Sep 10 | at Michigan

[irishff1014]

Check out this gem of a post from a Michigan fan:

"Thankfully Brandon hired the best coach in the country for M. Bar none. I wouldn't trade Brady Hoke for Kelly, Harbaugh and Miles combined. Beat ND!"

He's not a very smart fan then.

 

[BurningRiver]

Check out this gem of a post from a Michigan fan:

"Thankfully Brandon hired the best coach in the country for M. Bar none. I wouldn't trade Brady Hoke for Kelly, Harbaugh and Miles combined. Beat ND!"

I'm going to put that bad boy up on my refrigerator

 

[Whiskeyjack]

We'll see how they like Brady Hoax on Sunday.

"He's not using Denard right!"

"Why didn't he let Shoelaces run all over ND?"

 

[Buster Bluth]

how real of a possibility is Notre Dame starting the season 0-3.

There is just no way that Michigan State beats Notre Dame. I refuse to believe they have a good shot. Notre Dame matches up too well against them in the trenches and they are slow elsewhere.

 

[Riddickulous]

There is just no way that Michigan State beats Notre Dame. I refuse to believe they have a good shot. Notre Dame matches up too well against them in the trenches and they are slow elsewhere.

Michigan State always overachieves against us.

 

[phork]

Check out this gem of a post from a Michigan fan:

"Thankfully Brandon hired the best coach in the country for M. Bar none. I wouldn't trade Brady Hoke for Kelly, Harbaugh and Miles combined. Beat ND!"

Same fan was crying in his Zima when Harbaugh said NO and Miles declined as well. Bitched and moaned about Hoke being hired. Much like most UM fans he is now proudly flaunting that Michigan is back because of a superior recruiting class, so far, and a 34-20 win vs WMU. The sad part for them is that Rees to Floyd is deadlier than Cudner to whoever their #1 WR was.

 

[]\/[GoBlue]

http://www.theartthearttheart.com/w...an-football-wallpaper-2011-notre-dame-4x3.jpg

 

[Whiskeyjack]

http://www.theartthearttheart.com/w...an-football-wallpaper-2011-notre-dame-4x3.jpg

]V[GoBlue: Care to give us your feelings on the upcoming game in light of recent events? I'd be especially interested in how you feel your DL and OL wil matchup with our units.

 

[]\/[GoBlue]

sure..

I honestly think our DL should put more pressure on Ress (?) than what was put on (insert ND QB here) last year, but since we didn't put steady pressure on your QB's last year that doesn't mean I'm saying we're going to sack him 4 or 5 times. Just that the pressure should improve on our end. I would also expect more of Kovacs blitzing in, but I bet Woods should be better at picking up the blitz than Westerns RB. I give us 1 sack, 6 or so rushed passes, and better pressure over all from last year.

I'm really not sure what to expect out of our secondary, no big plays were given up, good form tackles were made, but open receivers were still there, and that one wideout (white, I think) had a banner day on us. I'm hoping a full game of Wolfolk will help with your talented group of wideouts.

Our special teams still sucked. If it comes down to us pinning you back and not letting you have a good punt return/kickoff or god forbid us making a field goal, we're doomed.

I did watch some of your game too, and I gotta say, your line didn't do a great job of containing USF's QB. Do you think your front seven will do a better job with Denard?

I wish I had more to go off of, but with 5 offensive series, the delays, conditions, and shortened game I just can't. To be honest this seems more like our first game than last week. Too little to judge.

Edit:

One thing I didn't see discussed much, if it was I missed it because I'm not combing through 21 pages, was the penalties. We had one, I think, you had like 80 something yards assessed. Were these holding/offsides, or personal? Was this a problem last year too?

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Thanks for the reasoned response.

I honestly think our DL should put more pressure on Ress (?) than what was put on (insert ND QB here) last year, but since we didn't put steady pressure on your QB's last year that doesn't mean I'm saying we're going to sack him 4 or 5 times. Just that the pressure should improve on our end. I would also expect more of Kovacs blitzing in, but I bet Woods should be better at picking up the blitz than Westerns RB. I give us 1 sack, 6 or so rushed passes, and better pressure over all from last year.

Thought I read you guys don't have much in the way of DL depth. Our OL played well against USF and looks to be one of our strongest units right now. Is your DL the strength of your defense? Are you concerned about lack of depth/ wearing down as the game progresses?

Our special teams still sucked. If it comes down to us pinning you back and not letting you have a good punt return/kickoff or god forbid us making a field goal, we're doomed.

We were horrible on punts and punt returns; I wouldn't be worried unless there's drastic improvement from last Saturday.

I did watch some of your game too, and I gotta say, your line didn't do a great job of containing USF's QB. Do you think your front seven will do a better job with Denard?

One of our OLBs (Fleming) lost contain on Daniels several times in the first half, which hurt us. We did a much better job of containing Daniels in the second half, though Daniels is no Denard.

From the highlights I watched of your game, I didn't see much in the way of spread formations/ principles. Are you concerned that Denard won't be nearly as dangerous when he's not in a position to improvise with his legs on every play?

One thing I didn't see discussed much, if it was I missed it because I'm not combing through 21 pages, was the penalties. We had one, I think, you had like 80 something yards assessed. Were these holding/offsides, or personal? Was this a problem last year too?

A couple of the penalties were very questionable calls, but most of them were just stupid personal fouls by veteran defensive players. We're hoping Kelly will beat that out of them in practice this week.

 

[BeauBenken]

One thing I didn't see discussed much, if it was I missed it because I'm not combing through 21 pages, was the penalties. We had one, I think, you had like 80 something yards assessed. Were these holding/offsides, or personal? Was this a problem last year too?

We had one hold which I would argue had little impact on the play but was called nonetheless.

I think we had 4 personals: two facemasks in a row on Harrison Smith, a late hit by Gary Gray, and a late hit by Ethan Johnson.

This is pretty uncharacteristic when compared to last year's team.

http://www.theartthearttheart.com/w...an-football-wallpaper-2011-notre-dame-4x3.jpg

I wish we had someone making awesome art like that.

 

[]\/[GoBlue]

Thanks for the reasoned response.



Thought I read you guys don't have much in the way of DL depth. Our OL played well against USF and looks to be one of our strongest units right now. Is your DL the strength of your defense? Are you concerned about lack of depth/ wearing down as the game progresses?

I am, I guess with the delay and extra rest it wasn't as noticed. As far as strengths go for our D, yes I guess they are.

From the highlights I watched of your game, I didn't see much in the way of spread formations/ principles. Are you concerned that Denard won't be nearly as dangerous when he's not in a position to improvise with his legs on every play?

I think Denard averaged 6.8 ypc, so they used him, just not as much. And as far as using the spread goes they were in it 70% of the time (or in the gun). Just not as many designed Denard runs.

 

[NDMontana]

He was on at half time during the MD game and said that as long as ND doesn't turn the ball over they will win. He said with 500 plus yards of defense he was impressed with the ofense. Is he getting sick.

May showed an amazing immunity for years but, finally, he's caught the fLou. Wah wah wah.....

 

[irishtrain]

This will be a perfect setting to set the tone for the rest of the year. I think they win this game. These football guys that seem to be saying good things do so because they see the talent and know if Notre Dame starts feeing it all hell will break loose. The dont like Notre Dame they are just realists. This is a talented football team that needs a QB to run the show-the rest is in place.

 

[IrishAlum1997]

Line has moved back to -3.5

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Line has moved back to -3.5

Must be from the Skunkbear's consumption of scallions.....





I kid.................Mods, don't kill this . mea culpa. Just a joke between IA1197 and I. LOL

 

[IrishAlum1997]

Must be from the Skunkbear's consumption of scallions.....





I kid.................Mods, don't kill this . mea culpa. Just a joke between IA1197 and I. LOL

HCTI, you "Scalli-wag." Errrrrr.....beat Michigan!

 

[Brutus]

I think Notre Dame will win. Maybe not easily, but IMO by double digits.


This Michigan team is going to take time to get back to competing, Rich Rod really did a number on them. Defense looked better under the new D coordinator from the NFL, but Western Michigan pretty much drove down the field at will on the first couple of drives.

Then Michigan began to blitz, the front four just wasn't get things done. That, along with giving up almost 300 yards to a MAC team in only 3 quarters of play would concern me.

But they did look a little better, I will give them that.


With Rees at the helm, ND will fare much better. I think both UM's and ND's games last week were aberrations, not the norm. Not saying UM is going to lose to WMU if they play again, but I think it would be a little closer. And if ND is on their A game, they should be able to handle USF.



Should be an interesting game though.

 

[NDMontana]

I think Notre Dame will win. Maybe not easily, but IMO by double digits.


This Michigan team is going to take time to get back to competing, Rich Rod really did a number on them. Defense looked better under the new D coordinator from the NFL, but Western Michigan pretty much drove down the field at will on the first couple of drives.

Then Michigan began to blitz, the front four just wasn't get things done. That, along with giving up almost 300 yards to a MAC team in only 3 quarters of play would concern me.

But they did look a little better, I will give them that.


With Rees at the helm, ND will fare much better. I think both UM's and ND's games last week were aberrations, not the norm. Not saying UM is going to lose to WMU if they play again, but I think it would be a little closer. And if ND is on their A game, they should be able to handle USF.



Should be an interesting game though.

I don't think Notre Dame's performance was an abberation, just the turnovers. I expect maybe one or two a game, at most, from here on out. The offense, yardage wise, was real. The solid defense was real too, at least against a team without an abundance of speed.
As for UM they have a new coach and philosophy. I think we need to see five or six games before we say what Michigan is or is not.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

If I were gameplanning for Michigan, I think I would play more of a nickel base defense than a 3-4/4-3 hybrid. I would like our chances with Nix and Cwynar at DT, Johnson and KLM at DE, then Manti and Fleming playing the LB spots. I would roll with Motta as a hybrid safety/LB instead of Fox and Carlo inside. It would give us a big speed upgrade to defende the spread, and with that kind of size, including Nix and two legit 300-305 DEs up front and 2 legit 255 lb linebackers it would give us enough size to still be stout against more traditional run plays. It would also help with gap contraol and allowing our DE's to play out a little wider in efforts to keep Denard in the pocket as much as possible.

Obviously we would show many fronts, including our more traditional 3-4/4-3 hybrid, but if our guys could execute this scheme it could confuse Michigan.

 

[Mr. McGibblets]

Well if Kelly yells the way he did the entire USF game then they will lose by double digits...


Wait, what do italics mean?

Anyway, I also think ND wins be 10+ points. I dont see how they dont come out focused, determined, and full of energy.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

Just watched some highlights of the UM WMU game:

- Denard doesn't very often and still can't effectively throw the long ball.

- WMU D-line was porous and let up a few huge runs. We should control the line of scrimmage.

- The UM defense looks to be a little sharper in terms of tackling and getting after the ball. (Kovacks kid is pretty good) They will be blitzing.. a lot.

- I think Tommy will do well with the short passing game due to Mattison's blitz heavy approach. Tommy can hit slants and outs with the best of em all day.

- Again, this game will come down to containing Denard. They still have him in the shotgun plenty and you can tell he's always ready to take off.

- i agree with whoever posted the Nickel package approach to Denard. Use our D-Line as an advantage. Let them take the load and get more speed out there containing Denard.

- If Cierre can run on this D and we don't have a repeat of last weeks mistakes, we should win by at least 10.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

A Sports Illustrated interview with Kelly can be found here.

He doesn't reveal anything earth-shattering, but you may find it interesting anyway.

 

[IrishLax]

The season (and probably our recruiting class) hinges on the next two games.

2 wins = USF was a fluke, oh well.
1 win = season still salvageable... but we are teetering on the brink.
0 wins = first decommits and people jumping off of high places.

I am legitimately nervous. This is a statement game. Are we going to turn the corner or just be good enough to "compete" and lose heart breakers? I hate how one game means so much in college football. In any other sport you've just got to make the playoffs and go from there.

 

[Mr. McGibblets]

The season (and probably our recruiting class) hinges on the next two games.

2 wins = USF was a fluke, oh well.
1 win = season still salvageable... but we are teetering on the brink.
0 wins = first decommits and people jumping off of high places.

I am legitimately nervous. This is a statement game. Are we going to turn the corner or just be good enough to "compete" and lose heart breakers? I hate how one game means so much in college football. In any other sport you've just got to make the playoffs and go from there.

The bolded part is the reason that I am nervous. If ND doesnt go on that mini-run to end the season, does ND even get Tuitt, Ishaq, and Aaron? I do not want to see decommits.

 

[ErieIrish13]

For those interested, the ND Michigan game from 2009 is on Big Ten network now.

 

[koonja]

Sorry if this has been discussed, I haven't been on in a couple days...

Notre Dame HC Brian Kelly: On if Rees couldn't return after banged up - Not sure which frosh would go in. Likely Dayne Crist.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Dem boys are krunked...sh*t...

That's how they need to play

 

[nlroma1o]

After taking a minor hiatus from discussing football with anyone ( here on IE and in my daily life). I have official began the **** talking with the scUM fans I know and interract with. I know its a few days late, but i had to stop slitting my wrist eventually. BK and the IRISH are pisssssssed off! I would not want to be scUM right now!

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

Just to add to my idea of a nickel D, i would like to see a lot of fronts where we move Ethan inside to DI, put Fleming with his hand on the ground and tell him to get after Denard, and let Shembo roam the LB position with Te'o. No needs for a 3rd LB in a 4-3. Roll with Motta as the safatey and maybe Slaughter or even Harrison as a spy since they are the more athletic safeties. This is where it would be awesome if guys like Bennett Jackson were up to speed and ready for action on D. He is every bit as athletic as Denard. Michigan's power game does not scare me this week.