Nov 22 | Louisville

[dkuhn12]

He is clearly playing with 1 arm/shoulder right now. I actually commend him for trying but absolutely zero, literally zero, reasons he should be playing. Just one of many terrible coaching decisions.

I am not questioning his determination. I know he has been hurt all year. Its bad coaching decisions like you suggested. But if you are on the field, your healthy enough to play, which means wrap up the guy and make the tackle and play like a fifth year senior, not like a sophomore

 

[Redbar]

Are you guys insinuating that coaches actually ride hot hands and don't get stuck in their tendencies? Because we quite clearly could have ridden our running game the last two games to protect our defense and shorten the games. #baffled

I plead the fifth on the insinuating charge.

I think Marsellus Wallace said it best, "The night of the fight, you may feel a slight sting. That's pride duckin with you. Duck pride. Pride only hurts. It never helps. You fight through that shhh."

or if you prefer, MacBeth

I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself,
And falls on th'other. . . .

 

[Nick Setta]

I don't know why Kelly hasn't gone with a gameplan similar to the end of the 2010 season yet. I was so excited to see a run-first ugly but efficient team. We can pass but running to set up the pass is just so much better at a school like ND.

 

[Black Irish]

I finally got to watch the game on DVR. Not much I can contribute that hasn't been said. One thing, letting Golson sulk on the sideline bench after a bad series has to stop. Someone needs to be in his face, coaching him up, getting him ready for the next offensive series. I know Kelly has a game to run, but why not the QB coach? Tommy Rees? Someone.

I hate to give him credit, but Jameis Winston, in the FSU games I've watched demonstrates what a QB should do on the sidelines. Winston is on his feet, paying attention, talking to teammates, staying engaged and hot to get back out there and make something happen. That isn't Golson style or personality, as a natural introvert myself, I get that. But you have to step into what the role demands of you.

 

[Irish#1]

I finally got to watch the game on DVR. Not much I can contribute that hasn't been said. One thing, letting Golson sulk on the sideline bench after a bad series has to stop. Someone needs to be in his face, coaching him up, getting him ready for the next offensive series. I know Kelly has a game to run, but why not the QB coach? Tommy Rees? Someone.

I hate to give him credit, but Jameis Winston, in the FSU games I've watched demonstrates what a QB should do on the sidelines. Winston is on his feet, paying attention, talking to teammates, staying engaged and hot to get back out there and make something happen. That isn't Golson style or personality, as a natural introvert myself, I get that. But you have to step into what the role demands of you.

I'm at the point where I wouldn't mind Kelly inserting Zaire to see if he can get Golson to wake up. I think Golson is letting the mental part weigh him down. He needs to get pissed at himself and be a fighter.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

I finally got to watch the game on DVR. Not much I can contribute that hasn't been said. One thing, letting Golson sulk on the sideline bench after a bad series has to stop. Someone needs to be in his face, coaching him up, getting him ready for the next offensive series. I know Kelly has a game to run, but why not the QB coach? Tommy Rees? Someone.

I hate to give him credit, but Jameis Winston, in the FSU games I've watched demonstrates what a QB should do on the sidelines. Winston is on his feet, paying attention, talking to teammates, staying engaged and hot to get back out there and make something happen. That isn't Golson style or personality, as a natural introvert myself, I get that. But you have to step into what the role demands of you.

Yeah I never understood why he and other offense or defensive players just sit on the bench with their jackets on. I understand the offense linemen group up and Harry coaches them up and that's fine with me. But, if I'm an offensive players I stand up on the sidelines rooting the defense on.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Had Kelly not benched Smith, I think there's a good chance we're 9-2 instead of 7-4 right now.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Had Kelly not benched Smith, I think there's a good chance we're 9-2 instead of 7-4 right now.

IDK overtime is a crapshoot

 

[RDU Irish]

Overtime is a moronic set up. At least put them at the 50 so they have to work for a field goal range play. Automatically starting in field goal range is bull sh!t.

 

[RDU Irish]

Hunter Smith must be a complete head case at this point if he can't get the holder job back. Putting Zaire in there has been as bad or worse. At least Hunter's problems could be somewhat blamed on weather.

 

[Chi_IRISH]

I would really like to see ND get a "big back" type of player. I think in the spread you need a bigger back that could punish people near the goal line. Great spread teams have that down hill runner that could punch the ball in. Cam seems to be that guy but he's only 5'10" 210. Just an observation.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Cam isn't that guy though. He has struggled to punch it in the whole second half of the year. We need a back like Jonas Gray.

 

[RDU Irish]

Others are much more knowledgeable than me on this issue but:

O-line sucks, IMO. Way more pressure on Golson and lack of running lanes than the Heistand hero worship would ever give you the impression was possible. I have not seen any improvement over the course of the year either. At what point does, quite possibly, the best stocked unit on our team start producing like the Top 5 unit we have been building on paper?

 

[Irish Insanity]

Had Kelly not benched Smith, I think there's a good chance we're 9-2 instead of 7-4 right now.

Ding

 

[Sherm Sticky]

I am actually really pleased with how the Oline has played the last two weeks. I guess I'm in the minority.

 

[RDU Irish]

Not saying they have complete crapped the bed, just enough break downs and inconsistencies to screw things up, definitely not imposing their will on anyone. Decent O-line play but they have been billed as a top 5 unit in the making.

 

[IrishLax]

I am actually really pleased with how the Oline has played the last two weeks. I guess I'm in the minority.

They've played fine for really most of the season. ASU is basically the exception, but that's a compounded problem. It's ironic that better OL play has coincided with losing 4 of 5.

 

[Nick Setta]

They've played fine for really most of the season. ASU is basically the exception, but that's a compounded problem. It's ironic that better OL play has coincided with losing 4 of 5.

Maybe we should of ran more.....

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Here's Murtaught's review of Louisville game:

Notre Dame put up a valiant effort against Louisville this past Saturday. Unfortunately, not many people are impressed by valiant efforts when a loss is the end game.

Play-Call of the Game: Golson 5-yard Pass to Koyack

I'm a sucker for that play-action shuffle pass to the tight end. I believe this is the second time we've run it this year. However, I've lamented this year how unproductive Koyack has been with the ball in his hands. It's not so much that he's less athletic than his immediate predecessors, although that's part of it, but he's not overly aggressive with the ball in his hand.

It's almost as if he's waiting for contact instead of busting through the field trying to gain as many yards as possible. When I think of Koyack I picture him catching a pass, taking a couple steps, and crouching down low to the field waiting for the safety to take his legs out.

It'll be interesting to see what the NFL thinks of Koyack's prospects at the next level. It's shaping up to be a disappointing crop of tight ends and the Oil City product has a meager 28 receptions, 294 yards, 2 touchdowns, at just 10.5 yards per catch.

Armchair Quarterback

I thought it was kind of funny that after the first half Golson was 6 for 9 passing and on the cusp of being benched while Bonnafon was 4 for 12 and the talk was how well the freshman was playing. You don't often see those numbers correlate to such discussions.

Two bad plays buried Golson in the first half. Obviously they were his interception and then the 32-yard 'fumble' that crippled Notre Dame's last full drive of the first half. I've been adamant about many of Golson's interceptions being not that bad but his pick in this game definitely fit that category.

While I thought Golson deserved criticism for the fumble the commentary from Mayock and Flutie seemed way over the top. Even if you want to kill him for losing the ball and not initially hustling at least point out that Golson was able to recover and smartly knock the ball out of bounds. What's more, what about the fact that a free rusher came at Golson, he did protect the ball and wasn't careless with it, and the Irish lineman clumsily boots the ball even further backwards with no one around him?

Scores of people wanted to follow Mayock and Flutie's opinion and sit Golson. They said his body language is poor, he's rattled, maybe getting Zaire some reps would help settle Golson down. I've even seen a bunch of people say that Golson looked lost and not in control after that fumble.

GOLSON CAME BACK AND HIT HIS FIRST THREE PASSES TO START THE SECOND HALF THE LAST OF WHICH WAS A TOUCHDOWN PASS.

Golson came right back and led two quick touchdown drives to get the Irish back into the game. He finished the second half going 10 of 15 for 115 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus the key 2-point conversion scramble.

Kelly says Golson needs more growth, has a high ceiling, but "there's a lot of room for development."

— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) November 23, 2014

Look, I know there's a narrative out there that Golson has regressed and that he's not responding well to being such a huge piece of the offense. While I think conflating turnovers with overall regression is absurdly simplistic this game was yet another instance of Golson fighting through a couple mistakes and playing well down the stretch.

I found it shocking how little credit Golson received for his second half performance, primarily because so many thought he couldn't handle the spotlight. Once again, Kelly sticks with him and it paid off, but hey I don't expect anyone to congratulate him on that coaching decision.

It's almost as if everyone stopped watching after the first half which, come to think of it, might have actually happened.

Turning Point: Brindza's Missed Field Goal

No brainer as this effectively ended the game.

Kelly says the fault for the missed field goal at the end of the game was on both Malik Zaire and Kyle Brindza.

— Irish Illustrated (@NDatRivals) November 23, 2014

I'll let Punter Bro break the play down frame by frame and give us some more insight and detail into how the game-tying kick went astray.

Surprising Stat: Louisville's 8 Penalties

One of the things I was wondering during this game was how Irish fans would react to 6 false start penalties on the offensive line if that happened to Notre Dame. Oh, we'd never hear the end of the lack discipline!

Do you think any of the post-game threads across the internet extolling Petrino's play-calling brought up these penalties? Of course not. It's just one of those things when it's not happening to your team it's easy to dismiss but when it happens to your team the axes come out in full force.

Unheralded Star: Jacob Matuska

The redshirt freshman saw his first extensive playing time of his career and played pretty well. Matuska finished with 4 solo tackles (second on the team behind Jaylon Smith) and his first career sack. Well done!

Missed Opportunity: Defense Immediately After 20-17 Irish Lead

As I already mentioned the Irish came out and took control in the second half. The defense forced a pair of three-and-outs from Louisville while the offense put the ball in the end zone twice to take a 20-17 lead. What followed by the Cardinal offense really set Notre Dame back a lot.

Bonnafon only threw 3 passes over two drives (all on the first drive) and completed two of them, the last connecting with DaVonte Parker for a 21-yard touchdown. The follow up drive was simply 6 straight run plays culminating in a 15-yard touchdown by Brandon Radcliff.

These two drives to take an 11-point lead were a major gut punch. The defense had impressively settled down since the first quarter and then just got overwhelmed. Bonnafon completed two passes for 41 yards and Louisville as a team ran for 110 yards on 10 carries. That was almost half of the Cardinals' total rushing in just those two series.

Flag of the Game: Nyles Morgan 15-yard Facemask

You were thinking I'd go with Morgan's personal foul for text book targeting, didn't you? Not when Louisville ended up missing a field goal on that drive and Morgan's replacement in Greer Martini made the fateful 13-yard sack on third down.

Early in the game a Brindza punt pinned Louisville down at their 7-yard line then our friends at Irish Illustrated put the jinx into full effect.

To get this out of the way while we still can, Notre Dame has not allowed an 80-yard scoring drive all year. Louisville takes over at the 7.

— Irish Illustrated (@NDatRivals) November 22, 2014

Surely the Cardinals weren't going to march nearly the entire field and score back-to-back touchdowns to open the game?

And there you have it. The first 80-yard scoring drive allowed all year. Louisville went 8 plays, 93 yards in 3:43.

— Irish Illustrated (@NDatRivals) November 22, 2014

What made this drive so frustrating was that it began with a false start by Louisville. Then on second down Morgan swarmed running back Michael Dyer for no gain but committed the facemask penalty to allow Louisville to move from a third and long in the shadow of their goal posts to a first down at their 23-yard line.

Louisville also hit a 52-yard pass on 3rd & 16 later in the drive which was not cool.

Red Zone TD Success: 40%

Notre Dame's improved red zone play took another tumble over the weekend. The Irish settled for two field goals inside the red zone in the first half. However, the opening two drives to start the second half added touchdowns from inside the red zone. Brindza's miss on the last drive was the lone drive inside the red zone where the offense came away without points.

The Irish currently sit at 47th nationally in red zone touchdown conversion percent up from 100th last year.

Schemes n Such

This was one of the stronger gameplans from Brian Kelly for this season. The offense was only able to run a season-low 53 plays (11 fewer than the previous season low set against both Rice & Navy) and I was rather impressed with the way Kelly stayed patient with the run game, particularly since the Irish trailed for all but 6 minutes of the game. It'll get lost in the typical bickering that Folston didn't get 752 carries but this was a rare instance where Kelly stayed balanced on offense when down by more than one score.

I actually read a comment from someone who said that the Florida State game was an example of Kelly utilizing Folston properly and that this Louisville game was yet another travesty of ignoring Tarean in the run game.

Against the Seminoles, the offense ran 87 plays and Folston got 21 carries for 24.1% rushing attempts to total snaps. Against the Cardinals Folston got 18 carries on 53 snaps for a percentage of 33.9%.

The #RTDB crowd is so convoluted, confused, and lost that these percentages mean absolutely nothing. I mean for goodness sake Golson threw the ball a season-high 52 times against Florida State! People are getting mad about the play-calling balance when Golson throws 24 passes against Louisville!

This is why I can only laugh at the majority of the play-calling criticisms, especially from this game. Anytime there's a loss it's like a Rolodex is blindly flipped through to start placing blame about play-calling.

A lot of focus was put on the final drive by Notre Dame. A common response was that we would have scored had Folston got more carries. Well, obviously. Check the Rolodex and it'll tell you that any other failed plays would have worked if you just ran the ball. Of course, Folston got a carry on first down and only managed to get one yard. Was that a bad play-call? Why not? The play didn't work out?

On second down Kelly dialed up a QB draw that looked to have some room for big yardage, maybe a touchdown, but our senior captain left guard got absolutely blown up right into Golson's face. Bad play-call? Kelly gets raked over the coals for it.

When a play doesn't work out it automatically is subject to poor play-calling, except giving the ball to your running back always gets the benefit of the doubt. That about sums up the circular logic that is so pervasive among football fans.

At any rate, Notre Dame lost and people want to blame Brian Kelly's play-calling. Whatever. I think it's fair to criticize the offense for not scoring 3 touchdowns in the red zone, especially with a shot at winning the game at the end, but that's not necessarily the same as blaming play-calling.

When it's all said and done Notre Dame was poised to score 31 points against a Top 10 defense. Folston's 134 yards were the most Louisville had given up to a runner all season. The Irish averaged 6.32 yards per play against maybe the toughest defense they'll face all season. Take away that ridiculous 32-yard sack and Notre Dame averaged 7.05 YPP against the Cardinals.

This does not happen with a poor gameplan, poor play-calling, and poor execution. Yes, the offense (and special teams) needed to make another play to bring a victory but it just wasn't meant to be. That's just the way it goes sometimes.

Trench Analysis

I actually thought the offensive line was pretty good in this game. They missed a couple assignments that led to a few sacks but even though Louisville wasn't credited with any quarterback hurries (a notoriously poorly kept stat) the line gave Golson enough time for the vast majority of the snaps.

Anytime Folston has the game he produced on the ground the blocking up front was winning a lot of battles. Also, neither Folston or McDaniel had a carry for negative yardage.

The run defense had a bad game. There's no way around that. With sacks removed the Cardinals ran for 275 yards. Now, the injuries are at comical levels right now so there are some excuses for this lack of run defense. Yet, this was strangely a very good game for the line getting after the quarterback. The 4 sacks tied a season high plus Notre Dame was able to total 8 tackles for loss.

Freshmen Update

Nyles Morgan, Drue Tranquill, Andrew Trumbetti, Greer Martini, Jay Hayes, Tyler Luatua, Nick Watkins, Kolin Hill, and Grant Blankenship were the true freshmen to see the field on Saturday. Morgan and Tranquill picked up starts while the former will miss the first half of the USC game for his targeting penalty against Louisville.

Final Thoughts

• It's tough to bag too much on the defense. Yes, they were playing a true freshman who didn't look that comfortable throwing the ball (although he did make several beautiful passes) for long stretches. Louisville at times was able to impose their will so even though the 5.8 yards per play doesn't look too bad it was a highly effective average. They just couldn't quite do enough although some credit is needed for limiting Louisville to just 75 yards on 6 series in a row from the early 2nd quarter into the middle of the 3rd quarter. They even got a momentous stop on Louisville's missed field goal drive which was very encouraging.
• The tackling was really, really poor in this game. Probably the worst of the season. It looks to me like a bunch of young players running around with their hair on fire with a couple veterans simply not playing under control and wrapping up.
• Austin Collinsworth would be one of those veterans missing a lot of tackles. It's sad to see him playing hurt and trying to do so much out there. He did pick up 1.5 tackles for loss but must have missed at least 4 or 5 tackles.
• I'm at a loss for the lack of playing time for Redfield and Shumate, as well. The only logical explanation is that they've completely gone in the tank during preparation and practice. It also sounds like from Kelly's comments to the media on Sunday that he's not 100% happy with the coaching back there, either. As I mentioned in last week's podcast I would expect Cooks to relinquish his coaching of the entire secondary, stick with the corners, and a new coach hired to work with the safeties. Someone on the staff will need to go to make room for that to happen.
• Notre Dame lost again and people are pissed. It's completely understandable. I actually thought Notre Dame played well and fought hard. Any accusations that Brian Kelly has lost the team seem incredibly premature. They are fighting but not all of the horses are available right now. Even though this was a defeat I now believe this team has a better shot--even with the additional injuries to Jarron Jones and possibly Cody Riggs--of going to Los Angeles and beating Southern California. I'm not sure if I will predict a win but I feel better about our chances.
• If this review is full of snark and seems fairly positive given that Notre Dame just fell to 7-4, and have lost 3 straight games it's partly because I've never seen such an absence of level-headed commentary following an Irish defeat. And it's just not confined to the usual suspects--this is across multiple Notre Dame sites. I know a lot of that is the bitter disappointment of this last month and it's perfectly understandable. Really, it is. But the multitude of comments that I've seen following this game were so detached from what actually played out that it's clear that thoughtful criticism has been thrown to the wayside in favor of hysteria.
• This is why The Great Gray Area of Kelly is going to drum up so much fighting among Notre Dame fans. It has a magnifying effect and polarizing effect for us. Just look at our comment section lately. About 5% of the comments in Saturday night's Instant Reaction are dealing with actual thoughts from the Louisville game. Usually it's the lunatic fringe's game to push people into corners. Now, we're seeing the common middle start to take up their defenses or offenses. There's a lot of harsh criticism of Kelly and the program which is causing biting defense of the team, and vice versa. I don't claim to have all the answers or any perfect opinions but I am not looking forward to these types of flag planting arguments continuing. To be sure these are hard times which calls for hard discussions but this off-season is going to be miserable.

Am I the only one who's glad Martini will be starting at MLB against USC? Morgan's targeting penalty may have been a blessing in disguise.

Excluding the Debacle in the Desert, our losses have come by a combined 10 points total. Teams that lose a bunch of close games one season frequently break out the next. And the silver lining here is that our underclassmen are getting a lot of invaluable playing time, which should pay major dividends next year. We'll be a much deeper team in 2015 now than we would have been otherwise.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Here's Murtaught's review of Louisville game:



Am I the only one who's glad Martini will be starting at MLB against USC? Morgan's targeting penalty may have been a blessing in disguise.

I've been calling for it since I sat in the stands watching vs NW. He's more decisive. Gets to his spot. Makes the tackle.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Here's Murtaught's review of Louisville game:



Am I the only one who's glad Martini will be starting at MLB against USC? Morgan's targeting penalty may have been a blessing in disguise.

Excluding the Debacle in the Desert, our losses have come by a combined 10 points total. Teams that lose a bunch of close games one season frequently break out the next. And the silver lining here is that our underclassmen are getting a lot of invaluable playing time, which should pay major dividends next year. We'll be a much deeper team in 2015 now than we would have been otherwise.

I think this is the key point. This team is young and is struggling to find a way to win close games. With more experience next year this close losses should turn into close wins.

Having sad that...please no classroom or off the field issues this off season. Thanks.

 

[RDU Irish]

I said in the USC gameday thread I thought Martini looked better against the run. Best thing that could happen would be for him to make it hard to put Morgan in to start the second half.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Keith Arnold just published his "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" for the Louisville game:

The Irish exited Notre Dame Stadium for the last time in 2014. And for the second-straight week they sang the alma mater after a defeat, taking another step backwards from the home-field advantage Brian Kelly and the Irish had quietly built over the past few seasons.

The loss was Notre Dame’s fourth in five games, a third-straight defeat at a time of year where Kelly’s football teams have historically gotten better. But that’s certainly not the case in 2014, where a ravaged defense played a mix of journeymen and children, a difficult blend for any program, but especially this one.

That — combined with a slow start by the offense and struggles in the scoring areas — cost the Irish a victory. And the razor’s edge that Kelly once danced upon comfortably, has drawn blood again, another loss where one or two key plays swung the balance.

With the annual rivalry battle with USC set for Saturday afternoon, both teams enter battered and bruised. But before we get to that, let’s close the book on the Irish’s 31-28 defeat in their first ever meeting with Louisville on the gridiron.

Here are the good, bad and ugly from Notre Dame vs. Louisville.

THE GOOD

Tarean Folston. The sophomore running back is emerging as a star player. For all the clamoring for Greg Bryant, it’s been the running back who didn’t come in with a five-star tag that’s turning into the best runner the Irish have had in the backfield since Julius Jones.

Folston didn’t get 20 carries against the Cardinals elite rushing defense, but it didn’t matter. He ran for 134 yards on just 18 carries, a 7.4 average on a day where the rest of the team managed -28 yards on nine carries. (Golson’s fumble craters that number, but it’s still a stat worth mentioning.)

Even better, Folston stayed on the field in passing situations, holding his own as a pass-blocker in a situation where Cam McDaniel usually steals snaps. In case you are wondering, his head coach noticed.

“What I’m most impressed with is that when we challenged him as a complete running back, he took that challenge and he stepped up,” Kelly said Sunday.”As you saw, he was in the game late, and he did an outstanding job in pass protection, and that was the piece that was missing for him.

“He did a great job. And then tough yard running. He’s just, again, a guy that’s developed as a sophomore to the point where he’s put himself in a position to get the primetime carries and be in the game late.”

Will Fuller. Another game, another touchdown for Will Fuller. Fuller has scored a touchdown in every game this season minus Stanford, and his 14 touchdown catches are one shy of the single-season mark held by Jeff Samardzija and Golden Tate, who both caught 15 in their breakout junior seasons.

Fuller is making that move as a sophomore, and doing so as it becomes more and more apparent that he’s the team’s most dynamic pass-catching weapon. Fuller got behind the talented Louisville secondary multiple times, and likely would’ve scored another touchdown if Golson could’ve gotten a deep throw out quicker.

“He’s a factor in every game we’ve played. Louisville had probably two of the better corners in the country, and he ran by them at will,” Kelly said.

Earlier in the year, Kelly hesitated to call Fuller a No. 1 receiver. On Sunday, he acknowledged the step forward Fuller has taken in his game as the season has worn on, acknowledging his ascent in a very condensed timeline.

“He has obviously put himself in a position to be considered one of Notre Dame’s finest receivers,” Kelly said. “And he’s done it in very short order. Obviously he didn’t play very much at all last year, and he’s made a statement this year.”

Jaylon Smith. After seeming lost in the shuffle after Joe Schmidt’s injury, we saw flashes of the Jaylon Smith of September on Saturday, with the sophomore linebacker leading the team with 11 tackles, including one TFL. Probably most important was the return to Smith tracking down an opponent in the backfield, an occasion that’s frequency dropped precipitously since Schmidt’s injury.

Smith was named a finalist for the Butkus Award on Monday, a tip of the cap to a talented young player who from afar still resembles an elite linebacker. But for those that have watched the sophomore the past few weeks as the Irish defense has collapsed, they’ve seen a young player whose taken some lumps as he’s learning along the way.

That’s perfectly normal. Especially for a (still) young player learning a new position in a new scheme, forced to rely not just on his elite athleticism but to deal with some limitations that come with being slightly undersized at his position in the trenches.

As he met with the media after another difficult loss, Smith sounded wise beyond his years as he took a relatively big-picture approach to things, while also understanding that winning the next game continues to be the most important thing.

“It’s experience. The whole atmosphere. Even losing, in this case, is something we’re all learning,” Smith said. “I’m young myself. I’m a sophomore. I’m 19 years old. We’re all just continuing to learn.

“Obviously, it’s not acceptable to lose at any cost. There’s no moral victory, so you can’t look at it like that. We’re not even focused on next year right now. Right now, it’s all about our rivalry next week and finding a way to get a victory.”

Cole Luke. Notre Dame’s coaching staff did their best to match the sophomore cornerback with Louisville’s DeVante Parker. Luke held his own, with Parker catching three balls against him, though Luke had two pass breakups.

But it was the catch that didn’t have Luke in coverage that burnt the Irish, with Parker matched up with Devin Butler that turned into a 21-yard touchdown.

“Outstanding,” Kelly said, when asked to evaluate Luke’s play. “Except we didn’t get the matchup on the touchdown. We had matched them up all day and didn’t get that matchup and they threw a touchdown.”

Kelly didn’t mention the gameplan to shadow Parker with Luke all game. But that’s both a testament to the improvement Luke has shown this season. It’ll also likely be the assignment with USC’s Nelson Agholor, who after exploding the previous four games was held to just three catches for 24 yards against UCLA.

The Effort from the Young Guys. Nobody wants to find moral victories out there, but not too many people had Jacob Matuska, Greer Martini and Isaac Rochell contributing sacks against Louisville. Add to that a productive afternoon for Nyles Morgan (10 tackles and a 1/2 TFL) until his ejection for targeting and the incremental steps are starting to show up.

Morgan’s ejection will cost him the first half against USC, putting Greer Martini into the starting lineup. That’s an awful long way down the preseason contingency plans for the Irish defense at a position that couldn’t be more important in this system.

After calling the targeting penalty a “careless mistake” after the game, Kelly took the long view when asked about the play of his freshman middle linebacker, reminding everybody that while he appears to be struggling now, that the sky is still the limit for Morgan.

“Oh, he’s going to be a terrific player. He just shouldn’t be on the field right now,” Kelly said. “He’s a great kid, we love him. He’ll learn, because the kid does everything we ask him to do. He’s going to get an opportunity to be a complete player. It’s just going to take a little bit more time.”

Greg Bryant. That’s the type of return Notre Dame can use in the punt game. Bryant showed a way to impact the game as a punt returner, nearly taking a kick to the house as the Irish rallied back from a large halftime deficit.

Bryant’s still making too many mistakes back there — no fair catch early, and the huge collision with James Onwualu was a near-crisis that was barely averted. But Bryant made a game-changing play.

Now go make a few more against USC.

THE BAD

The Third Down Defense. The Irish defense killed themselves early against Louisville, allowing the Cardinals to convert three key third downs that extended touchdown drives to open the game.

The mistakes were critical ones. After after allowing just four conversions on 39 attempts of 3rd and 10 or longer, the Irish defense gave up three back-breakers to put Louisville up early.

The Irish defense recovered, allowing the Cardinal to convert just six of 14 third downs, but the three long early ones killed them.

Tackling. This one might seem a little all-encompassing, but that’s kind of the point. There are some pretty elusive skill players on Louisville’s roster, but that might have been the worst tackling we’ve seen from an Irish team since the BCS title game had Zeke Motta performing fly-bys on Alabama All-Americans.

Those misses were headlined by Austin Collinsworth trying to play with one arm. Or Nyles Morgan flying by or misdiagnosing plays. Or young defensive linemen doing their best to chase down a play and miss it.

The Rush Defense. In a game where Notre Dame knew it absolutely needed to stop the run, they gave up 226 yards. Yes, it took Louisville 50 carries to do it, but still — there were just too many big runs happening, a product of injuries and missed assignments that’s timed up with the injury to Joe Schmidt.

The guys got better as the game wore on. But once again, in need of a critical drive on defense, the Irish weren’t able to get it.

Pete Sampson at Irish Illustrated ($) had this key stat that shows how far the D has fallen since Schmidt’s injury. In 30+ quarters of football with Schmidt, Sheldon Day and Jarron Jones manning the middle, the Irish gave up just 25 rushes of 10 yards-or more. In the 13 quarters since Schmidt’s broken ankle? Notre Dame’s given up 31.

Red Zone Offense. I said it very early in the game when the Irish settled for three points on their opening drive, but celebrating a made field goal masked the issue of not getting seven.

The Irish might have scored on four of five red zone drives (with the missed chip-shot field goal the back-breaker), but scoring only two touchdowns isn’t going to get it done.

Give Louisville’s defense credit. They’re a Top 10 red zone defense and a Top 5 group when it comes to allowing touchdowns in the red zone. But with a chance to win the game with a touchdown near the end, the Irish ended up needing to settle for a field goal, and even that short-circuited.

It’s popular to criticize the playcalling near the goal line. But ultimately it comes down to making the plays and being assignment correct. That didn’t happen on the final drive, with Kelly trying to run clock down and get seven, but unable to do it after struggles up front blocking derailed the final series.

When asked about the step backwards in the red zone, Kelly wasn’t willing to make any blanket statements, though acknowledged the special teams struggles and turnovers for any statistical drop off. But just like he said when Tommy Rees was playing quarterback, it comes down to making the plays in a tougher offensive environment.

“It’s really hard for me to give you a great answer other than we take a lot of time and effort to break down that area of the field and think we come away with the plan that’s going to allow us to score touchdowns in that area,” Kelly said. “But it’s still about execution.”

Safety Play. At this point, we can only speculate what Max Redfield and Elijah Shumate have done to be stuck behind Collinsworth and Drue Tranquill at safety. Because for the second consecutive game, the safety play has stunk, and Notre Dame’s best two athletes at the position still haven’t been able to work their way back onto the field.

Shumate was the missing player when the 10-man Irish gave up a critical third-down conversion to Northwestern, a junior who should know better. Redfield had mostly been an invisible presence on the back line, outside of an interception against Michigan and a missed sideline tackle against Arizona State, a play that caught the ire of analyst and former All-American linebacker Chris Spielman.

Most fans see the safety play and think that Kelly and defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder are cutting off their nose to spite their face. And there’s plenty of ammunition for that school of thought, especially after watching Collinsworth and Tranquill struggle in space against both talented and less-than-talented personnel.

But here’s what Kelly said about the situation on Sunday, asked specifically about the absence of the Shumate and Redfield.

“We would like to have the two young guys back there… but we haven’t been consistent enough,” Kelly said, while correcting himself after calling Shumate young. “That’s forced Austin into the game, and he’s not 100 percent. He’s giving us everything he has, though.”

When effort is the best thing you can say about your injured safety, you’re essentially saying everything you need to about the guys that are being replaced. So if the message hasn’t gotten to Shumate and Redfield, there’s a chance it might not happen this year.

But with a very talented group of receivers on USC’s roster, the Irish will need to match athletes in the secondary. That means Redfield and Shumate need to do what it takes to sharpen their gaze in practice.

But Kelly was rightfully asked if the schematics of the defense weren’t part of the problem. After reminding the head coach of his comments about making it easy enough for Jaylon Smith to get on the field and allow him to use his skills, Kelly agreed to a point, before drilling down further and acknowledging the elephant in the room.

“It’s a dramatic shift from where we were last year to this year in terms of the scheme that we’re playing,” Kelly acknowledged. “So we’re never going to put it all on the players. It’s part coaching, as well. You’re right in the premise of your question in that we’ve got to get the best players on the field, but they also have to be the most productive players, so it’s also about production while they’re on the field.

“Max and Elijah are not on the field not just because there’s mental mistakes, but there’s production lapses, as well. So it’s a little bit of both in that sense. In other words, it’s not just simply the scheme, it’s also about production, and we’ve got to keep an eye on both of those things.”

It’s worth mentioning to people who continue to call for Redfield and Shumate to play. Those opinions were likely formed not by anything they saw on the field, but by the stars affixed to their recruiting rankings. Those have been rendered useless since they stepped foot on campus.

“We haven’t given up on them, let’s put it that way,” Kelly said. “We still believe in them. But they’ve got to continue to show more consistency in practice.”

THE UGLY.

Making a Field Goal. The dynamics of a successful field goal operation are three-fold: Snap, hold and kick.

Of course, that’s the simple version. But with the school’s all-time leader in field goals stepping up to tie the football game, the final two pieces of that puzzle seemed to executed at a less-than-satisfactory rate.

On the sidelines, we saw Kyle Brindza, Kelly and holder Malik Zaire talk about the hold, with Brindza frustrated and animated as he talked to Zaire.

Here’s the slo-mo version of the kick in question.

***

***

Without question, it takes a little bit too long for Zaire’s hands to clear the kicking area. The ball is late getting to the correct position on the ground.

But the ball is there, and Brindza — a senior kicker who snap-hooked two misses last week that contributed greatly to the loss against Northwestern — needs to just rip it. It’s a 32-yarder that doesn’t need anything more than brute force and direction.

Instead, Brindza pushes the ball wide right — like a golfer giving up on a swing before it’s off his club. The view of the conversation on the sideline didn’t look like a veteran coaching up a young guy. It looked like Sergio Garcia blaming a difficult lie or a Bubba Watson yelling at his caddy.

On Saturday, Kelly backed his veteran kicker. On Sunday, after reviewing the tape, his viewpoint shifted.

“I think we needed a little bit better hold, and we needed a little bit better kick. I don’t think it’s all on the holder, and I don’t think it’s all on the kicker. I think it was a combination of both.”

In a results based business, Brindza’s taken a nose dive at a time of year where his mistakes have been remarkably painful. In Notre Dame’s two home losses, Brindza’s missed field goals have been the difference in the final tally.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

I also feel like a lot of the snaps this year have been pretty bad, like the Stanford game.

 

[Guest]

I'm at a loss for the lack of playing time for Redfield and Shumate, as well. The only logical explanation is that they've completely gone in the tank during preparation and practice. It also sounds like from Kelly's comments to the media on Sunday that he's not 100% happy with the coaching back there, either. As I mentioned in last week's podcast I would expect Cooks to relinquish his coaching of the entire secondary, stick with the corners, and a new coach hired to work with the safeties. Someone on the staff will need to go to make room for that to happen.

Ouch for my former high school mate, Cooks. He played Safety in HS, college, and in the pros.

 

[zbikowski88]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Kelly said the safeties made the wrong calls on both of Louisville's zone read touchdown runs</p>— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) <a href="https://twitter.com/ISDUpdate/status/537293810192384000">November 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Irish Insanity]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Kelly said the safeties made the wrong calls on both of Louisville's zone read touchdown runs</p>— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) <a href="https://twitter.com/ISDUpdate/status/537293810192384000">November 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

#FreeMax

 

[dublinirish]

My First Trip to Notre Dame | Fat Cat's Nap Sack

Notre Dame is quiet. Very quiet. My seats were in the fourth row of the Notre Dame end zone and the majority of the fans around me were sitting the whole game. I noticed this around the whole stadium. It wasn’t until the last half of the fourth quarter that people started to stand. It was a back and forth game the whole time, and their fans were acting like they were in a movie theatre. I was standing with both ND and UL fans on third down plays, and we were continually told to sit down by the usher.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

My First Trip to Notre Dame | Fat Cat's Nap Sack

Accurate description during just about any ND home game. I've been going for years and it's the same thing every Saturday.

I got Stanford tickets this year from a great uncle (Stanford alum). Naturally they were in the visitors section. I kid you not, you could look around the entire stadium and see only the ND student section standing and the visitors standing (for the most part). Literally, everyone else was sitting. And the worst part: The ND fans peppered throughout the Stanford section were screaming at them to sit down. It was so embarrassing.

 

[koonja]

Every team has their big and small games that are on different ends of the spectrum. Alabama isn't the same when they play Vanderbilt as when they play LSU.

I was at Michigan, Stanford, and NW this year. Michigan was absolutely rocking and I'd put it against almost any atmosphere in the country. Stanford was also awesome, but the awful weather/day time game kept it from getting to UM's level. NW was a choir concert.

Want a big atmosphere, go to a big game. Not a one size fits all.