THEO RIDDICK: what to do with him

[Buster Bluth]

Enough with this "It's been one game" ****ing bullshit.

That's the same tired idiot line every week of every ND season.

**** Dayne and riddick and jones and all these men that **** their pants when they step on the field. Bench them all vs MU.

Oh please! Don't be a dumbass.

This isn't the same old bullshit.

In 2009, Notre Dame would have put up 500 yards of offense, but let up 500 on defense! In 2007, this team would have been stomped into the ground! In 2010 the issue was a ton of injuries!

What happened to thinking that this is the first time the Notre Dame program has been legitimate since Holtz's years? Well, he lost games in ugly fashion too.

You just watched a team DOUBLE the offensive output of their opponent, and watched a defense give one ONE touchdown throughout an ugly game. Between the 20's, Notre Dame dominated this game. The stats reflect that. I know "only the score matters," but in my opinion that's the same old bullshit that needs to change. People who bet for a living don't look at W's/L's or scores, they look at how it happened. Notre Dame lost in a fashion that can definitely be corrected, and can be correctly quickly.

You just watched a backup quarterback throw for 300 yards in one half when everyone in the damn stadium knew he was throwing the ball. You watched an offensive line give up one sack in the second half. You watched Cierre Wood tear up the defense.

And you watched five turnovers done in fashions that will not ever be repeated. You watched bone-headed penalties that the coaching staff can correct in one meeting with film. You watched a ton of crap that is FIXABLE!!!!! What is so hard to understand? That Weis and Willingham couldn't coach a fish to swim? Brian Kelly has proven over the last two decades that his teams improve as the season goes along.

This sounds like the same old bullshit in that last year I was on here (albeit as "IrishInColumbus") saying how the mistakes that are happening would be fixed and Kelly would be okay. At the end of the season that turned out to be the case. You can expect, with the veterans on this team, that the learning curve will be quicker this season.

9-3 is still the benchmark. 10-2 is still the goal. Get out of Michigan/Michigan State with wins and 10-2 is within EASY grasp. One game at a time though.

 

[IrishBlood81]

Fine with me.... Next man in. Otherwise, why the hell are we recruiting? Best man plays or am I wrong? Otherwise, let's just play the seniors and hope they have a great send off into their future endeavors......Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

I feel ya FL....Just don't agree

What if the next man in sucks worse than the first? What if the best man sucks?

 

[NDinFL]

Buster:

THANK YOU

 

[ThePiombino]

Oh please! Don't be a dumbass.

This isn't the same old bullshit.

In 2009, Notre Dame would have put up 500 yards of offense, but let up 500 on defense! In 2007, this team would have been stomped into the ground! In 2010 the issue was a ton of injuries!

What happened to thinking that this is the first time the Notre Dame program has been legitimate since Holtz's years? Well, he lost games in ugly fashion too.

You just watched a team DOUBLE the offensive output of their opponent, and watched a defense give one ONE touchdown throughout an ugly game. Between the 20's, Notre Dame dominated this game. The stats reflect that. I know "only the score matters," but in my opinion that's the same old bullshit that needs to change. People who bet for a living don't look at W's/L's or scores, they look at how it happened. Notre Dame lost in a fashion that can definitely be corrected, and can be correctly quickly.

You just watched a backup quarterback throw for 300 yards in one half when everyone in the damn stadium knew he was throwing the ball. You watched an offensive line give up one sack in the second half. You watched Cierre Wood tear up the defense.

And you watched five turnovers done in fashions that will not ever be repeated. You watched bone-headed penalties that the coaching staff can correct in one meeting with film. You watched a ton of crap that is FIXABLE!!!!! What is so hard to understand? That Weis and Willingham couldn't coach a fish to swim? Brian Kelly has proven over the last two decades that his teams improve as the season goes along.

This sounds like the same old bullshit in that last year I was on here (albeit as "IrishInColumbus") saying how the mistakes that are happening would be fixed and Kelly would be okay. At the end of the season that turned out to be the case. You can expect, with the veterans on this team, that the learning curve will be quicker this season.

9-3 is still the benchmark. 10-2 is still the goal. Get out of Michigan/Michigan State with wins and 10-2 is within EASY grasp. One game at a time though.

While I'm a little skeptical of a 9-3 finish at this point (mainly because I had USF as one of our wins), I completely agree with the rest of your post. You brought up a good point- everything that cost us the game is FIXABLE. It's not about being too slow, or not being strong enough- it's about making the RIGHT decision, it's about executing. THOSE are things that CAN be address, and like Buster said, addressed quickly.

 

[Master Guns]

Riddicks miscues were enough for an entire season. Let's hope he got them all out of his system last night.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I have a theory on Riddick's play. He's not an error-free ball-catcher and he knows it. Giving him the punt return role put too much pressure on him. The muff devastated him. He was nervous all game. Solution?: get him out of there and get Good-hands Goodman in where he belongs.

We can safely leave Theo back on kick-offs. He doesn't seem to shake there at all. I believe that Coach really wanted to see Theo as Marty Gilyard, and that's colored his hopes. But, to me, Theo isn't as tough-minded a person as Gilyard and Coach will have to relieve some stress on him. Then he'll be fine.

 

[EddytoNow]

There is no indication from Theo's past that this is anything other than a freakish game that got out of hand early beginning with Gray's fumble. After Theo's first fumble his confidence was shot. Did you see how long he laid face-down on the turf before getting up?

Theo should remain the starting slot receiver, because we need him there. Let's not forget the Michigan State game last year.

However, it is obvious that Theo is not comfortable fielding punts. It was pretty clear punt after punt that Theo was not getting his feet lined up to catch the punt. He was constantly leaning or stretching out to reach the ball. He may be able to correct the footwork and become a better punt returner, but the season has already started. We cannot afford to have him learn on the job.

In conclusion, continue to use Theo in the slot. Use Goodman or one of the freshmen (Atkinson, Daniels, or McDaniel) to return punts and kick-offs.

 

[ryno 24]

Thank You Buster again the one thing I will say is Lou went 5-7 his first season was it 8-4 his second season and finally won a national title in his 3rd. I saw improvement yesterday. Give the Kids a chance. They played terribly with the mistakes and I was yelling at the tv just as much as anyone else but please it was one game