2014 Spring Practice Thread

[BobD]

You guys are crazy. There is zero percent chance Golson is not the starter, obvious barring an injury or suspension etc


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I don't know Sherm. I want to agree with you, but while they both have great talent, I think Zaire might win between the ears. It's gonna be an interesting contest.

 

[ulukinatme]

Well, late to the party. I didn't really watch a whole lot of the defense myself. For one, we knew that we weren't going to get BVG's best stuff here, he doesn't want to give anything away. Two, it's more important that our offense gets more traction this season. We've struggled with scoring in the red zone the last few years. You can't rely on a defense like we did in 2012 and expect to win big bowl games. That said, here were my impressions of the offense.

Golson was a little off, which is to be expected. A lot of us thought the year off would allow him to polish some mechanics, but we figured in a live game format he'd have some rust when he's getting pressured for the first time in awhile. I expect he'll shake the rust off in the fall and will be in good shape. On the other hand, if he struggles out of the gate, I wouldn't be worried one bit if Zaire had to come in to let Everett get his head back in the game. The kid certainly looked good. While he may have played against more backups than Golson did, he still executed very well. I think he hangs in the pocket longer to give his receivers a chance to get open, he seems better at going through progressions. One thing is for sure...Golson took off and ran a number of times today, and if he does that a lot in games you can expect he'll get banged up a bit. I'm sure Zaire will get some game reps one way or another this season. I like both guys, can't wait till August...so far away...

Offensive line struggled a bit, but that's to be expected. I have faith in Heistand to make corrections, and we have to remember that two big starters were missing today, Lombard and N Martin. I'm not sure I like Stanley switching to LT. You want your best pass blocking tackle on the backside to protect your QB's blind spot. I think Stanley's forte is run blocking, but maybe I'm wrong. Then again...what if....Stanley playing LT is a switch to accommodate Zaire? Just playing devil's advocate haha.

Running backs looked pretty good, loved seeing the screens today. Big run by GB, good to see the knee is healthy. He's definitely very explosive. I hope he's got everything else down that he needs to do as a back, cause I'd like to see him get a good number of touches this season, certainly more than last year. I still like Cam and Folston to start, you know what you have with those two guys and what they do well. I'm happy with GB working his way in and earning carries.

WR's looked smooth. Loved seeing the run after the catch from CJ, although Collinsworth probably took a bad angle there. Robinson...man, the hands and the height. I hope we use him in the red zone, he could be a scoring machine. Fuller as a deep threat has me giddy too. The switch to #7 suits him, he's going to be a player. I think we'll miss a little of TJ's leadership this season considering how young our WRs are, but hopefully Brown will step up into that role. Chris certainly had some good catches too. Lot of bullets from the QBs today! If Amir can handle lasers like he did on that TD, he'll definitely see the field more this season.

Whats there to say about the TE position? Didn't get to see a lot of catches, but I'm never worried about the TE position. Every time we lose one, another guy steps in and turns into an NFL caliber player. We'll be fine at TE, and while I don't think he'll break any records this year, I think Koyack will finally live up to his potential.

As I said, nothing much to say about the defense. Loved seeing Jaylon chase down Folston in the flat, heck of an open field tackle. Shumate had a big hit/pass break up on Carlisle I think, good to see the defense being nasty. One thing to remember is that our front 7 got after our QBs a number of times. They got off some long passes, but a lot of passes would have resulted in sacks first or a QB scramble if this was a live game environment. The commentators made it a point that BVG was very vanilla with the defense, however I thought they still did a very good job getting pressure. While I expect them to show more in a live game, I'm not expecting huge changes. We'll have a few more looks, we might bring pressure a few times from different places, but I think from an execution level what we saw in the 2nd half with defensive execution is what we'll see in the fall. It's a young defense, and it's a new system with a completely different philosophy, I think it would be crazy to expect too much from them.

Other than all that, loved the announcement about Field Turf. If anyone is on the fence about it, all you have to do is look at the field conditions today. Yeah, we're not playing any live games in April anytime soon, but there is zero reason a Top 25 team should be playing on a natural grass field in the Midwest. Teams in the south and the Pacific coast play on grass, not teams in Indiana. We've got better athletes than many of the teams we face, and we practice on an artificial surface. We should play on an artificial surface. It just makes sense. Let our athletes run, we don't need them slipping on the field against the Navy's of the world.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

Bachelor party today/tonight. Just watched game.

The backup QB is always the better QB on this damn board. Jesus Christ. Golson will start.

 

[BobD]

Bachelor party today/tonight. Just watched game.

The backup QB is always the better QB on this damn board. Jesus Christ. Golson will start.

Wait, who are you calling "the back up"? The one who's never played or the one who's returning from a year's suspension? I didn't know we had a starter.

 

[NDinL.A.]

Wait, who are you calling "the back up"? The one who's never played or the one who's returning from a year's suspension? I didn't know we had a starter.

We do...his name is Golson. It's not that close. Think about all the times Kelly has lied to the media. All spring, Golson took more first team reps and more reps in general than MZ. And now after one scrimmage, we don't have a starter?

At an ISD lunch on Friday, we got a chance to talk to a player from this year's team. Understandably, we were asked to keep all the info off the boards, which we've all done. But as far as non-sensitive information goes, I will say that the first player this guy mentioned as a leader on the team was Everett Golson. And being at two open practices, I'd say that was clear as well.

 

[BobD]

We do...his name is Golson. It's not that close. Think about all the times Kelly has lied to the media. All spring, Golson took more first team reps and more reps in general than MZ. And now after one scrimmage, we don't have a starter?

At an ISD lunch on Friday, we got a chance to talk to a player from this year's team. Understandably, we were asked to keep all the info off the boards, which we've all done. But as far as non-sensitive information goes, I will say that the first player this guy mentioned as a leader on the team was Everett Golson. And being at two open practices, I'd say that was clear as well.

Chances are youre right, but I'm gonna wait to hear it come outta BKs mouth. Either way we're QB rich and it feels good.

 

[koonja]

There's only one way to solve this Golson/Malik dilemma.

Put your vbucks where your mouth is!

 

[BobD]

There's only one way to solve this Golson/Malik dilemma.

Put your vbucks where your mouth is!

I've got 10 billion that says one of them is the starter.

 

[cody1smith]

Where can I watch the gsme?

 

[DillonHall]

Where can I watch the gsme?

I thought it was spelled 'jism'

 

[cody1smith]

I thought it was spelled 'jism'

Ha.. Game my bad

 

[wizards8507]

When you have an obvious and admitted bias, well, you will see what you want to see.

We spent the entire spring talking about how the spring game should be taken with a giant grain of salt, and now suddenly Molique should be the starter LOL.

I'll bet an entire year's subscription to Irish Envy that Golson will be the starter the entire year barring injury. And if you need further proof, see the Alabama game. (Or check out the play where MZ got pressured, panicked and threw the ball 'away' for a pick that was called back for a sack,)

It's a LOT easier to play QB against a vanilla defense where you can't get touched. MZ had several plays where he should have gotten rid of the ball but didn't and would have taken sacks. As he matures he'll get better at that, but I'll take the experienced talented QB who has already won several big games over us guessing that the rookie ready.

How exactly do I have an "obvious and admitted bias"? I had literally zero opinion on MZ until yesterday. It's amazing how the Golson worshippers conveniently forget that he couldn't even clearly establish himself as QB1 over TOMMY REES two years ago. Now he's a Heisman candidate all of a sudden. To be clear I never said MZ should start, all I said was that he looked better than EG YESTERDAY, especially his arm strength. What big games has EG won for us, exactly? I remember him surviving a few and getting bailed out by Tommy or the defense in a few, but when did he ever put the team on his shoulders?

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[Irish Houstonian]

I think we all know Golson will be the starter, even if they're "tied" talent-wise. But if he doesn't learn to get the ball out faster we're all in big trouble.

 

[fightingirish26]

How exactly do I have an "obvious and admitted bias"? I had literally zero opinion on MZ until yesterday. It's amazing how the Golson worshippers conveniently forget that he couldn't even clearly establish himself as QB1 over TOMMY REES two years ago. Now he's a Heisman candidate all of a sudden. To be clear I never said MZ should start, all I said was that he looked better than EG YESTERDAY, especially his arm strength. What big games has EG won for us, exactly? I remember him surviving a few and getting bailed out by Tommy or the defense in a few, but when did he ever put the team on his shoulders?

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Michigan State, to an extent?

 

[TheRealLynch51]

How exactly do I have an "obvious and admitted bias"? I had literally zero opinion on MZ until yesterday. It's amazing how the Golson worshippers conveniently forget that he couldn't even clearly establish himself as QB1 over TOMMY REES two years ago. Now he's a Heisman candidate all of a sudden. To be clear I never said MZ should start, all I said was that he looked better than EG YESTERDAY, especially his arm strength. What big games has EG won for us, exactly? I remember him surviving a few and getting bailed out by Tommy or the defense in a few, but when did he ever put the team on his shoulders?

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Dude, you were clearly biased. Literally everything you posted yesterday in the spring practice forum was Pro-Zaire.

 

[koonja]

Dude, you were clearly biased. Literally everything you posted yesterday in the spring practice forum was Pro-Zaire.

That doesn't mean he is bias towards Malik. Maybe he just thought Malik was that good yesterday? If he went into the spring game, having posted all over how he likes Malik over Golson, then I could see the bias argument.

I think it's obvious Mailk was better than Golson yesterday, and I'm a Golson guy.

 

[wizards8507]

Dude, you were clearly biased. Literally everything you posted yesterday in the spring practice forum was Pro-Zaire.

Having an opinion isn't the same as bias. I'm familiar with Golson and he played as I expected. I was NOT familiar with MZ so his play is what jumped out at me, so that's what I commented on. I also posted about Greg Bryant, Jaylon Smith, FieldTurf, and keunjah, among other things, so I'm not sure what you're getting at.

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[Bogtrotter07]

This board is becoming a battle of the personalities, which is a shame. Remember, the only winners in a situation like that aree those that come to the table with less.

 

[koonja]

This board is becoming a battle of the personalities, which is a shame. Remember, the only winners in a situation like that aree those that come to the table with less.

Reps because I could actually read and understand a post of yours finally.

 

[TheRealLynch51]

.

 

[NDinL.A.]

How exactly do I have an "obvious and admitted bias"? I had literally zero opinion on MZ until yesterday. It's amazing how the Golson worshippers conveniently forget that he couldn't even clearly establish himself as QB1 over TOMMY REES two years ago. Now he's a Heisman candidate all of a sudden. To be clear I never said MZ should start, all I said was that he looked better than EG YESTERDAY, especially his arm strength. What big games has EG won for us, exactly? I remember him surviving a few and getting bailed out by Tommy or the defense in a few, but when did he ever put the team on his shoulders?

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You said you didn't like Golson. You were looking for a reason to not anoint him the starter, and you found it. Gotta run, but I'll have more later.

 

[NDinL.A.]

This board is becoming a battle of the personalities, which is a shame. Remember, the only winners in a situation like that aree those that come to the table with less.

No it's not, it's a battle of opinions. And that's a good thing.

 

[clashmore_jon]

anybody know where i can watch yesterday's game?

 

[Ironman8]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>ND WR Corey Robinson says QB Malik Zaire "is so confident for a young player. He has a presence."</p>— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) <a href="https://twitter.com/schadjoe/statuses/455364488834088960">April 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>ND QB Everett Golson says 2012 was "ground and pound" but that there is "a lot more on my plate now. There's a lot more balance."</p>— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) <a href="https://twitter.com/schadjoe/statuses/455364778018762752">April 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[IrishLion]

What big games has EG won for us, exactly? I remember him surviving a few and getting bailed out by Tommy or the defense in a few, but when did he ever put the team on his shoulders?

Michigan State was the first time we had an athlete at QB that could actually put the offense on his back. His scramble for TD and his scramble/bomb to Goodman won that game. MSU had to get out of their ground-and-pound offense, and the defense feasted.

Oklahoma? The D played well and Oklahoma missed some opportunities, but that was the game where things really seemed to open up for Golson. He made several good throws and picked good times to run (and protected the football!) and again gave the defense an opportunity to win the game via Manti Teo interception.

The USC game was a nail-biter... but only because BK took the game out of Golson's hands. EG/BK came out firing on the first two or three drives against USC, and Golson looked the part of taking over. But then redzone happened, and Golson didn't get the full extent of the playbook the rest of the day. The defense might have "bailed him out" with that goal line stand, but the reason ND had a lead early was Golson taking over on the first few drives (and Theo Beast Mode helped late).

 

[arrowryan]

I'm surprised to see so many people on here so confident and sure that Golson will be the starter. I think he'll be the starter but I wouldn't be surprised if the QB battle goes into mid to late August.

 

[IrishLion]

I'm surprised to see so many people on here so confident and sure that Golson will be the starter. I think he'll be the starter but I wouldn't be surprised if the QB battle goes into mid to late August.

I'm gonna be happy no matter what. If EG is the starter, it means BK is ready to let the dogs off the leash. If MZ is the starter, it means we've got an embarrassment of riches at the position.

Either way, ND's offense is going to put up some points this year.

 

[wizards8507]

I'm surprised to see so many people on here so confident and sure that Golson will be the starter. I think he'll be the starter but I wouldn't be surprised if the QB battle goes into mid to late August.

Watch out saying stuff like that. Anything less than Golson hero worship will be immediately ridiculed. Has the new NCAA Football video game come out yet? I expect the EA Sports headquarters to be burned to the ground if QB #5 is rated anything less than 96 overall.

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[arrowryan]

I'm gonna be happy no matter what. If EG is the starter, it means BK is ready to let the dogs off the leash. If MZ is the starter, it means we've got an embarrassment of riches at the position.

Either way, ND's offense is going to put up some points this year.

Agreed.

Now here is a question I'm gonna ask. Could Everett or Malik be the starting quarterback at Michigan right now?

 

[wizards8507]

You said you didn't like Golson. You were looking for a reason to not anoint him the starter, and you found it. Gotta run, but I'll have more later.

I never said I don't like him, but I did acknowledge that I'm not as high on him as many other posters. I think people were lazy in their analysis of the 2013 team blaming all of our ills on Tommy and acting like Golson's return would be the equivalent of Gandalf at Helm's Deep. I think he's a B- quarterback. YESTERDAY, Malik Zaire impressed me. BOTH quarterbacks faced vanilla defenses and MZ performed better, including a couple of rocket throws that were more impressive than anything I've seen EG throw. Arm strength has nothing to do with how vanilla the defense is. Again, the scope of my analysis includes YESTERDAY only. I never proclaimed MZ the starter based on that analysis other than a joke about EG practicing his hand signals on the sidelines.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>ND WR Corey Robinson says QB Malik Zaire "is so confident for a young player. He has a presence."</p>— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) <a href="https://twitter.com/schadjoe/statuses/455364488834088960">April 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>ND QB Everett Golson says 2012 was "ground and pound" but that there is "a lot more on my plate now. There's a lot more balance."</p>— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) <a href="https://twitter.com/schadjoe/statuses/455364778018762752">April 13, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Corey Robinson must be biased too. How dare he not respond to a question about MZ with effusive praise for EG.

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