End of Season Positives (and 2 negatives)

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

The positives:

• Team never quit during the ups and downs of a season that started with supremely high expectations.
• the defense, which was in question prior to fall, played brilliant football 95% of the time
• The entire defensive staff earned a ton of credit. People were questioning Al Washington last season/off-season. Think about that.
  • Al Washington produced two of the top rated IDLs
  • JJB raised his game to another level and massively improved his draft stock
  • This was probably the best secondary I've ever seen at ND. If DJ Brown had completed the interception against tOSU to seal the victory, it would be without question (and I still have feelings of nausea pour over me at the thought)
  • the LBs, who were much maligned by certain fans, played great football for a top defense.
  • The turnovers were plentiful this year and a lot of fun
• Audric Estime outran my limited expectations for him. Love watching him play, I hope he puts up ridiculous numbers at the combine to earn a high draft spot. Young man has been through a lot of adversity and he continues to 'run-thru-a-muh-fukkas-face' <-- link for reference
• Special teams was special again this year. Even if it couldn't match the highwater mark of last year, we had blocked kicks, blocked FGs, returns for TDs and pretty good coverage teams, good-not-great FG percentage.
• Al Golden is truly a brilliant mind. We don't have many first rounders on the defense but he stifled some of the most potent offenses in the country repeatedly. We never lost a game because of the defense.
• 3 Freshman WRs combined for 850 yds and 9 TDs. That is a helluva debut season by that class. Can't wait to see what they are capable of over the next 3-4 years.
• RBs handled their business, each giving us a reason to cheer. They never cost us a game and many times, they were the driver of the offense.
• OL - mixed bag but really finished strong. For the most part, they played well with occasional baffling lapses in concentration or bad fundamentals or both. But for a young interior, they acquitted themselves well.

The negative(s):

Ohio State and Clemson. I can stomach the Louisville loss as an upset after the gauntlet of games ND played consecutively, at night, on the road, etc. etc. Ohio State should not have been a loss. It took DJ Brown missing an interception, the safeties freezing on the 3rd down long conversion and the coaches shitting the bed and putting 10 players on the field for the last second loss. I've never experienced a hangover like that without alcohol involved. That night I fell asleep probably 6 times, each time I'd wake up with a critical play running in my head. Food had no flavor and color was muted. What an incredibly strange experience.

Clemson shouldn't have happened. It's the one game that gives me pause about Freeman. He is a great man, a great leader and a fantastic representative of the university but we need to see him navigate a full season and outperform expectations. This is hard to do as a young coach with already high expectations but we need more next season. I don't care what they have to do to augment the roster but the fanbase needs a playoff birth and hopes still alive at the end of November.

Go Irish!

What did I miss? What did I oversell?

 

[MacIrish75]

I’ve just selectively blocked OSU from memory. I don’t acknowledge the game. Don’t talk about it. Won’t rewatch it. I’ve never just sat in silence for 15min after a game until that night—and it’s been a rough go since 1996ish. I was that dejected.

 

[PutuporShutup]

Good write up...... We forget how bad we played vs Duke (not that good of a team) after OSU loss and before Louisville game. As bad as clemson was, duke was just as bad as well and we got really really lucky. We should have won vs OSU but should have lost vs Duke. Parker and staff did nothing to help the offense that game. This is the game where if the offensive staff had a clue, faison would have already been playing and made a few big plays in the game allowing us a comfortable win.

 

[tko]

I think a key piece to not overlook is S&C. Where are we there? We need an animal in this role.

 

[BoredIrish]

I think a key piece to not overlook is S&C. Where are we there? We need an animal in this role.

This...

Furthermore, the fact that there has been nothing mentioned about the S&C coach makes me optimistic that maybe there will be an OC change as well and we just havent heard about it yet.

 

[PutuporShutup]

This...

Furthermore, the fact that there has been nothing mentioned about the S&C coach makes me optimistic that maybe there will be an OC change as well and we just havent heard about it yet.

Parker will be S&C + TE coach so we can retain him, Gino, and bring in an OC. No Hurt Feelings.

 

[MacIrish75]

Gerad Parker: S&C

Alrighty y’all ever done flipped tractor tires over yonder toward the other end of that field? We’re gonna do that a handful of times and then gonna go over and chop wood for ole Mrs. Timmons down the way. I reckon if that was good enough back in good ole WV, it’s good enough here.