I'm no professional game analyst, but here is my big-picture (I'm a bigger pic kind of guy) impression I got from watching last night's game:
- The D was definitely not an Al Golden one (he is sorely missed!), but it's early, and hopefully, it will develop its own personality and strengths; I do think the D after adjustments was growing in strength and stoutness as the 2nd half wore on. After that early almost 8-min MIA drive, MIA only scored a total of 6 points, and the interception deep in ND territory handed them the first one.
- The O was definitely part tentative, testing things, part keeping Carr tamed, part the OL being so so and needing identity, and part Raridon dropping passes he should have caught; this guy can be a very important cog in the ND O wheel this year.
- I agree with all that Carr is the real deal, and will only get better; I would much rather have seen MD only play it safe for a series or two, but then really have unleashed Carr - I think Carr showed he can and does react positively, even improvising as needed. MF and MD should have been willing to accept any downsides (interceptions) of Carr going for it because that is how he and the team will grow and the upside of that is unbound and likely would have had ND coming out on top. (I do worry he risks himself too much on the QB keeper runs - He outright led with his head down on that one run - yikes!).
- As far as the season goes, I agree that it now doesn't leave a lot of margin for error for the remainder of the season with games against very capable TAMU, AK, USC, SYR, and PITT remaining; that said, there's a lot to be said that this was a game to learn from and make adjustments and it's a positive that the team now has 2 weeks to prepare for maybe our toughest game of the year against TAMU.
- Remember, with a longer season that can include up to 4 playoff games, it's not so bad to be fine-tuned and peaking towards, or even in, the playoffs as OSU showed last year. Remember, they were coming off a big MI loss only on Thanksgiving w/e and had lost to OR in mid Oct, but they were a different team in the playoffs.
- I know sometimes MF seems a little too chill, patient, and not critical enough, but that could be his coaching and leadership style magic that just works at ND - It did last year. His unwavering and relaxed confidence in RL even as we were all calling for his benching proved to be the right move last year; MMFF and staff may just pull this off again this year and we have just as capable a QB and OC/DCs on staff to do so. Let's give the team a chance and see how this team does over the next crucial 6 weeks through the 10/18 USC game at home.
- It's a long season and this was just a really early in the season late August game away in a loud stadium where there were a lot of debuts (Carr, Ash, OL, and to a degree, Eli Raridon with so many injuries and now the featured TE), where the other team kept the ball out of ND's hands for a large chunk of the game, and where there were some fluke bouncing balls (I still wonder if CJ Daniels actually did catch that TD pass, but no camera could catch it on video).
Go Irish, beat TAMU! 🍀🍀🍀
