NIU Postgame

Irish#1

Irish#1

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This game really reminded me of the NCAA tournament where a mid-major loaded with seniors beats the younger more talented team. My last post in this thread. Time to let the healing begin.
 
Huntr

Huntr

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Jiggafini19Deux said:
Yet it was only 16-14.
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The D went through long stretches where they couldn't get off the field. Yeah, only 16 points isn't why they lost, but the DL and LBs looked very bad for most of the game. NIU had 1 guy that *really* needed attention and he carved them up (100 yds rushing and 125 yds receiving). NIU also had a lot of success on 3rd down and 4th down (7/18).

But, you are right, the story of the game was the offensive ineptitude and Leonard actively hurting ND's chances for a W.
 
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CANONIZEFATHERSORIN

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Anyone trying to cast blame on the defense for this game, besides from one horrific blown play, doesn’t understand football. Look at the drive charts. Every NIU point besides the big touchdown was a short field field goal. D let up like one first down on all those drives then shut it down. The problem is Leonard and the punter.
 
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The game would have been different if we were playing from ahead. NIU could play like Navy because the score was close the whole game. If we're up 28-7 at half, its a different game on defense.

The offense has to do something. The defense wasn't great but they gave up 16 points. Not 50.
 
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The problem is relying on portal and 1 and done guys
You will have chemistry issues on AND off field.
Not to mention what it does to recruiting

Said it when they made the hire as well…ND ain’t the place for first time HC.
 
RDU Irish

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Week 2 loss is not keeping ND out of the playoffs. At the same point - it is hard to imagine this team winning half of the remaining games after that royal crapshow. Our schedule may be weak (and likely looks weaker after TAMU inevitably goes 8-4) but 11-1 ND debate will be if they deserve a home game or not. All of CFB would salivate at the prospects ND embarrassed in the playoffs rather than getting snubbed. That is before factoring in the massive pile of money ND brings to the table.

I don't know what our perennial problem at QB is but I'm done with the NIL moneybag transfers. We have to be able to pressure the entire field on offense if we ever want to contend for WINNING in the playoffs, not just playing to make the playoffs.

Also the perennial issue of playing down to lesser opponents rather than rolling up 60 points of offense with excitement for padding stats so you can enjoy watching your 2nd and 3rd string buddies have a shot in the spotlight. Stop playing not to lose on offense!
 
thekid33

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11-1 has sailed unless RL turns into Josh Allen. He's not going to bench him yet. I can see 1-2 more losses because he plays poorly. Then maybe a switch happens and we lose at least 1 more game as the new QB gets up to speed running the 1s full-time.
 
IRISHDODGER

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RDU Irish said:
Week 2 loss is not keeping ND out of the playoffs. At the same point - it is hard to imagine this team winning half of the remaining games after that royal crapshow. Our schedule may be weak (and likely looks weaker after TAMU inevitably goes 8-4) but 11-1 ND debate will be if they deserve a home game or not. All of CFB would salivate at the prospects ND embarrassed in the playoffs rather than getting snubbed. That is before factoring in the massive pile of money ND brings to the table.

I don't know what our perennial problem at QB is but I'm done with the NIL moneybag transfers. We have to be able to pressure the entire field on offense if we ever want to contend for WINNING in the playoffs, not just playing to make the playoffs.

Also the perennial issue of playing down to lesser opponents rather than rolling up 60 points of offense with excitement for padding stats so you can enjoy watching your 2nd and 3rd string buddies have a shot in the spotlight. Stop playing not to lose on offense!
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unless we see some more crazy losses this season & more parity, ND eliminated themselves from hosting a playoff game. But we are way too ahead of ourselves as ND needs to focus on Purdue.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

Jiggafini19Deux

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ab2cmiller said:
This. There is not one area of play where we outplayed NIU. If by some miracle we make that FG, NIU would've had full grounds to claim that was a fluky win by ND.
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They'd be claiming it as a 1-1 team instead of a 2-0 team, and I really would not have cared.

Oregon has survived teams from the state of Idaho two weeks in a row. Dan Lanning said, more or less, "Great, but we have a ton of stuff to clean up."

I'd much rather be in that position at 2-0.
 
Sea Turtle

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domerfreak said:
That didn’t take long. This sucks.

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He coached under Saban. He gets it.

This will always be the game that coaches show their teams as a cautionary tale.

Notre Dame, still relevant in at least this way.
 
RipWheeler

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Josh Pate’s take is accurate and damning. If Coach Freeman is confused as to why the loss happened perhaps he should take 10 minutes and watch Pate’s reaction. I’m not a fan of the guy but his opinion is spot on.
 
Irish#1

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IRISHDODGER said:
unless we see some more crazy losses this season & more parity, ND eliminated themselves from hosting a playoff game. But we are way too ahead of ourselves as ND needs to focus on Purdue.
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This made me chuckle. NIU would have been a better place to start.
 
IrishLax

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GrangerIrish24 said:
The real question is how bad is Texas A&M? Am I right?
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Ironically Weigman went out and shredded some crappy school this past week. We did well against them because they wanted to throw it 30 times and our secondary is elite. Our defensive line / general run defense turns out is pretty mediocre, and every team going forward is going to try to do what NIU did -- play conservative, hope we turn the ball over and otherwise self destruct on offense.
 
Sea Turtle

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Still sad about this loss. I feel like John Travolta and ND football is Olivia Newton John.




 
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Jiggafini19Deux said:
Never heard of him. I watched. Here it is

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He is right. We looked like a team that prepared for a 1-game season. That is entirely on Marcus.
I disagree that we have zero explosive players on offense. Love is one at least. But yet again we have no identity on offense to fall back on when things aren't working. We heard all summer about using Love in space and getting him slot reps....why aren't we doing that?
 
NDPhilly

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Pate doesn’t know anything outside of the SEC. Even after beating A&M he repeatedly said ND has no elite position groups, and lacks big time players across the board. Zero mention of X, Ben Mo, Cross, or J Love.
 
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