2019 Louisville Post Game Thread

[irishfan]

—Book badly needs to work on pocket presence. We can’t beat UGA if we need to get him out of the pocket all game.

—Finke is going to be nonexistent outside. Not sure what the solution is apart from Young getting healthy.

—Our inability on 3rd and short was really disappointing.

—It’s frustrating seeing coaches scheme ways to get the ball to their athletes in space and we never seem to emphasize that.

—We need the LBs to step up badly by UGA. At least Fromm isn’t a dual threat so we won’t get gashed by the same stuff.

—Hamilton, Keys, Tremble, Owusu all looked legit and like the athletes we normally don’t have.

—Nice to play crappy and win by 18 on the road to an ACC team.

 

[Jerry]

Positive Thinking:

- Louisville’s pass defense last year was the highest ranked thing of their entire awful defense. They weren’t that good but it was their best thing so maybe that affected the throwing (it shouldn’t if ND is the real deal)

- It’s the first game of the season and hard to prep for App St’s HC and his offense. He was dynamite at App St last year so 17 points isn’t bad to hold them to

- I think Louisville will be a bowl team this year and playing in front of a sold out crowd and winning 35-17 is not so bad

I was thinking this too. I’m hoping that explains the LB’s being completely lost on the first 2 drives. They benefit the most from film. Who knows what App St film they’ve been watching for the last few months??

 

[Sherm Sticky]

2019 Louisville Post Game Thread

The Good
JOK
Tommy Tremble
O Line
Claypool

The Bad:
Pass Rush
Billal and White
Missed tackles
Running Backs
No emotional unity on defense

The Ugly
Ian Book
Chip Long

Not to pick on you or anything.

But, I thought the RB’s did well. Tony Jones looked the best he ever has. And Jahmir Smith is pretty good.

I thought JOK flashed and is athletic as all hell. But, he missed way to many tackles for my liking.


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[Irishize]

Tremble looked great catching the ball; not so much as a blocker but he’ll get better.

I’m hoping Long kept the offense bland b/c everyone on this board was probably predicting the play by the end of the first quarter.

RB looked great running the ball; not so great in pass pro

Doerer & Bramblett were pretty damn solid.

Book had a horrible first half and a less horrible 2nd half.

The DEs were to focused on running up their sack #s it seemed. But I get it....it’s the season opener & they’re ready to see live bullets.

LBs look vastly undersized & out of position but that was to be expected. I hope Simon can earn more reps.

My knee jerk reaction is “no way this is a 10-win team”...but I honestly have no idea what to expect b/c it’s one game...the season opener...against a team that quit last year leaving us to guessing what to expect this year.

WR & TE did a horrible job of getting separation in the first half. Can’t blame Book for everything....every receiver was covered in a lot his busted plays.

We need Kmet back ASAP.

 

[IrishFaninTX]

There were moments I thought I was watching Brandon Wimbush in the pocket.
Book got better as the game went one. But did he attempt a pass more than 20 yards downfield? And if he didn’t it wasn’t really because of Louisville’s pressure.

The TD pass to Tremble was 26 yards but I don't recall how many yards were after the catch. Claypool had a 34 yard reception but that was definitely at least 20 yac.

 

[drayer54]

Hamilton is going to be a stud.

Kramer was dominating inside tonight.

We need a leader and a stud to emerge at linebacker. That hasn’t happened yet.

I think our WR play was very ehhh

 

[Irishize]

Positive Thinking:

- Louisville’s pass defense last year was the highest ranked thing of their entire awful defense. They weren’t that good but it was their best thing so maybe that affected the throwing (it shouldn’t if ND is the real deal)

- It’s the first game of the season and hard to prep for App St’s HC and his offense. He was dynamite at App St last year so 17 points isn’t bad to hold them to

- I think Louisville will be a bowl team this year and playing in front of a sold out crowd and winning 35-17 is not so bad

To your first point...that was a result by default b/c teams were rolling up an average 300+ yds on the ground so there was rarely a need to pass. IIRC, their yards per pass given up & completion %age against was not good.

To your final point....while I think Satterfield will have UL bowling in a season or two...it won’t be this season. The best thing that could’ve happened to UL is that they played a lesser opponent in the opener to spring an upset win on. While I think they can win their next two, there will be plenty of film on them by the time they get into ACC play and they still lack overall talent & depth.

 

[pumpdog20]

That was not good. It's been a few years that the D has been that bad at tackling. Pass being a bad QB saved the game for ND. But I'm not ready to go 4-8 just yet. That would have been a loss with a bad to mediocre Irish team. We're different now, just maybe not as good as hoped.

Save the season now and avoid the second year QB jinx. Go to PJ now.

 

[IrishFaninTX]

It wasn't pretty but I'll remind everyone that last year most of this board didn't think ND would get more than 8 wins after Vanderbilt and Ball State. 24-16 and 22-17. Yeah we expect more from Book than we did Wimbush and that's fair but I'd still say he played better than Wimbush did in either of those games, and it was on the road against an amped up team with a new coach and rowdy crowd. Even in a poor game, we scored 35 offensive points with Book in the entire game. I'm not going to write the season off just yet when the first 3 games last year were much worse, though the Michigan game didn't feel like it because it was a ranked matchup win.

 

[Irish YJ]

No doubt book needs to get better, but the OL didn't impress in pass protect, the WRs weren't getting a bunch of consistent separation, and the play calling was predictable and seemed to focus way too much on the primary read being Claypool.

Not going to complain too much about Book being 61% with 81 yards on the ground and 1 passing TD and 1 running TD.

On him running too much.... even the commentators said several times it was probably designed due to the LBs clearing out so often.

 

[Riddickulous]

Is it a mistake playing Chris Finke on the outside? He was invisible tonight.

 

[AllTimeIrish]

Hmm...

Hmm...

Good:

There is a lot of depth all over the place. Young players are going to shine this year on both offense and defense. I think this will be more of a transition year in certain groups than I first thought, which means it is likely not a playoff run year. But we should win the majority of our games regardless, even some of the tough ones on the road.

We have more [good quality] running back depth than I thought coming in. We desperately need TJ to keep up his pace because Armstrong appears fragile.

Hamilton is going to be a star. He has the "it" factor.

The LB and DT positions will work themselves out during the year, too much talent there. But, we may lose a game or two because of it in the meantime.


Bad:

The offense is going to be up and down this year, at least for the first half to 2/3 of the season. The QB play is subpar right now, RB position is fairly deep but the depth is very green, offensive line appears inconsistent series to series, and WR/TE depth challenging due to injuries.

Some of the defensive starters are going to get replaced by mid-season. Bilal is an example.

Run defense up the middle not good right now. Georgia would have torn us apart up the middle all game long.

What the hell happened with Book? The first half was awful. He is a veteran, and he needs to make better decisions. He tucked and ran when he had a TE running open down the seam right in front of him, per the replay. Gotta be a passer first, runner second. We don't need him to think run is an option on every play, throw the damn ball to a WR or toss it away. He is not a playoff quality QB right now, and may never be.

He looks like a bus driver type. Lacks patience, runs too much, and at times has bad down the field vision and accuracy. He can correct some of this, but I think he has a lower ceiling than we had hoped.

I think based on this performance we have no chance to beat Georgia. I was not as skeptical about those chances before I saw the first half. If that had been Georgia, they would have run this team out of the stadium.

Where is Griffith? Maybe he should stick to safety, which is probably what they will have to do anyway after it looks like they may whiff on the position in this upcoming class.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

If we can’t pass confidently we’re an 8 win team at best. This is what the Clemson D exposed & likely why Louisville had the same gameplan.

All those runs Book got away with tonight were either sacks or minimal gains against the Tigers.

 

[pumpdog20]

You know who was good, Shaun Crawford. Good to see him back.

 

[BeatSC]

Book is way below par for a team with the talent that is surrounding him. He is not poised enough under presssure but he also has minimal arm strength. Look at the QBs on the other top 15 teams and how does he stack up? Throwing high percentage 5-10 yard passes isn’t going to cut it. Even many if his short throws stunk. He doesn’t feel the pressure and know how to effectively step up he usually runs.

Hamilton looked great and will only get better. Gonna be hard to see two captains sitting (Elliot and Finke and maybe even Book later).

Tony Jones looked good in the first half but was lame in short yardage 3 times.

Jafar hurt again?! Come one man, that’s what happens when a WR tries to play rB I guess.

If White can’t be a sure tackler why is he in there? If you can sniff out the play then make the tackle!

Liked seeing McKinley make a play. He looks the part.

Books season will be way off last seasons.

No one on this team is looking like a first rounder.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

You know who was good, Shaun Crawford. Good to see him back.

Yeah he played well. I’m super happy for him to preserver from the injuries and become a starter. Saying that he showed some rust, he missed a lot tackles like the rest of the defense. Also he took some poor angles at times.


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[phgreek]

Settled down in the second half.
Book got more comfortable and stood in the pocket.
TJJr looked better
Thought some of the LBs got better as the game went on (doesn’t mean they were good)
Claypool is dangerous with the ball.
Can’t be jumping offsides.
MISSED TACKLES.
Thought the line did alright. Not where we want them, but not bad.
Special teams did well.
I thought Tremble really showed out today. Pleasant surprise.
Great adjustments by Lea, but again those missed tackles hurt at time.

Agree with most...including caps for emphasis...

The O-line (attached TEs included) STUNK on 3rd down. 3rd down conversion is the definition of imposing your will...from a unit that generally had a huge size advantage they got worked. Too easy to get off their blocks tonight. I'll chalk some of it up to RBs making bad decisions, but generally, after the first quarter, I didn't feel real confident in the running game, and like I said...looked pretty damned dismal on 3rd down.

Maybe you intended this in your "BAD TACKLING" assessment...The attack / pursuit angles look pretty bad to me...just did not look under control, so lots of diving, falling, attempts...many blown opportunities to get TFLs and blow up drives.

There was enough of Petrino's dumpster fire mentality left, that these guys did themselves in with miscues and missed opportunities. Right now ND looks like a three loss team to me...lots of work to do.

 

[TheMightyQuinn10]

Whelmed

Glad i took tomorrow off a year ago.

 

[NDMIA]

QB - Not good enough to win 10 games. Had certain drives where he looked awesome but for the most part wasn’t that good. Hoping he runs the ball maybe 1-2 times MAX against New Mexico. Passing game needs to be worked on

RB - TJJ was excellent. Hopefully Jafar is back for UGA cause he’s needed. Jahmir needs lots of reps against NM

WR - Claypool excellent. LK3 was awesome and looked like an athlete ND doesn’t have. Other guys need to get open. Chris Finke, Javon McKinley, Braden Lenzy, and Joe Wilkins. There’s enough recruited talent to find someone who gets open so do it. It was embarrassing at some points when Claypool went out how some dudes could get more than a step by someone.

TE - Tommy Tremble was good. Needs to learn how to block a little but that’ll come. I thought Brock Wright slimmed down, looked more agile, and got quicker to catch passes too?

OL - I’m actually pretty high on the OLine. They dealt with a team selling out for the LOS. Sent many exotic blitzes, put 8 in the box, and the OLine still managed okay Pass Pro and good Run Blocking. Tommy Kraemer is trying to copy Quenton Nelson in his bullying tactics and I love it!

DL - I thought Okwara was held at bay most of the night by Becton. He was really good against Julian. Ogundeji should start on many Power 5 teams. Kareem was excellent tonight. Interior wasn’t all that impressive. They really could use an actual NG like a Bama team or like Louis Nix who’s that 310-330lb monster. I was just at the Vandy-UGA game this weekend in Nashville and UGA’s interior is going to PUNISH ND’s interior if they don’t step up. I’m afraid of...

Kurt Hinish 6’2” 295
Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa 6’2” 285
Jayson Ademilola 6’3” 280
Jacob Lacey 6’2” 295

vs

Solomon Kindley 6’4” 335
Trey Hill 6’4” 330
Ben Cleveland 6’6” 335

LB - JOK was good. 9 tackles. Now need to find two others and it’s some people saying White, Bilal, Simon, JGH, or none of the above but I hope someone steps up cause tonight was real real bad in the middle. Slow diagnosing plays, missed lane assignments and nobody could pick up or bump #1 running over the middle.

DB - Great to see Crawford getting back a little to his old self. He’s so much fun to watch. Not all the way back but he had glimpses. Gilman was business as usual. Elliott solid and Hamilton is already making plays. I can’t say I saw Houston Griffith at all tbh and didn’t really pay attention to Vaughn and Bracy so idk how the field position is working out.

ST - Doerer looked good on his EXP. I believe he had an error-free night on kickoffs with the best return out to the 26yd line so a good good night for him. As for Bramblett, he might be the only guy who could be happy that the game wasn’t great for ND cause he got to punt 6 times in a night, get a shank out of the way, and do it all on the road. Pretty good for a first year punter. Played solid.

OC - Long was soooooo vanilla. I absolutely can’t stand the conservative play calling and tactics by Brian Kelly and Chip Long that lead to ND never stepping on the throat of an opponent. There were multiple occasions where ND had the ball off of a turnover or something similar and just did nothing which is bad. Clemson and Bama thrive on big plays and ND finds them hard to come by which won’t help their team.

DC - gotta hope Lea makes his adjustments before games in the future cause you don’t wanna spot UGA a two touchdown lead at the beginning on the road. Really nice bounce back and good to see them only give up 17 to an offensive minded talented HC.

 

[BobbyMac]

The Good:

My predictions.

JOK's one tackle behind Gilman for the team lead.

Tremble is Newcomer of the Year so far.

Von McKinley had a reception in quest of Most Surprising

Cards scored just 3 points after 1Q

The Bad:

Looked like a team that could lose to UVa and/or Stanford.

 

[T-Boone]

It is a worry that Bilal was the most impressive LB throughout the pre season.

I was more disappointed in the D-line than anything.

I think the offense is keeping a lot of plays in reserve for Georgia.

 

[Valpodoc85]

Book will be injured by mid season if he keeps running. Georgia gonna break him in two

 

[Rudy89]

Always good to win, but I feel much like in 2013 we are gonna have a pretty average season after a previous year of going undefeated in the regular season. A win is a win but I don’t see us beating UGA or scUM on the road unless there’s a rabbit they pull out of the hat between now and then. I see going 7-5 or 8-4 and maybe just like in 2013 or 2014 we will win our bowl to at least make us feel good about the season. We started slow last year but I feel like we can’t afford to do that this year.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

Book will be injured by mid season if he keeps running. Georgia gonna break him in two

Agreed. If he's going to be a one read and run kind of guy, those calling for PJ will get their wish.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Stock up: Hamilton, Crawford, TJJr, Claypool, Bracy, JOK, OL, Tremble x2, Gilman, Lea's ingame adjustments

Stock down: Book, Finke, Bilal x 10, Okwara (because expectations were so high), TE blocking, WR blocking, Pride, Armstrong, Long's playcalling

Holding Steady: DL as a unit, secondary as a unit, special teams

Amongst many concerning things, the most concerning thing I saw was Ian Book not going through his progressions. All I saw him do was drop back, look at his primary option for about a second and then either deliver or bail from the pocket.

 

[stpeteirish]

Stock up: Hamilton, Crawford, TJJr, Claypool, Bracy, JOK, OL, Tremble x2, Gilman, Lea's ingame adjustments

Stock down: Book, Finke, Bilal x 10, Okwara (because expectations were so high), TE blocking, WR blocking, Pride, Armstrong, Long's playcalling

Holding Steady: DL as a unit, secondary as a unit, special teams

Amongst many concerning things, the most concerning thing I saw was Ian Book not going through his progressions. All I saw him do was drop back, look at his primary option for about a second and then either deliver or bail from the pocket.

agree with just about everything you say. Long can open it up more,the opponent has something to do with this. And he will have to because we can just can't pound the ball vs good teams.

Nobody's talking about Lamb, he looked good when he was in, way more instinctive than Bilal. Maybe he's the answer at Buck. JGH played a lot late but I didn't see anything one way or the other re his play.

Coaches need to figure out how to get Hamilton on the field more.

 

[gkIrish]

I really don't know what to think because Louisville looked better than they did last year but also looked like a JV team for most of the 3rd quarter. Someone on Twitter noted that once teams get tape on them their offense is going to struggle to score and I completely agree with that.

Our playcalling was way too vanilla and there was no vertical threat. Finke was my LVP of the game.

I'm officially worried about Duke, Virginia, and BC now.

On the bright side the safeties all played well and I thought our interior D-lineman were excellent. Coaching staff made some good adjustments at halftime. Special teams were good. LK III is going to be a star...

 

[T-Boone]

Stock up: Hamilton, Crawford, TJJr, Claypool, Bracy, JOK, OL, Tremble x2, Gilman, Lea's ingame adjustments

Stock down: Book, Finke, Bilal x 10, Okwara (because expectations were so high), TE blocking, WR blocking, Pride, Armstrong, Long's playcalling

Holding Steady: DL as a unit, secondary as a unit, special teams

Amongst many concerning things, the most concerning thing I saw was Ian Book not going through his progressions. All I saw him do was drop back, look at his primary option for about a second and then either deliver or bail from the pocket.

Having rewatched the condensed game:
The O-line was impressive. They were all good.
I think you are being harsh on Okwara, it seemed like they ran away from him a lot.
I think MTA's stock is down and Jayson Ademilola was more impressive.
I hope Franklin is ready to contribute.
JOK has a nose for the ball but they need to spend a full 2 weeks fixing his tackling.
If White was faster and bigger he would be really good.
I'd be investing playing time in Simon and Lamb.
Hamilton has a nose for the ball and everything else going for him as well.

 

[stlnd01]

Slept on it.

Awoke less worried about our LBs. A lot of those mistakes - both missed lanes and missed tackles - were inexperience. That'll come, and there's plenty of athleticism.

More worried about the passing game. The line protected pretty well and still either our WRs couldn't get open or Book wasn't patient enough to find them. Either way, if Book plays like he did last night we might as well have kept Wimbush around. Kelly seems confident he'll get better. Hopefully he's right.

Also not impressed with our offensive line in short yardage, obvious run situations. Maybe Louisville was selling out, but so what. If we can't get a yard when we need one against a defensive front like that we're going to have a hard time against the Michigan and Stanfords of the world (and forget Georgia).

But, a win's a win. There have been years we lose that game. And now we basically have three weeks to prepare for Georgia. It's like an extended camp. That should help as our troubles last night weren't so much talent as execution.

 

[tko]

I would really like to see the first quarter play out without the offsides penalties on third and long. I haven't screamed at the tv in many, many years, but I lost my shit. We're going to need every ounce of discipline on both sides of the ball this year to get W's. The third down conversions were horrific as well.