Who else loved the commitment to smash-mouth football?

[kmoose]

With all do respect, Zaire played yesterday as a First time starter, rotating out with Golson, and as a Freshman against a pretty good/favored LSU... your video is Rice as a (correction) Junior....

Diz

My point was that Tony Rice had speed, and was a polished runner. But, mostly......... he had speed. I liked what I saw out of Zaire yesterday, running the ball. But he is NOT Tony Rice speedy by any stretch of the imagination. And that has nothing to do with what class he is in.

 

[irish1958]

You don't need speed to run the read-option (but it helps). The purpose is to make the defensive backs and line backers watch the backfield. You see what happens when they do that: 89 yard run, 75 yard pass. If they ignore the backfield you kill them with 5-10 yard runs and endless first downs
The spread is half-assed without the run threat and not too difficult to defend as we found out in the last several games of the regular season.
Holtz tried the spread after Rice graduated, but gave it up because he had no run threat and it flopped.

 

[Dizzyphil]

My point was that Tony Rice had speed, and was a polished runner. But, mostly......... he had speed. I liked what I saw out of Zaire yesterday, running the ball. But he is NOT Tony Rice speedy by any stretch of the imagination. And that has nothing to do with what class he is in.

I understand your point. My point is that with game reps, Zaire will become better. A 55 yard run is a 55 yard run, I really don't care how fast he runs it; just that he gets the yardage. His game smarts and running strength...smashmouth is what I see in Zaire - these qualities Rice had as well. That's were I was going with my analysis.

Diz

 

[kmoose]

I understand your point. My point is that with game reps, Zaire will become better. A 55 yard run is a 55 yard run, I really don't care how fast he runs it; just that he gets the yardage. His game smarts and running strength...smashmouth is what I see in Zaire - these qualities Rice had as well. That's were I was going with my analysis.

Diz

I don't think Rice was particularly smart. I'm not saying that he was dumb. I mean, he did graduate from ND in 3 years... But you don't have to be particularly smart to run the triple option. In fact, it is a pretty simple "read and react" system. The most important thing for a QB, is to make a quick decision of whether or not to hand off to the fullback. Then, the QB has to get to the edge of the defense quickly, to put pressure on the outside contain man. Other than that, it is pretty much being able to make a pitch and being a good runner. Holtz only had about 3 pass plays in his entire book, and they were roughly the same plays we ran in 5th grade midget football. I think the comparison to Roethlisberger, in terms of running style and ability, is a fair one. And that's pretty damn favorable. I do, however, hate his current mechanics. Was I the only one that noticed that it looked like he was throwing a shotput, on his short passes? I mean, if he keeps completing them, then that's fine. But I would like to see more polish on his motion.

 

[pkt77242]

I don't think Rice was particularly smart. I'm not saying that he was dumb. I mean, he did graduate from ND in 3 years... But you don't have to be particularly smart to run the triple option. In fact, it is a pretty simple "read and react" system. The most important thing for a QB, is to make a quick decision of whether or not to hand off to the fullback. Then, the QB has to get to the edge of the defense quickly, to put pressure on the outside contain man. Other than that, it is pretty much being able to make a pitch and being a good runner. Holtz only had about 3 pass plays in his entire book, and they were roughly the same plays we ran in 5th grade midget football. I think the comparison to Roethlisberger, in terms of running style and ability, is a fair one. And that's pretty damn favorable. I do, however, hate his current mechanics. Was I the only one that noticed that it looked like he was throwing a shotput, on his short passes? I mean, if he keeps completing them, then that's fine. But I would like to see more polish on his motion.

Please pass whatever you are smoking. Zaire is significantly faster then Roethlisberger. Not a good comparison at all.

 

[scUM Hater]

Please pass whatever you are smoking. Zaire is significantly faster then Roethlisberger. Not a good comparison at all.

Roethlisberger is pretty "quick" in the bathroom according to women.

 

[pkt77242]

Roethlisberger is pretty "quick" in the bathroom according to women.

Small and quick off the field, big and slow between the lines.

 

[kmoose]

Please pass whatever you are smoking. Zaire is significantly faster then Roethlisberger. Not a good comparison at all.

I'm not saying Roethlisberger NOW. At the beginning of the broadcast, the announcers noted that Zaire is listed at 215, but that Kelly had told them that he was pretty sure Zaire was closer to 230. Zaire is not fast. He isn't slow, but he is nowhere near as fast as guys like Mariota and Braxton Miller. Those guys are fast. Zaire is much more like Roethlisberger(in his early years in the NFL) than Aaron Rodgers.

 

[pkt77242]

I'm not saying Roethlisberger NOW. At the beginning of the broadcast, the announcers noted that Zaire is listed at 215, but that Kelly had told them that he was pretty sure Zaire was closer to 230. Zaire is not fast. He isn't slow, but he is nowhere near as fast as guys like Mariota and Braxton Miller. Those guys are fast. Zaire is much more like Roethlisberger(in his early years in the NFL) than Aaron Rodgers.

I would say that Zaire compares to Andrew Luck in college running wise as far as speed. (not passing wise as he is currently nowhere near that good).

 

[AgentJ]

If he commits to a power spread... similar to Tebow at Florida except with more focus on the running game. Essentially what they ran yesterday. More tight end and bigger formations. OL will be very deep and able to over power opponents. Give Folston and Bryant a work load off of those reads and find creative ways to run the read, not the same play over and over. Manage the game, manage the clock. Short conversions, consistency. Bend but don't break on defense, nothing too aggressive. Grab an extra possession or two per game. I have no doubt this strategy would outscore every opponent. We are plenty deep all around to always be fresh and overpower teams.

I truly believe ND is an elite program with this philosophy, but BK tries sometimes to be to spready and quick rather than convservative.

 

[Dizzyphil]

I don't think Rice was particularly smart. I'm not saying that he was dumb. I mean, he did graduate from ND in 3 years... But you don't have to be particularly smart to run the triple option. In fact, it is a pretty simple "read and react" system. The most important thing for a QB, is to make a quick decision of whether or not to hand off to the fullback. Then, the QB has to get to the edge of the defense quickly, to put pressure on the outside contain man. Other than that, it is pretty much being able to make a pitch and being a good runner. Holtz only had about 3 pass plays in his entire book, and they were roughly the same plays we ran in 5th grade midget football. I think the comparison to Roethlisberger, in terms of running style and ability, is a fair one. And that's pretty damn favorable. I do, however, hate his current mechanics. Was I the only one that noticed that it looked like he was throwing a shotput, on his short passes? I mean, if he keeps completing them, then that's fine. But I would like to see more polish on his motion.

You are right, he does have sort of a 'half-cocked, half-sidearm' type of throwing motion. But, he went 12/15 for 96 and a TD....he can throw it under-handed as long as he can keep running the read-option like he did yesterday and lead the Irish to victories!!!


Diz

 

[irish1958]

Rice may have had only three pass plays, but he once held the Notre Dame record for the most consecutive completions in a game.
Bryant reminds me of the Colt's Richardson. He either can't see the hole or he sees it too late after the defense plugs it. He looked much more dynamic in the USC game running the read-option with Zaire. I think his best use would be to do this, catch check-down passes out of the backfield and run the power sweeps. If he hasn't learned how to be a complete Kelly style RB by now he never will. Give up and use what strenght he has. He could be a game breaker.

 

[philipm31]

Love it. I wanted more balance all year long. Doesn't matter if you run it from the spread or smash mouth it. Just run the f'n football!

Honestly, there needed to be less balance and more emphasis on the run.

Before this game, ND had only 437pa vs 431 rushes for the year.

But it was textbook and allowed ND to stay largely in control of the game from the kickoff.

Loved every second of it.