Post Game Observations

[IrishinSyria]

2. is it just my imagination, or with making the offense "simpler" for the relatively inexperienced Rees (as opposed to the more complicated, score-a-minute plan for Crist) actually making things better for the team as a whole?

Yes. I think the Tulsa game was a huge slice of humble pie for Kelly. Forget foregoing the last minute field goal, he put us in a position to lose that game when he had Rees throw the ball 50 times. Ever since then I've noticed the staff has been willing to adjust their philosophy. He's simplified the offensive game plan, let our running backs carry the load, started worrying about ball possession, punted the ball from the 35 etc... He's become the anti-Kelly. I don't expect this to last, but he's letting these guys earn their wins through hard work and discipline. Over time, he will bring back the more complex layers that work very well if you have established a sound base to build off of.

 

[IrishAlum1997]

Currently watching the game for the first time. My in-game observation...Kyle Rudolph is a beast of a man. Holy cripes.

 

[tko]

God i love when our opponents spend some time in the woodshed.

 

[irishff1014]

Over all the game was pretty good for us. I would have loved to score more points. The offense didn't impress me much in the second half we need to be able to score points even when you up. The one thing about Wood is he kills him self sometimes with his fancy foot work crap. there was a couple of plays he just needed to settle for 2 and 3 yard gains and got nothing or loss a yard or 2.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Kelly made the offense even more conservative in the second half to eat the clock. Smart strategy. He has, I believe, sacrificed some of his "riverboat-gambler" mentality to try to get the extra 15 practices, up the general optimism, and save the recruit class. I'm almost sure that Kelly is the type of "administrator" who never loses sight of a big picture and is weighing lots of things. Tonight, with the guys playing well, and the defense great, he stuffed his circus into his back pocket. He'll bring it out again when our O-guys are really ready for it, neverfear.

 

[phork]

I would have liked more points as well.. But with all the injuries conservative is the way to go. Get the lead, protect the lead.

 

[irishff1014]

We need to get used to scoring points in the second half and putting people out of the game. Because until the pick 6 really Army wasn't out of the game. We are going to need to play all 60 mion this coming weekend and play our A game.

 

[lookingdeadred]

Agreed

Agreed

Too bad it has come so late in his career

Brian Smith has been one of our best players over the past 3 weeks.

 

[lookingdeadred]

Kudos for Diaco also

Kudos for Diaco also

clearly he learned some things from the Navy debacle.

KUDOS to every guy on D!!! Our D settled down after the first drive and plain and simpled dominated.

 

[DillonHall]

Isn't is refreshing to have a coaching staff that can make adjustments throughout the season and within games? At the very least, it really has the improve the level of confidence that the players have in their coaches.

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

Here's my observation: Rees isn't perfect, but he is playing really well for a true freshman. The biggest difference between he and Dayne is that I'm not sitting in my chair thinking "God, this kid is a frigging scattergun" all game long, like I did when Dayne was in there. Its night and day difference in terms of accuracy.

I hope Dayne gets it together and can be starter next year, but if he can't, I feel fine with Rees.

 

[ryno 24]

yea i want to start winning by 30 against bad teams not against army cause that would be in bad taste but other teams kelly has done this in the past Notre Dame is not known for running up scores but this is one thing we need to update

 

[IrishinSyria]

not against army cause that would be in bad taste

I think that this came into Kelly's head. I know I didn't want us to blow them out, win comfortably was plenty good for me. Embarrassing Army on national TV in Yankee stadium would not have been good for Kelly's reputation or the ND brand.

 

[tripsdad]

The game as a whole was played very quickly - didn't the first half only take about 45 min? When the game was over, I got the feeling that NBC had expected the game to take 3 hours and they were searching for things to fill up the remaining time (multiple replays of key plays, multiple replaying of old ND-Army games, etc)

 

[irishff1014]

Who cares if it is army they are there to play if not the get blown out. This is not pop warner football either come to play or get blown out.

 

[CanadianIrish]

Tommy looked good, Walls looked very good on the pick, we played better against the option. Hard to judge much more than that from this game.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Tommy Rees, Cierre Wood, TJ Jones, Tyler Eifert, Zach Martin, Prince Shembo, Kona Schwenke, Carlo Calabrese.

All of those guys have 3 years left after this one. Let that sink in a little.

 

[domerfreak]

i have faith in the guy. A string of 20 in a row is some pretty heavy pressure! So IMHO he could handle a long field with only a second left.

 

[Mavericknyc1980]

You can see them build confidence. This team is going to be going places really soon.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Just look at this for next year.

QB: Rees/Crist/Hendrix
RB: Wood/Gray
WR: TJ Jones/Jackson
WR: Riddick/Goodman
WR: Toma/Atkinson
TE: Eifert
OT: Martin
OT: Dever
OG: Robinson
OG: Watt
C: Cave

DE: Lewis-Moore/Schwenke
DE: Johnson/Tuitt
NG: Nix
OLB: Shembo
OLB: Fleming
ILB: Te'o
ILB: Calabrese
CB: Blanton
CB: Gray
FS: H. Smith
SS: Slaughter/Motta

So much experience on that team. We could be so good next year if everything goes our way.

 

[irishff1014]

yea but we have a tough schedule next year.

 

[tommyIRISH23]

yea but we have a tough schedule next year.

It's not that bad, it definitely manageable

 

[irishff1014]

We will have tough Games with Mich,Mich state,Pitt,USC,Navy,Stanford, Maryland and games i don't think will be tough USF,Purdue,Air Force, Wake Forest,BC

 

[IHateMarkMay]

I don't see Maryland as a problem.

 

[irishff1014]

They have played tough this year with a freshman QB.

 

[dshans]

Clearly, based on our 5 losses this year and far too many losses in recent years, each and every game is a "tough" one.

The questions are simple: "Can we rise to the occasion?" I certainly hope so. Tradition and all that. "Is Kelly's hurry-up spread offense ND's salvation?" We shall see. "Does defense matter?" Hell yes! Limit opponents to 3 points (0 would be better, of course) and chances of victory are vastly improved. "Are the Irish our favorite team?" Damn straight they are, come hell or high water!

Go Irish, pound USC into the Pacific at low tide!

 

[aubeirish]

We will have tough Games with Mich,Mich state,Pitt,USC,Navy,Stanford, Maryland and games i don't think will be tough USF,Purdue,Air Force, Wake Forest,BC

There are no easy games on that schedule. We have to remember that ND will always get the best shot out of everybody. But, I am very confident that Kelly will have the guys ready to play before each and every game. One more year will also make a huge difference as the players get even more comfortable with Kelly' system, especially with the number of key guys coming back. We might be able to see consistency for the first time in a long time.
That would feel good.

 

[DaLastFarleyite]

I am surprised that I haven't seen in this thread any apologies from those absolutely crucifying Diaco in previous threads.

Can anyone point me in the direction of said apologies???

One defensive touchdown in 3 weeks? Against teams averaging 41 and 30 plus points?

 

[jason_h537]

D played solid again.

Rees (aside from the early **** up) played smart again

We dominated the line on both sides

Running game was more than efficiant

 

[phork]

I am surprised that I haven't seen in this thread any apologies from those absolutely crucifying Diaco in previous threads.

Can anyone point me in the direction of said apologies???

One defensive touchdown in 3 weeks? Against teams averaging 41 and 30 plus points?

Much like you expect a Harrison Smith apology? We are 6-5. Lets leave it at that.