Floyd & Smith

[PADOMERNUT]

i dont think oregon state is any better than teams like unc or michigan state, and we were competitive in both of those games. i never said we would beat them, but i think it would be a competitive game.

but that is your opinion and you are entitled to it. just throwing my two cents in.

 

[NDMontana]

A lot of this discussion is ridiculous. What teams do against other teams in different weeks is irrelevant. If Stanford beat USC that does not mean that we can beat USC. If Syracuse beat the shit out of Pitt, it would not mean that we can't beat them. Every game must be looked at individually. On any given day, any team can beat another team. You can make an educated prediction by looking at the following factors:
1. Talent
2. Execution
3. Coaching
4. Gameday Readiness

The third point is probably the most important, you are either ready to play or you are not. Some teams are talented enough to win when not prepared or game ready, for example, USC beating Stanford last week. It is not who beat who, but who shows up on Saturday. I hope our Irish show up, and shine the next two Saturdays and another date to be named.

Four out of five isn't bad. But you left out the biggest factor: match-ups. It is entirely possible that Stanford beat USC last year because of how one, or multiple, of their positions is built.

Hypothetically: One week ND could beat Stanford because our WR's are too fast for their bigger DB's, while Stanford could then turn around and beat USC because their big DB's match up well with USC's big WR's. Then ND could turn around and lose to USC because their DB's are as fast as ND's WR's.

The game is all about who has the most weapons and how those weapons are deployed. Teams that exploit favorable match-ups, most often, win.

 

[rogosIRISH77]

no wonder i liked your post so much rogos. I posted the following during last season:
Originally Posted by SoCalDomer
I'm not sure if this would fit under coaching, but bad gameplanning. (The attempt to implement a hybrid spread option at the GT game has been discussed ad nauseum so I won't do so further). Getting away from the run too quickly would also be bad gameplanning.

I'm convinced winning requires the following, in order:

1) Game plan
2) Attitude
3) Coaching/Training
4) Execution
5) Talent

The upsets of this season have shown that lesser talented teams can win. I think those games can be attributed to having the top 4 things in order. Relying on talent alone won't win games.



looking back, i think "execution" should probably be higher and attitude maybe a little lower. but i still firmly believe that relying on talent without having the other factors nailed down will not allow you to win most games, unless you're playing terribly inferior teams.

Yeah, that's funny. I completely agree, execution is definitely important, I should have put mine in order.

Also, NDMontana, I would include matchups under talent. Obviously there are hundreds of things that factor into a victory or loss, but to name them all would be... well it would take a long time and a lot of thinking. I mean take weather for example, it can affect the gameplay and some teams may play better against a certain team and some may play worse due to weather. I would put the weather factor under attitude/game readiness. I was just outlining the factors in a victory... but here are mine in order now

1. Execution
2. Game Readiness/Attitude/HEART
3. Gameplan/Strategy
4. Coaching (Adapting in the game)
5. Talent

In all honesty, it is hard to differentiate between all of the factors because they are all extremely important in their own ways. Some people don't believe in "HEART,"
but I am a firm believer that it is an intangable thing that exists in football, and it is a HUGE factor in the succession of games, seasons, programs, and dynasties.

 

[NDMontana]

Yeah, that's funny. I completely agree, execution is definitely important, I should have put mine in order.

Also, NDMontana, I would include matchups under talent. Obviously there are hundreds of things that factor into a victory or loss, but to name them all would be... well it would take a long time and a lot of thinking. I mean take weather for example, it can affect the gameplay and some teams may play better against a certain team and some may play worse due to weather. I would put the weather factor under attitude/game readiness. I was just outlining the factors in a victory... but here are mine in order now

1. Execution
2. Game Readiness/Attitude/HEART
3. Gameplan/Strategy
4. Coaching (Adapting in the game)
5. Talent

In all honesty, it is hard to differentiate between all of the factors because they are all extremely important in their own ways. Some people don't believe in "HEART,"
but I am a firm believer that it is an intangable thing that exists in football, and it is a HUGE factor in the succession of games, seasons, programs, and dynasties.

I suppose that I think match-ups are the biggest factor in success because:

1. If you're o-line is severly outmatched by another teams d-line than they will never be able to execute a running play. Your receivers can run perfect routes, your qb can throw them the ball at the perfect time, but if the other teams db's are faster/more skilled than your receivers it doesn't mean shit.

2. I played at private Catholic high school with 138 students and 34 players on the football team; The next smallest school in our conference had an enrollement of 700 students w/ 70 football players.Yet, we won our conference every year but when we got into the playoffs, we always lost in the state semi-finals. It had nothing to do with heart or game preparation, believe me. It had to do with size and speed and how our opponents utilized it. Heart only carries you so far....especially when you're playing against the best players in the country week in and week out.

3. Game Plan/Strategy. Basically this factor is how you choose to exploit your strengths and hide your weaknesses.....it factors into match-ups.

4. Coaching/Adapting. Again, this aspect entails making adjustments and counter-adjustments, etc.
In my opinion this is CW's biggest failure. He is not very good at addressing his cognitive dissonance with regards to running the ball. He can see that our lineman are not capable run blockers yet he is very determined to run the ball. There's a real disconnect between reality and desire there.

5. Talent. Okay, We're back into matchups here.

I suppose that using the term "match-ups" is a more succinct version of factors three through five.

 

[NDinL.A.]

I didn't get the game in my area; I did, however, get to enjoy The Care Bears on CBS at 10 a.m. MST on Saturday morning. If anyone wants my hard hitting analysis on this weeks episode just PM me. Fucking fucking CBS.

So, I'm going to venture a guess and say that we didn't blitz against the option attack. I wonder if there's something to that? Maybe we could have our safeties help over the top instead of blitzing every play on defense.

Okay, negativitiy about Tenuta's scheme aside, the defense has played really well the last couple of weeks. If the offense could only compliment them we would be doing really well.

Care Bears?!?!?!?! WTF?? Damn that sucks. I do know that every major network has to have a ertain amount of hours of children's programming, and most do it on Sat morning. We got the game OK out here, but we've missed other big games across the country at the 9:00 hour because the networks wouldn't rework the schedule (it's always ABC that screws us out here).

As for our defense, we did what Pitt did vs. Navy, and that was to tackle the fullback every single time, regardless of whether he had the ball or not. And everybody else stayed disciplined in their gaps and we took away their option for the most part. What really helped us, i read, was that Kyle McCarthy's lil bro ran this type of offense in high school, and that he did a fantastic job mimicking Navy's offense on the scout team, which prepared our 'd' so much better than last year. It's one thing to see it on tape, but to run up against someone that knows how to run it is even better. And it showed on Saturday...

 

[wallym]

I heard Robby Parris is next on the depth chart behind Floyd, so he will have to step up too. Either way, he and Kamara have been a bit disappointing this year, but that might because GT and Floyd have been that much better. I have confidence in these guys...they just have to step up. Heck, Duval should dominate like Mike Williams (USC) used to.

Regardless of who's at receiver, JC needs to be much better than he was against BC and Navy. We can't throw screens all day against USC, and need to throw the ball downfield and in the middle of the field.

 

[NDMontana]

oops.

 

[NDMontana]

Care Bears?!?!?!?! WTF?? Damn that sucks. I do know that every major network has to have a ertain amount of hours of children's programming, and most do it on Sat morning. We got the game OK out here, but we've missed other big games across the country at the 9:00 hour because the networks wouldn't rework the schedule (it's always ABC that screws us out here).

As for our defense, we did what Pitt did vs. Navy, and that was to tackle the fullback every single time, regardless of whether he had the ball or not. And everybody else stayed disciplined in their gaps and we took away their option for the most part. What really helped us, i read, was that Kyle McCarthy's lil bro ran this type of offense in high school, and that he did a fantastic job mimicking Navy's offense on the scout team, which prepared our 'd' so much better than last year. It's one thing to see it on tape, but to run up against someone that knows how to run it is even better. And it showed on Saturday...

We get screwed by ABC, too. They are the flagship network, here in MT, for the Montana State Bobcats. The Bobcats are definitely the lesser of the two "big" universities (by MT standards) in the state. I would say that 75% of the state follows the other school. And, out of the 25% that follow the Cats, 10% of them are at the games. The remaining 15% are probably hunting or doing something like that. Hell, the last time I called ABC Montana to complain they said, get this, that they had over 10,000 calls for the Notre Dame game in an hour and a half span.

But they keep putting MSU on....oh well.

I was really happy with the defense in the Boston College game and it sounds like it rolled over into the Navy Game. I hope they keep rolling into the game w/ USC.