Oct 8 | BYU

Crazy Balki

Crazy Balki

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luckofirish8 said:
Almost certainly somewhere in between Marshall and UNC. Which if they can run the ball should be enough to dictate the game and get the win IMO.
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I think there's a good chance this team players better than it did against UNC. It's made marked improvement week by week since the Marshall fiasco, and has shown it can go toe-to-toe with one of the top programs in the nation.

The week off gave them a chance to fine-tune the offense and get Pyne acclimated and get his receivers involved, and get some guys healthier. I also think it's especially important for the OL, because it really gives them time to have those 5 guys consistently work together. Something they really didn't have a chance to do with Patterson out most of fall camp and missing the first game. It also gives them a chance to get Jr and Prince more heavily involved in game planning and have Kiser get more time inside, which he really needs.

This team has a very legitimate opportunity to take a huge step forward this week.
 
A

arrowryan

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I see this being a pretty big swing game for the rest of the season. If they can get to 3-2, they'll have a strong chance to be 5-2 going into Syracuse. If they fall to 2-3, ehh I'd rather just not think about that scenario.
 
Rockin’Irish

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Crazy Balki said:
I think there's a good chance this team players better than it did against UNC. It's made marked improvement week by week since the Marshall fiasco, and has shown it can go toe-to-toe with one of the top programs in the nation.

The week off gave them a chance to fine-tune the offense and get Pyne acclimated and get his receivers involved, and get some guys healthier. I also think it's especially important for the OL, because it really gives them time to have those 5 guys consistently work together. Something they really didn't have a chance to do with Patterson out most of fall camp and missing the first game. It also gives them a chance to get Jr and Prince more heavily involved in game planning and have Kiser get more time inside, which he really needs.

This team has a very legitimate opportunity to take a huge step forward this week.
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Also more time to get Angeli ready to run the offense if needed. If Pyne had been hurt in either of the last two games, Angeli would have been woefully unprepared to run the offense since he had been running the scout team prior to Buchner’s injury.
 
irishff1014

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Crazy Balki said:
I think there's a good chance this team players better than it did against UNC. It's made marked improvement week by week since the Marshall fiasco, and has shown it can go toe-to-toe with one of the top programs in the nation.

The week off gave them a chance to fine-tune the offense and get Pyne acclimated and get his receivers involved, and get some guys healthier. I also think it's especially important for the OL, because it really gives them time to have those 5 guys consistently work together. Something they really didn't have a chance to do with Patterson out most of fall camp and missing the first game. It also gives them a chance to get Jr and Prince more heavily involved in game planning and have Kiser get more time inside, which he really needs.

This team has a very legitimate opportunity to take a huge step forward this week.
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And probably the healthiest the o line will have been so far this season.
 
IRISHDODGER

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irishff1014 said:
I am not so much worried about the rankings. I want to see another solid win and more improvement. That’ll earn us respect.
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Same. Screw rankings. Just win and establish an identity on both sides of the ball that gives them a formula to finish 8-4 or better.
 
Whiskeyjack

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Here's the bye week Rakes Report:

I hope everyone had a pleasant bye week. Cannot thank North Carolina enough for sending us into our free weekend with such a heartening win, as now if you power ranked how fans of teams with new coaches and already two losses are feeling at the moment, I think supporters of Notre Dame are definitely coming in ahead of Miami and Oklahoma and likely in front of the Gators as well. Of course, those good feelings might only last until the next game, a coin-flip (roulette spin?) affair in Las Vegas against a quality BYU team, but we take what we can get.

The big question the rest of the way is how much of what we’ve seen in the last six quarters on offense is replicable going forward. (I had the opportunity to talk to someone who actually understands football — Jamie Uyeyama of Irish Sports Daily — on the podcast about this very topic, which you can listen to here.) I’m feeling good about the defense and good about the specialists, but it’s unquestionably going to be a high-wire act of needing good health, good decisions and good fortune to score points through the end of the season. Possible? Absolutely, but not something we can assume at any point this autumn.

Round-up of how previous opponents did before we take a little peek ahead: Ohio State beat its fourth straight opponent by at least 31 points, Marshall finally won another game (it was against an FCS team but still counts), Cal had a bad effort on the road against a solid Washington State team and North Carolina had a solid effort at home against a bad Virginia Tech team. The Tar Heels only gave up ten points! None in the second half!! I won’t mind half-heartedly rooting for Mack Brown and company the rest of the way because the games will probably be entertaining and mostly occur against teams I’d like transitive wins against, starting Saturday with Miami.

BYU: The Cougars looked okay on Thursday night against Utah State as they moved to 4-1 on the season, but opponents have been able to run the ball against them, which is convenient for a ground-first Notre Dame attack. Big note with them is receivers Gunner Romney and Puka Nacua (combined for 77 catches, more than 1,500 yards of offense and nine touchdowns last year) have barely played and could be healthy for the Shamrock Series, which would be annoying. Due to all the churn in the poll, Freeman will have a shot at securing his first win over an AP Top 20 team, following up First Win/First Home Win and First Road Win.

Stanford: They stink. 127th in yards per rush allowed because they have no defensive linemen and 119th in sacks because they’re struggling to block as well. (I turned on their game against Washington and they had given up six sacks by the midway point of the second quarter.) Since kickoff of the 2018 game in South Bend, they’re 17-26. Could quarterback Tanner McKee get hot for a half and keep this interesting? Maybe, but the Irish should be able to run at will.

UNLV: When Notre Dame scheduled this game, the Running Rebels were one of the worst teams in FBS. Now they’re kind of just a half-decent, quasi-respectable G5 squad, which is a huge compliment to head coach Marcus Arroyo. Speaking of, I need to apologize because I implied Arroyo was responsible for Justin Herbert being misused during his final year at Oregon. With the additional evidence we’ve acquired this year, I think that blame falls on Mario Cristobal. Before they come to South Bend, the Rebels play San Jose State and Air Force — who might be the two best teams in the Mountain West — so I'm not sure how much gas they're going to have in the tank, but please do not lose at home to Marshall and UNLV in the same year.

Syracuse: Undefeated! The Orange whooped Wagner so badly on Saturday they ran 10 minute quarters in the second half, but their most recent useful data point was playing very ugly against a very bad Virginia team at home. Quarterback Garrett Shrader is holding onto the ball way too long and is likely to have some trouble with the Irish defensive front, but new offensive coordinator Robert Anae (who concocted Virginia’s fun 2021 attack) is doing good work overall. Plus, do not sleep on tailback Sean Tucker or the linebackers. Syracuse is on a bye this Saturday but then plays NC State and Clemson back-to-back before the Irish come to town, so we will have a much better idea of their quality by the time we play.

Clemson: Undefeated! Showed some leakiness in the secondary against Wake Forest but unless things change drastically before kickoff on Nov. 5, I don’t think the Irish passing attack is going to resemble what Sam Hartman is doing week in and week out. The defensive line is ridiculous, meaning it will indeed be a long night trying to scratch out any kind of run game. The thing that makes this game scarier than it appeared two weeks ago is that the offense is looking solid, particularly compared to last year’s nightmare. When he drops back to pass and has time, DJ Uiagalelei seems so uncomfortable at moments he feels like a manifestation of all my anxieties, but just as I somehow hold it together to do normal human things DJU has come through more often than not: 11 touchdowns, one pick, 65% completion rate, an adequate threat in the run game. If it wasn’t for the heavy level of hype (top recruit, threw for 900 yards in South Bend) to compare him to, everyone would collectively nod and say the Clemson quarterback is doing solid work. This is going to be tough, but the Irish are capable of winning a rock fight.

Navy: Not good at all, but game efforts the last couple weeks, stealing a win against East Carolina and almost doing the same against a quality Air Force team. This is going to be a noon kickoff in an NFL stadium the week after a monster home game so the potential for a hangover is high. While Brian Kelly lost to Navy in his first season playing in a noon game in an NFL stadium and went on to a successful tenure, let’s not follow that specific of a path.

Boston College: Came through with a monster win against Louisville on Saturday as a two-touchdown home underdog, because it legitimately seemed like they might not beat a non-UConn FBS team this season. Receiver Zay Flowers is incredible but that’s kind of all they have, as a decimated offensive line is getting Phil Jurkovec killed. They’re 125th in sacks allowed, Jurkovec has already thrown six picks but what makes it particularly tough is the defense — Jeff Hafley’s calling card — has only been average, clocking in at 64th in the latest SP+. I understand that playing Boston College on Senior Day is going to result in some emoting, but this series hasn’t been close of late, with the Irish winning the last three by an average of 25.

Southern Cal: Undefeated! First things first: Caleb Williams and Jordan Addison are cool as hell and great at football and give the Trojans a chance to put up a couple of crooked numbers any time they take the field. However: This team has been absolutely blessed by the gods of turnover luck and has gone against a real mishmash of defenses (SP+ ranks of 112th, 106th, 85th, 59th and 70th), coming damn close to losing in Corvalis against the best of the bunch. We'll have a better idea of how much of Lincoln Riley's first USC team is steak versus sizzle by the time the finale rolls around, as they will host decent Washington State (29th in defense), travel to Utah (24th) and play at currently undefeated UCLA (48th) the week before they host the Irish. (They also play Cal in there if you want to lean too far into transitive comparisons.) Will the Irish be capable of winning a high-stakes shootout by Thanksgiving?

Brief hoops interlude: At the end of summer, the men’s basketball recruiting class consisted of one 5’10” Mishawaka native, leading to questions such as “Mike Brey, seriously?” and concerns about another hole in the roster. But lo and behold, he’s pulled it off again. That undersized guard, Markus Burton, is up to 115th in the 247 Composite and extremely fun to watch. In the final weeks of September, Brey then added two more Top 150 players. This rating won’t last, but the class is now ranked 16th overall and 3rd in the ACC, after finishing 22nd and 6th in those same categories last cycle. Still need some more size but there’s always the transfer portal? Excited for this season – five-star freshman J.J. Starling working with the elite spacing provided by the veterans could be a blast to watch.
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Whiskeyjack

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Continued from above:

Winning Is Hard/Schadenfreude Round Up: Few things more fun than doing a bye week version of this, as it can’t even remotely seem like whataboutism (which it isn’t, nor has ever been) when the Irish don’t play. We are but neutral observers of a football weekend, that’s all.

Hopping in here Sunday evening for a new lede to this section, which is that Wisconsin fired Paul Chryst. I understand things aren’t going well when you get blown out at home by Illinois to fall to 2-3 on the season while rushing for only two yards, but man, they were 9-4 last season and it’s the first week of October. I’d like to think Notre Dame can take partial credit for this, as it comes 53 weeks after the Badgers’ fourth quarter meltdown at Soldier Field inspired us to do a dramatic reading of this piece on the instant reaction podcast.

Next we will note that Colorado, almost certainly the worst team in the Power Five, lost again and fired head coach Karl Dorrell. And…hmmm…also me? Damn. Well, if anyone has any job leads, let me know. Mike Sanford is the interim coach? Sure.

Onto non-firing news: As long-time readers know, one of my favorite things to track is how teams who are not generally in the spotlight respond when the edge of it even faintly touches them. 4-0 Florida State gets ranked for the first time since 2018? Whoops, lose at home to Wake Forest as a touchdown favorite. (That was a bad line: Wake is good.) Hey, Minnesota blew out four tomato cans to start the season and got ranked! Ah rats lost at home to Purdue. NC State gets into the Top 10! Gets handled in Death Valley. Fun thing to keep an eye on.

Georgia trailed for much of the game against Missouri before pulling it out. I wouldn’t say I ever thought they were totally in peril, but considering they were four touchdown favorites and Mizzou had played one of the dumbest games you’ll ever see last week against Auburn this was certainly surprising, particularly after the Dawgs mucked around with Kent State. They obviously remain very good and could easily win the title.

There was so much more losing: No. 7 Kentucky turned it over aplenty in Oxford and suffered their first loss to Lane. Oklahoma got splattered across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex by TCU and Brent Venables is starting his career 0-2 in league play. Undefeated No. 15 Washington got handled quite easily on the road by UCLA, who looked really good. Baylor lost at home to Oklahoma State, who also looks good. Texas A&M lost again, not really competing against Mississippi State. At least they don’t have to play in Tuscaloosa next? Oh, you don’t say. Interesting. Matt Campbell lost another close game, this one in Lawrence.

Penn State mucked around in the rain with Northwestern, who might finish 0-for-the-United States this season. LSU had to crawl out of a 17-0 hole against Auburn. Sparty is downright bad, getting handled by Maryland, which is maybe one of the five best Big Ten teams at this point. (What percentage of Mel Tucker’s annual salary should Kenneth Walker get?) Ohio State trailed Rutgers 7-0 before dusting them. As mentioned above, Louisville lost at Boston College as a two-touchdown favorite and Scott Satterfield is probably toast. Virginia got blown out by Duke (Mike Elko!). Fresno lost to UConn.

Special shoutout to a special guy: Pat Narduzzi had settled in at Pitt as a 7.5ish win coach, good enough to keep his job while annoying the Panther faithful. But last year was a special run to an ACC championship, led by a high-flying passing offense. Following the season, the key elements of that offense left*, and Narduzzi bashed departed offensive coordinator Mark Whipple for not running the ball enough, specifically citing a game which the Panthers won 45-21 as his point of complaint while lying about their rush game effectiveness. Anyway, all that preamble to say Pitt lost at home as a three-touchdown favorite to a Georgia Tech team that just fired their coach and athletic director. Congrats on your offense being back, coach. Enough of that pesky Winning At A High Level.

* Remains very interesting Kenny Pickett sitting out of the bowl game and Jordan Addison transferring to USC caused uproars and moral panics but Whipple taking a big check to head to Nebraska and wide receiver coach Brennan Marion going to Texas garnered nary a word about the sport falling apart. Makes you think!

Overall, I came out of this weekend feeling better about Notre Dame’s floor (four to five more wins from the lower portion of the schedule, plus BYU being gettable I think/hope takes any sort of 2007 or 2016 situation formally off the table) but a little worse about their ceiling (Clemson looks more complete than last year, and USC in the Coliseum is going to be a bear even if they’ve been fortunate with turnovers against uninspiring foes thus far). Still, with a rookie head coach, even some of those seemingly obvious wins might not be, so we will not take anything for granted.

Please please please steal this one against BYU. Coming home to two very beatable opponents on a three-game win streak would feel wonderful. We’ve talked about a lot of Marcus Freeman firsts, but this is his first bye week, and we have no idea how he’s going to bring the team out of it. Are they going to be overworked? Rusty? Perfectly prepared? Starting slow? These upperclassmen have played in a bunch of big games so I don’t think they’ll be intimidated by the glitz of Allegiant Stadium, but the Cougars are a legitimate foe and the wound of the 0-2 start has barely scabbed over, meaning a lot of very negative feelings are stirring just below the surface if we are not careful as we enter a month of spooks and scares.

Easy solution: Don’t lose. Get this thing to 3-2 and let’s see if the Irish can make a run at an interesting November with some stakes.
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DONTH8

DONTH8

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BYU going black (not atypical) but with a new black helmet that fades to royal blue at the top.
 
NDMatt91

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No Tobias on the depth chart. Either he really sucks or the offensive brain trust (or lack there of) can't figure out ways to get him on to the field.
 
irishff1014

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NDMatt91 said:
No Tobias on the depth chart. Either he really sucks or the offensive brain trust (or lack there of) can't figure out ways to get him on to the field.
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It’s crazy. Lenzy is useless he can’t catch, he can’t run good routes, he is supposed to be so fast but can’t get separation or get a long run on an end around. They only thing he can do good is block.
 
irishtrooper

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Due to the lack of playmaking at WR this season, I am surprised the OC can’t get Tobias on the field to even run simple routes. I mean it’s gotta improve over what Jayden Thomas, Salerno and Lenzy have done (not much). I hope this doesn’t discourage our incoming class of WRs as they are CLEARLY a big need.
 
rtrn2glory

rtrn2glory

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Something about Thomas leads me to believe he's going to have a good career for us. He's shown flashes to me. Could be totally wrong, but I think he's going to figure it out and continue to improve. I like his size to be able to be at the minimum a Kevin Austin type of career (Sr year Kevin Austin)
 
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