Sep 21 | Miami (OH)

[stpeteirish]

Anyone know why Morrison was out most of the second half?

 

[IAIrish]

Anyone know why Morrison was out most of the second half?

Was wondering that same thing. Saw him give some Olay tackle attempts, too.

Also, anyone else have Watts, Shuler and Gray getting picks before him in their bingo card? And it's not like teams are avoiding him entirely.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I don’t think this win was as bad as you guys want to think. If our 25 point win was 42-17 instead, would that have been satisfying? Defense allowed 220 yards & 3 points all day.

It wasn’t perfect, but I think Riley gained some confidence and made some nice throws, especially after the first quarter. We just can’t ignore his ability as a runner. Considering he was a great runner against Texas A&M who was the toughest defensive opponent will play all year, you can’t say “this isn’t going to work against better teams”. It did work, it is going to continue to work as long as he’s healthy.

That being said, if he can’t complete the easy throws in 3 to 4 drives against Louisville. Then I think we’ll need to make a change. Weird spot we’re in.

You sound like the beat writers. The score is not the point! It’s the continuous mental mistakes & playing down to the competition after a win.

After an inexcusable debacle of a home opener, you would think they wouldn’t come out to their next home game against another “overmatched” MAC opponent & sleep walk through the first quarter. It’s like this team is good for getting up for one big game per year:
2022 Clemson
2023 SC
2024 aTm

We all want MF to succeed but there’s something missing when it’s this challenging to get up for a game after self-sabotage in game 2. Miami, OH was doing everything they could to hand ND a comfortable win but the Irish kept refusing the gift. We could see his frustration. From the Faison fumble, the botched FG, the Shuler personal foul, the Pendleton flags, the Leonard fumble, etc.

With the QB struggles, I can’t help but think back to Wimbush & ND when they went down to South Beach & got smoked. They put in Book at the end of the 1H & he throws the pick six. That’s what worries me about ND finally going to Angeli. They’re going to put him in an impossible situation where he’s gonna press & inadvertently throw gas on the fire by trying to pass ND back into the game.

 

[PigtownIrish]

Anyone know why Morrison was out most of the second half?

I think once the game was in hand they subbed liberally on D. Lots of Mickey and even Leonard Moore.

 

[IrishMoore1]

The best throw of the day was by SA on the run to the sideline that was dropped. Not sure on the run is right but more on the move and put it right on the receiver.

RL threw a 40 yard dime to Beaux Collins for a TD in the 2nd quarter...

 

[Bluto]

Has an athletic QB with glaring accuracy issues ever worked out? Maybe over 2-3 years allowing for some development but in a single season? I can’t think of one.

 

[DeSero]

Has an athletic QB with glaring accuracy issues ever worked out? Maybe over 2-3 years allowing for some development but in a single season? I can’t think of one.

I’ve actually given this some thought and here’s what I could come up with…

Troy Smith ‘05
Pat White ‘05
Brad Banks ‘02

Those are the only guys I could come up with that:
1) were unpolished at the start
2) got better as the season progressed
3) ended up with a record that would’ve gotten them in the playoff in this years format

The Mariotas, Lamars, and RG3s of the world didn’t have all 3 boxes checked.

 

[Irish4life]

Fellas, I am confused. I thought it was a pretty sloppy, sleepy performance, but the way I see people talking about this game you'd think it was the 2016 Duke game.

 

[T-Boone]

Wagner should have the touchdown stat. Love 100% fumbled before the line.

 

[ThePiombino]

RL threw a 40 yard dime to Beaux Collins for a TD in the 2nd quarter...

SA has made more impressive throws in his 1.5 quarters of play than RL has made in 3.5 games...

 

[ThePiombino]

Fellas, I am confused. I thought it was a pretty sloppy, sleepy performance, but the way I see people talking about this game you'd think it was the 2016 Duke game.

It's because of the writing on the wall. Everyone who's being honest with themselves know that RL is a complete liability and WILL cost us 1+ games before the season is over, in a season when we had everything lined up to go undefeated and grab the 5 seed in the Playoff.

 

[Irish4life]

It's because of the writing on the wall. Everyone who's being honest with themselves know that RL is a complete liability and WILL cost us 1+ games before the season is over, in a season when we had everything lined up to go undefeated and grab the 5 seed in the Playoff.

I don't understand why we're assuming this of RL or the offense in general. I thought RL did a much better job of staying in the pocket and taking shots down field when he had 1v1 coverage.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

The defense is very very legit. Love and Price are also very very legit.

Everything else, the jury is still out and some aspects are not yet beating the charges. Alas, 3-1. Onto Louisville.

 

[RDU Irish]

Watch some non-ND games and cry when you see college QBs chucking the rock all over the yard. Leonard is an experienced mercenary getting paid - this "build his confidence" bullshit makes me want to puke. His job is to make those around him better - I'm not seeing it. This is the same song as Sam Hartman, different verse.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Fellas, I am confused. I thought it was a pretty sloppy, sleepy performance, but the way I see people talking about this game you'd think it was the 2016 Duke game.

I think it’s from the context of how truly bad these past three opponents have been & that ND has their toughest challenge to date (maybe the entire regular season) is next. Granted, it doesn’t mean ND will play this bad but it’s troublesome to know how poorly they’ve played in their two home games vs inferior talent.

Now ND could come out this Saturday and blow the doors off UL. It’s close to impossible to predict. Reminds me of one of the beat writers who correctly goes on opponents previous performances to date before facing ND but the opposite happens:

Before UL last year: “their QB sucks”
He wasn’t wrong, but the kid did no harm to his team & they beat ND eliminating them from the CFP

Before NIU this year: “their QB is in for a long day against the ND defense”
He may have been had NIU put the entire offense on the QB shoulders but they didn’t and ran all over that vaunted ND defense despite only scoring one TD…go figure. Oh & there’s that one in a million pass the kid threw that somehow sneaked between two elite ND defenders & ended up being that one aforementioned TD

Before Miami Ohio last week: “worst run offense in the nation….”
It was…so what else was he supposed to say? But, of course; they ran for 140 yds to the surprise of zero ND fans…lol. Granted, in the grand scheme of things, ND‘s defense shut that offense down so it’s not like the NIU game. My point is that regardless of recent performance, you just don’t know until ND actually plays the game