Al Golden

[Katzenboyer]

Washington and Golden need to be elsewhere next season.

 

[Grahambo]

Could you imagine the uproar if Kelly was this stupid???

Freeman doesn't really control this team like he should. Too much of a nice guy. Not an operator. Fire the DL Coach now for such incompetence. He won't.

All is well here. Nothing to see here.... we are an exceptional Top 15 Program with great academics.

Both would receive their just criticism. It would’ve been even worse if it was BK because he has like 30+ years as a HC.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

Okay, I logged out right after the game and turned off TV seconds after the TD. So this 10 man ordeal I didn't even realize. That is so lame.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

He shut down one of the most talented teams in the country.
Schemed game ending interception that was dropped.

Parker called a perfect play to win the game 21-10, but Hartman didn't execute.

The team is trending upward. Let Freeman keep stacking developmental talent and hope Carr is the one that was promised.

 

[Katzenboyer]

He shut down one of the most talented teams in the country.
Schemed game ending interception that was dropped.

Parker called a perfect play to win the game 21-10, but Hartman didn't execute.

The team is trending upward. Let Freeman keep stacking developmental talent and hope Carr is the one that was promised.

I still have confidence in Freeman. And I thought Parker was fine - did enough to get the W.

Golden is a C+ coach. He’ll get okay results and that’s fine to some extent, but ND’s selling point on Freeman was that he could blow through the ceiling BK’s team had come up against. That doesn’t jive with a coach who is vanilla, doesn’t recruit very well, and is an average play caller.

Dabo fired Kevin Steele and brought in Venables for this exact reason and the program took off. ND needs to do the same thing with Golden/Washington.

 

[Giddyup]

Marcus Freeman is a defensive coach. What does he do all day at practice. Get involved in the game planning then.

 

[irishff1014]

I still have confidence in Freeman. And I thought Parker was fine - did enough to get the W.

Golden is a C+ coach. He’ll get okay results and that’s fine to some extent, but ND’s selling point on Freeman was that he could blow through the ceiling BK’s team had come up against. That doesn’t jive with a coach who is vanilla, doesn’t recruit very well, and is an average play caller.

Dabo fired Kevin Steele and brought in Venables for this exact reason and the program took off. ND needs to do the same thing with Golden/Washington.

Maybe Lea will be available at the end of the season.

 

[NDMatt91]

Maybe Lea will be available at the end of the season.

Lea was a bad recruiter. No thanks. I'd rather just promote Mickens, who is a good coach and a good recruiter, and then bring in a LB coach who is a good recruiter and will at least put in the effort.

 

[irishff1014]

Lea was a bad recruiter. No thanks. I'd rather just promote Mickens, who is a good coach and a good recruiter, and then bring in a LB coach who is a good recruiter and will at least put in the effort.

That’s going to be a disaster in the making. I like Mickens but Freeman is struggling to make the right calls now with out helping a DC. No thanks

 

[IRISHDODGER]

That’s going to be a disaster in the making. I like Mickens but Freeman is struggling to make the right calls now with out helping a DC. No thanks

If Parker ends up having a season that is deemed a success as an unproven coordinator, MF may get the green light to promote Mickens. If not, he won’t have much leverage and will have to look outside the program.

 

[IrishLax]

Defense is fine. Issues are personnel or situational.

Another hidden stat is that because of the new timing rules Ohio State had 8 real drives to Notre Dame’s 7. On average in past seasons I think teams typically had ~12 possessions a game.

 

[PutuporShutup]

Defense is fine. Issues are personnel or situational.

Another hidden stat is that because of the new timing rules Ohio State had 8 real drives to Notre Dame’s 7. On average in past seasons I think teams typically had ~12 possessions a game.

And game still went to 11… terrible change for football

 

[irishff1014]

Defense is fine. Issues are personnel or situational.

Another hidden stat is that because of the new timing rules Ohio State had 8 real drives to Notre Dame’s 7. On average in past seasons I think teams typically had ~12 possessions a game.

They need to add the missed tackles ranking to that shot. It’ll show the bad side of the defense.

 

[IrishTusker]

Defense is fine. Issues are personnel or situational.

Another hidden stat is that because of the new timing rules Ohio State had 8 real drives to Notre Dame’s 7. On average in past seasons I think teams typically had ~12 possessions a game.

One big issue is the inability to get the critical, game-winning stop. Marshall, Stanford, last night. Admittedly, the OSU offense should not have had the ball, though.

 

[PolishDomer]

They need to add the missed tackles ranking to that shot. It’ll show the bad side of the defense.

They flashed at one point in the game that prior to Ohio State, ND had something like 44, 46 missed tackles...which was 115th in the FBS.

 

[irishff1014]

They flashed at one point in the game that prior to Ohio State, ND had something like 44, 46 missed tackles...which was 115th in the FBS.

Yikes

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

They're solid. The absence of sacks and takeaways keeps them from being elite. It's a problem.

 

[calvegas04]

Even before last night this was assumed to be his last season at ND right?

 

[PANDFAN]

Maybe Lea will be available at the end of the season.

Just signed a contract in summer for extension

 

[NumbersGuy0520]

They're solid. The absence of sacks and takeaways keeps them from being elite. It's a problem.

I feel like over the last few years, whenever we pressure, it has been just a constant barrage of QB hurry or hit + eventual escape.

 

[stlnd01]

I feel like over the last few years, whenever we pressure, it has been just a constant barrage of QB hurry or hit + eventual escape.

I don't know. We've had a string of DLs and DEs who could beat a dude one-on-one and create havoc on their own. Foskey, Tillery, Okwara. Even if you don't get the sack, you disrupt the QB and throw off the passing game, without blitzing and sacrificing coverage.
We don't seem to have that right now, and it kinda showed last night.

 

[stpeteirish]

They flashed at one point in the game that prior to Ohio State, ND had something like 44, 46 missed tackles...which was 115th in the FBS.

Yeah they flashed it after a missed tackle. Lol

 

[NewEnglandGuy]

And game still went to 11… terrible change for football

People are pointing it out and talking about it….but not nearly enough. Football really took over baseball because it was an easy to bet, allowed college heroes to bring their followers to pros, provided more action when the generations placed more importance on it….andddddd was perfect for TV.

The TV contracts ballooning and the safety concerns are a perfect storm for shorter game play and more commercials. I see this worsening in ratio until the dollars change via interest.

 

[NDFAN2008]

Defense is fine. Issues are personnel or situational.

Another hidden stat is that because of the new timing rules Ohio State had 8 real drives to Notre Dame’s 7. On average in past seasons I think teams typically had ~12 possessions a game.

We also had 3 drives that were 6 min or longer, Ohio State didn't take that long to score. We controlled the time of possesion last year against Ohio State we had a bunch of 3 and outs.

 

[BabyIrish]

Golden a c+ coach!? On what planet are we living that we can’t see clearly. Did the defense plat perfectl? No. Was the game plan and calling perfect? No. But if you had told me we held OSU to 3 first half points, 17 total overall, holding Harrison in check, and keeping their offense well below all of their season stats, I would have bet we blew them out of the building. The defense played an A- game including the coach. Things need to improve but we’ve seen a great defense thus far this season.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Defense is fine. Issues are personnel or situational.

Another hidden stat is that because of the new timing rules Ohio State had 8 real drives to Notre Dame’s 7. On average in past seasons I think teams typically had ~12 possessions a game.

I'd like to see missed tackles and sacks added to the list. And is there a stat for dropped INTs or FF-not recovered? Just to make for a more well-rounded graphic. This defense could be so damn good, but they're missing key ingredients that would make them elite.

Agree that the D is "fine" and the issues are situational. Which means the microscope on Golden is warranted. He's doing a great job, but is it elite? No, as evidence by some of the calls he's made situationally that has put ND in a position to lose games.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Even before last night this was assumed to be his last season at ND right?

I don't know who is assuming this, but it feels very premature to me to even be talking about it in September of his second year. I think a lot of people here are wishing for it to be so, but there have to be things that open up and fall into place for him to go. I think he left the NFL for college only because it was Notre Dame, but his path in terms of next move could involve multiple scenarios.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

Read this and weep boys. Wow

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Read this and weep boys. Wow

Jamie's write-ups are always great.

In ten years, I'll still be harping on the what-ifs within this game. ND feels cursed. If you can list a dozen 50/50 occurrences in that game, you'd expect at least some to go ND's way. None did. The problem, is it's not just this game. Lack of takeaways have been a commonality over the last two years. I'm not quite sure I understand why ND isn't recovering SOME of these fumbles or catching SOME of these potential INTs. Makes no sense to me. 5 throws from McCord that should've been picked. 5?!?! And ND got ZERO.

 

[Rockin’Irish]

Jamie's write-ups are always great.

In ten years, I'll still be harping on the what-ifs within this game. ND feels cursed. If you can list a dozen 50/50 occurrences in that game, you'd expect at least some to go ND's way. None did. The problem, is it's not just this game. Lack of takeaways have been a commonality over the last two years. I'm not quite sure I understand why ND isn't recovering SOME of these fumbles or catching SOME of these potential INTs. Makes no sense to me. 5 throws from McCord that should've been picked. 5?!?! And ND got ZERO.

I think recovering fumbles is often luck to a certain degree because the ball just might not bounce our way but with INT opportunities, the player has to execute. There are plenty of reasons the DBs aren’t WRs including they may not have great catching ability but one would think catching 1 or 2 out of 5 is not asking for too much. Even on the fumbles, you’d have to think it will even out over the course of the season. On the opposite side…..ND hasn’t given up an INT and I don’t have the fumbles lost stat in front of me but it can’t be more than 1 or 2 (I can’t think of any off the top of my head). ND has fumbled several times and there have been several throws that could have been intercepted but were dropped by the opposition.