Post Game Observations

[Riddickulous]

* 8-4.

* Two weeks to prepare for this game and the team was completely unprepared. We did not come ready to play today.

* Tommy Rees was alright. The interception was a killer.

* Dayne Crist. Ugh.

* No running game. At all.

* Floyd was completely shut down.

* Riddick had a nice day.

* Offensive line had great protection, but the run blocking was eh.

* Defensive line was crap. Hardly any pressure on Barkley and non-existent against a horrible running team. Ethan Johnson's absence is huge.

* Linebackers were crap.

* Secondary was atrocious. We're absolutely ****ed next year against the pass.

* Special teams were good.

* GAIII is going to be a beast.

 

[irishff1014]

very well said you hit every topic perfectly.

 

[Fan of the Irish]

* Two weeks to prepare for this game and the team was completely unprepared. We did not come ready to play today.

This is what got me, there was no excuse for not being prepared.

 

[bert2834]

Bench Rees. He is not the long term answer. Play Hendrix and take your lumps.

Defensive line got man handled.

Our linebackers are not good in pass coverage AT ALL!

Playcalling was atrocious. Option with Rees? Seriously?

Coaching lost this game. Plain and simple. Lo Wood on Robert Woods? How do you get outcoached by Lane freaking Kiffin?

 

[PigtownIrish]

We didn't run the ball enough with Gray. Wood played tentative the whole game.

Add some mind boggling calls from Kelly like an option with Rees into the mix and it's yet another incredibly frustrating defeat.

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

I just don't get it.

There is WAY too much talent on this team for them to fail as much as they do. It happened a lot more under Charlie, of course, but its still happening, and its troubling. It doesn't give me much hope about the future.

 

[WabashFalcon]

* 8-4.

* Two weeks to prepare for this game and the team was completely unprepared. We did not come ready to play today.

* Tommy Rees was alright. The interception was a killer.

* Dayne Crist. Ugh.

* No running game. At all.

* Floyd was completely shut down.

* Riddick had a nice day.

* Offensive line had great protection, but the run blocking was eh.

* Defensive line was crap. Hardly any pressure on Barkley and non-existent against a horrible running team. Ethan Johnson's absence is huge.

* Linebackers were crap.

* Secondary was atrocious. We're absolutely ****ed next year against the pass.

* Special teams were good.

* GAIII is going to be a beast.

Agree with everything but the Linebacker comment. When your DLine is getting pushed five yards back every play, there isn't much you can do. We need a HUGE pair of OLBs to step up.

 

[bert2834]

And Jonas is our best running back. Cierre is to indecisive.

 

[CanadianIrishFan306]

Bench Rees. He is not the long term answer. Play Hendrix and take your lumps.

Why? Rees played good, threw the ball away under pressure, made the right passes had some shaky passes but that is it, why would we just throw him under the bus then?

 

[pkt77242]

Bench Rees. He is not the long term answer. Play Hendrix and take your lumps.

Defensive line got man handled.

Our linebackers are not good in pass coverage AT ALL!

Playcalling was atrocious. Option with Rees? Seriously?

Coaching lost this game. Plain and simple. Lo Wood on Robert Woods? How do you get outcoached by Lane freaking Kiffin?

Really. Please. Stop. We didn't lose this game because of Rees.

We lost this game because we couldn't stop them from running and we couldn't run. That is all.

 

[Green Goblin]

Damn Crist is a poison...I feel bad for him but he is a poison....

 

[IrishLax]

-How much did we miss Ethan Johnson? Was that the reason our run D was so bad? Or was it USC's OL just playing great?
-Our coaches called an awful game. Lo Wood 1v1 with Robert Woods? Completely abandoning the run? And the team was just completely unprepared to play to start the game.
-We have the most hilarious awful mistakes I have ever seen a CFB team have. Chance to tie the game... fumble return for TD. Another chance to get a drive and tie the game... fumbled lateral. You just cannot turn the ball over the way that we do.
-Tommy Rees is a really tough dude and I am interested to see what kind of injury he had.
-Ben Turk had a strong game.
-I cannot believe how not mad I am right now. I can't figure out why. Maybe I've finally subconsciously given up.

 

[The Polish Irishman]

Punting was good for a change. We won ST battle for once.


Manti. What happened?

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

Team looked so flat...don't get it....

 

[PigtownIrish]

We didn't try to run! Our first drive should have been run heavy, but our coach can't resist airing it out!

 

[jmurphy75]

Agreed with everything said, especially more Gray, wtf on some coaching decisions and where was our D line?

 

[CanadianIrishFan306]

i think guys were to pumped up before this game and tried to do everything themselves and once we got down everyone started to panic and again started to try to do everything themselves

 

[Green Goblin]

i think guys were to pumped up before this game and tried to do everything themselves and once we got down everyone started to panic and again started to try to do everything themselves

But they were fighting back!

They were about to tie it up and the momentum was totally on our side.

It can't be understated how big that Crist fumble was....

 

[MexiIrish]

I've been an Irish fan since back in the Montana days all I can say is man... the Irish are consistently a bunch of wussies. I this case I would include the coaches. The play calling in the first half was pathetic. Reese running the option? Are you kidding me? Line up the ball and smash the other team ala Bama and LSU. For such a big, talented team we sure are a bunch of spineless wimps. I say that because I played in high school in California and our teams consistently went to the finals with "smaller" and "slower" players. What we did know was how to get down and get physical and at 170 lbs I could have made most of those missed open filed tackles that those jackass defenders missed on the edge and while chasing Barkeley all night. Champs sports bowl here we come.

 

[CanadianIrishFan306]

But they were fighting back!

They were about to tie it up and the momentum was totally on our side.

It can't be understated how big that Crist fumble was....

sorry meant to talk about defense, they just couldnt make plays at all but the offense played good moving the ball down the field and i personally think that if we had scored instead of crist fumbling our defense would of calm down shut the run down and played better and are offense would of kept rolling

 

[EifertPower]

The Good
*We had good kickoff returns
*Turk did well on punts
*Jonas Gray had a nice TD run
*Our offense did very little and we turned the ball over 3 times, our defense was awful and caused no turnovers and yet we only lost by 14 points
*We could have easily have been down 28-0 at the half and instead we were only down 17-10.
*Michigan State is beating Wisconsin right now

The Bad
*USC had 30 first downs on us
*We lost the turnover battle 3-0.
*Just about everyone on the defense missed a key tackle
*USC wide receivers were wide open all game
*No pass rush
*Defensive line got manhandled
*Tommy Rees showed how limited he is or Brian Kelly is the most conservative play caller ever
*We embarrassed ourselves on national TV with dozens of recruits on hand
*We have no chance at finishing a Top 25 team
*We have to play Andrew Luck in a few weeks

Plays of the Game
1. Kelly calling Rees on the option
2. Carlo Calabrese idiotic 15-yard penalty
3. Dayne Crist's fumble
4. Kelly's stupid play call on 2nd-and-goal of sending Hendrix in
5. Rees missing Eifert for an easy TD late in the 2nd quarter
6. Shembo getting faked out by Barkley on 4th down in the first half

 

[The Polish Irishman]

I've been an Irish fan since back in the Montana days all I can say is man... the Irish are consistently a bunch of wussies. I this case I would include the coaches. The play calling in the first half was pathetic. Reese running the option? Are you kidding me? Line up the ball and smash the other team ala Bama and LSU. For such a big, talented team we sure are a bunch of spineless wimps. I say that because I played in high school in California and our teams consistently went to the finals with "smaller" and "slower" players. What we did know was how to get down and get physical and at 170 lbs I could have made most of those missed open filed tackles that those jackass defenders missed on the edge and while chasing Barkeley all night. Champs sports bowl here we come.

Nice 1st post. I bet u were awesome in high school. Was it flag football?

 

[PigtownIrish]

We need an exorcism. When crist fumbled I couldn't believe it. Twice in one year, I don't think I've ever seen a team be so cursed. Meanwhile Michigan fumbles on the goal line against us and still scores.

 

[BeatSC]

Haven't watched it yet

Haven't watched it yet

I didn't have the stomach or the heart to watch the game live. I just found our from my nephew that ND played their worst game so far this year and USC played their best. USC made the big plays and we made the big mistakes. Who is Kelly going to try and pin this one on this week? Almost all the pundits picked ND. Home field at ND doesn't mean sh-t. Debating whether or not to watch the game. I live in LA and will now have to go to work filled with USC goobs and eat sh-t. Actually some of the Goobs are pretty nice guys as they offered me a ticket to the game. Now we have to wait over a year and play in LA. What a wasted opportunity. All along I had thought that ND could play tough against a conventional offense. They got gashed on the ground by a team with no F'n running game! I think these guys are going to hang their heads pretty hard after being humbled. This is the first game we really got beat this year. I hope they can pull it together for Navy.

 

[pkt77242]

* 8-4.

* Two weeks to prepare for this game and the team was completely unprepared. We did not come ready to play today.

* Tommy Rees was alright. The interception was a killer.

* Dayne Crist. Ugh.

* No running game. At all.

* Floyd was completely shut down.

* Riddick had a nice day.

* Offensive line had great protection, but the run blocking was eh.

* Defensive line was crap. Hardly any pressure on Barkley and non-existent against a horrible running team. Ethan Johnson's absence is huge.

* Linebackers were crap.

* Secondary was atrocious. We're absolutely ****ed next year against the pass.

* Special teams were good.

* GAIII is going to be a beast.

Also Eifert played pretty well too.

 

[Ludzil#1]

Notre Dame had 2 weeks to prepare and that's how they show up and play their biggest rival USC? Stupid penalities, turnovers and poor coaching decisions lost this game for our Fighting Irish. South Florida? How are they doing right now? Michigan? Michigan State exploited Denard Robinson, again! This was the most underperforming USC team Notre Dame has faced in years! I'm sorry, but Bryan Kelly is OVERRATED!

 

[enrico514]

Agreed with most of the comments here. So many things about this game are hard to explain/understand... Rees running the option ???

I've posted this on another thread but I have to say it again... I can't deal with the NBC broadcast anymore. From the start they were showing USC WAY too much love. ND doesn't want the broadcast of their games to be an infomercial but what we get is the exact opposite... our opponents get way too much attention/publicity.

Let's not forget... USC does have great talent...

 

[Axl Rose]

-Should have really ran the ball more, especially with Jonas against their small LB's.

-Atkinson needs to get some time at WR, hes a play maker and should take over for Floyd next year.

-Shembo, Calabrese, and Filer were awful, I don't know whats going on with them. Maybe move Shembo inside.

-I didn't understand putting Hendrix in when the the team was down 14-0. There needs to be more urgency, thats not the time to experiment.

-I don't care what anyone says ND can win with Rees! The play calling just wasn't balanced enough and the team kept having to play catch up.

-ND's secondary needs to be improved and quickly before next year.

 

[Yes]

Anyone asking to bench Rees hasn't watched us play this year. Rees is a gamer. He played well tonight. There's no other QB on this team right now that gives us a better chance to win than Rees.

 

[Grahambo]

-How much did we miss Ethan Johnson? Was that the reason our run D was so bad? Or was it USC's OL just playing great?
-Our coaches called an awful game. Lo Wood 1v1 with Robert Woods? Completely abandoning the run? And the team was just completely unprepared to play to start the game.
-We have the most hilarious awful mistakes I have ever seen a CFB team have. Chance to tie the game... fumble return for TD. Another chance to get a drive and tie the game... fumbled lateral. You just cannot turn the ball over the way that we do.
-Tommy Rees is a really tough dude and I am interested to see what kind of injury he had.
-Ben Turk had a strong game.
-I cannot believe how not mad I am right now. I can't figure out why. Maybe I've finally subconsciously given up.

Spot on for me man.