Post Game Observations - Virginia '15

[Section20Row27]

Didn't want to post observations yesterday because this game took a lot out of me!

* I think ND was too confident and thought this game was a sure win. Owning the first quarter hurt them - lost intensity.
* Virginia did a better job of halftime adjustments
* BK's play calling is too scripted and predictable. 3rd/4th and short everyone knew what play Kelly was going to run... even my dog told me they were going to run on the right side. Time for BK to let Sanford call the plays.
* Malik was off on his throwing timing, and we started to become one dimensional.
* Virginia QB reminded me of Denard Robinson and Gardener - dude was weakly throwing to spots and getting miracle first downs.
* Dline created pressure, but not a lot negative plays.
* Blitzing was ineffective except for KR's sack.
* Shumate does not get enough credit - dude is real good against the run.
* I lost my chub when I saw the replay of MZ getting his ankle rolled. I blame Kelly for that injury...no need to run him inside the tackles when we have other weapons.
* I didn't believe DeShone could do it. I am a believer now.
* Every game can be like this one. Every team on ND's schedule circles their game against ND on the calendar. Difference between Texas and Virginia? We weren't at home, underestimated the opponent, and Virginia played with a ton of emotion - give them credit for a good game plan and execution.

 

[Irish2155]

My buddy thinks Kizer staring down receivers will be an issue (he stared down Fuller entire play before releasing), but in that particular situation, my takeaway was more of a combo of:

-Game on the line
-Time running out
-Corner jumping slants (as you said)
-Kizer thinking, "I'm throwing it deep and far to our best player so he can win us the game"

You're buddy and me too...doesn't all young QBs though? He'll learn, grow. A lot of play action I can see, CJ staying ahead of the chains.

 

[stlnd01]

You're buddy and me too...doesn't all young QBs though? He'll learn, grow. A lot of play action I can see, CJ staying ahead of the chains.

Right. We run and let Prosise and our O Line move the chains. Set up the play action and use that to stretch the field. Don't ask Kizer to do too much in the precision passing department. It'll be OK.

 

[Rocknes Ghost]

Sanders should return kicks with prosise (not Amir).

Joe Schmidt is really bad when he blitzes.

DK showed some guts and made a hell of a throw to fuller. I'm hopeful that this gives him some confidence and if somehow we can beat Ga Tech, I'll be feeling way better.

The team was about to put this game away when malik went down. We are up by 2 touchdowns the play after that. Deshone really couldn't do anything until that last drive which hurt the defense and I think the loss of malik was in their heads. The secondary has to play much better but kudos to the team for pulling it out.

Please, deshone...be really good at football.

 

[Irish_Passion]

We won the game it traditional ND fashion against a team who played really well.

- Virginia QB played the best he has ever played in his life. Their QB could identify our defensive scheme pre snap on a consistent basis which is concerning because something must have been seen on film in order to be that successful. Seriously, some of his reads looked like ducks but it didn't matter because he knew that the defender was playing catch up because of the scheme.

- The play calling past the 1Q was supremely frustrating. IDK if its because i have watched so much ND football, but I could virtually guarantee an 80-85% success rate on determining which play is being ran (run vs. pass) strictly based on formation and pre-snap motions. If I can pick this up, then there is a great chance coaches who get paid for a living can also do this. If we ran a tempo based offense, this wouldn't be an issue (i.e. Oregon) but we don't, so it doesn't make it too difficult to check into a proper defense. IMO This is the biggest reason that we don't get many homeruns from our running game because of the bend don't break mentality that a defensive coach can implement on the backend of the defense.

- Losing Malik hurts, and it hurts bad, but Kizer came in and got the job done. As frustrated as I was with he play calling when he came in the game, he did show a lot of poise on the game winning drive. Making that throw to Fuller was incredibly clutch. Look at Oregon last night against Mich St. Adams had Marshall way more open than Kizer did and threw a terrible pass when the game was on the line. Our depth at QB is scary as hell, but I am optimistic with what Kizer showed, so I am looking forward to seeing him grow.

- I think KVR is taking a beating from the fanbase right now, but I don't believe its 100% justified. He has definitely shown some questionable skill on some plays, but I do believe that its more of blown assignments rather than skill set. Being out of live action for a year will do that to you. He will be fine.

- I really like the leadership with Schmidt, but there is zero reason to have him blitz. I don't have a problem with Day dropping into a lane (JJ Watt doesn't rush every time either), but using somebody other than Schmidt on a blitz would be ideal.

- We won! 2-0! Good teams find ways to win when they shouldn't. Auburn in no way shape or form should have won their game, but better teams find ways to get it done. I don't think Virginia outplayed us like Jackson St out played Auburn though. At the end of the day, they figured out how to get it done!

- GT game will show a lot about this team and as long as we can get out of the game with zero Defensive injuries, then I still think there is a good chance to rally around this team. We will get better as the year progresses as long as we don't continue to lose starters every week.

- I will officially never look at another game day thread while the game is going on. Seriously WTF! I seriously wonder if some people on this site have any sense of reality. Take a breath and rally behind your team!

One game at a time! Beat GT

 

[GATTACA!]

Does anyone else feel way better the further removed we are from last night?

Yes. I was looking through Kizer's recruiting profile on ESPN and I realized he is no slouch. also Zaire may have been getting all the 1st team reps but it was only his 3rd start so he isn't that far ahead in terms of on the field experience.

 

[RDU Irish]

Much has been covered, one observation I have not seen:

Alize needs to learn some blocking, haven't seen him hat on hat at all. Looks lost out there.

 

[dang227]

I may have to refrain from watching some games live too... Yesterday gave me chest pains, for real,... My wife has said many times she worries about my health during ND games

We were at a home inspection for a new home we are buying and I was following the game on Twitter. My wife called my behavior "embarrassing" because of how angry I was getting.

 

[RDU Irish]

Also think I saw we are only team with two wins over power 5 conference foes to start the season. F the SEC in particular.

 

[RDU Irish]

I'll take Kizer and Wimbush in reserve over most of what we have had for the past 15 years.

Joe Montana was third string scout QB before the legend came to life.

 

[SoDakDomer]

What good is having superior athletes on defense, if a little pre-snap movement gets them all confused and out of alignment. Way to many missed assignments. Corners and max looked terrible. Schmit was non existent out there. I really felt like they were so confused on defense that it made them play very slow and tentative. Play calling was very frustrating. We have to be able to convert on 3rd and short. Further we get from the game the better i feel about the offense. We will be able to manufacture points in my opinion. We have enough weapons on that side of the ball. Bigger worry for me is the defense. We took a huge step backwards from the Texas game. Hopefully it was the road jitters, trap game, non focus of 20 year olds. We need to get it fixed. No real major insight here just needed to get that off my chest. Go Irish.

 

[GoIrish41]

We dropped our best pass rusher in to coverage and rushed Jaylon on the 3rd and long. I don't give a fuck about the scheme. It's bullshit. It ended up netting them a 1st down on a crucial 3rd and long and I didn't see one time it worked. I don't care how it's designed, or what it's supposed to do, if it doesn't work don't fucking do it. And it happened several times during the game. It's not like he busted it out once and it failed. It failed multiple times prior so he should've known it wasn't going to work.



Not enough. Not nearly enough.

I think Russell's forced fumble happened when Day dropped into coverage and there was a corner blitz dialed up. So it worked that time for a big stop and a turnover.

 

[yankeehater]

A lot of concerns at beginning of year came to the forefront:

Secondary is shaky

Limited pass rush

Injuries at the positions they lacked depth

And the announcers sucked! After Hunter's run they kept talking about the 3rd string former walk-on RB as getting the carry, kept saying Koon missed one kick last week, one today for three missed on the year. They definitely did not study up on ND before the game.

 

[Luckylucci]

What good is having superior athletes on defense, if a little pre-snap movement gets them all confused and out of alignment. Way to many missed assignments. Corners and max looked terrible. Schmit was non existent out there. I really felt like they were so confused on defense that it made them play very slow and tentative. Play calling was very frustrating. We have to be able to convert on 3rd and short. Further we get from the game the better i feel about the offense. We will be able to manufacture points in my opinion. We have enough weapons on that side of the ball. Bigger worry for me is the defense. We took a huge step backwards from the Texas game. Hopefully it was the road jitters, trap game, non focus of 20 year olds. We need to get it fixed. No real major insight here just needed to get that off my chest. Go Irish.

Watching max go for the shoulder hit on the TE down the sideline and miss on that big play was miserable. Just tackle somebody, seriously, it's been game over game where he misses easy targets.

 

[Luckylucci]

I think Russell's forced fumble happened when Day dropped into coverage and there was a corner blitz dialed up. So it worked that time for a big stop and a turnover.

So because it worked once constitutes success, really? Can't say I agree with that.

 

[GoIrish41]

So because it worked once constitutes success, really? Can't say I agree with that.

Responding to posts that suggested it NEVER worked.

 

[Hammer Of The Gods]

Does anyone else feel way better the further removed we are from last night?

I surprisingly do. I was pretty well on suicide watch last night but the more I think about it. I like Kizer. Just a couple of thoughts though...

1. He did appear in the small sample that we have to have Tommy Reese syndrome and like to pick his receiver and stare them down and come hell or high water that particular receiver is getting the ball or at least his area is getting the ball

2. BK has to Taylor the offense around and make it more pro style. I can already tell that Kizer needs help in regards to short options ( tight end) and screen passes

3. CAN WE PLEASE USE A MOTHER F'ING FULL BACK AT A MINIMUM ON SHORT
YARDAGE!!!!!

4. BVG WTF? I'm totally 100% over him. But he better figure something out because GT is going to finger blast us if he doesn't.

 

[pkt77242]

Does anyone else feel way better the further removed we are from last night?

I feel the same that I did last night. We should win 9 or 10 games.

 

[Luckylucci]

Also, the sky-is-falling crowd should check out the Texas-Rice box score. I know it's Rice, but Texas isn't THAT bad.

FWIW, I was trying to temper expectations a month, in which case it was passed off as crazy. However, are you really going to use this as your bar for success. Sounds similar to your justification for FG's yesterday, how'd that work out?

This team should be better than Rice, Texas, UCLA, UVA and all the other teams that keep coming up in these crazy examples keep making.

 

[Buster Bluth]

This team should be better than Rice, Texas, UCLA, UVA and all the other teams that keep coming up in these crazy examples keep making.

Who says it isn't?

 

[Buster Bluth]

I feel the same that I did last night. We should win 9 or 10 games.

vs Texas
at Virginia
vs Georgia Tech
vs UMASS
at Clemson
vs Navy
vs Southern Cal
at Temple
at Pittsburgh
vs Wake Forest
vs Boston College
at Stanford

I don't think there is any reason to drop those games. So I see nine wins on that alone. If they can steal a victory from one of the three ranked teams in the next five games, I'll be content.

 

[Bluto]

So here's a question. When Joe Schmidt leaves the program who is going to "call the defense" next year.

 

[irishff1014]

vs Texas
at Virginia
vs Georgia Tech
vs UMASS
at Clemson
vs Navy
vs Southern Cal
at Temple
at Pittsburgh
vs Wake Forest
vs Boston College
at Stanford

I don't think there is any reason to drop those games. So I see nine wins on that alone. If they can steal a victory from one of the three ranked teams in the next five games, I'll be content.

This is what I have BB. But I also have think Pitt will be close we always struggle against them for some reason.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Finally watched the second half "in peace". So, one comment on the DLine:

We pushed their OLine all night, had penetration all night, but with the exception of Sheldon do not have a finisher. That is why, I'll bet, that two things happen: 1). The opponents decide that if they haven't already been doing it, they double team Sheldon every play, and often try to cut him; and 2). BVG knows that no one on the DLine is going to get all the way home, so he has to either blitz or sometimes go three man rush, drop eight.

Because of #1, Sheldon gets tired. Despite being a warrior, even he cannot be 100% Sheldon every play, particularly in the latter stages of halves, especially the second half. One way to give him a sort-of breather yet still utilize his threat is to have him line up normally, scaring the opponent blocking towards his side, then dropping him off and blitzing from the other --- a la the "Russell" sack. I also saw another time when Sheldon was right in the line of pass from the QB and his TE [I think it was] and so the QB had to try elsewhere.

People bitching about our dropping out our best DLineman are off-base, when that guy [who is the best DLineman at the start of the game] is no longer "at the start of the game" and has been carrying two of the opponents' OLine for three quarters. I'll bet Sheldon would have something to say about the strategy that gives him a momentary blow while still exercising his threat in the opponent mind. ... and it wouldn't be criticizing the coach.


And one shorter comment about Kizer: maybe he's a fooler with an unreadable face, but he looked stone-cold cool to me through the whole post-Malik period. Surprising, and heartening.

 

[ickythump1225]

I hope with Kizer in Kelly "simplifies" the playbook because we always seem to play better with a simple playbook. It begs the question as to why we complicate it in the first place.

 

[Buster Bluth]

I hope with Kizer in Kelly "simplifies" the playbook because we always seem to play better with a simple playbook. It begs the question as to why we complicate it in the first place.

I really don't think you have the knowledge of how simple they call a given game and are making that up in your head to justify a criticism of Kelly.

 

[ickythump1225]

I really don't think you have the knowledge of how simple they call a given game and are making that up in your head to justify a criticism of Kelly.

Well either the play calling is complex or we just recruit idiots to play QB, because damn near every QB we've had has looked lost by the play call more than a few times. How many delay of game penalties or wasted time outs have we gone through with Golson/Rees/Zaire/etc. having a deer in the headlights look? Happened three times with Zaire yesterday (2 burned time outs and a delay of game). The one year I can remember off the top of my head that we didn't burn a lot of time outs was 2012 when we ran a dumbed down I formation offense.

Kelly himself admitted that they simplified the offense when Kizer came in. That means that at some point it was complicated for Zaire.

 

[kmoose]

Well either the play calling is complex or we just recruit idiots to play QB, because damn near every QB we've had has looked lost by the play call more than a few times. How many delay of game penalties or wasted time outs have we gone through with Golson/Rees/Zaire/etc. having a deer in the headlights look? Happened three times with Zaire yesterday (2 burned time outs and a delay of game). The one year I can remember off the top of my head that we didn't burn a lot of time outs was 2012 when we ran a dumbed down I formation offense.

Kelly himself admitted that they simplified the offense when Kizer came in. That means that at some point it was complicated for Zaire.

"Simplified" doesn't necessarily mean less complex, or less for the QB to absorb. It might mean fewer formations, or more Center controlled snaps....

Or it could mean more basic plays with less options/reads. We just don't know

 

[irishandy]

Here are my post game observations:
1) Thoughts & prayers to Malik.
2) BVG can go, besides Jaylon Smith, our defense sucked.
3) 0-10 on 3rd down conversions is unacceptable.
4) TE U??
5) CJ Saunders is dangerous in the open field, why is he only doing punt returns?
6) Corey Robinson??
7) UVA played a heck of a game.
8) Fuller and Prosise played lights out.
9) I got the feeling that the team wasn't fully prepared for UVA or took this game for granted.
10) Get Wimbush ready and burn a red shirt if needed. I am not saying that I don't believe in Kizer, but Wimbush needs to be ready if called on.

Lastly this team is a close group of "brothers" as they say in articles. Did anyone see KeiVarae Russell pumping up Yoon on the sideline. Kizer was also pumping up his O-line before the last possession. Per SB Tribune Jaylon telling Kizer how he believes in him. This team is not only playing for the University or the fans, they are playing for each other. I like this team's attitude and while Malik going down hurts there is a lot of season left. If Ohio St. can do it last year why can't ND do it this year?

 

[NDALA]

Here are my post game observations:
1) Thoughts & prayers to Malik.
2) BVG can go, besides Jaylon Smith, our defense sucked.
3) 0-10 on 3rd down conversions is unacceptable.
4) TE U??
5) CJ Saunders is dangerous in the open field, why is he only doing punt returns?
6) Corey Robinson??
7) UVA played a heck of a game.
8) Fuller and Prosise played lights out.
9) I got the feeling that the team wasn't fully prepared for UVA or took this game for granted.
10) Get Wimbush ready and burn a red shirt if needed. I am not saying that I don't believe in Kizer, but Wimbush needs to be ready if called on.

Lastly this team is a close group of "brothers" as they say in articles. Did anyone see KeiVarae Russell pumping up Yoon on the sideline. Kizer was also pumping up his O-line before the last possession. Per SB Tribune Jaylon telling Kizer how he believes in him. This team is not only playing for the University or the fans, they are playing for each other. I like this team's attitude and while Malik going down hurts there is a lot of season left. If Ohio St. can do it last year why can't ND do it this year?

When i saw that i kept thinking kickers are head cases and him doing that is probably gonna screw him up. Glad we didn't have to find out.