My thought on the PSU game.

[Golden_Domer88]

QB: Clausen played like I thought he would play. He played very well but was limited due to play calling and Oline disasters. Ive never seen a true freshman QB come out with that much poise and pocket pressence as JC did. Hes very smart and makes quick decisions. He had some faults but that was just hanging onto the ball to long and the delay of game penalties. Give him a online or at least a DECENT oline and he will really shine.

RBs: Well what can they do without a good Oline? NOTHING and thats what they did. We need to keep AA and JA out there. TT isnt doing it for me this year at all. They are good RB's but there were some holes to hit, but some of them never hit them.

WRs: They played OK. They need to get more seperation from the secondary. Granted we played another good defense AGAIN, they could at least get some space so JC can throw it. We need to play the freshman a lot more. Tate had a nice catch on a deep post. Kamara droped two balls in the endzone that should have been caught but he needs to be in there with Grimes and Parris.

Oline: Well um we all know about them. Move Young to LT and bring the younger guys in. It CANNOT be any worse. Bench Duncan and Tourchovich(sp). We need to figure this out fast or ND fans will get on edge with Weis.

Defense: I thought they played Great. The D line impressed me the most. Walls had a great INT for a TD. They played way to good to have that many points put on them. But I guess when your offense cant get anything going, you get tired really fast.

 

[johnnd05]

Nice post. Here's my attempt to sum things up.

Things we thought we knew that now we know for sure:

• Jimmy Clausen is the real deal: Man, can this kid throw the ball, and man, does he have a head on his shoulders. When he was either given time in the pocket or asked to bootleg right, he looked positively brilliant out there, and much, much, MUCH better than Brady Quinn looked as a freshman. Simply watching JC grow will make the rest of the season enjoyable even if we DO go 3-9 (which we won't).
• Trevor Laws is an effing beast: With the heart of a lion, mind you. How many passes has this guy batted down now, to go with the blocked field goal from last week? He gets really solid pressure on the QB, makes some nice plays in the backfield, and just seems to be all over the place at once. Now if only we had time to give him a breather ... see below.
• Our offensive line is bad: Really bad. Maybe LMI is right: last year we were bad because of a lack of depth, and this year it's because we're young. So yeah, I'll give it another week or two before throwing my weight behind firelatina.com. But I have to say that I'm really worried about this situation: especially with a freshman QB (no matter how good), the sacks, pressure, and lack of a running game are going to hamstring the offense all year long.
• Tom Zbikowski is make-or-break, all day long: I remember him making one really nice play to stop the run, and that punt return for a near-TD was a thing of beauty. But he got faked out of his pants on PSU's big return (granted, it was in the open field so it's hard to hold that against him too much), and we seemed to give up LOTS of critical big plays on offense once again. Tommy, you're the safety, which means those things are your job!
• Our lack of depth along the defensive line KILLS us as the game goes on: I guess this will get better once Hand returns from his suspension, but the way GT and PSU ran on us in the second half and especially the fourth quarter after being (relatively) bottled up in the first halves of those games was simply painful. The inability to get enough fresh bodies in there is a major, MAJOR problem.
• This is going to be a YOUNG offense: By my count, SIX of our offensive starters this week - Clausen, Allen, Schwapp, West, Wenger, and Young - were true freshmen or sophomores. Throw in Parris and Kamara as our apparent #3 and #4 receivers, Aldridge high on the depth chart as well (though did he really only get ONE carry yesterday?!), two sophomore tight-ends, a sophomore as our backup fullback, and the possibility that we could see some freshman and sophomore o-linemen getting some more p/t if Duncan and Turkovich don't improve, and there is a LOT of youth out there. So let's be patient with them.

Things we thought we knew that maybe we don't know after all:

• Armando Allen is the answer: I'm not saying he won't be really good down the line - he probably will. And I'm not saying a big part of the blame here doesn't go to the o-line - of course it does. So maybe AA WILL be the answer once those things get straightened out, but right now he's clearly not: he's just a freshman, and even Reggie Bush wouldn't have had the tools to get this running game going. We've got to be patient with him, of course, and keep giving him the ball - but if your question is "How do we get this offense going?", the answer starts with an "O" and ends with "Line".
• D.J. Hord exists: Did anybody see him out there yesterday? The box score shows that he "participated", but I don't ever remember seeing him on the field. Maybe he's invisible or something ...
• James Aldridge is our #1a running back: The box score shows him having gotten one carry, for zero yards, and this after Weis said in his press conference this week that Aldridge and Thomas were basically 1 and 1a (or the reverse). Funny. Maybe it's just 'cause we didn't end up running much at all (only 16 carries by players not named Clausen)?

Things we're PRETTY sure we know at this point:

• Our defense is GOOD: Yes, there were some missed tackles, and yes, we still have something of a penchant for giving up big plays, and yes, the aforementioned d-line difficulties are serious. But this defense is clearly much-improved from last year, and they looked considerably better this week than last. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do as the season goes on; if they continue to gel and improve, we'll put a fright into some people.
• We've got a whole bunch of really talented wide receivers: I know there were some frustrating drops yesterday, but Grimes, West, Parris, Kamara, and - if he exists - Hord make up a pretty exciting bunch. I was skeptical that Kamara would be ready to play as a freshman, but boy was I wrong. As JC matures and if - IF, IF, IF! - our o-line can learn to protect him and help us get a bit of a running game going, these guys will be dangerous. Mark my words, DANGEROUS.
• Travis Thomas is a bust: It's hard to see why we got so excited about having him in the backfield this year given how disappointing he was in his first four years. I know that he won over our hearts with his attitude last year and his willingness to do whatever was asked, but let me ask this of him now: just sit on the bench, Travis. You're a terrific special teams player, and we love having you out there then. But you're not a running back - it's the kids' turn now.
• Our place-kicking is MUCH improved this year: I know Whitaker missed that 50-yarder, but it was a solid kick and didn't go wide by much. And Walker's now 3/3 from in close. This was something that KILLED us last year. It's nice not to have to go for it on fourth down all the time.

 

[Mare426]

I thought Jimmy Clausen played okay being that it was his first start and I think the media treated him well. The defense was great. Other than that I don't think it was very much fun to watch.

 

[stonebreakerwasgod]

My thoughts on the game.....

Too many mistakes
too many penalties
O line didn't protect or run-block
D line got tired in the second half
dropped passes for td
CW shoulda gone for the td on 4th down
special teams let one go that cost our momentum

 

[johnnd05]

My thoughts on the game.....

Too many mistakes
too many penalties
O line didn't protect or run-block
D line got tired in the second half
dropped passes for td
CW shoulda gone for the td on 4th down
special teams let one go that cost our momentum

Sums it up perfectly, IMO ...

 

[sonomairishfan]

QB: Clausen played like I thought he would play. He played very well but was limited due to play calling and Oline disasters. Ive never seen a true freshman QB come out with that much poise and pocket pressence as JC did. Hes very smart and makes quick decisions. He had some faults but that was just hanging onto the ball to long and the delay of game penalties. Give him a online or at least a DECENT oline and he will really shine.

RBs: Well what can they do without a good Oline? NOTHING and thats what they did. We need to keep AA and JA out there. TT isnt doing it for me this year at all. They are good RB's but there were some holes to hit, but some of them never hit them.

WRs: They played OK. They need to get more seperation from the secondary. Granted we played another good defense AGAIN, they could at least get some space so JC can throw it. We need to play the freshman a lot more. Tate had a nice catch on a deep post. Kamara droped two balls in the endzone that should have been caught but he needs to be in there with Grimes and Parris.

Oline: Well um we all know about them. Move Young to LT and bring the younger guys in. It CANNOT be any worse. Bench Duncan and Tourchovich(sp). We need to figure this out fast or ND fans will get on edge with Weis.

Defense: I thought they played Great. The D line impressed me the most. Walls had a great INT for a TD. They played way to good to have that many points put on them. But I guess when your offense cant get anything going, you get tired really fast.

play calling was fine. can't call anything downfield with this o-line. qb played good considering what he faced.

the WR's and RB's can't do anything without production from the o-line. WR's will get seperation if they have more than 2 seconds to complete a route.

RB's are doing a good job with what they have. #5 is going to be a stud! not sure about JA, i don't see what impresses so many people. he doesn't stand out to me.

d-line is nasty. lb's are not physical enough for 3-4. db's look good this year and safeties decent. they need to quit biting on run as usual.

special teams make me puke. with exception to zibby of course.

 

[tgolden]

just a note: travis thomas was actually the leading rusher with 12 yards on 6 carries. allen had 11 yards on 8 carries. granted, allen had a lot of nice runs after catching passes, and i'm not saying he shouldn't still get a lot of touches, but i'm sensing a lot of hate for travis thomas right now (not necessarily here, but other places), and i think a lot of people are too quick to jump on him. that penalty didn't help anything of course, but some people (again, not really here) are just crucifying the guy, and I don't think he deserves that at all.

but i was pretty happy with the defense. they did a good job keeping the game close for a long time.

 

[jonesman]

Well I have gone back and watched the game for the second time and have to say that I did not get that totally sick feeling I had last week. We are showing great effort in most areas. Just one area makes me so sick I could hurl. Here is my grades and analysis. I will start with the ugly side of the ball.
OFFENSE:
OL: There performance is absolutely abysmal. The player that dissapoints me the most is Sam Young. He got beat repeatedly last night. Further, Duncan looks way overmatched. I did see a few nice blocks on running plays, but until we prove we can stop the blitz, expect 8 men in the box. I would bring the house on every single play. Grade F-
QB: JC handled things fairly well for a freshman. He made some good decisions and seemed to stay calm. Fortunately he stayed in one piece too. He does need to work on making some faster decisions. He had a few plays where he had plenty of time and still did not make the pass with open receivers. Grade: B-
RB: Hard to grade guys that had a seem the size of a side walk crack to run thru. AA looks good expect he gets a little out of control running at times. Aldridge did not get but one carry which I think is unfortunate. He broke some tackles last week. Thomas is just an average back with below average instincts. He has a huge heart, but not the talent. Grade C+
WR/TE: This group is just soo young. They made a few good catches, but are not getting separation. Further, they need to learn when to break off a route and come back to the ball. Grade C+

DEFENSE:
DL: This group is playing with huge passion and effort. They just get too damn tired because of the O leaving them out there all night. I expect them to crank up another notch when Hand comes back. He will bring size and anger to the line. If you look at the numbers, noone is running on us in the first 3 qtrs. Grade A-
LB: They are doing a solid just, but need to crank up just one more notch. The big issue here is lack of depth. Basically a 3 man depth chart with Mo, Joe and Toryan. Grade B-
OLB: There was improvement here from the first week. That is exactly what you want to see. The freshman made good contributions. Grade B-
DB: This group will be stellar by the end of the year. There is speed and aggressiveness. They still get beat once in a while, but progress is being made. PSU has some serious speed at WR and we stayed right with them on most plays. Grade B-
Overall, you can see how bare the talent is in the Junior and Senior classes. We will be youthfull all season long.

 

[Irish93]

These are all good points. One thing to add after seeing the game in person (and thus, the whole field). In the first half, PSU was stacking 9 guys at the line, and putting single coverage on the WRs. There was no safety support.

CW should have thrown some fade patterns while that advantage existed. That could've loosened up the defense while the game was in reach. Would the result have changed, probably not. But, it could have made it more interesting.

Couple other points --

1. Jimmy is the real deal...we should have fun over the next couple of years.
2. The D, while strong at times, does too much arm tackling because they are out of position too often.

 

[Timugen]

just a note: travis thomas was actually the leading rusher with 12 yards on 6 carries. allen had 11 yards on 8 carries. granted, allen had a lot of nice runs after catching passes, and i'm not saying he shouldn't still get a lot of touches, but i'm sensing a lot of hate for travis thomas right now (not necessarily here, but other places), and i think a lot of people are too quick to jump on him. that penalty didn't help anything of course, but some people (again, not really here) are just crucifying the guy, and I don't think he deserves that at all.

OK Travis.

 

[johnnd05]

just a note: travis thomas was actually the leading rusher with 12 yards on 6 carries. allen had 11 yards on 8 carries. granted, allen had a lot of nice runs after catching passes, and i'm not saying he shouldn't still get a lot of touches, but i'm sensing a lot of hate for travis thomas right now (not necessarily here, but other places), and i think a lot of people are too quick to jump on him. that penalty didn't help anything of course, but some people (again, not really here) are just crucifying the guy, and I don't think he deserves that at all.

Maybe you're right. I've been pretty hard on TT, but the primary blame definitely falls on the o-line at this point - like I think I said somewhere else, I doubt that even Reggie Bush could get it going behind these five.

 

[piyachi]

I'll throw my hat in the ring....

Offense:

QB - Clausen lives up to the advertisement. Great presence in the pocket and when he got flushed he handled it well (did he straight-arm a LB once or twice?) and made very solid decisions. The guy is just miles ahead of where I thought he would be in that game, and he made the most of what he had. Just everything a QB could be - and it was nice to see his family all decked out in green. Grade: A-
RB: Well for as excited as we all get about the great talent of the young guys I wish we would get to see something going in the running game. I won't say a bad word about Travis (something fishy went on with that penalty, because the PSU coaches were screaming at their guy at the end of it....) but he hasn't done much yet. I don't understand why Aldridge got one(?!) carry. Yes, Armando is the future. Once he has lanes, this guy will be devastating - I like how we use him like the Saints use (the cheater). Grade: B-
FB - Asaph deserves mention here because we finally got to see him KILL someone. The block he put on the PSU defender was one of that games highlights. Grade: B
WR: It was nice to see Golden in there and I think we need to work him in more. Has anyone seen Hord? I didn't. Parris is great, and yes looks like what I imagine Samardzija did as a younger player. Sticky hands, and I love seeing him out there. Kamara looks great physically but has to work on those hands. The whiff and then the stone-hands in the end zone were unfortunate. As a unit they were improved from last week and are pretty deep. Just need to have more time for JC to utilize them. Grade: C+
TE: I'm still waiting to see these guys get a lot of touches. Carlson may be getting a lot of attention from the D but it still feels like they are under-utilized for the insane skill we have at the position. Blocking seemed better. Grade: C
OL: I think the most disappointing thing to me is just the lack of quality play from the veterans. Duncan looked miserable, no kinder way to put it. I'd like to see Sam over at LT, but he wasn't stellar either. I mean even Sully didn't seem to do much. The pass blocking seemed much improved and they picked up blitzes better now that there wasn't Tenuta/Wheeler to deal with. Maybe part of that was JC's escapability. I agree that if there aren't major improvements by the end of the season Ianello might be looking for a job along side Lloyd. Grade: D-

Defense:

DL: It's already been summed up well - give those big bodies a break and they perform. Laws is a beast and should be drafted pretty high, hope the Ravens get him. Grade: A-
LB: The most notable thing here is that the OLBs made MAJOR strides from last week. Crum got better, just overall played pretty solid. Vernaglia really has come alive in the 34 D. Grade: B-
CB: Man I am enamored with Walls. Other than Laws I think he is our best player out there on the D side. We actually contained the best receiver threat we are going to see this year so I was pretty happy. Grade: A-
S: Zibby was better and made his presence felt, although still not back to the 2005 level. Bruton got burnt on the one long pass play. Grade: C


Special Teams.

P: Price is our only highly-touted returning starter that has lived up to it. Grade: A
K: Very encouraging considering how young they are. Strong legs, even if the accuracy is still getting there and I liked the commentary on how Whittaker was nailing 50+ yard field goals. Grade: B
Returns: Zibby could make an NFL career out of this. The PSU kicker booted the hell out of it but Armando and Golden made some nice returns. The blocking for kickoff returns still leaves something to be desired. Grade: C
Defending Returns: UGH. Grade: D-


I wont grade coaching because I'm no expert. Certainly worked better than last week regardless of the score.

Officiating = F-. The camera angle didn't help on the fight with TT, but something was amiss there. This is a classy guy and the PSU guy got a real talking-to over on the sidelines. I know we are collecting penalties like OSU collects App State gear, but c'mon there were about 1.5 penalties against PSU in the entire game. It was absurd.

Other notes: The white-out was frankly pretty cool. Their fans were very loud throughout the entire game and made an impact. This was another team that looks legit, but not better than GT. Tackles looked a lot cleaner in this game, kudos to Coach Brown. Not too much to say, just looked a lot better as a team - this loss wasn't a kick in the gut despite the score.

GO IRISH

 

[irishdan123084]

if any of you guys got to go you will know what im talking about....the ambiance was pretty amazing. i have to give it up to the penn state fans that they know how to cheer for a team. i had pretty good seats in the lower bowl and i was surrounded by older penn state alumni and they still got loud and stood up to cheer. i have been sitting in the student section at nd stadium for the past 4 years now and never i have i felt the floor under me rattle like it did yesterday (i don't want to hear any engineer nerds explaining me it has to do with the structure of the stadiums truss system). with that said, JC and AA did an amazing job for playing in front of the toughest crowds in college football as true freshmen.

 

[NDgettysburg]

just a note: travis thomas was actually the leading rusher with 12 yards on 6 carries. allen had 11 yards on 8 carries. granted, allen had a lot of nice runs after catching passes, and i'm not saying he shouldn't still get a lot of touches, but i'm sensing a lot of hate for travis thomas right now (not necessarily here, but other places), and i think a lot of people are too quick to jump on him. that penalty didn't help anything of course, but some people (again, not really here) are just crucifying the guy, and I don't think he deserves that at all.

you see, it's like this.....the young guys can't run behind this line and they're given a pass because they're young. Thomas can't run behind this line and everyone says he blows and should never touch the ball again. But good luck getting any of his detractors to admit to that.

 

[tgolden]

I don't care if they admit it, I just want to put it out there myself. Travis Thomas is a great guy, and I hate it when people rip on him like that. Basically, I hate it when fans rip on any player too much, but...

and piyachi, i agree. i wish there was another camera angle of the penalty. there's no way on the face of the earth that travis would just lose his head like that without being provoked. regardless, what he did was stupid, but obviously there was more to it than that. In the paper, he was quoted as saying that he had just blocked him to the ground and the guy came up swinging but they were in happy valley, not notre dame stadium so there was no way he was getting that call. he shouldn't have done what he did no matter what, and weis certainly took care of that today, but some people really are attacking the guy way too much for that.

 

[NDgettysburg]

I don't care if they admit it, I just want to put it out there myself.

I hear ya man....I was just pointing out the double standard alot of guys here use. No QB or RB is gonna tear up the field with a line that can't block a tackling dummy. But some players get a pass because they're underclassmen....which is BS.

 

[Timugen]

I don't care if they admit it, I just want to put it out there myself. Travis Thomas is a great guy, and I hate it when people rip on him like that. Basically, I hate it when fans rip on any player too much, but...

and piyachi, i agree. i wish there was another camera angle of the penalty. there's no way on the face of the earth that travis would just lose his head like that without being provoked. regardless, what he did was stupid, but obviously there was more to it than that. In the paper, he was quoted as saying that he had just blocked him to the ground and the guy came up swinging but they were in happy valley, not notre dame stadium so there was no way he was getting that call. he shouldn't have done what he did no matter what, and weis certainly took care of that today, but some people really are attacking the guy way too much for that.

I'm sorry, but there is no "other angle" to that one. Stupid penalty....and (as our beloved Charlie has said) 50 yards away from the play.

 

[tgolden]

I'm sorry, but there is no "other angle" to that one. Stupid penalty....and (as our beloved Charlie has said) 50 yards away from the play.

yea, stupid penalty 50 yards away from the play, i'm not arguing with that. but another angle would show what the PSU player's arms were doing, which alledgedly were punching/hitting Thomas. if that is true, it should have been an offsetting penalty.

 

[Junkhead]

The penalty is what I couldn't stand. A 5th Year should be able to control himself better. Also, I guess I just want to see the new guys get some reps. Allen, Aldridge, Hughes, etc.

 

[johnnd05]

The penalty is what I couldn't stand. A 5th Year should be able to control himself better. Also, I guess I just want to see the new guys get some reps. Allen, Aldridge, Hughes, etc.

On UHND they said that Aldridge appeared to be in for only two plays. Wonder what's up there ...

 

[NDgettysburg]

On UHND they said that Aldridge appeared to be in for only two plays. Wonder what's up there ...

Maybe the coaches laid into him after dropping (and nearly losing) his first touch and he was less than respectful in his reply? Complete speculation of course. CW isn't one to bench a guy for a game if he makes a mistake.

 

[Timugen]

What gets me is that last week Brown gets ejected for shoving a guy, but this week TT basically pins down a guy without a helmet on and starts pounding away, yet no ejection.

 

[NDgettysburg]

ACC refs are more lenient than B10 ones?

 

[Timugen]

ACC refs are more lenient than B10 ones?

heh....must be

 

[Zorro50]

Went to the game. Jimmy C is the real deal. Even the PSU drunks were saying so after the game. That was a brutal atmosphere for your first start ever, especiallly with the problems the line was having. My first time at PSU was a eye opening experience.

By the way during the second half we were downwind and the place literally smelled like manure!!! No kidding.

 

[domerfor life]

Long year

Long year

I agree with most of what I read. It's going to be a long year. If we win 5 to 6 games this year, I will be happy. The defense is vastly improved and better than last years defense. The problem? Lack of depth along the d-line and the o-line is absolutely horrible. Do we not have better options along the left side of the o-line? Turk and Duncan are probably good guys, but they are not the answer. What we should stop and think about though is that there is a reason why they are starting. Maybe there was no one capable of stepping up to take their spot. It's sad because the defense is playing better, but being left out on the field way too long. With this line, anyone short of Barry Sanders is not going to have any success. Hell, maybe Charlie should consult Barry and get some tips on how he ran for 2,000 yds w/o a line. Anyway, JC is good. That stiff arm early in the game was veteran like. Because of the o-line problems, I have a feeling Charlie is going to go with quick-hit stuff to protect Clausen all season. If he tries to let something develop downfield, he's toast. I swear it's like jailbreak on the left side of that line and let's not talk about the false starts. I agree with one of the posters when it concerns TT. Is this another case where the freshmen didn't show enough to move TT down the depth charts? It just seems that JA and AA are better options at this point and time. I really like Travis Thomas and I would love to see him do well. However, as a No. 1 running back he just has not impressed me (line or no line). One more thing, looks like our line will stall out more drives this year with false start penalties. I could go on for days, but I won't. This is definitely a rebuilding year. We may be looking at one of the worst starts in school history. Some of the blame should be placed at the feet of Weis, but a man has to play the cards he's been dealt. This team is young and will only get better. Trouble is that this schedule is unforgiving for a team this inexperience. They don't have time to grow. They'll look better by seasons end, but there are some more lopsided losses coming (see USC).

 

[irish4ever]

OL Grade: D-
OL was an 'F', no if's, and's and but's. With the returning upperclassmen and good young core, how can they be playing this bad? It's mind boggling! -8 rushing (including sacks) thru 2 games, less than 100 positive yards total by our RB's, and 17 sacks!!! If Ianello can really coach, then he better be putting in some OT between now and this w/e. I'm afraid that scUM's D line is going to be coming at ND's OL with the "ears pinned back"!

 

[bbrennan]

Couple things that stick out to me...

A lot of people are bashing our O-line and for good reason when we have more sacks then we do rushing yards. But I suppose I don't see Charlie doing much to help our guys. I've always thought one of the best ways to get an O-line into a game, and the best way to protect a young QB, is to commit to the running game early in the game. We should have the horses to run the ball between the tackles. Heck, TT played LB last year and Aldridge is a big RB. Tell the young O-linemen to just hit the guy in front of them. Keep it simple and establish the run early to open up the passing game later in the game once the young guys (JC, AA, receivers and O-line) get into the flow. I think CW can protect the young guys and JC better by committing to the running game rather than swing pass after swing pass.

The defense appears much improved, but I can't say that I'm sold yet. We just don't seem the have the horses yet. Our D-line is undersized and getting manhandled at the line of scrimmage. And what's worse, our LB's just can't make plays behind them, especially as the game wears on. I don't know if it is scheme or personnel... I suspect it is a little of both, but we have a long way to go on defense still. It was very nice though to see a CB blanket a receiver down the field and make an excellent play on the ball.

As many have said, JC appears to be the real deal. I hope Charlie turns him lose and let's him play. I would rather see him throw interceptions trying to make plays down the field than protect him with dinks and dunks all game. A little creativity would be nice as well on offense.

Go Irish!

 

[johnnd05]

A lot of people are bashing our O-line and for good reason when we have more sacks then we do rushing yards. But I suppose I don't see Charlie doing much to help our guys. I've always thought one of the best ways to get an O-line into a game, and the best way to protect a young QB, is to commit to the running game early in the game. We should have the horses to run the ball between the tackles. Heck, TT played LB last year and Aldridge is a big RB. Tell the young O-linemen to just hit the guy in front of them. Keep it simple and establish the run early to open up the passing game later in the game once the young guys (JC, AA, receivers and O-line) get into the flow. I think CW can protect the young guys and JC better by committing to the running game rather than swing pass after swing pass.

I thought this is exactly what we've been doing!

 

[domerfor life]

Couple things that stick out to me...

A lot of people are bashing our O-line and for good reason when we have more sacks then we do rushing yards. But I suppose I don't see Charlie doing much to help our guys. I've always thought one of the best ways to get an O-line into a game, and the best way to protect a young QB, is to commit to the running game early in the game. We should have the horses to run the ball between the tackles. Heck, TT played LB last year and Aldridge is a big RB. Tell the young O-linemen to just hit the guy in front of them. Keep it simple and establish the run early to open up the passing game later in the game once the young guys (JC, AA, receivers and O-line) get into the flow. I think CW can protect the young guys and JC better by committing to the running game rather than swing pass after swing pass.


Go Irish!

We're throwing swing passes as a way to protect Clausen and to get the o-line help. When they've been asked to "just hit the guy in front of them", the results have not been good. They do open holes from time to time, but it's just not on a consistent basis. They have opened a lot of holes for the defense to run through though. It's heartbreaking. It really is. I was hoping for a win against Tech and a close loss to PSU as a "best" result. I did not expect the worse (i.e.- blowout losses, no TD's (not even close the majority of the time), getting ran over in the 2nd half, no running game at all).