GoldenDomer2357
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Growing up watching ND football, I had only been able to critique ND as a fan. However, the last 4 years or so, I have coached 16-19 year old baseball teams and recently was hired to coach high school baseball at my alma mater. So you're asking what's the point who cares. Well after becoming a coach, I have taken on a new role as not simply a fan critic but a coach who critiques. I always stress the importance of doing the fundamental things correctly. Teams who succeed don't just put up 60 yard bombs or break off 95 yard runs. Those things fall into place for the teams who have mastered the basics first such as protecting the football, minimizing turnovers, and committing few if any penalties.
This being said I am worried. I am worried because Notre Dame did not show their mastery of any any basic football fundamentals. The only exception was the defense, which was also shoddy at times. How can we as ND faithful even begin to utter the acronym BCS until we can watch a team on Saturdays that is fundamentally sound. I found myself celebrating the most idiotic things during the game yesterday including punt returns in which we did not fumble and passes that were incomplete simply because they were not picked off. I should not have to hold my breath for a team to do the fundamental things correctly.
Now next week we go to Michigan for a prime time showdown. If I was Kelly (which thank goodness I'm not) my week would be spent scrupulously breaking down the plentiful mistakes that my team made and stressing the importance of the games small things. You need to learn to catch before you can have confidence to put the ball up for 50 yards down field. You need to learn to protect the ball before you can feel confident barreling into a strong defense. You need to learn to keep your composure so that 1st and 10 is always 1st and 10 not 1st and 25 every other series. Perhaps the most frightening aspect is that we only lost by 3 points, even after the colossal mistakes that were made. I want this to be a season of "we are there" instead of another season of "we are so close to being there!"
This being said I am worried. I am worried because Notre Dame did not show their mastery of any any basic football fundamentals. The only exception was the defense, which was also shoddy at times. How can we as ND faithful even begin to utter the acronym BCS until we can watch a team on Saturdays that is fundamentally sound. I found myself celebrating the most idiotic things during the game yesterday including punt returns in which we did not fumble and passes that were incomplete simply because they were not picked off. I should not have to hold my breath for a team to do the fundamental things correctly.
Now next week we go to Michigan for a prime time showdown. If I was Kelly (which thank goodness I'm not) my week would be spent scrupulously breaking down the plentiful mistakes that my team made and stressing the importance of the games small things. You need to learn to catch before you can have confidence to put the ball up for 50 yards down field. You need to learn to protect the ball before you can feel confident barreling into a strong defense. You need to learn to keep your composure so that 1st and 10 is always 1st and 10 not 1st and 25 every other series. Perhaps the most frightening aspect is that we only lost by 3 points, even after the colossal mistakes that were made. I want this to be a season of "we are there" instead of another season of "we are so close to being there!"