Michigan Post-Game Discussion

[NDsuperfan09]

I just want to say this about Clausen after watching him the first 2 games. We have a legit QB on our hands but he needs to put it all together. He has a strong arm, very accurate, great mechanics and he can make all the throws. He can't read a defense however and that is whats holding him back. This year is all about him growing into his own. Next year (hopefully it improves over this season though) he learns to read defenses better and then he will just dominate everyone. He has had his moments so far but he could have moments all the time once he learns to read a defense. Clausen/Tate is the new Quinn/Samardzija and it feels good to finally have that type of QB/WR combo again.

 

[phork]

I apologize if this has already been said, I just got home a an hour or so ago.
Other than Michigan handing us this game, there was really not too many bright spots. Some of Clausens throws were ill-advised. The running game is still missing. And this offense has no identity. 260 yards? They'll have to do better than that.

 

[NDinL.A.]

Everyone pretty much said it all. This was the one game of the year I made the trek to South Bend, and from the stands, here's a couple more things:

1. The crowd was fantastic. Yeah, we had a lot to cheer about, but it was a library last week, and today we were loud every time they had the ball. Not sure if it translated to T.V. or not, but I was proud of the crowd. And it was a friggin monsoon in the 2nd half (at least for me -- we don't see that kind of rain in SoCal much), but hardly anyone left, and the noise level remained.

2. Michigan's DB's couldn't handle Floyd one-on-one. If the weather had stayed dry, he would have gotten plenty more opportunities. Loved the fact that he was out there most of the game. Tate and Floyd = Oh. Boy.

3. D-Line - Sad. There were plenty of times where the QB dropped back and we were nowhere near him. Must improve.

4. Special teams again!!! Yeah, there were some gifts, but we took 'em!

Great experience out here, got to see Lou speak, got a huge win, who could ask for anything more!!! Go Irish!

 

[chgocub23]

i know this is kind of off topic, but also deals with michigan. my friend and i made a bet(he's a michigan fan) and the deal is the losing team has to wear the winners gear. but also i get to write a speech on notre dame and he has to read it in front of our entire football team. any suggestions of things i should throw in there? i want it to just drop him on his knees so the more hatred towards michigan the better!

 

[Fbolt]

Here are some additional points:

1. Floyd showed a lot of poise when asking for those flags. I would expect a freshman to stand up and go to the huddle, not saying anything.

2. The D blitzes, at least IMO, every down. That hurt us with McGuppie as it provided him with plenty of running room. Maybe a little more "strategery"?

 

[irishranger]

Everyone keeps talking about how we got lucky on special teams. But isn't special teams 1/3rd of the game? They are huge for momentum swings and they did their job yesterday and did it well. I realize ND isn't about to set the world on fire and play for a NC, but I am tired of reading and seeing stories about how good teams were who kicked us around last year and how bad we were. Now that we have won 2 games, the stories are about How bad ND is and how lucky we have gotten. Last time I checked it was about who had the most points when the clock stopped. No such thing as a bad win folks!

 

[phork]

Well sorry to burst your bubble, but we did get lucky... 6 turnovers? That is almost unheard of at this level, and it would have been a much different game had those not happened.

Have to agree about the DLine Rush/Blitzes. Its failing badly, and we are getting burned for big runs as a result.

I'm sorry if my optimism is not showing, but the fact of the matter is that we are still not a good football team. Flashes of brilliance can only pull you so far.

 

[WeisWeisBaby]

I'm cool if we NEVER have another flash of brilliance, just as long as we keep getting those W's baby!!!!

 

[NDboy15]

Just win baby!

 

[JeremyND07]

Great game overall! My only negative was the play of McCarthy!!!! The only reason he has some many tackles is the man he was defending caught the ball right in front of him EVERY time. He needs to be just a little more aggressive!!!!!

 

[03euroSVT]

I am a bit confused. Why did we get lucky? I understand we didn't cause some of the turnovers (2 I believe out of 6). We did rush for 113 yards against a D that only gave up an average of around 50 yards rushing for 2 games. Michigan also had 9 total sacks going into this game. There were no sacks allowed this game. I really don't think we got lucky. We scored when we needed to and took advantage of most opportunities.

As far as I am concerned we won this game. Michigan did not hand it to us.

 

[MirageSmack]

I apologize if this has already been said, I just got home a an hour or so ago.
Other than Michigan handing us this game, there was really not too many bright spots. Some of Clausens throws were ill-advised. The running game is still missing. And this offense has no identity. 260 yards? They'll have to do better than that.

SoCal had a great point about this stat. We did play on a short field most of the game due to UM's turnovers, so we weren't going to rack up they yardage they could have working a longer field.

I can nit pick as well as the rest. Optimisitically, I see this young team gelling as the season goes on. I don't see a BCS bowl game, nor do I even want one. But I do see a chance to have a decent, learning season and a trip to a decent bowl (extra month of practice) and hopefully a win. I think the learning curve will be steeper with this group of guys.

Hopefully they'll play tougher as well, seeing what their coach endured for them this game, not bailing out on them with his injury. THWM.

 

[MirageSmack]

Well sorry to burst your bubble, but we did get lucky... 6 turnovers? That is almost unheard of at this level, and it would have been a much different game had those not happened.

Have to agree about the DLine Rush/Blitzes. Its failing badly, and we are getting burned for big runs as a result.

I'm sorry if my optimism is not showing, but the fact of the matter is that we are still not a good football team. Flashes of brilliance can only pull you so far.

Our guys played in the same condition as their guys did. We didn't drop the ball. Our guys were ranked about the same as their guys were. We didn't turn it over. We caused several of those TO's. We had a few TO's last week and still won. UM's defense is pretty much the same guys that pummelled Tim Tebow into the ground last season in the bowl game.

 

[phork]

Luck? How about Tate's fumble and pick up? If the ball bounces any other way, we lose it. All I am saying is that there is no identity to this offense, and I don't have confidence in being able to sustain a long drive without some shoddy interference calls.

 

[kmoose]

A big pro for me is Jimmy's ability to avoid the sack. He was not able to do that last year and it would kill drives but this year he seems to have a better awareness and internal clock.

One con was the play calling inside the red zone. After the success of the fade route to Floyd last week I think Haywood went to that too often in the red zone. Michigan has big physical corners which makes that a difficult route. It was successful with Kamara and one to Floyd when pass interference was called. I would have liked to see some crossing routes and quick slants down there too

I would like to see us just pound the ball down there. But, after averaging less than 3.5 a carry, again this week, I can understand why those plays are not called.

This team still cannot run the ball effectively. And there were holes there, yesterday. Holes that good backs would turn into 10-15-20 yard runs. But we get 5-6-7-8 yards. We're not going to be ready to compete like ND again, until we can move the ball on the ground, with a few big runs throughout the game. And I really wonder how much better Clausen would be, if he had a solid running game behind him.

 

[NDOM]

I have alot of negatives to list but this one sticks out the most.

ZERO! ZERO! ZERO sacks after 2 games. and hardly ANY pressure from tenutas so called great defense. We have been burned too many times on long plays because of this. If we blitz like this and dont get any pressure next week then Ringer is gonna just run wild on us.

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

Why does it have to be we got "lucky"? We were given opportunities and made the most of them. Sure they coughed the ball up on their own, but, especially on the lateral pass that was fumbled, we were playing heads up football and got all over the loose ball. On that play in particular, a Michigan player had his hands on the ball, but I believe it was Lambert who swiped it from him and allowed Sergio to dive on it. That is hustle and that is alert, never quit football. Were there some lucky plays or were those plays the result of focus and being ready to take advantage of opportunities? Just my opinion, but calling it luck takes away from those that made some darn good, alert plays.

 

[phork]

Sometimes its better to be lucky than good. All I'm saying is that in every game the rest of this year we will not get 6 turnovers in one of them. Michigan gift wrapped this win for us. If we cannot get a running game going, and get our new Blitz schemes actually making pressure, then we aren't going to be very successful.

2 things win championships. Running & ball control and Defense. Ask TexasTech how throwing for 800 yards a game works out for them, when their defense gives up just as much.

 

[sportallyr]

Luck? How about Tate's fumble and pick up? If the ball bounces any other way, we lose it. All I am saying is that there is no identity to this offense, and I don't have confidence in being able to sustain a long drive without some shoddy interference calls.

Good point. If I remember correctly, Clausen also fumbled early in the game, but we were able to recover it. Sometimes, the ball just seems to bounce our way and that was the case Saturday. They don't say the "Luck of the Irish" for nothing. It's about time that theory come true for us.

 

[WaveDomer]

Luck

Luck

The greatest thing to take out of that game was the intensity. Is luck involved in turnovers? Maybe. But it just goes to show you that good things happen when you play with intensity and go after the ball. In sports like soccer and hockey you'd be amazed at how many goals come just by following up on shots and getting defections. Going after it hard is good football. The other point is that ND took advantage of the turnovers. Are there areas to improve? Of course. But this is a team that is excited about playing ball. That's a good thing. They should improve on their performance week to week.

 

[mick2]

Sometimes its better to be lucky than good. All I'm saying is that in every game the rest of this year we will not get 6 turnovers in one of them. Michigan gift wrapped this win for us. If we cannot get a running game going, and get our new Blitz schemes actually making pressure, then we aren't going to be very successful.

2 things win championships. Running & ball control and Defense. Ask TexasTech how throwing for 800 yards a game works out for them, when their defense gives up just as much.

You know they say luck is the residue of hard work.

our team played pretty intense football and put up 28 in the first half, and we did put together a great drive with that slant to tate that went for like 40 yards, i was worried that we were just getting lucky and we wouldn't be able to put drive together but we did. we moved the ball well and that last pass in the endzone to floyd could have been caught it was put right on the money between those 2 defenders.

i don't think the turnvovers diminish this victory at all, its not like mich gameplanned and said "lets fumble a buncha times and give this game away" plus even after the turnovers happened you have to do something with it and we did, 3 tds, 21 points, last year it probably would have been 3 fgs 9 points. so like charlie said "you can tell me how bad the win was all you want, but the fact remains WE WON" 2-0!! GO IRISH!!!!

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

What about our performance in the red zone? What about not giving up a single sack against a very good defensive front? What about closing down McGuffie in the second half? All those things are not luck. We made the most out of opportunities given to us. We played very well and were focused and intense. I guess you can call it what you like, but I call it being 2-0!!!

 

[goldandblue]

Well I haven't chimed in yet for the post game discussion so here goes.

1. Everyone of us were worried about how our Offensive Line would perform against a veteran and very good front Seven of UM. I was VERY pleased with the job they did.

2. Jimmy Clausen played a very good game as well. Making pretty good decisions most of the time minus the INT. His stats didn't look good partly because we started the first two drives in the Red Zone and the second Half was a down pour.

3. Running Backs and Wide Receivers. I thought they all played a good game. The receivers looked good but the backfield needs to find an identity. One of the three running backs need to step up and put the rest of the competition behind him. I thought Aldridge looked very good in his limited time on the field.

4. Defense. This was probably the most disappointing part of the game for me. Again for 2 weeks in a row no pressure on the qb. Not at all what I was expecting from a Tenuta led defense. Don't get me wrong the played well I was just looking for a little more. Focus on the fundamentals Tackling, Block shedding, etc. I also realize that it is hard to make tackles sometimes in the rain but McGuffie had way too many yards.

5. Special Teams. How many pixie sticks does Anello eat before a game? Obviously he's not the fastest guy out there but he always seems to be one of the first down to cover the returner. Special Teams played very well.

 

[The Polish Irishman]

I noticed Depth (I have not seen this in years). Young depth, but yet depth. Blanton, Gray, Mullen, Fleming, Big Trev.
This is a very good sign. Gray had a nice interception, but did get beat a couple of times.

Special times was better, but still shaky at time. Coverage was awesome.

O-Line gets the game ball.

Defense with no pressure is not a big deal. Every team will gameplan to handle the blitz. Takes them out of their comfort zone.

K-Fed. Dam. That kid is good.

GOLDEN TATE= great hands, speed, everything was great. He can tell how good his hands were on the kickoffs.

Floyd- He will be a beast, one bad play on the offensive pass interference, but he is going to be special.

 

[ACamp1900]

I will say this... it is very frustrating watching our D continue to blitz... not come CLOSE to a sack or substantial pressure... while our D backs are in ten yard cushions... we have to man up and bump them at the line more often or we will get SMOKED against the more pass happy teams...

I am a die hard by I am a realist... at this point, we have zero shot at even remotely competing against SC... and I don't think they are half as good and most do... but that just looks like a horrible matchup for us...

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

I will say this... it is very frustrating watching our D continue to blitz... not come CLOSE to a sack or substantial pressure... while our D backs are in ten yard cushions... we have to man up and bump them at the line more often or we will get SMOKED against the more pass happy teams...

I am a die hard by I am a realist... at this point, we have zero shot at even remotely competing against SC... and I don't think they are half as good and most do... but that just looks like a horrible matchup for us...

If we had to play SC this week, I might just agree with you even though I am a die hard optimist. However, the SC game is more than two months away and we are getting better week to week. I think we have a long way to go, but I also think you can't write this team off in any game this year. We are only two games in and this team has already proven a lot of people wrong. I think it will be the end of October before we get a good read on how good this team is going to be this year. You can see the confidence starting to emerge and that will translate to some good things on the field.

 

[Mr. McGibblets]

I think the punting has been over-looked. Its nice to have a weapon like Eric Maust when the offense stalls. Especially when he was dealing with balls rolling back to him because of the bad weather conditions. He fielded them and got them out of there. The one that almost got blocked rolled all the way out to around the 50 yard line. This aspect is definitely one of my PROS. He has a caonnon for a leg. Eric Maust for Heisman.

 

[mick2]

I will say this... it is very frustrating watching our D continue to blitz... not come CLOSE to a sack or substantial pressure... while our D backs are in ten yard cushions... we have to man up and bump them at the line more often or we will get SMOKED against the more pass happy teams...

I am a die hard by I am a realist... at this point, we have zero shot at even remotely competing against SC... and I don't think they are half as good and most do... but that just looks like a horrible matchup for us...

we're only two games in, so my main focus is msu but....osu got trounced saturday pretty much just as bad as we did last year, we've already beaten one of the teams that beat us last year(38-0), so lets see how improved we are against the other teams that we play that were on the schedule last year, if we beat all of the teams that were on the schedule last year, i would say we have a good chance at competing with usc. it will be super tough tho because you know they'll be waiting for us, they won't be sleeping like last year vs stanford. but hey the ball has been bouncing our way so far.

 

[phork]

Compete with USC this year? Mick bro, I love you all you guys... But stop over dosing on the kool-aid.

 

[YoderDame]

Sometimes its better to be lucky than good. All I'm saying is that in every game the rest of this year we will not get 6 turnovers in one of them. Michigan gift wrapped this win for us. If we cannot get a running game going, and get our new Blitz schemes actually making pressure, then we aren't going to be very successful.

2 things win championships. Running & ball control and Defense. Ask TexasTech how throwing for 800 yards a game works out for them, when their defense gives up just as much.

So your saying that the Robert Hughes 2 yard run wasn't impressive? Or, the Duval Kamara 10 yard pass from Clausen wasn't a skilled play? Or, the Golden Tate 48 yard pass from Clausen wasn't planned? Or, the Hughes 1 yard run was a mistake? Or, the Brian Smith 40 fumble return wasn't practiced? Hell guys, I think we might as well throw in the towel because we don't stand a chance!!!!