Love going down was a killer. Vaugn got burned twice. Ony one of those I'd put on him though. The circus catch for the TD was defended about as well as you can hope for.
Overall our depth and a few key positions are just not at the level we need them to he to hope to compete at this highest level.
Hopefully PJ is the stud difference maker at QB we all hope he is, and we can continue to load up in the defensive backfield and at the skill positionms on O.
I agree on Love, but they probably don’t even throw that circus pass at him. I believe Love being out just fundamentally changed the way the D attacked. Very little aggressive blitzing due to being afraid of leaving Vaughn on an island. No such fear with Love. Lawrence gets comfortable due to lack of blitz pressure and smoked the D. This game is close if not for Love being out and the questionable fumble overturn on KO. There is a talent gap, but their depth hurt us. They have more of it than us. I actually don’t think Vaughn was that bad. It’s just that they weren’t afraid of attacking him. My biggest issue and frustration is Book and the play calling. We were shook nearly the entire game. He looked lost and I’ve lost some confidence in Book’s ability to lead the offense against fast, aggressive teams.
This was a game that we needed to be sharp and have the luck go our way. It didn’t. They probably aren’t 27 points better than us most days, but unfortunately this wasn’t most days. Another embarrassment on a national stage. The ESPN dismissive hate (sorry, but it’s true) will not look below the surface and give ND any credit for a great season. They’ll boil it down to having slow, bad players and being overrated. ND deserved this shot and had a bad day. It happens, but it doesn’t erase that things are headed the right way. Continue to recruit from the pool of kids that can actually qualify and build depth as much as possible. There’s reason to believe that we can consistently win 10+ games with this staff and roster. I much prefer this over TW, CW, Davie and those years. Things aren’t as bad as some make it out to be.
A lot of people are saying we’ll never get in again because of this performance. That’s not true. How does OSU, Oklahoma, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, etc ALWAYS get the benefit of the doubt even when they lose (worse than we did btw). It’s because they never go 4-8. They lose maybe 2-3 times a year and we are headed that way. They have earned the right to be overrated and we have not (yet). Just keep at it and we will break through. It’s very easy to just throw your hands up and say “ Fire Kelly”. That’s not happening, nor should it. We went 12-1. Who the heck isn’t happy with that? One bad quarter (with unfortunate injuries) shouldn’t erase all this team accomplished. That also doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look long and hard at why it went so badly, but a wholesale turnover would be wrong.
I know many here disagree with my thoughts, but I think things aren’t bad. We picked a bad day to have a bad day. Regroup, learn, improve and get back here again.
I have to ask..... Would you rather be Michigan right now? They were smashed twice this year and they were supposed to be great. We were thought to be an 8-9 win team by most and won 12 GAMES! Enjoy a season that almost every other team would’ve killed to have enjoyed.
