ND VS. UNC postgame discussion

[Irish Rogue]

Bottom Line turnovers killed ND. As to the officials making that call, you can also look at blanton's possible fumble recovery that was not reviewed. I would have to look at the rule book but Floyd's shoulders were on the ground before he lost the ball, close call. Paul "Big Mouth" Maguire would not shut his face all game, he was a total homer for UNC.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

The slow motion replay made the NC reception look like a catch, but it wasn't. I don't understand why they gave NC the ball at the end. The ref said ND was down, then ND spiked the ball. The play should not have been reviewed, whether or not it was a fumble. Refs blew that one, but it was such a crazy finish, I don't think any human would have gotten it right. Oh well.

 

[GoIrish41]

How can you be disgusted. You can see this team getting better every week. The turnovers were the only real negative of this game. Some will say the D gave up too many yards, but they played decent. The biggest reality most are learning about our D is that our D Line is just what every one thought mediocre. You have small guys with average talent or youth who are forced to play before their time. I have loads of optimism about our future. The O is becoming scary good. Let's keep our heads up. I said 8 wins before the year and still believe 8-9 is likely.

Great post Jonesman.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

Incidentally, I watched the game at a sports bar that had about 30 TV screens. I had called before I arrived to find out if they would be showing the ND game. I received a quick "yes" and I asked if I was the only person who had called to ask. Apparently, I was the 40th. This surprised me, because I live in the middle of ND hater nation. I walked in to the bar just before gametime, but no screen was tuned to the ND game. I asked the manager if he could find the ND game. He tuned a small screen at the back of the bar to the game. I was seated at the bar, with the rest of the crowd seated behind me, so I was not aware of which game they were all watching. Five minutes into the game, the screen switched to the Ohio State game. I jumped off my stool and looked around. The entire bar had also jumped off of their chairs. Apparently 90% of the crowd behind me was there to watch ND. The manager quickly found the game on one of the big screens.

 

[coachjohnson]

Turnovers will beat you virtually every time. They just kill your D, the more they happen the longer you D is on the field.

 

[JeremyND07]

no, it was the right call on the previous posession. the rule clearly states that you have to maintain posession all the way through the catch. the unc receiver did not. the refs were right on both calls.

He CLEARLY had posession of the ball!!!! I am glad we did not win after that horrible call because all we would be hearing is how NC got hosed not how ND is for real!!!

 

[JeremyND07]

5 TO on the road = a lose period! The defense looked great except on 3rd downs which needs to improve for us to beat any teams worth a crap!

Kamara looked a lot better which someone on this board said he was going to improve and be a factor...cough *me* cough!

We are still not a top 25 team guys! Sorry we still have a long way too go...Standford was are biggest win of the year! SD is 1-5, Mich got beat by Toledo, and Purdue looks like they will be in the bottom of the big ten!

8-4 for the season is still a big improvement...add in a bowl win and no one on here has the right to complain after last year!

 

[ryno 24]

the defense was not that bad really plus i know clausen had three turnovers but 383 yards and two touchdowns is not bad especially compared to where he was last year. i know we lost but lets remember we still are improving

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

it looked to me as though floyd knew the ball had been jarred loose and his reaction was to push the ball away with the hopes that one of our players would recover it since none were right next to where he was tackled. ultimately who knows. it was an extremely frustrating game. thankfully we still have four wins after six games. i wanted to blow something up after the game, but now isn't the time to freak out about losses.

the team can learn from this game. clausen especially. several of our remaining games could be nailbiters as well and hopefully the lessons learned yesterday will get us through victoriously. i only anticipate one more loss this season so any losses before usc will have me in a tantrum. in a loving way of course

 

[BeatSC]

How can you be disgusted. You can see this team getting better every week. The turnovers were the only real negative of this game. Some will say the D gave up too many yards, but they played decent. The biggest reality most are learning about our D is that our D Line is just what every one thought mediocre. You have small guys with average talent or youth who are forced to play before their time. I have loads of optimism about our future. The O is becoming scary good. Let's keep our heads up. I said 8 wins before the year and still believe 8-9 is likely.

I was upset but as some have said we are not going to the BCS this year. With that said I think our offense is looking awesome but the TO's are killers. We are not a good enough Defense to overcome such a disparity against a good team. Without TO's against SDSU we have a predictably dominant win 38-13. Without TO's against MichSt. we probably win 27-20. Without TO's in this game we win 38-15 or worse. Throw in a few made field goals and we are ranked in the top 10 at 6-0.
Our offense is becoming good enough to compete with anyone. Our defense and kicking game are not. We can fix the kicking game by the end of the year. The defense may be another story. I think the team is getting used to the revised system and I think next year brings a much improved D in the secondary and LB(need some more freeshman line studs). I think CW is doing a great job rotating players in to see who the gamers are. While we will miss Bruton I think Frazer has laready demonstrated himself as a impact player. The running game is picking up and depsite a couple of bonehead mistakes JC is looking awesome, he just needs to hold back the trigger and not force the ball (more dump offs). We are on track for top 10 next year. It's going to come down to ND & USC next year at home.

What do you think?

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

I was upset but as some have said we are not going to the BCS this year. With that said I think our offense is looking awesome but the TO's are killers. We are not a good enough Defense to overcome such a disparity against a good team. Without TO's against SDSU we have a predictably dominant win 38-13. Without TO's against MichSt. we probably win 27-20. Without TO's in this game we win 38-15 or worse. Throw in a few made field goals and we are ranked in the top 10 at 6-0.
Our offense is becoming good enough to compete with anyone. Our defense and kicking game are not. We can fix the kicking game by the end of the year. The defense may be another story. I think the team is getting used to the revised system and I think next year brings a much improved D in the secondary and LB(need some more freeshman line studs). I think CW is doing a great job rotating players in to see who the gamers are. While we will miss Bruton I think Frazer has laready demonstrated himself as a impact player. The running game is picking up and depsite a couple of bonehead mistakes JC is looking awesome, he just needs to hold back the trigger and not force the ball (more dump offs). We are on track for top 10 next year. It's going to come down to ND & USC next year at home.

What do you think?

Great post. Agree with everything except the comment about the D. I think if people really take a deep hard look, they will find that the D has given up very little. The O has put them in tough situations because of turnovers.

I do think this is the beginning of a monster defense that NDOM is hoping for, similar to the 88 championship D. They are on the right track. I think LB play is very weak, but they are probably following orders. Lateral pursuit is painfully not there because LBs are either blitzing or getting fooled.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

...I am glad we did not win after that horrible call because all we would be hearing is how NC got hosed not how ND is for real!!!

I wish ND would have won, but I thought the same thing immediately. I thought if ND came back and won, the only thing said would be that NC was cheated.

Oh well. It was a great game. ND is coming back. Lightning fast.

I am so freegin fired up right now about these guys.

(But it is entirely possible they lose more of the rest than they win.)

 

[IHateMarkMay]

Just read this on ESPN... anybody else know this?

"With less than six minutes to play in the third quarter, and the Irish still sitting on a 24-16 advantage, North Carolina faced a 2nd-and-1 at the Notre Dame 15-yard line. With the way the Tar Heels had been moving the football on the drive, it was difficult to envision a scenario in which they did not pick up a first down over the next two plays. The Irish, however, placed just 10 men on the field for the play. Worst of all, defensive tackle Ethan Johnson, ready to join the huddle, was pulled back at the last second. Because of inexcusable communication issues, Notre Dame had to burn a timeout. That timeout sure would have been valuable on the game's final drive. I truly believe that with another timeout in its pocket, Notre Dame would have won the game."

ESPN - Bruce Feldman Blog

Towards the bottom.

 

[Shamrock44]

Unfortunately, I was at the game. It was an awful experience. The UNC fans are the worst I have ever encountered. (I was at the sugar bowl when we played LSU and and I honestly didn't think I would come across worse fans) We had cups and bottles constantly thrown at us. We were called derogatory names the ENTIRE game. (I was with my family, mind you.) I couldn't believe it. I will never go back to Chapel Hill, NC. Totally low class.

 

[phgreek]

again... sophmore QB, sophmore skill players... it will happen ALL YEAR

dead on...flashes of brilliance will be interrupted all year with some mental breakdowns. Tons of talent, but mental toughness/maturity will be the limiting factor...who didn't expect this???

 

[BillyIrish]

I think one thing that is being understated is how young this football team is. They are still growing. While we all see the high ceiling for this football team, saturday was another example of the growing pains that a young football team goes through. Five turnovers can almost assure you a loss on the road. Its been a pretty simple formula thus far... win the turnover battle and win the game... that said i still think the last play should have been our ball with 3-4 seconds on the clock. doesnt the play stop on the whistle? it didnt lose the game for the Irish, but it didnt do any favors trying to swallow another loss in a winable football game.

 

[JeremyND07]

I agree we are still very young and still just an average football team. There is a lot of potential on this team and the future is brite! I think if JC did not throw that INT for a TD at the beginning of the first half that we would of won by 2-3 TD's. We were playing really well!

 

[Irish 83]

Welcome back Kamara! Wow, I thought he played very well in the slot. Having him and Kyle going over the middle is certainly fun to watch. Jimmy is definately getting better on his checks, Armando is a force recieving the ball out of the backfield. We showed a lot of potential but in the end we beat ourselves in turnovers.