Marcus Freeman New DC

[Free Manera]

According to the Shamrock podcast Freeman was pumping up the scout team offense all week to get an emotional response out of the D.

He was encouraging extracurriculars and fighting through the whistle.

It worked.

 

[GreenGemsOmally]

I'll give credit where it's due here. Only a few missed assignments on the D, and we didn't know how Freeman would attack Navy. Good day for him and the defense, albeit a really poor Navy squad.

I know that he had seen Navy while at UC but I was very curious to see how he would respond while at ND. I was very pleased with what I saw from the defense yesterday.

 

[NDFAN420]

According to the Shamrock podcast Freeman was pumping up the scout team offense all week to get an emotional response out of the D.

He was encouraging extracurriculars and fighting through the whistle.

It worked.

Navy just likes to play dirty no matter what. Freeman did the right thing to get the D ready. And ND.

 

[BeatSC]

From what I saw of Watts his speed and tackling acumen looked top notch! We are going to start seeing him play more often soon. I hope he stays on Defense. Keys looks like a dip shit now for leaving. Maybe he should change his mind.

 

[tko]

From what I saw of Watts his speed and tackling acumen looked top notch! We are going to start seeing him play more often soon. I hope he stays on Defense. Keys looks like a dip shit now for leaving. Maybe he should change his mind.

Keys tapped out. You don’t just get to return because of injuries. This is a close locker room and he chose to move on. Bye Lawrence and best of luck in your career.

 

[Irish#1]

Put nine in the box and suffocate the run game. No receivers to threaten the D, and their line isn't built to pass pro.

The Oline is supposed to wear down the D line as the game goes on, but it was apparent the Irish size on D wore down their Oline.

 

[IrishLion]

Put nine in the box and suffocate the run game. No receivers to threaten the D, and their line isn't built to pass pro.

The Oline is supposed to wear down the D line as the game goes on, but it was apparent the Irish size on D wore down their Oline.

Was surprised to not see more cut blocks throughout the game. Idk if Navy has changed their blocking scheme, as it seemed they were all reaching on zone blocks quite a bit, or if this was specific to their game plan for ND... but I'm sure it helped the DL to not constantly be chopped at the knees.

Perhaps they just aren't cutblocking as much anymore in general, and I wouldn't know it since I'm not watching them weekly. I'd imagine it's harder to rely on cutblocks these days with refs more likely to throw flags for illegal chop blocks (though I saw a couple near-misses on illegal chop blocks on the plays Navy DID try to execute their standard cut blocks. Hinish was nearly the victim of a disaster, if not for him reading the play immediately at the snap and crashing in. The guard tried to dive at his legs while the center engaged him, but Hinish had already vacated the area in two steps).

 

[BrownerandFry]

A few statistical notes on the defense, for the stats geeks (and if you don't distinguish between "mean" and "median" you will find this absurd.

ND's defense has played 9 games.

In the first three games they allowed 80 points roughly 27 per game, with a MEDIAN of 28.
In the next three games they allowed 66 points. roughly 22 per game with a MEDIAN of 24
in the last three games they allowed 56 points 18.7 per game with a median of 16

In each of the three traunches
the ppg allowed
and the median

declined.

It will be interesting to track this in the final three games.

In the last three games, against USC, North Carolina and Navy, we have held opponents
13 points under
5 points under
10 points under

Their season averages.

Extrapolation is tricky but these trend lines are encouraging.

 

[Irish#1]

Was surprised to not see more cut blocks throughout the game. Idk if Navy has changed their blocking scheme, as it seemed they were all reaching on zone blocks quite a bit, or if this was specific to their game plan for ND... but I'm sure it helped the DL to not constantly be chopped at the knees.

Perhaps they just aren't cutblocking as much anymore in general, and I wouldn't know it since I'm not watching them weekly. I'd imagine it's harder to rely on cutblocks these days with refs more likely to throw flags for illegal chop blocks (though I saw a couple near-misses on illegal chop blocks on the plays Navy DID try to execute their standard cut blocks. Hinish was nearly the victim of a disaster, if not for him reading the play immediately at the snap and crashing in. The guard tried to dive at his legs while the center engaged him, but Hinish had already vacated the area in two steps).

I think you're right. I didn't notice it being so obvious as years past.

 

[ryno 24]

I think Freeman defense will be good this week. This reminds me a lot of an AAC offense. Kyle Hamilton would have made a huge difference but I think they will do well.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

I think Freeman defense will be good this week. This reminds me a lot of an AAC offense. Kyle Hamilton would have made a huge difference but I think they will do well.

I think it's really going to come down to our pass rush. The thing about UVA is they are a lot different from our previous opponents in that they are really proficient at spreading the ball around.

They have five pass catchers with 28+ catches and over 440 yards on the year, and all have at least one TD (three of them with 6+ TDs) and each average over 9 yards a catch.

That's a lot different than playing Bell from Purdue or London from USC. If we can't get home rushing the passer, our DBs are going to have a long day.

 

[BeauBenken]

I think it's really going to come down to our pass rush. The thing about UVA is they are a lot different from our previous opponents in that they are really proficient at spreading the ball around.

They have five pass catchers with 28+ catches and over 440 yards on the year, and all have at least one TD (three of them with 6+ TDs) and each average over 9 yards a catch.

That's a lot different than playing Bell from Purdue or London from USC. If we can't get home rushing the passer, our DBs are going to have a long day.

Especially considering how lost the defensive backfield looked during the UNC game without Hamilton.

 

[NDBoiler]

I think Freeman defense will be good this week. This reminds me a lot of an AAC offense. Kyle Hamilton would have made a huge difference but I think they will do well.

Has Hamilton been confirmed to be out this game already?

 

[clashmore_mike]

Has Hamilton been confirmed to be out this game already?

Nothing confirmed that I've seen. Kelly said in his presser yesterday they were waiting on more info from the doctors before making a decision. At this point it'd be a surprise if he played, but Kelly also noted that if he cleared to play as late as Saturday, he'd be out there. Take that with a big grain of salt.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Nothing confirmed that I've seen. Kelly said in his presser yesterday they were waiting on more info from the doctors before making a decision. At this point it'd be a surprise if he played, but Kelly also noted that if he cleared to play as late as Saturday, he'd be out there. Take that with a big grain of salt.

Yeah, I take that with a huge grain of salt. Even setting aside the risk of injury, he definitely risks losing draft position if he's out there performing at less than 100%.

 

[NDdomer2]

The real question is cleared by who. ND or Kyle

 

[BeauBenken]

I thought BK said that he had been cleared by their staff, but he's just waiting to hear more from people outside the program? At least that was the jest I got.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

I thought BK said that he had been cleared by their staff, but he's just waiting to hear more from NFL DRAFT EXPERTS. At least that was the jest I got.

FIFY

 

[Riddickulous]

Major props. This was a talented offense with a lot of weapons and we held them to under 300 yards and 3 points without Hamilton and several other starters.

 

[irishff1014]

One of his better game labs this year. Also glad to see him trust some of the young guys and they were good.

 

[BrownerandFry]

In 7 of the ten games this year, Freeman's defense has allowed fewer than 400 yards,
Fewer than 300 yards in the last two, conceding that Navy is weak offensively this year, and Virginia suboptimized due to injury.

 

[Rogue219]

I believe they now have over 30 sacks this season as a unit. Two games left to play.

 

[Dale]

FWIW Notre Dame now ranks as the 2nd best tackling team in the country by PFF, only trailing Georgia.

Bertrand is the only one with double digit tackles missed. Kurt, Myron and Justin A are the only ones missing a concerning % of tackles which I think is where you see QBs get loose, Hinish specifically from memory.

 

[Nanny36]

Has Hamilton been confirmed to be out this game already?

Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for a breach of F1's technical regulations.

 

[ulukinatme]

FWIW Notre Dame now ranks as the 2nd best tackling team in the country by PFF, only trailing Georgia.

Bertrand is the only one with double digit tackles missed. Kurt, Myron and Justin A are the only ones missing a concerning % of tackles which I think is where you see QBs get loose, Hinish specifically from memory.

Does this only cover contact that failed to bring a ball carrier down, or does it include bad angles and missed assignments that lead to big plays? Asking for a friend.

 

[NDFAN2008]

Being mentioned as a possibly candidate for the VT coaching spot.

 

[Dale]

Anything other than Feldman? I hate how he does his articles for every firing. Just copy paste jobs for 90% of it

 

[Rogue219]

Being mentioned as a possibly candidate for the VT coaching spot.

Feldman had him listed in an article on The Athletic as a potential candidate but didn't have Elliott or Venables mentioned from Duke. Make of that what you will.

Virginia Tech hiring Freeman doesn't seem entirely plausible to me. They need someone who has been a head coach before and has built a resume. Napier and Chadwell seem like good picks. Everyone on The Athletic has Dave Clawson at the top of the list, which would be unusual.

 

[Rogue219]

Anything other than Feldman? I hate how he does his articles for every firing. Just copy paste jobs for 90% of it

No.

 

[TP81989]

Does this only cover contact that failed to bring a ball carrier down, or does it include bad angles and missed assignments that lead to big plays? Asking for a friend.

Your Freeman hate shtick is annoying. Seems like your dislike for him goes beyond what's happening on the field for whatever reason.

Meanwhile, your boy Rees is struggling to score 30 against weak defense like Navy and UVA.