NIU Postgame

[IrishTusker]

So what’s gunna be any different with anyone else?

Well we could hire a good coach, we just haven't.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I say play the best player at every position.

But we aren’t at practice to know who is the best. Nor are we professional talent evaluators so it’s a moot point. I get what you’re saying but you start doing a revolving door at QB and you lost the upperclassmen who came back specifically to win & you guarantee a mass exodus of transfers who lose faith in Freeman. Remember 2007? They went through 4 QBs w/ zero success.

 

[Kingbish01]

I'm glad I get to stop rooting for OSU. I was convinced if they dropped a few games they'd take Freeman from us...

 

[bkess8]

I say play the best player at every position.

Hard to do that when you aren't good at evaluating talent.

 

[MacIrish75]

Idk if it’s come up again, but I actually do think Denbrock’s playcall on that 2nd & 1 was the correct call. It was coming right at me and Mitchell had two steps. Leonard just unleashed the worst throw in the history of QB play. I truly have no idea what that was.

The guy just can’t get it done.

I do, however, blame Denbrock for the RB personnel usage in the second half. Also, no targets for Flanagan or Raridon today and Evans only had two.

 

[WildMan1]

I could get technical & into Xs & Os but let’s not sugar coat it.

The staff didn’t prepare these kids & thought they were fucking 2012 Alabama bc they got a W in Kyle Field & they’d roll right over NIU.

And here we are getting dominated in the trenches by a MAC school with a fucking million dollar QB that can’t THROW 10+ yards.

What the fuck are Gino & Mike looking at in practice? Do they make Riley throw the ball at all? I can’t imagine he’s slinging it all over the place & then just losing the ability on Gameday.

We’ve seen Angeli do it & yet, like a stubborn MLB general manager they force themselves to stick with the big contract guy.

The offense is in complete disarray & the QB position is the heart of it. No one is saying shit about the defense if we win this game 44-16..

But instead of Marcus making the tough decision & benching RL for Angeli, he leaves it to his coordinators who try to force the kid that can’t throw to throw.

The OL gave him ALL DAY EVERY DAY..

And if it’s the WRs not getting separation THEN HOW THE FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO FIX THAT WITH TWO THREE STAR RECRUITS COMING IN??

Why in the hell wasn’t WR a massive priority?

I’m completely stunned.. this staff should be embarrassed. This is pee wee fucking bullshit..

Your QB can’t throw passes & you’re losing to a MAC school.. FUCKING START COACHING

Either way we’re fucked.. we’re just not going to get the caliber player that goes to Ohio St or classless situations like that & even with a solid roster we FUCKING PLAY LIKE PUSSY CUNTS against mac teams.

This is wildly depressing.. I genuinely like Marcus but this loss is unacceptable in year 3.

 

[IrishTusker]

Idk if it’s come up again, but I actually do think Denbrock’s playcall on that 2nd & 1 was the correct call. It was coming right at me and Mitchell had two steps. Leonard just unleashed the worst throw in the history of QB play. I truly have no idea what that was.

The guy just can’t get it done.

I do, however, blame Denbrock for the RB personnel usage in the second half. Also, no targets for Flanagan or Raridon today and Evans only had two.

Correct call for which QB? When you have a QB who can't throw, why are you throwing there? You should only throw if you absolutely must.

 

[T-Boone]

I say play the best player at every position.

That’s the solution.

 

[MacIrish75]

Correct call for which QB? When you have a QB who can't throw, why are you throwing there? You should only throw if you absolutely must.

RL may not be accurate but I truly don’t think anyone in the history of watching football could have known he would underthrow a post route by 8 yards.

 

[T-Boone]

I could get technical & into Xs & Os but let’s not sugar coat it.

The staff didn’t prepare these kids & thought they were fucking 2012 Alabama bc they got a W in Kyle Field & they’d roll right over NIU.

And here we are getting dominated in the trenches by a MAC school with a fucking million dollar QB that can’t THROW 10+ yards.

What the fuck are Gino & Mike looking at in practice? Do they make Riley throw the ball at all? I can’t imagine he’s slinging it all over the place & then just losing the ability on Gameday.

We’ve seen Angeli do it & yet, like a stubborn MLB general manager they force themselves to stick with the big contract guy.

The offense is in complete disarray & the QB position is the heart of it. No one is saying shit about the defense if we win this game 44-16..

But instead of Marcus making the tough decision & benching RL for Angeli, he leaves it to his coordinators who try to force the kid that can’t throw to throw.

The OL gave him ALL DAY EVERY DAY..

And if it’s the WRs not getting separation THEN HOW THE FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO FIX THAT WITH TWO THREE STAR RECRUITS COMING IN??

Why in the hell wasn’t WR a massive priority?

I’m completely stunned.. this staff should be embarrassed. This is pee wee fucking bullshit..

Your QB can’t throw passes & you’re losing to a MAC school.. FUCKING START COACHING

Either way we’re fucked.. we’re just not going to get the caliber player that goes to Ohio St or classless situations like that & even with a solid roster we FUCKING PLAY LIKE PUSSY CUNTS against mac teams.

This is wildly depressing.. I genuinely like Marcus but this loss is unacceptable in year 3.

Living up to your name brother

 

[T-Boone]

Didn’t Angeli have a real crap blue gold game? I’m sold on switching to him but if my memory is correct it was a horrid performance and Carr came in and looked like a future heisman contender.

 

[notredomer23]

It’s year 3 and Freeman can’t figure out how to consistently get the team up for vastly inferior opponents. I’d have more confidence in ND away against Georgia than I would at home against Georgia State.

 

[HouseofPain]

Didn’t Angeli have a real crap blue gold game? I’m sold on switching to him but if my memory is correct it was a horrid performance and Carr came in and looked like a future heisman contender.

Would love to hear from Freeman why Cj wasnt in the game. Couldnt do any worse than who Freeman chose to stick with all game.

 

[Terry Jillery]

Any chance we get a rematch with NIU in a bowl game? Because I’d love to see us settle this over a plate of lukewarm nachos in some mid-December bowl that’s probably sponsored by a lawnmower company.

 

[NDisme]

Well we could hire a good coach, we just haven't.

Like who? Nothing has shown me that anyone will come in here and succeed.

 

[IrishLax]

This is how I assign blame, in order of most at fault:
1. Coaching
1A. You cannot tell me that the team practiced with urgency or respected their opponent. The body language for most of the first half was "aww shucks we'll get them on the next play." I saw Freeman start inserting himself more in the huddles as we got into the second quarter, but you lose that game on Tuesday not Saturday. But the biggest coaching blunder I saw from Freeman, assuming the in stadium announcement was correct, was in the 2nd down end of game situation where we should've taken a timeout immediately after the runner was ruled down for multiple reasons and instead he ate a 10 second run off + full 40 second play clock. Was truly nonsensical.
1B. That was an embarrassing defensive performance -- not in giving up points, but in how they got dominated at the line of scrimmage. It was clear that NIU did not want to do anything except run the ball into the line over and over again yet we kept giving up chunk plays and getting bullied. A small percentage of that may be talent, but in general I don't know how you lack an answer for "direct snap to the RB, run up the middle." Beyond that, the defense looked continually confused or misaligned... they had a play with 1 guy covering two that went for a large gain, and another where they had to take a timeout to avoid a similar situation. Inexplicable and inexcusable.
1C. The offensive gameplan was a joke. The first drive was scripted to perfection, and the first drive out of halftime wasn't bad either (but mainly relied on a hero play from Love). In between all of that, it almost looked like the were experimenting rather than trying to win a football game. Both of your primary RBs were going off for 6+ yards a pop. You win the game easily if you commit to the run in the second half, but especially to ice the game on the last drive when you have the ball at midfield.

2. Riley Leonard... woof. The coaches taking him over Will Howard is an all time blunder. He is far too inaccurate to do the "dink and dunk" stuff they are currently trying to run, but worse they clearly don't trust him to push the ball down the field. And for good reason! He under threw that gamebreaking pick by about 15 yards or so. One of the worst throws I've ever seen, and that includes some doozies from Zaire and Pyne and Wimbush. Both interceptions were straight up terrible and led to 6 of the 16 points for NIU... and he had a TE *wide open* for an 7-10 yard gain when he chose to chuck it deep.

3. I don't want to hear any more apologia about the OL. They are trash. Incredibly soft players who also often aren't assignment sound or technically sound. Pendleton got beat badly for a sack, bad snaps for a second game in a row, not getting consistent push, etc. They simply not good right now, but at least they're young with room to approve.

4. The special teams sure are special.

 

[GATTACA!]

RL may not be accurate but I truly don’t think anyone in the history of watching football could have known he would underthrow a post route by 8 yards.

8 yards is generous. It was more like 20.

 

[IAIrish]

It me.

Not even 10 mins after the game ended, my wife asked me to put our youngest in the bathtub, because the ice cream truck hit the neighborhood during the fourth quarter, and the 2yo had melted SpongeBob ice cream all over her.

I was still super pissed about the game, and did NOT want to be running bath time duty.

But my youngest loves bath time. She loves the warm water and the bubbles. As soon as I sat her in the water, she looked up at me with the biggest grin on her face and asked me to hand her a toy from the other side of the tub.

The loss sucked, but fuck it. My kids are happy and I still enjoy watching football, even if it’s painful and frustrating in the moment. You also get moments like last Saturday where you feel invincible and like you could take a dump through Brian Kelly’s sunroof as a fun little joke if the opportunity presented itself.

I’ll have myself convinced by Tuesday that this team can finish 11-1 and win a playoff game with the right draw.

Legit had the same thoughts, giving my two youngest boys a post game bath 🤣

 

[Terry Jillery]

Ausberry is so good, I’m starting to wonder if he’s been practicing

 

[FU BK]

Any chance we get a rematch with NIU in a bowl game? Because I’d love to see us settle this over a plate of lukewarm nachos in some mid-December bowl that’s probably sponsored by a lawnmower company.

A lawnmower company is too good at this point. They can meet up again in the shit scrubbers.com bowl

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

8 yards is generous. It was more like 20.

8 yards? Short on the pass? It might be closer to 80 than 8 lol

 

[IAIrish]

It’s year 3 and Freeman can’t figure out how to consistently get the team up for vastly inferior opponents. I’d have more confidence in ND away against Georgia than I would at home against Georgia State.

Something that Gerardo Parkerson ironically had no issue with last year. Fuck that hurts to say.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

 

[Kingbish01]

It’s year 3 and Freeman can’t figure out how to consistently get the team up for vastly inferior opponents. I’d have more confidence in ND away against Georgia than I would at home against Georgia State.

I get your point, but UGA 49-13

 

[K9&3]

I tried to sign up before the game and warn you about Brown and Rudolph but your mod took awhile to approve me. Brown was obviously the difference in the game but there were other areas NIU won. Something I dont think ND fans realized...NIU is bigger on both lines than ND and it showed today.

 

[IrishMoore1]

Whoever is saying this is the worst loss in ND history hasn't been watching ND football very long.

Off the top of my head I can name at least 5 worse losses:

1. Tulsa the week Declan Sullivan died from a scissor lift accident at practice
2. 3 win Syracuse team that fired its head coach, and the crowd threw snowballs at the players
3. Uconn led by former ND QB Zach Frazer
4. Navy 2007 snapping a 44 game winning streak
5. South Florida which had a delay and the debut of purple face Kelly.

.

 

[IrishTusker]

I tried to sign up before the game and warn you about Brown and Rudolph but your mod took awhile to approve me. Brown was obviously the difference in the game but there were other areas NIU won. Something I dont think ND fans realized...NIU is bigger on both lines than ND and it showed today.

Okay. We'll see how NIU does the rest of the year. ND regularly loses to non-world-beating G5 teams that have their win and then do nothing the rest of the year.

 

[MacIrish75]

I tried to sign up before the game and warn you about Brown and Rudolph but your mod took awhile to approve me. Brown was obviously the difference in the game but there were other areas NIU won. Something I dont think ND fans realized...NIU is bigger on both lines than ND and it showed today.

I was impressed with your OL today from the stadium. I was there with some NIU folks and told them I was genuinely impressed with their push. The RB (1) was extremely patient and then had good burst once he found daylight.

Y’all earned it today. Enjoy.

 

[MacIrish75]

Whoever is saying this is the worst loss in ND history hasn't been watching ND football very long.

Off the top of my head I can name at least 5 worse losses:

1. Tulsa the week Declan Sullivan died from a scissor lift accident at practice
2. 3 win Syracuse team that fired its head coach, and the crowd threw snowballs at the players
3. Uconn led by former ND QB Zach Frazer
4. Navy 2007 snapping a 44 game winning streak
5. South Florida which had a delay and the debut of purple face Kelly.

.

Ironically Manti on the sidelines both today and at that game lol.

 

[K9&3]

Being that it was a really close games, im curious if ND fans acknowledge or even care about the blatant biased bad calls in the last minute? Do you just consider that home field advantage? Or maybe NBC advantage? But that was almost criminal how the refs tried to save ND in the closing moments. Any thoughts on the refs?