Marcus Freeman Revisited

[irishff1014]

They're SO YOUNG and there has been constant change. We had what? 4 injuries on OL alone now? I'm sure they'll progress appropriately. I have WAY more confidence in OL than other positions groups.

Why were some of the young guys out there in the first place? But the older guys couldn’t win the spots. And some of those guys were well recruited guys.

 

[ThePiombino]

Why were some of the young guys out there in the first place? But the older guys couldn’t win the spots. And some of those guys were well recruited guys.

Valid point, but it's possible that Rudolph has just done a better job of recruiting the position than Heistand. Wouldn't be the 1st time Heistand mailed it in wrt recruiting.

 

[GrangerIrish24]

Why were some of the young guys out there in the first place? But the older guys couldn’t win the spots. And some of those guys were well recruited guys.

There is also the rare situation of having two true juniors leave early for the NFL.

 

[NDFAN2008]

People can bitch all they want about Freeman but no coach is gonna come in here and turn us into Bama or Georgia it just isn’t happening. We could bring in Saban and it’s not making a difference. All the big time WR’s wanna play for Ohio State, Georgia and Bama same with DT’s. None of these guys wanna actually attend class and a coach isn’t gonna change that.

 

[stlnd01]

People can bitch all they want about Freeman but no coach is gonna come in here and turn us into Bama or Georgia it just isn’t happening. We could bring in Saban and it’s not making a difference. All the big time WR’s wanna play for Ohio State, Georgia and Bama same with DT’s. None of these guys wanna actually attend class and a coach isn’t gonna change that.

Do linebackers and DBs and RBs want to attend class? We seem to do OK with them.

 

[Irish#1]

That’s my biggest concern by a pretty wide margin.

I think some of that has to do with how young much of the team is and by extension there is a lack of veteran leadership.

Cheating aside, experience was one of the key elements to Michigan being able to win it all last year.

This is a good post. As the old coach saying goes, "Give me a good group of seniors over a good group of juniors".

Those bonehead personal foul penalties shouldn't have happened.

I think it would take more than a second loss for MF to move on from RL. I can see the backup QB's getting reps if there is a third loss.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

My takeaway after reading this thread...Freemans not perfect. If he can just be perfect someday, I think we'll be happy.

 

[FDNYIrish1]

Unpopular opinion is minus the inexcusable loss to NIU, he’s doing a pretty damn good job with all these injuries piling up this season. There is a lot of nuance to Denbrock and his play calling and you see if with the big plays. Night and day from last year. Truth is Angeli throws a better ball but RL is a much better runner when protection fails. I think the staff is actually doing a good coaching job and the amount of contribution from true freshman and sophomores is awesome to see. There needs to be improvement obviously in game management and situational football on the part of MF, but there are certainly things to be happy about with depth development. Two top 25 wins so far. I don’t think this team is a championship threat but needs to get into the tournament and see what happens.

 

[Bluto]

People can bitch all they want about Freeman but no coach is gonna come in here and turn us into Bama or Georgia it just isn’t happening. We could bring in Saban and it’s not making a difference. All the big time WR’s wanna play for Ohio State, Georgia and Bama same with DT’s. None of these guys wanna actually attend class and a coach isn’t gonna change that.

That’s what everyone was saying about defensive back and running back a few years ago.

Keith Gilmore brought in 5 future NFL d linemen in one class if memory serves me correctly during his short stint.

 

[Giddyup]

I think MF is doing very well. Especially with all the injuries. If we had a top ten qb we’d be rocking at 5-0

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

The RL experiment cannot continue. Enough.

I'm not going to lie, I've been plenty critical of RL this season but not after Saturday. GTFO on the timing of this post. He was very good on Saturday, not his fault the OL couldn't block in the third quarter, and he responded when it mattered most in the 4th.

Keep in mind, if it wasn't for two fumbles in our own RZ (opening kickoff and JD Price), that wipes 14 of L'ville's 24 points off the board. This was much closer to a blowout than a nail biter than people realize, and RL's play had a ton to do with that.

 

[Terry Jillery]

Price and love are the two best players on the offense and they are not getting the ball enough in my opinion. They need to find more creative ways to get those twi the ball. The offensive line is way too banged up and the passing game is too limited. They need to be more creative and getting those two guys the ball more.

 

[Terry Jillery]

Bama has a 17 year old dominating defenses. We need Gilbert and Williams on the field. Stop overthinking things. These guys should be contributing.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

I think MF is doing very well. Especially with all the injuries. If we had a top ten qb we’d be rocking at 5-0

If he would have acknowledged Riley was hurt against NIU and was unable to run the offense and put Steve in to relieve him, he'd also be 5-0.
(and I say this liking Freeman, but it was a poor decision)

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Bama has a 17 year old dominating defenses. We need Gilbert and Williams on the field. Stop overthinking things. These guys should be contributing.

Cam Williams is struggling majorly atm. I have connections and even Cam has acknowledged he's not ready. Micah is probably ready but the WRs aren't really the issue atm. Protection for Riley and his reading/accuracy are the biggest pass game issues.

 

[Giddyup]

If he would have acknowledge Riley was hurt against NIU and was unable to run the offense and put Steve in to relieve him, he'd also be 5-0.
(and I say this liking Freeman, but it was a poor decision)

This is true

 

[IrishSpartan]

I think the pressure of these few weeks have been weighing on him. after the early lead he took the foot off the gas and played nervous. His energy is coming back though. I saw him lighting up staff and players all game which I love to see. I think we will see a dramatic change post bye. He will finally be able to implement some changes to this team that i believe he was hesitant to do because of the need to win. Expect possible changes to the offensive line and growth in the offensive pass scheme. He has shown in the past that he institutes large changes due to self scouting in bye weeks.

Denbrock needs to identify the need to attack the middle of the field more. He loves his slot fades but some drags over the middle could be game changers for us. I want to see us pushing the scheme of short quick passes about 3 yards farther down field, this small incremental change to reap large benefits to the offense while also giving RL a little more confidence. We need to do more play action! RPO's cannot replace true play action, this will allow us to attack down field and better utilize the tight ends also.

Rudolph: I believe self-scouting and time off will allow changes to be made on the left side of the line. Hopefully schrauth will be able to come back and I would move him to left guard and leave spindler at rg. The right side has been fine and you can tell that the coaching staff mirrors this sentiment. Every time the moved the pocket it seemed to be to the right.

DL: Get healthy, we need rubio back. Hinish is not the answer, great hustle and heart but the kid gets moved. JT is playing extremely well, great at setting the edge.

LB: Kiser needs to get healthy. Sneed is a package player. Young guys need to get more time in the film room.

CB: Morrison needs to get his shit together. Love the kid but he is having a very average year (for him). Gray take your time and get healthy. Moore just needs more pt.

S: Watts=Good, Shuler is going to be special. You cant come away from UL game and not think that Adon is performing at an extremely high level for his experience.

Special Team: Get you shit together.


Sorry for my rant

 

[NorthDakota]

Bama has a 17 year old dominating defenses. We need Gilbert and Williams on the field. Stop overthinking things. These guys should be contributing.

I'd like coaches to find ways for young guys to contribute. Even if in minor ways. Very few guys are gonna be around for five years anyway.

 

[TracyGraham]

Bama has a 17 year old dominating defenses. We need Gilbert and Williams on the field. Stop overthinking things. These guys should be contributing.

So you think the passing game issues are due to the receivers? Don't we first need a qb that can deliver the ball accurately?

 

[sixstar]

I'm not going to lie, I've been plenty critical of RL this season but not after Saturday. GTFO on the timing of this post. He was very good on Saturday, not his fault the OL couldn't block in the third quarter, and he responded when it mattered most in the 4th.

Keep in mind, if it wasn't for two fumbles in our own RZ (opening kickoff and JD Price), that wipes 14 of L'ville's 24 points off the board. This was much closer to a blowout than a nail biter than people realize, and RL's play had a ton to do with that.

Which stat did ND dominate in?

 

[Terry Jillery]

I'd like coaches to find ways for young guys to contribute. Even if in minor ways. Very few guys are gonna be around for five years anyway.

Cam can run a sprint down the field and catch a pass. If not, he wouldn’t have been such a highly rated recruit. We don’t use guys unless they’re “ready”. Unfortunately sometimes that’s a little too demanding.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

Which stat did ND dominate in?

Punts

 

[Giddyup]

The scoreboard. We had short fields and executed td’s?

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Which stat did ND dominate in?

Do you care about stats or do you care about wins? To answer your question, 4th down defense.

Doesn't show up on the stats, but they only allowed one score where Louisville had to sustain an entire drive. The other 17 points came off of turnovers and one turnover on downs, where their kicker broke a school record.

Feel free to be pissed off or miserable after a win against a top 15 opponent. Sounds like a great way to live.

ETA: In a season where we've already seen tremendous attrition on both lines of scrimmage, and then adding a beat up secondary against arguably the best WR core we are going to face all season (with a really good, veteran QB, I may add), please pardon the rest of us for being glad the way this team fought and won, as we enter the bye week with our season still very much alive. I'm still pissed about NIU, too, but beating Louisville was good medicine. We control our destiny. I'll be pissed off if/when they lose again, but not today.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Which stat did ND dominate in?

I’ll take scoreboard for $2000 Alex.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Price and love are the two best players on the offense and they are not getting the ball enough in my opinion. They need to find more creative ways to get those twi the ball. The offensive line is way too banged up and the passing game is too limited. They need to be more creative and getting those two guys the ball more.

What do you propose? Denbrock is seeing these guys every day in practice. Offensively, it probably it what it is as this point.

Love had 16 touches on Saturday. No skill player was remotely close to that. He currently has 11 catches on the season, which is more than Harrison, Thomas, Mitchell and Evans.

Price has 29 carries so far this season and one catch for negative one yard.

You have a certain amount of screens, jet sweeps and wheel routes to run for running backs. You can shift them in motion into the slot or even out wide, but ultimately, the other DCs ND is going to play know what they've got. Stack the box with 8 and make them beat you throwing it up the field.

So be more creative how is my question.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

I don’t know if I’m in the minority but I still like him as the HC. From a realistic options standpoint, I’m not sure who would take over him.

Again, realistic options.

I definitely like him as our coach. He is still young and in one of the hardest jobs in America. I just hope he continues to be willing to learn and adapt, both from a high level program management standpoint down to the finer details of play to play game management.

 

[RDU Irish]

I'm rooting for the guy but I am feeling as if I should get use to perpetual game management WTFs. If he can learn to stop crapping the bed against inferior opponents I can get over it.

 

[Irish#1]

I definitely like him as our coach. He is still young and in one of the hardest jobs in America. I just hope he continues to be willing to learn and adapt, both from a high level program management standpoint down to the finer details of play to play game management.

Agree. Given his lack of HC experience, I think it's unfair for some to think he's going to have all the answers from the start. He's learning and adapting.

 

[GATTACA!]

In the end he’ll likely sink or swim based on CJ. If CJ is the real deal we should be making deep playoff runs.