Georgia Tech Game Thread [Sat. Sept. 1st, '07]

[bliv711]

trying to stay calm here and not trying to be a downer but with the schedule coming up and by the looks of today who can we beat? MSU? maybe? Lookin like 1-7 is a real possibility. Not trying to troll or seem like im giving up cause i'll always be Irish but just from some of the fundamentals missing in that game its lookin like a long year ahead of us.

Also i hope this doesnt sour soem recruits on ND

I couldn't have said it better...didn't want to say it because of the trolling thing, but I agree, 1-7 is a real possibility. Don't think it will happen.

 

[LuckoftheIrish86]

on the plus side though i really thought Armando Allen and Anthony Vernaglia had a great game

 

[Golden_Domer88]

Why would it sour the recruits? Hell if I was ethan Johnson and all the lineman we have coming in next year, I would be happy to come in and take over as a freshman and it will happen.

Also, if were are going to play 3-4 defense, then we need to blitz more. Plain and simple

 

[jakerbluegold]

AZirish
Like ur optimism, we need that, to everybody else freaking out, calm down, this year is still salvagable if not ND has a very bright future in JC and our future recruiting class. ND is the program that actually opens the season with a good team, no hiding behind a weak opener, yes it exposed them, but wtf, build on it and shoot for the national championship

 

[GoshenGipper]

I couldn't have said it better...didn't want to say it because of the trolling thing, but I agree, 1-7 is a real possibility. Don't think it will happen.

I'm telling you guys it's not really as bad as it seems, ND should be able to beat teams like Purdue, Michigan St., BC, and then maybe knock off one or two more other the other big teams in the first 2/3 of the schedule. ND dug too big of a hole for it's self by their offensive play in the 1st half. If guys like Clausen, and Allen can get some more PT, and the OL can find a way to gel, which should happen the more game experience they get, then ND will get it's fair share of wins this year.

 

[TheMightyQuinn10]

Jimmy looked pretty good today.

 

[Newc]

You guys have to keep in mind that the defense we faced today is considered one of the best in the country and is extremely aggressive. Pair that with new Qbs who have very little to no expierence playing college level ball and it makes sense to see a lopsidded outcome.

DD did not look comfortable at all...at any point in the game and to be honest I am not sure that he fits into a Weis offense. Sharpley looked alright though I don't think many people would consider him a great QB to begin with, so I really don't think he played all that poorly. Clausen really impressed me. Sure he was playing against their second team, but he seemed comfortable dropping back and really got rid of the ball quickly and put it in the right spots. Overall, I don't think any of us should be worried about the QB position...Clausen will work his way in and prove to be a force.

The O-line was scary. Way too many guys came through untouched, and we really miss Darius in the backfield picking up those blitzes...Aldridge wiffed big time on one to allow Jimmy to get taken down. 8 (i think it was) sacks are WAY WAY too many, thats rediculous.

This is a young ND team, one its way to greatness in a big transition period (Willingham recruits to Weis recruits) and will produce a Championship in the future. Weis will get this to work this year and we will come out with 6 wins at a minimum. Have faith boys...we still have the luck of the Irish on our side.

 

[KamaraPolice]

Ah, from 11-2 to 5-7 in a matter of hours. I'm not too concerned, bad game, thats all. The line will pick it up and the Big 10 is in for a Big Hurting.

 

[absoluteirish59]

We are'nt USC fellaz, at least not yet. We are gonna pay this year for Ty's poor recruiting. Maybe next year too. Let's call a duck a duck here. We stink! We need these guys to take their lumps this year and get some experience. 2 or 3 years from now, if charlie and Co. continue to recruit well, we will be a legitimate title contender. Until then, it's going to be rough at times. basically today, we had 6 out of 22 players who started last year, and most of the 16 "new" guys were seeing their first significant college action. I'm not a man with a lot of patience, but i've got no choice this year. we may win 4 or 5 games. I'll be seeing my first game at ND stadium Nov. 3 against Navy. I hope these young guys are a bit better by then.

 

[NDgettysburg]

I don't see how you can say that I thought the coverage was pretty good certainly above adverage. There's no need to be so negative before you even have a chance to really see them in action.

I just watched them "in action"...I saw some decent coverage, but even on those plays the ball was either dropped or poorly thrown. No balls were batted down by our guys. Plenty of guys were wide open but we didn't get burned because of crappy passes. You're not gonna get away with that against any team with a good passing game (which GT does not have...they might be "ok" at best). I'd go back and watch the game again to note specific plays but I killed the tivo in the 4th Q out of disgust.

Everybody just needs to calm down, this was one game (The seaon opener mind you) against a good team with a very good defense in a rebuilding year.

I don't disagree....but I'm not blind and I'm not going to pretend the immediate future is rosy.

After today I expect an 0-3. That's not alot of fun to say or feel. I had zero illusions that we had any chance at a NC or BCS bowl and that's fine....rebuilding doesn't bother me but for God's sake be competitive. GT's offense isn't really that good....look at all the points they dropped! They had 4 opportunities in the first half that were more GOLDEN than the dome and came away with only 9 lousy points. Against a good offense we'd have gotten blown out by over 50 or maybe 60 points. There is no joy in admitting this but I'm not gonna fool myself.

This better be one hell of a week of practice or we're looking at another shellacking in Happy Valley....and you don't know how much I don't want to see that, living in PSU country.

 

[GoIrish41]

Once again, I agree with Junkhead, Clausen should start from here on out, do a BQ and get him the snaps early, considering we can no longer red-shirt him, if we would have done that with Quinn he might still be our QB

Absolutely. The freshmen and sophs we recruited the last couple of years couldn't have gotten any more embarassed than the older guys did today. Might as well start getting some of these studs ND has been recruiting some meaningful reps.

Claussen should be slinging the ball to Duval and IMO, Parris looked better than any of the other receivers.

Aldridge and Allen ran the ball far better than Thomas, who has clearly spent way too much time watching Walker run because he looked every bit as hesitant at the line.

Even on D, I'd have liked to see more of guys like Neal, Ian Williams, H Smith a lot more.

Judging from today's game, we are not going to be in BCS contention this year, but with some experienced players next year, we could then.

 

[KamaraPolice]

You still work clausen in slowly. I say start sharpley next week. That line needs to get better before we throw our future out to the dogs.

 

[bliv711]

Jimmy looked pretty good today.

I do agree with you about Jimmy. He looked good. Granted, as has been mentioned, he was up against the second team and he generally wasn't feeling the same pressure. But what looked good was that his passes were right on target. He threaded the needle on a couple of them. I also agree Armando looked good. The long term goal is obviously still intact...and I think we'll get there. It's just going to take another couple of painful seasons.

 

[Senoj13]

I agree on the comment about Thomas. He looked like he was scared to death to run with the ball.

 

[NDgettysburg]

I'll be seeing my first game at ND stadium Nov. 3 against Navy.

Good deal...you may get to see some history. If this team doesn't improve (don't know how they couldn't), the streak may be over. Navy always plays tough....sometimes only for a half, sometimes right down to the wire.

 

[jboxer562]

Notre dame this year sucks... although the defense is looking a tad better

the turning point of the game was the personal foul call

 

[jakerbluegold]

We definetly need some points on defense, and TT needs to take a seat, because he did absolutely jackl today, very dissapointed in him, if my opinion means jack, which it does'nt

 

[KamaraPolice]

Where was James Aldridge? I thought he looked great, maybe he needs to start?

 

[NDgettysburg]

Aldridge and Allen ran the ball far better than Thomas, who has clearly spent way too much time watching Walker run because he looked every bit as hesitant at the line.

Thomas also had guys in the backfield practically the moment he got the ball...first game back from the D side of the ball. Hopefully he just needs some real game reps to get back into the groove. If he's still not running well by Michigan or MSU....well, maybe he'd be more useful back on the D side (or on special teams). Don't think he'd be happy with either though. Always figured he came back for another year mainly because he figured he could get back at RB with Walker leaving early.

 

[Golden_Domer88]

Guess what though? Aldridge and Allen are better RB's than Thomas. He is too slow and thinks way to much.

I hope to see Clausen or Sharpley Starting against PSU. With Kamara,Parris(sp?),and Hord at WR.

 

[wallym]

I agree on "I can take rebuilding, but be competitive". We looked aweful today...probably the worst I've seen in in the Weis era...mostly on offense. Every time we run, seemed liked we lost yards. Fumbles were ridiculous. The defense bent, but they were put in tough positions the entire first half. Run defense was very weak...Kunz looked overpowered, our linebackers/ends (either 3-4 or 4-3) got blown off the line, and the corners and safeties didn't attack the line of scrimage. Vernaglia had a few good plays, but still sucks for the majority of the game. WE have no idea how to pick up a blitz, and that is squarely on Weis and Latina

 

[irishranger]

Everyone calm down, we knew there would be issues this year. As a matter of fact i remember alot of you being excited that CW went to WV and was going to use DD in the spread option! Well y'all got what you wanted, and it didn't work, so now we go back to the drawing board. There were alot of good things I saw in this game and I am telling you if you are patient you will see GREAT teams in the future. But they dont magically appear with freshmen and sophmores with little to no playing time. So chill out!!!

 

[IrishFan4Life]

wow they were pathetic but charlie has alot of shit to do...

 

[jakerbluegold]

Gettysburg
Good point, I just don't think that TT has ever really had IT, AA does, and did anyone hear him compared to Bush in the first half? It's only a matter of time

 

[GoshenGipper]

Gettysburg
Good point, I just don't think that TT has ever really had IT, AA does, and did anyone hear him compared to Bush in the first half? It's only a matter of time

I don't think he's as allusive as Bush, but he is just as fast.

 

[GoIrish41]

Thomas also had guys in the backfield practically the moment he got the ball...first game back from the D side of the ball. Hopefully he just needs some real game reps to get back into the groove.

Come on Gettysburg, he's nowhere near the back that Aldridge and Allen are. That was clear to anyone who watched the game today.

The last time Armando played football, it was against HS guys in Florida, and he looked pretty good on the few touches he had.

Aldridge was hurt last year, and he ran without hesitation and with rage.

I'd start Claussen, Aldridge (with Allen mixed in) and Kamara on offense. They can't do any worse than DD, Thomas and Grimes did today.

 

[NDgettysburg]

As a matter of fact i remember alot of you being excited that CW went to WV and was going to use DD in the spread option!

Who is this DD you speak of?

 

[wallym]

Irishranger - can you point out 5 things in the game that were "good things"? Punts don't count, Clauson vs. 2nd/3rd team doesn't count.

 

[NDgettysburg]

Come on Gettysburg, he's nowhere near the back that Aldridge and Allen are. That was clear to anyone who watched the game today.

I didn't exactly say he was, but from what I remember he barely took 2 steps after getting the ball before being met by a GT player.....meaning the o-line blocked for shit. As far as Aldridge goes, you're gonna see him cough up a ball at a critical point...he loves that spin move crap and it's gonna cost us one of these times. Mark my words.

 

[GoIrish41]

Irishranger - can you point out 5 things in the game that were "good things"? Punts don't count, Clauson vs. 2nd/3rd team doesn't count.

Actually, Price didn't punt very well either, so go ahead and count the punting.