2014 Fall Camp Thread

[Whiskeyjack]

OH MY GOOOOOD

4DL: I. Williams - Day - Rochelle/Jones - Trumbetti
3LB: Jaylon - Schmidt/Morgan - James O.
Corners: Riggs - Russell
Safeties: Redfield - Collinsworth - Shumate (Nickel)

Seem accurate as of right now as far as starters go?

Yes, with Onwualu making way for Shumate in Nickel packages.

That's a lot of athleticism on defense. More than I can remember us fielding in recent memory. If we can avoid the DL injury bug that hit us last year, this should be fun to watch.

Edit: Rochelle isn't a NT. He's likely #2 SDE and DT.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Starting line-up at Rice:

SDE - I. Williams, Isaac Rochelle
NT - J. Jones, D. Cage.
DT - S. Day, J. Bonner?
WDE - Trumbetti, Okwara

**Speed Package to include: Williams & Hill, possibly Rabasa

SAM - Onwualu, Turner
MIKE - Schmidt, Morgan
WILL - Jaylon, Martini

CB - Keivarae Russell, Devin Butler
CB - Cody Riggs, Cole Luke
Nickel - Shumate, Baratti
SS - Colinsworth, Shumate
FS - Redfield, Farley

What do you think? Where'd I mess up?

 

[Bogtrotter07]

About that play with Luatua pancaking Onwualu, it looks to me like Onwualu was taking coaching and not concentrating on the rep. So, Luatua got into his body right away.

I think Onwualu has the strength and speed to keep most players away from his body all game long.

And, I think that Luatua is going to go (boom!) on a lot of players this year.

Fifteen seconds of tape out of context leaves the wrong impression.

 

[IrishLax]

Also, people should appreciate that against physical teams personnel groupings are probably going to be much different.

No doubt in my mind that Councell/Randolph gets looks as the primary SAM for a team like Stanford. Martini is getting looks at WILL so that he can fill in as an ILB against power teams as much as it is to potentially spell Jaylon (remember, Jaylon had to get pulled against Stanford for Okwara as they just kept running right at him). Deeb will also be a factor against these types of teams at ILB. And the DL will be a hodge podge of big bodies... Isaac Rochelle can provide depth/flexibility at literally every spot save nose guard in a 3-down front.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Yes, with Onwualu making way for Shumate in Nickel packages.

That's a lot of athleticism on defense. More than I can remember us fielding in recent memory. If we can avoid the DL injury bug that hit us last year, this should be fun to watch.

Edit: Rochelle isn't a NT. He's likely #2 SDE and DT.

Why wouldn't we? I don't see BVG having the linemen stand up passively against Navy, even when they change from the option to a zone read, and make us look like blocking dummies! How many injuries and re-injuries did we have, just in that game?

 

[Irish Man3]

Wow on a lot of levels.

Love the mentality of these freshman. Scares me that so many will play but it will be fun to watch.

 

[Booslum31]

Starting line-up at Rice:

SDE - I. Williams, Isaac Rochelle
NT - J. Jones, D. Cage.
DT - S. Day, J. Bonner?
WDE - Trumbetti, Okwara

**Speed Package to include: Williams & Hill, possibly Rabasa

SAM - Onwualu, Turner
MIKE - Schmidt, Morgan
WILL - Jaylon, Martini

CB - Keivarae Russell, Devin Butler
CB - Cody Riggs, Cole Luke
Nickel - Shumate, Baratti
SS - Colinsworth, Shumate
FS - Redfield, Farley

What do you think? Where'd I mess up?

I see Morgan having a chance to start here. Other than that...pretty tidy.

 

[gkIrish]

James O. getting pancaked is the PERFECT example of why you should never project the future based off 2 minute practice videos.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

There is no way we get through a half without a defensive breakdown. I'm excited that the young men are challenging but that is too much young blood on the front lines. If we can routinely score in the 40s, then it won't be such a big deal and will allow our guys to get valuable reps.

If we become stagnant on offense, i don't see how this defense will win us many games. We have elite players and what appear to be breakout players but Onwualu is a first year defensive player, starting as a true sophomore. Trumbetti is a true freshman starting as one of our ends.

To be honest, the spread teams scare me less than the heavy packages. I don't know how we'll have the meat in the front 7 to resist Stanford's group. I think we are capable of outscoring them but I don't know how we stop them.

Screens might really hurt us as well. Too many young players anxious to react and get sucked in.

Trick plays have rarely worked against us the last 2-3 years but we'll probably get burned on a flea-flicker, reverse, etc.

Oh well, it'll be fun to watch the athleticism because we will be capable of forcing a turnover on any play.

 

[Luckylucci]

Wow on a lot of levels.

Love the mentality of these freshman. Scares me that so many will play but it will be fun to watch.

I think the aggressive defense will have more to do with this than the freshman. Big plays usually occur from break downs in the back end or poor tackling. We won't have any freshman, barring injuries, in the secondary. A majority of youth will be along the DL and only in obvious passing down. If all our DL are trying/responsible for is trying to get to the QB, there really isn't much they can mess up. I understand if they were at starting spots but only 1 freshman, as of now, will be starting. Not worried about Freshman playing situational football as I am an overly aggressive defense not getting home.

 

[Riddickulous]

Our defense 2-3 years down the road could be monstrous. Right now, it's scaring me.

 

[PANDFAN]

Do you think he will be frequently rotating in or only called upon whenTrumbettis is wore out or if he gets hurt? Also is this more a reflection on Okwara not performing well or Trumbetti coming in as a stud?

2 things here..1. Andrew was an extremely physical and well built machine as a senior in high school but EXTREMELY ATHLETIC...did excellent again top talent at the under armour game...and has a relentless motor...even wiltfong said he would be special this year...he had a solid base of fundamentals and skills set prior to enrolling early and this is only getting better w/ more coaching and strength training

the 2nd thing is Romeo is also a very strong dude but he was EXTREMELY raw coming out of high school...he was shifted around w/ different positions and looks...and just doesn't seem to have the skills that Andrew has and not a knock on romeo but strength wise they are prob comparable but due to his extremely high motor and skill set just puts him head and shoulders above..


ALSO BIG THING TO REMEMBER---Andrew is a Freshman, so his amount of reps will likely cause him to need a rotation like 60/40 70/30....lots of freshman state that the longer the season goes, the more fatigued they become and how much different it is compared to high school

 

[IrishLion]

Oh well, it'll be fun to watch the athleticism because we will be capable of forcing a turnover on any play.

This is the key, and was largely the key during BK's time at UC. They didn't have the hogs to go toe-to-toe with many offenses, but they had the athletes, the speed, and the aggressive scheme to match the offense in terms of "fire power." They gave up points and big plays, but they also were near tops in the nation in forcing turnovers and sacks.

If your defense can't always go toe-to-toe, and you've got a bunch of young but freakish athletes on that side of the ball, let them run around and create chaos while your offense tries to score 40+.

 

[PANDFAN]

THIS IS EXCELLENT FOR RECRUITING

THIS IS EXCELLENT FOR RECRUITING

With so many young guys this year getting significant playing time....this will certainly help attract recruits that may or may not have given us a chance...it isn't a coach blowing smoke up their asses...but that if you come here ready to go you have a chance...a ton of young blood in the rotations

 

[NDWorld247]

I love the make-up of our defense. There's a nice blend of experience/age (Ishaq, Schmidt, Riggs, Collinsworth, Shumate, Farley), young guys (3+ yrs of eligibility left) with a lot of potential (Jones, Rochell, Okwara, Onwaulu, Luke, Butler, Redfield) and freshmen ready to contribute in their first year on campus (Trumbetti, Morgan, Cage, Bonner, Williams, Hill, Martini).

I didn't even list the three All-American candidates we have in Day, Jaylon and KVR, one at each level of the defense.

 

[returnofthemack]

At least games will be infinitely more fun to watch than the last few years. Even the 2012 season wasn't very exciting to watch - our record was exciting, but the style of play was a snoozefest. And of course then you had the Tommy Rees years and it's not like our bend-and-then-break defense was ever fun to watch.

 

[West Coast Domer]

This season will have a lot of highs and lows that's for sure. Hopefully it doesn't happen in the Michigan game again.

 

[Wild Bill]

Do you think he will be frequently rotating in or only called upon whenTrumbettis is wore out or if he gets hurt? Also is this more a reflection on Okwara not performing well or Trumbetti coming in as a stud?

Kelly said there will be rotation if I'm not mistaken.

Kelly had no reason to name Trumbetti a starter today. Maybe he's playing a mental game with Okwara to get more out of him.

Either way, Trumbetti will be fun to watch the next four years.

 

[NDPhilly]

If everything stays as it is right now, in 2015 we will return Our entire defensive two deep except Ishaq, Cody Riggs, and Austin Collinsworth. Damn.

Put that along side 8 (possibly 9 with davaris) returning starters on offense and god damn 2015 could be special.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

There is no way we get through a half without a defensive breakdown.

Care to put some vBucks on that?

I'm excited that the young men are challenging but that is too much young blood on the front lines.

Among the starters, right now it only projects to be Trumbetti at WDE and Onwualu at SLB. 2/7 isn't bad. Though if we start picking up DL injuries, we may be in trouble.

If we can routinely score in the 40s, then it won't be such a big deal and will allow our guys to get valuable reps.

Our defense during the Kelly era has ranked 16th, 14th, 13th and 33rd in F/+. We don't know yet how BvG's new scheme will pan out, but given his pedigree, I have a hard time imagining a defensive collapse; which is what would have to happen for us to need 40 points a game to be competitive. We're as talented and deep on defense as we've ever been during Kelly's tenure.

If we become stagnant on offense, i don't see how this defense will win us many games. We have elite players and what appear to be breakout players but Onwualu is a first year defensive player, starting as a true sophomore. Trumbetti is a true freshman starting as one of our ends.

2 starters out of 11. Not to mention the best secondary we've fielded in a long time.

To be honest, the spread teams scare me less than the heavy packages.

Agreed, which is excellent, because most of the teams we're facing this year run the spread.

I don't know how we'll have the meat in the front 7 to resist Stanford's group.

We only went 1-3 against them even when our defense was explicitly designed to stop them. And how many other MANBALL teams do we play? No MSU this year. UM will try it, but they don't have the OL or RBs to succeed. FSU runs a spread, and to be honest, I like our chances much better with BvG's smaller faster scheme than Diaco's hulking 3-4, etc.

Chin up, Veritate. Our schedule is brutal, as always, so we'll probably end up dropping some games along the way. But the future is very bright. And we're no less likely to shock the world in 2014 than we were in 2012.

 

[autry_denson]

If everything stays as it is right now, in 2015 we will return Our entire defensive two deep except Ishaq, Cody Riggs, and Austin Collinsworth. Damn.

Put that along side 8 (possibly 9 with davaris) returning starters on offense and god damn 2015 could be special.

could be a special year unless crazy shit happens before then (and crazy shit always happens, of course)

 

[PANDFAN]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/THvqj1XV8CY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[ND NYC]

did Eric Hansen eat Al Lezar?

 

[PANDFAN]

<script height="476px" width="840px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#ec=9kdG9tbzrQ_8iqVbhje7hsco_59geU71&pbid=5e83fc845d86487e88b6953600eaff54"></script>

 

[gkIrish]

If everything stays as it is right now, in 2015 we will return Our entire defensive two deep except Ishaq, Cody Riggs, and Austin Collinsworth. Damn.

Put that along side 8 (possibly 9 with davaris) returning starters on offense and god damn 2015 could be special.

Been saying 2015 is the year for a long time now. If we don't win make the playoff then we won't for the foreseeable future. The schedule combined with returning talent is the key.

 

[pkt77242]

Starting line-up at Rice:

SDE - I. Williams, Isaac Rochelle
NT - J. Jones, D. Cage.
DT - S. Day, J. Bonner?
WDE - Trumbetti, Okwara

**Speed Package to include: Williams & Hill, possibly Rabasa

SAM - Onwualu, Turner
MIKE - Schmidt, Morgan
WILL - Jaylon, Martini

CB - Keivarae Russell, Devin Butler
CB - Cody Riggs, Cole Luke
Nickel - Shumate, Baratti
SS - Colinsworth, Shumate
FS - Redfield, Farley

What do you think? Where'd I mess up?

I would think that Luke would be the Nickel but I could be wrong.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Care to put some vBucks on that?

Happy to bet all of my VBUCKs if we are talking all games of importance: Take away Rice and Purdue and Syracuse. That's a huge advantage still in your favor so I hope you give me really good numbers on this.

Among the starters, right now it only projects to be Trumbetti at WDE and Onwualu at SLB. 2/7 isn't bad. Though if we start picking up DL injuries, we may be in trouble.

Understood and it's the least dangerous place to have young blood playing (Front 3-4 that is)

Our defense during the Kelly era has ranked 16th, 14th, 13th and 33rd in F/+. We don't know yet how BvG's new scheme will pan out, but given his pedigree, I have a hard time imagining a defensive collapse; which is what would have to happen for us to need 40 points a game to be competitive. We're as talented and deep on defense as we've ever been during Kelly's tenure.

We were already on a downward slope last year, now we have a new scheme, new DC and some very inexperienced young men winning positions in the two deep. I do believe we are as deep as ever but the talent has yet to be proven. I want to believe but I'm not quite there.

2 starters out of 11. Not to mention the best secondary we've fielded in a long time.

Agree about the secondary on paper, I'll wait to see what we get from them.

In regards to the 2/11: It only takes one person with a lapse on any given play and it's busted. It could cause a downhill effect, where the safety or corner second guesses there assignment or another player attempts to "help" leaving themselves exposed.

We only went 1-3 against them even when our defense was explicitly designed to stop them. And how many other MANBALL teams do we play? No MSU this year. UM will try it, but they don't have the OL or RBs to succeed. FSU runs a spread, and to be honest, I like our chances much better with BvG's smaller faster scheme than Diaco's hulking 3-4, etc.

Chin up, Veritate. Our schedule is brutal, as always, so we'll probably end up dropping some games along the way. But the future is very bright. And we're no less likely to shock the world in 2014 than we were in 2012.

I will say that our recruiting fortunes in the Kelly era have given us many more 4-3 players than 3-4. That's why we've moved a safety to LB and a WR to LB and OLB to DE and OLB/DE to DT. I believe we have the personnel but anytime you have so many variables at play, it's rare to fail upwards. If any one of those variables doesn't work as expected, the whole equation is thrown off.

Not that we are taking blind guesses here: BVG seems to be extremely knowledgable and he has a ton of experience but can he get a defense ready after a scheme change to run this gauntlet of a schedule? Does he know our players well enough to understand their physical and mental abilities/liabilities?

The good news is that I'm much higher on our offense given the returning players. I love our OL depth but I'm waiting to see if they can really gel for the Michigan game. I really hope Harry gets them situated and we have a first team OL by early next week.

As I've said all along: this might be the most excited I've been to watch a Notre Dame team because we really don't know what we'll see. Golson is back, RBs are loaded, WRs are loaded, TEs are loaded and OL is loaded. We even hear Kelly talking about using an H-back to run heavy sets to control the game at will. That idea, mixed with the hurry-up will give us a team capable of controlling the game.

Here's to an exciting season!

 

[STLDomer]

Trumbetti vs Mason Cole all day in the scUM game.

 

[koonja]

If they can stop the run, we'll go 20-0 and beat the Packers while we're at it.

Having true freshman (not highly touted at that) playing huge minutes in the center of the DL, coupled with a walkon starting MLB and/or true frosh (albeit a good one) at MLB... Could make for a lot of yards on the ground against us.

I know we'll rock it on 3rd and long, but we need to be able to get there. Agree with the fun to watch, and if we stop the run, we could be amazing IMO.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Happy to bet all of my VBUCKs if we are talking all games of importance: Take away Rice and Purdue and Syracuse. That's a huge advantage still in your favor so I hope you give me really good numbers on this.

Moving the goal posts already! The new scheme will inevitably allow more explosive plays than Diaco's did. But I'm certain we'll have many halves of football which don't feature a TD-producing lapse. Particularly because our secondary is so stacked.

We were already on a downward slope last year, now we have a new scheme, new DC and some very inexperienced young men winning positions in the two deep.

Based on our F/+ rankings, 2013 was a clear outlier as far as defensive performance. Not sure it was a "downward slope", but even if it was, the scheme change offered a clean break with that trend.

In regards to the 2/11: It only takes one person with a lapse on any given play and it's busted. It could cause a downhill effect, where the safety or corner second guesses there assignment or another player attempts to "help" leaving themselves exposed.

Lapses in the secondary are much more costly than the front-seven, and that looks to be where we're strongest. The only underclassman who projects as a starter is a 5 recruit who saw a lot of snaps last year. You're not worried about Jaylon, too, are you?

Not that we are taking blind guesses here: BVG seems to be extremely knowledgable and he has a ton of experience but can he get a defense ready after a scheme change to run this gauntlet of a schedule?

Our odds of going 12-0 or 11-1 are very poor, which is more a reflection of our SoS than our quality. I'm feeling 9-3 personally.

Does he know our players well enough to understand their physical and mental abilities/liabilities?

Yes, at least according to BK. We'll see, though.

The good news is that I'm much higher on our offense given the returning players.

As you should. 2014 should be the most offensively productive year of the Kelly era by a significant margin. So why the pessimism? A top-10 offense with a defense in the 20s could take us very far.

Trumbetti vs Mason Cole all day in the scUM game.

Absolutely.