nd1
New member
- Messages
- 2,036
- Reaction score
- 24
Notre Dame — Six games in, the Irish are right down the middle
by: Ben Ford
Posted: 10/11/2010 12:18:00 AM
Enlarge Text Size | Decrease Text Size | Change Font | Print |
NOTRE DAME -- There have been surprises along the way, as there always are, but as Notre Dame hits the halfway point of its season, it's hard to be too shocked about where the Irish find themselves.
They're 3-3, and almost the textbook definition of average.
They've beaten the teams they should beat. They've lost to teams you'd figure an average team would lose to. A couple of the wins could have been losses; a couple of the losses could have been wins.
Truth Photo By Jennifer Shephard Notre Dameâ??s Theo Riddick (6) makes a long stride before cutting back past Pittâ??s Antwuan Reed (22) for a gain on the ground during action at Notre Dame Stadium Saturday, October 9, 2010.
Click a photo to enlarge
They show tremendous promise at times and make you want to throw your remote control through the television screen at others because of inconsistency and inexplicable breakdowns in all three phases of the game.
They improve from week to week, though probably not as quickly as the coaching staff and fans would like, and most of that improvement has been structural, the kind that takes place behind the scenes.
But on gameday, as Brian Kelly said after Saturday's 23-17 victory over Pittsburgh, they get their 60 minutes worth.
"I thought we'd be where we are, probably, with our offense," Kelly said Sunday afternoon. "I think we're a little bit ahead with our rush defense."
While that offense continues to develop at the pace of its quarterback, Dayne Crist, the defense has not only carried the load during games but in many ways embodied the mental and physical toughness Kelly wants to see throughout the team.
Through six games, Notre Dame has allowed its opponents to enter the red zone 19 times, but only seven of those possessions have ended in touchdowns.
"We build that mentality in the way we train. We do that in offseason conditioning, we do that in the summer," Kelly said. "You just build that belief that when you go out there, you don't have a breaking point. Those are the things that we try to instill in the entire program."
The defense may have to continue to lead the way as Kelly keeps a tight leash on the offense.
"I'm managing (Crist) a lot more than I would a quarterback that has a lot more experience in the spread," Kelly said. "Because of that, the quarterback can't be freewheeling. At times, we just have to maintain possession."
RUDOLPH DILEMMA
With three weeks still to go before the bye week, Kelly faces a tough decision regarding standout tight end Kyle Rudolph, who hasn't fully recovered from a preseason hamstring injury.
It sounded Sunday as if Rudolph could be shut down for the game against Western Michigan, though the final decision won't be made until later this week.
"I think we all know he's struggling out there. He's trying to play and help the football team and he's not 100 percent," Kelly said. "Obviously we want to see him get better, and if that means we have to shut him down, we'll shut him down."
The problem with that strategy: Backup tight end Tyler Eifert isn't at full strength because of a shoulder injury, and third-stringer Mike Ragone, who dropped a potentially game-sealing catch against Pitt, is still rusty.
"He hasn't played a lot," Kelly said of Ragone, "and it showed."
BAD CALL?
Kelly didn't agree with the officials' call of an incomplete pass instead of intentional grounding in the end zone late in Saturday's game, but he chalked that up to a difference of opinion between he and the refs.
The pass interference penalty on Theo Riddick that nullified a Michael Floyd touchdown, though? That one was just wrong.
"Just disagree fundamentally with the call," Kelly said. "I've watched it a number of times. We'll have a conversation with the (Big East Conference) supervisor of referees. I've been running that play a long time and we've never had it called because we run it the right way."
Riddick said the defender simply ran into him and it looked like interference.
"I ran to the sideline in disbelief," Riddick said.
STILL TO COME
The six remaining Notre Dame opponents have compiled a 21-12 record, compared to the 23-10 mark its first six foes have posted.
Based on the Sagarin computer ratings, the Irish should be favored in four of their final six games -- at home against Western Michigan and Tulsa and in neutral site games against Army and Navy -- and underdogs at home against 11th-ranked Utah and at USC.
by: Ben Ford
Posted: 10/11/2010 12:18:00 AM
Enlarge Text Size | Decrease Text Size | Change Font | Print |
NOTRE DAME -- There have been surprises along the way, as there always are, but as Notre Dame hits the halfway point of its season, it's hard to be too shocked about where the Irish find themselves.
They're 3-3, and almost the textbook definition of average.
They've beaten the teams they should beat. They've lost to teams you'd figure an average team would lose to. A couple of the wins could have been losses; a couple of the losses could have been wins.
Truth Photo By Jennifer Shephard Notre Dameâ??s Theo Riddick (6) makes a long stride before cutting back past Pittâ??s Antwuan Reed (22) for a gain on the ground during action at Notre Dame Stadium Saturday, October 9, 2010.
Click a photo to enlarge
They show tremendous promise at times and make you want to throw your remote control through the television screen at others because of inconsistency and inexplicable breakdowns in all three phases of the game.
They improve from week to week, though probably not as quickly as the coaching staff and fans would like, and most of that improvement has been structural, the kind that takes place behind the scenes.
But on gameday, as Brian Kelly said after Saturday's 23-17 victory over Pittsburgh, they get their 60 minutes worth.
"I thought we'd be where we are, probably, with our offense," Kelly said Sunday afternoon. "I think we're a little bit ahead with our rush defense."
While that offense continues to develop at the pace of its quarterback, Dayne Crist, the defense has not only carried the load during games but in many ways embodied the mental and physical toughness Kelly wants to see throughout the team.
Through six games, Notre Dame has allowed its opponents to enter the red zone 19 times, but only seven of those possessions have ended in touchdowns.
"We build that mentality in the way we train. We do that in offseason conditioning, we do that in the summer," Kelly said. "You just build that belief that when you go out there, you don't have a breaking point. Those are the things that we try to instill in the entire program."
The defense may have to continue to lead the way as Kelly keeps a tight leash on the offense.
"I'm managing (Crist) a lot more than I would a quarterback that has a lot more experience in the spread," Kelly said. "Because of that, the quarterback can't be freewheeling. At times, we just have to maintain possession."
RUDOLPH DILEMMA
With three weeks still to go before the bye week, Kelly faces a tough decision regarding standout tight end Kyle Rudolph, who hasn't fully recovered from a preseason hamstring injury.
It sounded Sunday as if Rudolph could be shut down for the game against Western Michigan, though the final decision won't be made until later this week.
"I think we all know he's struggling out there. He's trying to play and help the football team and he's not 100 percent," Kelly said. "Obviously we want to see him get better, and if that means we have to shut him down, we'll shut him down."
The problem with that strategy: Backup tight end Tyler Eifert isn't at full strength because of a shoulder injury, and third-stringer Mike Ragone, who dropped a potentially game-sealing catch against Pitt, is still rusty.
"He hasn't played a lot," Kelly said of Ragone, "and it showed."
BAD CALL?
Kelly didn't agree with the officials' call of an incomplete pass instead of intentional grounding in the end zone late in Saturday's game, but he chalked that up to a difference of opinion between he and the refs.
The pass interference penalty on Theo Riddick that nullified a Michael Floyd touchdown, though? That one was just wrong.
"Just disagree fundamentally with the call," Kelly said. "I've watched it a number of times. We'll have a conversation with the (Big East Conference) supervisor of referees. I've been running that play a long time and we've never had it called because we run it the right way."
Riddick said the defender simply ran into him and it looked like interference.
"I ran to the sideline in disbelief," Riddick said.
STILL TO COME
The six remaining Notre Dame opponents have compiled a 21-12 record, compared to the 23-10 mark its first six foes have posted.
Based on the Sagarin computer ratings, the Irish should be favored in four of their final six games -- at home against Western Michigan and Tulsa and in neutral site games against Army and Navy -- and underdogs at home against 11th-ranked Utah and at USC.
