the way, there were two non-calls that should have been targeting against UNC. One against Cam McDaniel earlier and one near the end of the game.

Yesterday we saw about a continuum in blocking, but the running backs, (particularly Folston made better choices, and ran through tackles.) The running game looked a lot better.

Now you say NC was a mediocre defensive team, and we just ran for twenty more yards that they have given up on average? Well UNC was doing something on defense yesterday, either by design or by accident that made things really tough on ND's offensive linemen, (when they guessed right.) The down linemen, particularly the guy that lined up as a zero or one technique, made a hard move one way or another. This served to try to collapse the pocket, but was very difficult on the run game with zone blocking when they guessed right.

The touchdown Folston ran in untouched was a good example of what happened when they guessed wrong. It is clear that UNC was trying to disrupt ND's zone blocking, but it was not altogether effective.

I think UNC will start winning now like they did at the end of last year. And I think that quarterback of theirs will be drafted fairly well, and have a good NFL career.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

P.S. Where was Torii Hunter, Jr., yesterday? Robinson until the fourth quarter? Anyone else I missed?

 

[irishog77]

If a pass play is called on offense, the QB drops back to pass it, and then takes off running because nobody is open and/or he has defenders collapsing on him, is that really a run play?

ND has had a lot of success with their running stats this year based on Golson's ability to take off and run with the ball (and with sweeps/reverses to wide receivers as well, but to a lesser extent). I don't look at those plays as a credit to the running game or use them to prop up the O's running stats. I look at those as a credit to Golson.

When a run play is called and the ball is handed off to somebody, ND's stats are much worse, overall. Both in true rushing attempts and yards gained. Using Golson's scrambling and running ability to help claim running game success is disingenuous.

 

[pkt77242]

If a pass play is called on offense, the QB drops back to pass it, and then takes off running because nobody is open and/or he has defenders collapsing on him, is that really a run play?

ND has had a lot of success with their running stats this year based on Golson's ability to take off and run with the ball (and with sweeps/reverses to wide receivers as well, but to a lesser extent). I don't look at those plays as a credit to the running game or use them to prop up the O's running stats. I look at those as a credit to Golson.

When a run play is called and the ball is handed off to somebody, ND's stats are much worse, overall. Both in true rushing attempts and yards gained. Using Golson's scrambling and running ability to help claim running game success is disingenuous.

Yesterday we had 29 carries by someone not named Golson for 152 yards which is 5.2 yards a carry and 4 rushing touchdowns. That is good to very good numbers (though not great). Yes Golson has helped prop up the run game this year but yesterday our O-line seemed to block a better for running plays (pass play blocking was still rough) and our running backs did a good job of making people miss.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Yesterday we had 29 carries by someone not named Golson for 152 yards which is 5.2 yards a carry and 4 rushing touchdowns. That is good to very good numbers (though not great). Yes Golson has helped prop up the run game this year but yesterday our O-line seemed to block a better for running plays (pass play blocking was still rough) and our running backs did a good job of making people miss.

Again, our running backs blocked much better yesterday, and ran through tackles like in few other games this year. No one was going to stop Folston, yesterday.

 

[ickythump1225]

Even after 43 rushes for 200+ yard people are still knocking our run game. I've come to realize some posters won't be happy until we're lining up in the power-I running 60 times a game.

 

[irishog77]

Yesterday we had 29 carries by someone not named Golson for 152 yards which is 5.2 yards a carry and 4 rushing touchdowns. That is good to very good numbers (though not great). Yes Golson has helped prop up the run game this year but yesterday our O-line seemed to block a better for running plays (pass play blocking was still rough) and our running backs did a good job of making people miss.

I agree that yesterday was pretty good. It was perhaps the best overall game of the season running the ball. My main takeaway from that, though, is that unc has one of the worst defenses in the nation.

I hope yesterday was a sign of things to come from play calling, scheme, OL, and RB, but I'm not sold yet. Still need to see more of it going forward to be a true believer.

 

[irishog77]

Even after 43 rushes for 200+ yard people are still knocking our run game. I've come to realize some posters won't be happy until we're lining up in the power-I running 60 times a game.

As stated, 43 rushes were not called by Kelly.

If watching ND for 6 games this season leads you to believe that the run game is doing well, then you and I have vastly different opinions of successful run games.

 

[IrishLax]

The elephant room with all our offensive problems is Matt Hegarty isn't even playing at a MAC level right now. Clearly, our best possible situation would be to have Nick Martin figure out how to play football at a high level at center and play Hanratty at guard. Because Hegarty has been playing horrible in all phases and teams are now actively scheming to attack him.

All four other guys played at an acceptable level yesterday.

 

[kmoose]

Yesterday we had 29 carries by someone not named Golson for 152 yards which is 5.2 yards a carry and 4 rushing touchdowns. That is good to very good numbers (though not great).

No it's not. 152 yard rushing, if you averaged that, would make you about the 85th best rushing team in the country. People need to quit trying to apply good individual rushing numbers to team rushing.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Question, probably a stupid one, but maybe our O-line isn't holding enough? How many times have we been called for it this year? You see it A LOT in CFB where it isn't called. Yet, you rarely see our lineman do it.

 

[pkt77242]

No it's not. 152 yard rushing, if you averaged that, would make you about the 85th best rushing team in the country. People need to quit trying to apply good individual rushing numbers to team rushing.

Nope, you are wrong. All of the other teams have their QB's numbers in their rushing stats so it would probably put us higher (maybe 50th or so which isn't great but isn't bad considering how much we throw). You can't take our QB numbers out and not take the QB numbers out for other teams.

People need to stop comparing our running stats minus QB yards to other teams stats with QB yards.

 

[kmoose]

Nope, you are wrong. All of the other teams have their QB's numbers in their rushing stats so it would probably put us higher (maybe 50th or so which isn't great but isn't bad considering how much we throw). You can't take our QB numbers out and not take the QB numbers out for other teams.

I wasn't the one who removed the QB's running numbers. And I am not going to go look at all 84 teams that would have better rushing numbers, to see how much their QB adds to the mix. But the fact is that, as a team, 150 yards a game is not much. And that was the contention that was made

 

[pkt77242]

I wasn't the one who removed the QB's running numbers. And I am not going to go look at all 84 teams that would have better rushing numbers, to see how much their QB adds to the mix. But the fact is that, as a team, 150 yards a game is not much. And that was the contention that was made

Then don't make the comparison. You can't compare apples and nuts and then say look you are wrong our numbers aren't good. 5.2 yards a carry is good. 200 plus yards including Golson is good. 152 for just running backs/wr on runs is good. No they aren't great, and we are not a great running team.

Again you don't have to pull the other 84 teams stats for QB rushes but then don't use it to prove your point.

 

[GoldenDomer]

Well, we gained a spot in the polls

 

[kmoose]

Then don't make the comparison. You can't compare apples and nuts and then say look you are wrong our numbers aren't good. 5.2 yards a carry is good. 200 plus yards including Golson is good. 152 for just running backs/wr on runs is good. No they aren't great, and we are not a great running team.

Again you don't have to pull the other 84 teams stats for QB rushes but then don't use it to prove your point.

Where does it rank, with other teams in the country?