Four corners

[lattedatte]

I'm usually a silver lining guy, but if that's what we plan on doing we are going to lose. I hope CW is playing poker with that comment. I guess we will see.

 

[Irish Envy]

Why do you feel that way? USC is uncharacteristicly weak in the rushing game arena. They've had two 100 yard rushers all year. It may be a pretty interesting game plan.

 

[lattedatte]

I feel that SC's strength is the front 7 and our strength is the passing game. If he plans on shortening the game the only way I know to do that is running the ball and short to mid range passing game. With a young secondary like SC has we must stretch the field. Then maybe that will open up the running game. If we go conservative, I think that would be a huge mistake, huge. That is fitting a square peg in a round hole. I will always trust CW but I don't like it.

 

[JPICCIANO]

My only concern is our ability to consistently run against their defense. I just watched the full game replay of last year's USC game on nbc.com and we were able to eat up huge chunks of time with a great ground attack. I'm wondering if we can get the same push with our o-line this year. Travis Thomas was a real force in that game too. Wonder if we will se a bunch of him since we may have to go to the nickel package a good bit to cover smith and jarrett.

If USC wants to blitz with their middle backers like they do, maybe a good attack would be to spread them out, five wide, ala the Patriots when they threw it all over the Steelers in the AFC Championship game to neutralize the agressive defense. Having the nations best qb and outstanding receivers could make poodle's day miserable if we can get the ball away in a hurry. We could still dink and dunk them down the field and keep the clock running that way.

 

[Irish Envy]

I feel that SC's strength is the front 7 and our strength is the passing game. If he plans on shortening the game the only way I know to do that is running the ball and short to mid range passing game. With a young secondary like SC has we must stretch the field. Then maybe that will open up the running game. If we go conservative, I think that would be a huge mistake, huge. That is fitting a square peg in a round hole. I will always trust CW but I don't like it.

I thought you were talking about us playing 4 CBs on defense, not the ole 4 corners offense. USC's front seven isn't killer, their linebacking corps is. Their defensive line has underperformed this year and it is nowhere near the level it was at last year.

That said, yes, it's going to be terribly difficult to run against that LB corps. They really, really scare me and I, too, hope they take shots at the USC secondary. They're young, inexperienced and mistake prone.

 

[lattedatte]

Saying all this SVO, I couldn't imagine that CW is going to do this I think he is finally learning how to be a head coach and use the media to help his cause. I think this will give SC something extra to think about in the next two days of practice. I guess we will know right off the bat come saturday night.

Go Irish!!

 

[Irish Envy]

Yep, and he said this just when he closes practice to the media the next couple days.

 

[NDAlumSon]

Saying all this SVO, I couldn't imagine that CW is going to do this I think he is finally learning how to be a head coach and use the media to help his cause. I think this will give SC something extra to think about in the next two days of practice. I guess we will know right off the bat come saturday night.

Go Irish!!

I couldn't agree more, latte. Charlie must have Petey's head spinning about now.

 

[SillyIrish]

USC's front seven isn't killer, their linebacking corps is.

No doubt about that, but on the plus side ND has faced two of the top LB duals in Poz and Conner. This is where I think Carlson will be missed because he definately creates the mismatch.

 

[jiggafini19]

The SC D-line has picked it up since the Beaver debacle. The ND offensive line should have a lot to prove to a lot of people. This is the best team they will have played all season, including Michigan.

This is true in football for any game, but especially for a big one between two teams of this magnitude: you MUST win the battle up front on both sides of the ball.

I like the idea of keeping the SC offense off the field, but I still believe special teams is going to somehow win or lose this game. Carl Goia is going to figure into the decision somehow.