Late season realistic expectations.

[CarrollVermin]

I want to remind people that LSU went on the road and got demolished by Auburn, then turned around, beat Ole Miss and should have beaten Bama last weekend.

Texas A&M was blanked at Bama...beat Auburn. BC beat USC. I think you know where I am going with this.

You learn nothing from one game.

 

[NDRock]

I was hoping for a 3-1 finish, gonna be tough now but definately doable.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I'm trying to refrain from too much posting because I'm not entirely cooled off yet after watching that crap on Saturday.

If Golson and the offense keeps having these insane shit-moments then I won't be surprised to see a couple more losses tacked on. The QB, OL, ST play has been atrocious at times.

This team clearly has a lot of heart and pride so I think they man-up and play tough the rest of the year. I think a 10-2 ND gets a respectable bowl game for a chance to prove themselves and ride high into 2015.

They have to clean it up though. Have to.

 

[aubeirish]

Saturday was just a unfriendly reminder that it is very hard to win all your games in college football. All you need is one day where things are really not going your way and that's it. I think this team has enough character to bounce back and take care of business. 11-2. Beat a good team in a good bowl. Great season.

 

[koonja]

If we finish 10-2, that's a really good season considering we lost 3 NFL players pre-season, and 90% of our starting lineup is underclassmen.

Sucks to lose big games but we'll get our shot at a big time team if we take care of home and beat USC.

I'm not feeling good about the USC game, as their WRs are so athletic and their defense is fast.

 

[IrishLion]

I think we demolish Northwestern. They're not especially good and we'll come out with something to prove.

This is what many thought about the Navy game, and then the ASU game...

I will not be shocked to see ND win. I WILL be shocked if they win big.

I'm learning not to expect huge blowout wins from ND anymore.

 

[BGIF]

This is what many thought about the Navy game, and then the ASU game...

I will not be shocked to see ND win. I WILL be shocked if they win big.

I'm learning not to expect huge blowout wins from ND anymore.

ND won the first two games by 31.

The next two by 16.

Then a 3 pt win followed by a 7 pt win in a shootout.

Then a 4 pt loss followed by a 10 pt win in another shootout.

Then a loss in a blowout.

 

[GoldenDomer]

As disappointed as I am, Northwestern is pretty damn bad...

 

[BGIF]

... Northwestern is pretty damn bad...

Isn't that what Wisconsin fans said before their game with NW?

 

[Ndaccountant]

This is what many thought about the Navy game, and then the ASU game...

I will not be shocked to see ND win. I WILL be shocked if they win big.

I'm learning not to expect huge blowout wins from ND anymore.

That is what IS shocking, considering the offseason focus on not playing down.

 

[wizards8507]

I'm not sure how we'll do the rest of the season, but I am sure that any losses from here on out will be blamed on Navy's cut blocking.

 

[RDU Irish]

I'm pretty sure any losses will be more from giving up 2 or more turnovers.

 

[wizards8507]

I'm pretty sure any losses will be more from giving up 2 or more turnovers.

Why we lose and why people SAY we lose are often two very different things.

See: Kelly's game plan versus 28 points off turnovers.

 

[RDU Irish]

I didn't finish, Navy's cut blocks obviously kept Golson from getting proper practice reps from our banged up D-line needed to prepare for the Desert Storm defense.

Better?

 

[BobbyMac]

You play games to win but everything I do if I'm Kelly from this point out is to prepare my team for a National Championship run next year. The Irish started this season 12 months away from being a contender but surprised most by this year's performance through 8 games and they're one play away from being #2 in the country going into last Saturday. I'm not here to sugar coat anything, the Irish lost two games by beating themselves and championship teams don't do that. Going forward, these are the type of games a more mature team won't lose over the next 2-3 years. The program is in a great place moving forward.

 

[wizards8507]

You play games to win but everything I do if I'm Kelly from this point out is to prepare my team for a National Championship run next year. The Irish started this season 12 months away from being a contender but surprised most by this year's performance through 8 games and they're one play away from being #2 in the country going into last Saturday. I'm not here to sugar coat anything, the Irish lost two games by beating themselves and championship teams don't do that. Going forward, these are the type of games a more mature team won't lose over the next 2-3 years. The program is in a great place moving forward.

Are you confident we're going in the right direction though? I know the blame for 2013 often gets laid exclusively on Tommy's shoulders, but I feel like we've gone backwards from 2012. I don't think this team beats 2012 Stanford, 2012 Oklahoma, or 2012 Michigan State. Our performance against Arizona State was ten times worse than what Alabama did to us in the championship game. We didn't just shoot ourselves in the foot against ASU. We shot ourselves in the foot and didn't seem to notice so we did it five more times for good measure.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Our performance against Arizona State was ten times worse than what Alabama did to us in the championship game.

How do you figure? 'Bama comprehensively dismantled what had previously been a historically good defense. Conversely, ND beat themselves in Tempe last Saturday. I haven't seen anyone argue that we clearly didn't belong on the same field as our opponent this time around. That loss was no where near as damaging.

 

[Irish#1]

If we don't turnover the ball we win out. Golson, do you hear me?

Here's a good idea. Schedule a bye week after Navy!

 

[wizards8507]

Conversely, ND beat themselves in Tempe last Saturday.

That's exactly my point. I'd much rather lose to a team that's just plain bigger, faster, and stronger than we are. I can live with that. The way we beat ourselves on Saturday was some combination of poor coaching, execution, preparation, discipline, passion, pride, and integrity.

If you're running a marathon, would you rather fail because the course was just too tough that day or because you were hungover from partying the night before?

 

[koonja]

If we don't turnover the ball we win out. Golson, do you hear me?

Here's a good idea. Schedule a bye week after Navy![/QUOTE]

Speaking of bye weeks, not only do we play Navy and GT next year (really not good), we start out the year with a 'bye', essentially meaning we have 1, not 2 byes during the year.

Really sucks.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

That's exactly my point. I'd much rather lose to a team that's just plain bigger, faster, and stronger than we are.

No team should be "just plain bigger, faster and stronger" than ND. That's behind us now.

Public perception is everything in CFB. Getting run off the field is a very bad look. Beating yourself through some sloppy TOs and (almost) mounting a historic come-from-behind victory later in the same game isn't even in the same ballpark. A lot of people will look at the ASU game as confirmation of what many previously suspected-- we're still a year away from a serious title run. No one was saying that after the 'Bama game.

The way we beat ourselves on Saturday was some combination of poor coaching, execution, preparation, discipline, passion, pride, and integrity.

Uh, what? Our street-ball QB has some issues protecting the ball, and our OL played poorly. So we're suddenly poorly-coached, ill-prepared, undisciplined, flat, arrogant, etc. That's totally over the top.

Most posters here projected a 7-5 or 8-4 record based on our pre-season schedule. Now we're 7-2, with a realistic chance to finish 10-3 or 11-2. I'm damned proud of this team, and have enjoyed this season tremendously.

If you're running a marathon, would you rather fail because the course was just too tough that day or because you were hungover from partying the night before?

If my future is dependent on what people think of my talent, I'd take the latter every time. It's a lot easier to whip talent into shape than it is to overcome an gap in athleticism.

 

[BobbyMac]

Are you confident we're going in the right direction though? I know the blame for 2013 often gets laid exclusively on Tommy's shoulders, but I feel like we've gone backwards from 2012. I don't think this team beats 2012 Stanford, 2012 Oklahoma, or 2012 Michigan State. Our performance against Arizona State was ten times worse than what Alabama did to us in the championship game. We didn't just shoot ourselves in the foot against ASU. We shot ourselves in the foot and didn't seem to notice so we did it five more times for good measure.

DEFINITELY going in the right direction. It doesn't matter to me who this team can beat because this team next year is a completely different team just by being a year older and the rest of the country's teams having lost valuable seniors or juniors to the NFL. Wiz, I usually agree with most of what you write but look at the box score and look where the TO's were and you see that the ASU and Bama games were two completely different games. What ASU did and how that game turned out will be a blessing to next year's team. Often times you have to have something on tape that hurts to learn from it. That tape will be watched over and over again.

How do you figure? 'Bama comprehensively dismantled what had previously been a historically good defense. Conversely, ND beat themselves in Tempe last Saturday. I haven't seen anyone argue that we clearly didn't belong on the same field as our opponent this time around. That loss was no where near as damaging.

Exactly Whiskey. As this team matures, they will stop shooting themselves in the foot as Wizard pointed out. It comes with experience. That goes for the the staff and the players as they each learn from the situations they put the other in.

 

[BobbyMac]

That's exactly my point. I'd much rather lose to a team that's just plain bigger, faster, and stronger than we are. I can live with that. The way we beat ourselves on Saturday was some combination of poor coaching, execution, preparation, discipline, passion, pride, and integrity.

If you're running a marathon, would you rather fail because the course was just too tough that day or because you were hungover from partying the night before?

Id much rather lose a game that I know I could have won unless it's the last I ever play. This team will be the same team as next, they get a chance to correct their mistakes.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I'm gobsmacked by the complete change in tone among our fan base following that loss. You'd think we were pre-season favorites to make the playoff, instead of a team that was only in the conversation this late in the season due to some serious overachieving along the way. We're still playing with house money at this point; finishing 10-3 or 11-2 will set us up very nicely for 2015.

 

[wizards8507]

DEFINITELY going in the right direction. It doesn't matter to me who this team can beat because this team next year is a completely different team just by being a year older and the rest of the country's teams having lost valuable seniors or juniors to the NFL. Wiz, I usually agree with most of what you write but look at the box score and look where the TO's were and you see that the ASU and Bama games were two completely different games. What ASU did and how that game turned out will be a blessing to next year's team. Often times you have to have something on tape that hurts to learn from it. That tape will be watched over and over again.

I guess I'm in the minority and that's okay. I just can't process "we committed a big pile of terrible turnovers" as a good thing, because, well "at least they didn't beat us physically."

Exactly Whiskey. As this team matures, they will stop shooting themselves in the foot as Wizard pointed out. It comes with experience. That goes for the the staff and the players as they each learn from the situations they put the other in.

Why should we assume that to be true? I'd argue we have more self-inflicted wounds this year than we did in 2012. We have the athletes now to overcome many of those mistakes, but we're shooting ourselves in the foot with greater frequency as we "mature." Arizona State feels like the first time we've seen it but they're just the first team with the talent to take advantage of our mistakes. We were also a mess against Syracuse, Purdue, Stanford, North Carolina, and Navy. We were fortunate that those teams happen to suck so we still managed to win fairly comfortably.

I'm gobsmacked by the complete change in tone among our fan base following that loss.

I'm a Debbie Downer after our victories, too. ;-)

 

[IrishinTN]

Honestly I am a little concerned with stopping Louisville and USC now, especially with Louisville having Parker back. Hopefully they are ready for it and can finish no worse than 9-3 leading up to the bowl.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I'm gobsmacked by the complete change in tone among our fan base following that loss. You'd think we were pre-season favorites to make the playoff, instead of a team that was only in the conversation this late in the season due to some serious overachieving along the way. We're still playing with house money at this point; finishing 10-3 or 11-2 will set us up very nicely for 2015.

I think it's more how ND lost to FSU and ASU that has people up in arms. You're right, this team has overachieved based on everyone's preseason predictions. But the schedule turned out to be not nearly as difficult and ND lost to arguably the two best teams on it...in gut-wrenching fashion. Normally you'd view that as a positive, but I think people are over moral victories.

I'm not trying to take away from what this team has (and will continue to) accomplish. Winning 10+ games a year should please any fan. I think people got pleasantly surprised by how good this team can be and were hoping for another magical season. Now that the playoff chances are all but gone, I think people are just disappointed.

 

[kmoose]

I'm gobsmacked by the complete change in tone among our fan base following that loss.

What are you new here?

 

[koonja]

I'm gobsmacked by the complete change in tone among our fan base following that loss. You'd think we were pre-season favorites to make the playoff, instead of a team that was only in the conversation this late in the season due to some serious overachieving along the way. We're still playing with house money at this point; finishing 10-3 or 11-2 will set us up very nicely for 2015.

Our schedule looked a lot tougher pre-season when those predictions were made, though. USC, Stanford were top 15 teams, and Michigan was not a laughing stock.

And this is ND. We have our QB, our HC has his players, it's time to live up to the hype IMO. 9-3 years do not satisfy me.

 

[ACamp1900]

fireBrianKelly.com • View forum - Notre Dame Football Discussion