Needed some time to digest this loss. It still stings. A lot of my thoughts have been discussed, but here they are anyways:
-You can't spot a good team 14 points to start a game. See Oklahoma 2013. The defense looked completely out of sync to start the game. Very strange considering they had started every previous game forcing a 3-and-Out.
-When Clemson stacks the box and ND's OL can't get a push, it's time start throwing to get them to back off. Look at CJ's splits in the first half. It's beyond horrific. Yet series after series they insisted on forcing the run. All it did was put Kizer in a tough spot...
-Kizer played about as good you could've hoped given the circumstances. His WRs let him down often. The drops were killer. Corey Robinson needs to be benched until he starts showing more consistency and dependability. Idk what happened, but he was clutch at times last year, and now it's damn near pointless to have him in the game.
-ND had SIX fumbles (lost three) and an interception. Clemson had one, I think, and recovered it. They did have one interception. (Per OFD podcast...I didn't track these stats). It's not bad luck, it's lack of focus.
-Fumble aside, I'm so glad they finally made the switch on kickoff returns. I've been saying Amir needs to be taken out of that role for two seasons now. It finally happened. I'm looking forward to what Sanders brings. That fumble was brutal, but overall, this is a great move.
-Defense could've been better, but they could've been worse as well. Tackling, especially in the backfield or along the LOS needs to improve. Clemson had four scoring drives and two of those were a direct result of a short field by the hands of ND's special teams (poor punt, fumbled kickoff). Once they settled in after the first half of the first quarter, they played well enough to win. They got stops when they needed to down the stretch. The offense just struggled mightily until the fourth. That's unfortunate.
-The 2-point conversion(s). Conversion #1: The chart says go for it in the fourth. But it was literally 40 seconds into the quarter. A little common sense needs to be applied here. It was wrong to go for it, imo. BUT it's moot because the play worked, Robinson just didn't execute it (see earlier rant). Conversion #2: At first I questioned the play call. But after re-watching it, the OL just got blown up too quickly. Elmer and Martin are extremely underwhelming when up against decent competition. The hole was there, Kizer went for it, but it closed too quickly. End of game.
Look, shit happens. This loss was a joint effort (coaches and players)....and they still almost won. What I'm most pissed about is that it took Clemson playing basically a flawless game and ND playing their worst game of the season for this outcome to happen...and it did. That's tough to swallow. I loved the fight in our guys. But there are no moral victories for me.
This team needs to regroup and make a statement over the next two games. (Is it unsettling to anyone else that this is similar to last year in that there was a gigantic let down in the season's top game with Navy to follow? I hope they change the script this year.)
