First post: some thoughts

[domerfor life]

yea speed wasnt a factor on alot of the tds the cb just got shook and it hurts my heart to admit it

I saw the replay and I was like all he did was shake his shoulders and you get that far out of position? It wasn't even that great of a move and he lunged like a pit bull going after fresh meat. It's not a play you expect from a veteran guy. Why was he playing up that close anyway? Oh well....when's the next game start?

 

[tommy]

i dont know he acted like he was going one on one with mj was he scared ? seemed like it

 

[domerfor life]

It's hard to say. If you're going to play that close, at least jam him at the line and throw the timing off. The technique was horrible. You have to remember that even though he's more experienced, he's still learning the position. However.....I know they don't teach that in practice, so maybe he was a little jittery.

 

[tommy]

yea im not trying to down the guy hell i aint out there makin plays alot of people dont seem to make to much of us having converted players everywhere it will be good to have people playing thier natural position

 

[domerfor life]

Yeah, Ambrose is still doing a good job. Our corners will either have to give some cushion or if they are going to play close, they need to start jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage. They have to get physical. They can't let a guy shake and then release him (untouched) into the secondary. You're right though. We couldn't do any better.

 

[jiggafini19]

Good first post Revolver. Let me jump in here.

1. When you say "years away" I think you'll be waiting far less years than you are letting on here. Don't forget that up until Weis was hired, our guys weren't even doing SQUATS as part of strength and conditioning. There are peeps here now that know what they're doing, at least as far as recruiting and player evaluation goes. Weis will learn some hard lessons as far as head coaching goes, but the effort is there. He will haul in the talent. This 2007 class will be "better" than last year's class. And 2008 will round them both out.

2. The September schedule is what it is, but excuses are like assholes. Everyone has one and they all stink. Let there be no excuses for those who hate. I want to play BCS schools only, I-A foes. Leave no doubt.

3. If anything, that performance tells a high school senior "guess what little buckaroo, you can START next year. Especially on defense...anywhere.

4. No one who starts right now, yeah.

5. Really, it was their front 7.

6. Losing three games was a realistic possibility in June. Why some people suddenly see it now after loss #1 I don't know. I think most of us underestimated the value of Stovall, Fasano, Stevenson, LeVoir, Mays and Hoyte.

The bottom line is UM knew exactly what Minter was doing in that game. They played to stop Hart and dared Henne to beat our DBs in man to man coverage. Wooden got beat once, then Lambert got his jock served to him with soup, salad and a Manningham and cheese.

Our guys just aren't good enough man to man on just about anyone. Walls and McNeil eventually could be (with Gray) but they aren't now. Richardson and Wooden certainly aren't and there is no way Lambert is.

 

[domerfor life]

I was hoping for a NC, but realistically I saw at least two potential losses. One has already happened. Hoyte and Mayes kept teams from running up the middle on us. It looks like we lost alot when Fasano, Stevenson, and Levior left campus. Last year, Brady could've ate a four-course meal in the pocket. This year hasn't been the same, but there's still 10 games left. People talk about Shark last year, but Stovall was reliable. Toward the end of the year, he was fantastic. Right now, we have too many receivers with a irritating case of the dropsies. We also have to understand that Charlie is still young as it relates to head coaching experience. He is not and will not do everything right. From now on, cut the "we're just focusing on ourselves/fundamental's and techniques" crap. I did not like that approach. That only works in the pros and when you're truly better than your opponent. This team needs to play with an edge, a chip on their shoulder. Maybe the Michigan game will be good for them. We'll see.

 

[onenybrother]

Yea, the scheduling makes it hard to make a run. If you think about it a 2-1 start to this season is not that horrible. Get past MSU and we have a good chance going to USC 10-1. That sounds pretty good to me.

Sounds good to me too.

 

[leppycole]

Just a little shocked at the "Selling Out" that I see on this Blog. You guys did see the same game as I did right?

1. Carlson closes his eyes, or hears steps - and lets one smack him in the head - result = 6 +1.
2. Fumble on kick-off = Mich ball on the 25 result = 6
3. Blown Cover Assignment on wooden (first big mistake of the year for #22)- Ginn flashback/manningham Wide open by 20yds result = 6 + 1
4. Brady turns into Jermaine Jackon and gets greasy - ball slips out of hand, then squirts out from under him - Fumble recovery for TD = 6 +1

Thats 27 pts in approx 2 minutes - ND is forced into a one dimensional Passing team and Mich throws in the tight Man/Nickel - Doubles Shark and puts best cover corner on Rhema - Brady forced to throw to Carlson (manned Up) and Darius (looking up field before securing the ball- couple of drops on 2nd and 3rd down.) in the Flat.

Did you notice the amount of bubble screens thrown in this game - not many - why? Lost Control of the clock - have to go deeper to make up for lost time and give-away points. In the GT game the score was close so with the blitzing ND could still dump to the uncovered WR in slot - Down 20 pts, you only help the other team eat the clock.

Not down with all the comments on ND Front Line Sucks!! They were in pass blocking mode for three quarters - (Can any Former HS Lineman help me out with the difficulty between pass blocking and run blocking - big diff!! more reactive than proactive)

End Result - ND just had ONE bad game!!! There are 9 left so can some of you IRISH FANS help me pull the team out from under the Bus that some of you put them under!!!!

One More Thing That Is Bothering Me - I am calling REVOLVER OUT!!! First Post on Irish Envy and you SLAM the IRISH? Either you are just a Kid or you are a Fan of another team.

Another Point - ND is ND because they are not intimidated by ANY program - I never want to see the Irish start of with 2-3 warm up games against JUCO equivilent teams. If you follow CW recruiting resume - I am not worried about the recruits that were present on Saturday - CW will get them, don't worry about that!!!!

Leppy

 

[revolver]

leppycole - First off, i'm sorry if I offended you or anybody else with my post. I tend to word observations short and to the point. They weren't 'slams' but simply examples in my observation that we are not there with mich, osu, use, texas, ect. from a talent standpoint. I didn't use terms like we suck or we blow. When I say 'their d-line destroyed our o-line' it's like when I used to play tennis and my father or coach would say he's destoying your second serve. That has GOT to be addressed. Or , he's killing you with that backhand pass, stop feeding it! They weren't slamming me. Heck, they loved me. And I love Notre Dame. I am not a kid or a fan of any other team, unless you count the cowboys. Acouple more things, were we in pass protect for 3 quarters in the fiesta bowl? Could some of those mistakes by Brady in the mich game be due to the fact that he's constantly being pressured? You don't want to schedule a couple of lesser oppononts to start off the year? Thats fine. But I don't like it when mich has 3 weeks to prepare for us when we are slugging it out with ga. tech and penn st. Once again, I am sorry that offended you, I just say it short and simple.

 

[leppycole]

leppycole - First off, i'm sorry if I offended you or anybody else with my post. I tend to word observations short and to the point. They weren't 'slams' but simply examples in my observation that we are not there with mich, osu, use, texas, ect. from a talent standpoint. I didn't use terms like we suck or we blow. When I say 'their d-line destroyed our o-line' it's like when I used to play tennis and my father or coach would say he's destoying your second serve. That has GOT to be addressed. Or , he's killing you with that backhand pass, stop feeding it! They weren't slamming me. Heck, they loved me. And I love Notre Dame. I am not a kid or a fan of any other team, unless you count the cowboys. Acouple more things, were we in pass protect for 3 quarters in the fiesta bowl? Could some of those mistakes by Brady in the mich game be due to the fact that he's constantly being pressured? You don't want to schedule a couple of lesser oppononts to start off the year? Thats fine. But I don't like it when mich has 3 weeks to prepare for us when we are slugging it out with ga. tech and penn st. Once again, I am sorry that offended you, I just say it short and simple.

you did not offend me - your post was solid - I read this blog daily and it was really hard for me to see sooooo much support and positive talk prior to Michigan and then read negative "Well there goes the Season" comments after Mich. It was the same with michigan state last year. I was also a little surprised that your first post since joining in June was after the Mich loss and it was filled with doubt.

Keep Posting!!!! It is therapy for most of us.

Have a good day

 

[gipper2nd@yahoo.com]

Great post!!!!!! domerfor life..especially the line: lets cut the "were just focusing on ourselves/fundamentals and techniques" crap. That, as they say, is hitting the nail on the head. Have you seen these guys in the interview? If you listen to one of them...........you don't need to listen to the others! they all say the same thing.........absolutely no emotion. As Svo stated: It is the job of the coach to get them motivated & ready to play. I too can handle any loss when they play hard..................but I haven't seen the fire.

 

[NDAlumSon]

As Svo stated: It is the job of the coach to get them motivated & ready to play. I too can handle any loss when they play hard..................but I haven't seen the fire.

Gipper, I definitely agree with the fact that they need more emotion, more passion, more explosive nastiness on the field.
I just don't think that that has to come from Charlie necessarily.
It's not his nature to be all "fire & brimstone".
He's an intellectual (in the football sense).
Hell, he's really a technocrat.
As he stated in yesterday's presser...."I'm a personnel and packages coach."
No, I think the rah-rah stuff is going to have to come from asst. coaches and team captains for the time being.
Knute & Lou, Charlie is not.

 

[tommy]

we need lou thier just to talk bring him in their as a glorified cheer leader although the fire and brimstone should be coming from the players seeing as they are the ones with the power to use it