Post Game: Cincinatti

[NDPhilly]

WE LOST ONE GAME

IN A REBUILDING YEAR

TO A TOP 10 TEAM

RELAX

 

[Wild Bill]

WE LOST ONE GAME

IN A REBUILDING YEAR

TO A TOP 10 TEAM

RELAX

Tend to agree. I thnk the kick in the balls is that it was a winnable game at home against a top 10 team. And they probably would have won if Pyne starts.

I'd consider the season a success if they can finish 11-1 or 10-2 and win a good bowl game.

 

[Rockin’Irish]

Tend to agree. I thnk the kick in the balls is that it was a winnable game at home against a top 10 team. And they probably would have won if Pyne starts.

I'd consider the season a success if they can finish 11-1 or 10-2 and win a good bowl game.

A lot of negative thoughts and blame/shame game after the loss to a Top 10 team with maybe not as good as a roster as ND but with arguably more top personnel experience. Listen, I was as disappointed in the game result as anyone, especially knowing that the Irish had real opportunities to beat Cincy but mistakes and poor execution sealed our fate against a very good team. I agree that, in hindsight, Pyne should have started and finished the game. We’ll see if the staff agrees when ND takes the field against the Hokies. The team made plenty of mistakes and most likely, they will learn from it which is especially valuable for our younger players. BK and the staff are professionals for a reason…….even if we don’t always agree with or understand some of their decisions or results. No one was predicting ND to be world beaters this year but if we see a rebound this weekend with improvement overall (and stability at the QB position), the season could still be a success. Who knows, maybe this adversity will set the team up even better for next season…….Go Irish!!!

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

WE LOST ONE GAME

IN A REBUILDING YEAR

TO A TOP 10 TEAM

RELAX

Get out of here. Too much composure. We need more pitchforks!

With that said, I agree with all of that - but I also think Quinn needs to go.

 

[Dale]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/tomfornelli/status/1445082057898594315?s=21[/TWEET]

 

[NDisme]

WE LOST ONE GAME

IN A REBUILDING YEAR

TO A TOP 10 TEAM

RELAX

This 100%, I’m very interested to see how we respond in Blacksburg. That will be telling to me.

 

[Sea Turtle]

A lot of negative thoughts and blame/shame game after the loss to a Top 10 team with maybe not as good as a roster as ND but with arguably more top personnel experience. Listen, I was as disappointed in the game result as anyone, especially knowing that the Irish had real opportunities to beat Cincy but mistakes and poor execution sealed our fate against a very good team. I agree that, in hindsight, Pyne should have started and finished the game. We’ll see if the staff agrees when ND takes the field against the Hokies. The team made plenty of mistakes and most likely, they will learn from it which is especially valuable for our younger players. BK and the staff are professionals for a reason…….even if we don’t always agree with or understand some of their decisions or results. No one was predicting ND to be world beaters this year but if we see a rebound this weekend with improvement overall (and stability at the QB position), the season could still be a success. Who knows, maybe this adversity will set the team up even better for next season…….Go Irish!!!

I have some thoughts on this.

I'm not do sure how good Cincy really is. They just didn't step on their own penises over and over

They didn't even play that well, to be honest.

I'm not so sure we win with Pune starting. His touchdowns were off of a turnover and on a terrible under thrown ball. Also, Cincy just dropped 8 and stopped blitzing with him in the game because of their large lead.

To be fair, the O-line was slightly better.

 

[Rockin’Irish]

I have some thoughts on this.

I'm not do sure how good Cincy really is. They just didn't step on their own penises over and over

They didn't even play that well, to be honest.

I'm not so sure we win with Pune starting. His touchdowns were off of a turnover and on a terrible under thrown ball. Also, Cincy just dropped 8 and stopped blitzing with him in the game because of their large lead.

To be fair, the O-line was slightly better.

Appreciate your thoughts……..I still think if we avoid just one of the turnovers we had and convert one of the two INT drives into a score, the outcome would have been different. Cincy outplayed us and made fewer errors. Time will tell if they are indeed worthy of their ranking. ND is certainly not playing to the standards I would like to see but I’m optimistic they will respond. Otherwise I may have to buy stock in the local distillery………..

 

[Luckylucci]

WE LOST ONE GAME

IN A REBUILDING YEAR

TO A TOP 10 TEAM

RELAX

A couple of thoughts on this.

Is it really a rebuild if we're going to have to replace 3 spots on the OL, 2-3 of our starting WR's, our starting RB, and our starting QB of last 5 weeks?

I would be in a totally different mindset if we had benched Lugg and Madden, moved Patterson so Correll could move into his long term spot, played the younger WR's more, and chose 1 of Pyne/Buchner, preferably Buchner. That's a rebuild. This is a bad attempt at getting both. The game is lost and so is the experience to this point. The, marquee, top 10 win at home is lost and a lot of valuable experience for the rebuild is lost.

Also, it's not just that we lost one game to a top 10 team. It's just how bad this offense is. The defensive TD's against Wiscy are covering some of this up. We've scored 7 offensive TD's over the last 3 weeks. We've scored 4 in the two games when we've played good defenses. Michigan just scored 4 against Wisconsin in one game. And, it's not that it's just bad either. Check out the tweet below. It became painstakingly obvious yet nothing was done about it.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/jamieuyeyama/status/1444397186134024192[/TWEET]

Until, we went down 17-0, at home, in the biggest matchup of the year. Not only is this staff not doing anything remotely resembling innovative or unique. They're not even close to building anything that resembles a top 25 offense. At this point, I have a hard time believing this offense will be a top 25 unit next year. Let alone a top 10. And if that's the case, what the fudge are we doing here.

 

[Huntr]

Matt Fortuna is a tool along the lines of Driscoll. I really like Pete Sampson but I have deleted The Shamrock cause every time I listen to it I get really frustrated with Fortuna. I am not saying there is no way some of the O-Line players wouldn't go and talk to HH, but I can see Fortuna turning it into a bigger situation than it really is. That being said - yes it is time for a change in the O-Line coaching.

I can't stand Fortuna because he's lazy as shit. In that same podcast ep, when discussing playing Coan vs Pyne, he said something along the lines of, "Ok, I get it. It's Notre Dame. You always think the backup should be starting."

No, you ignorant ass, Pyne should be playing because he gives you a better chance of winning behind this line that can't block for shit, as miniscule as that better chance is.

 

[benneboy]

A couple of thoughts on this.

Is it really a rebuild if we're going to have to replace 3 spots on the OL, 2-3 of our starting WR's, our starting RB, and our starting QB of last 5 weeks?

I would be in a totally different mindset if we had benched Lugg and Madden, moved Patterson so Correll could move into his long term spot, played the younger WR's more, and chose 1 of Pyne/Buchner, preferably Buchner. That's a rebuild. This is a bad attempt at getting both. The game is lost and so is the experience to this point. The, marquee, top 10 win at home is lost and a lot of valuable experience for the rebuild is lost.

Also, it's not just that we lost one game to a top 10 team. It's just how bad this offense is. The defensive TD's against Wiscy are covering some of this up. We've scored 7 offensive TD's over the last 3 weeks. We've scored 4 in the two games when we've played good defenses. Michigan just scored 4 against Wisconsin in one game. And, it's not that it's just bad either. Check out the tweet below. It became painstakingly obvious yet nothing was done about it.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/jamieuyeyama/status/1444397186134024192[/TWEET]

Until, we went down 17-0, at home, in the biggest matchup of the year. Not only is this staff not doing anything remotely resembling innovative or unique. They're not even close to building anything that resembles a top 25 offense. At this point, I have a hard time believing this offense will be a top 25 unit next year. Let alone a top 10. And if that's the case, what the fudge are we doing here.

How are we replacing 2-3 Wrs? Avery Davis is the only starter that seems likely to be done. Austin and Lenzy should both be back. Wilkins isn't a starter.

 

[Irish du Nord]

A couple of thoughts on this.

Is it really a rebuild if we're going to have to replace 3 spots on the OL, 2-3 of our starting WR's, our starting RB, and our starting QB of last 5 weeks?

I would be in a totally different mindset if we had benched Lugg and Madden, moved Patterson so Correll could move into his long term spot, played the younger WR's more, and chose 1 of Pyne/Buchner, preferably Buchner. That's a rebuild. This is a bad attempt at getting both. The game is lost and so is the experience to this point. The, marquee, top 10 win at home is lost and a lot of valuable experience for the rebuild is lost.

Also, it's not just that we lost one game to a top 10 team. It's just how bad this offense is. The defensive TD's against Wiscy are covering some of this up. We've scored 7 offensive TD's over the last 3 weeks. We've scored 4 in the two games when we've played good defenses. Michigan just scored 4 against Wisconsin in one game. And, it's not that it's just bad either. Check out the tweet below. It became painstakingly obvious yet nothing was done about it.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/jamieuyeyama/status/1444397186134024192[/TWEET]

Until, we went down 17-0, at home, in the biggest matchup of the year. Not only is this staff not doing anything remotely resembling innovative or unique. They're not even close to building anything that resembles a top 25 offense. At this point, I have a hard time believing this offense will be a top 25 unit next year. Let alone a top 10. And if that's the case, what the fudge are we doing here.

I've been worried about this too, post-game. One glimmer of hope I had was the amount of snaps given to Joe Alt in the Cincinnati game. Irish Illustrated reported him having 37, which surpasses the amount he had in the first 4 games. Similarly, Kristofic had a season high number of snaps at RG in place of Madden. Commit to Pyne-Buchner, keep getting the young OLine guys reps, and focus on recruiting one or two upperclassmen receivers while still getting reps to Styles and Colzie (both of whom also had season highs for snaps against Cinci). We have a little over a half a season left, there's a ton of time for guys to start carving roles for themselves going forward.

 

[T-Boone]

How are we replacing 2-3 Wrs? Avery Davis is the only starter that seems likely to be done. Austin and Lenzy should both be back. Wilkins isn't a starter.

I can’t see both of lenzy and Austin coming back. One of them will transfer (to UCF).

 

[T-Boone]

Is Diggs injured? They were raving about him in camp and he hasn’t had any involvement at all.

 

[NDohio]

I can’t see both of lenzy and Austin coming back. One of them will transfer (to UCF).

I don't think Lenzy is on this team next year. No inside information - just a gut feeling. Ugh I felt like Koon writing that.

 

[Luckylucci]

How are we replacing 2-3 Wrs? Avery Davis is the only starter that seems likely to be done. Austin and Lenzy should both be back. Wilkins isn't a starter.

Doubtful Austin comes back. He was trying to rehab last year because they wanted to get him to the league and not come back this year. If he plays a full slate of games and can hit the combine, he gone.

 

[Free Manera]

Doubtful Austin comes back. He was trying to rehab last year because they wanted to get him to the league and not come back this year. If he plays a full slate of games and can hit the combine, he gone.

Serious question - is he good enough? He gets obliterated by press coverage, drops balls, and mentally checks out sometimes. I know he’s physically gifted but seems like he has work to do. NFL wasn’t even on my radar for him didn’t know this was a possibility.

 

[T-Boone]

Serious question - is he good enough? He gets obliterated by press coverage, drops balls, and mentally checks out sometimes. I know he’s physically gifted but seems like he has work to do. NFL wasn’t even on my radar for him didn’t know this was a possibility.

This will sound hyperbolic but I think Javon McKinley was better than Austin. And he went undrafted.

 

[Luckylucci]

Serious question - is he good enough? He gets obliterated by press coverage, drops balls, and mentally checks out sometimes. I know he’s physically gifted but seems like he has work to do. NFL wasn’t even on my radar for him didn’t know this was a possibility.

I don't know if our opinions matter as much as his does. Again, he and his family chose to not get surgery on his foot last year in an attempt to come back and play his way into the NFL. Do we really think they're going to sit through another season of this? It just seems insanely doubtful.

But, my opinion is yes. He's an easy NFL draft pick by seasons ends.

 

[Dale]

Coan was clearly our best shot in 2021 to win a playoff game. I don’t agree with the thought it should have been obvious to move on from him a few weeks ago if you start with that premise. I think the staff thought the same and wanted to hold on for dear life to that chance. Now the playoff is out of the picture and 11-1 is the goal, Pyne gives the best chance at that.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Coan was clearly our best shot in 2021 to win a playoff game. I don’t agree with the thought it should have been obvious to move on from him a few weeks ago if you start with that premise. I think the staff thought the same and wanted to hold on for dear life to that chance. Now the playoff is out of the picture and 11-1 is the goal, Pyne gives the best chance at that.

I think that's also apparent from the extremely conservative offensive game plan they cooked up for Coan against Cincinnati. The two RBs and extra TEs strategy left the game with Jack Coan.

 

[ACamp1900]

Coan was clearly our best shot in 2021 to win a playoff game. I don’t agree with the thought it should have been obvious to move on from him a few weeks ago if you start with that premise. I think the staff thought the same and wanted to hold on for dear life to that chance. Now the playoff is out of the picture and 11-1 is the goal, Pyne gives the best chance at that.

This is fair enough... I also want to see TB developed beyond a one trick package as well. If we have garbage time games, let him come in and sling it.

 

[Dale]

I think that's also apparent from the extremely conservative offensive game plan they cooked up for Coan against Cincinnati. The two RBs and extra TEs strategy left the game with Jack Coan.

Yes starting Purdue week it was whatever adjustment can think of to keep Coan up. 2020 to 2021 starting with fall camp and FSU we saw much more spread out and vertical passing, and not just more than 2020 ND, legit more than much of the country. The notion that they weren’t trying to adjust to a top offense is inaccurate. They just couldn’t either because of OL play, Coan himself, or Rees himself

 

[T-Boone]

Vince D made a good point that with Pyne in the young WRs are more likely to get catches as he has been throwing to them all year in practice and not the starters.

 

[T-Boone]

But, my opinion is yes. He's an easy NFL draft pick by seasons ends.

I just don't see the speed or the hands.
If you are right it means he has got his act together for the last 7 or 8 games so I hope you are right.

 

[NDRock]

Coan was clearly our best shot in 2021 to win a playoff game. I don’t agree with the thought it should have been obvious to move on from him a few weeks ago if you start with that premise. I think the staff thought the same and wanted to hold on for dear life to that chance. Now the playoff is out of the picture and 11-1 is the goal, Pyne gives the best chance at that.

Agree. At the end of the day Coan lost the job by his poor play. We’ll see if Pyne can be good for entire games. Hope so.

 

[ThePiombino]

WE LOST ONE GAME

IN A REBUILDING YEAR

TO A TOP 10 TEAM

RELAX

But it's not that simple. The coaching staff, led by a 12th year ND HC, repeatedly misread situations and put this team in a position to lose. We didn't just lose to a better team...

EDIT: And to be clear I'm not calling for BK's head, but this loss was significantly moreso on the staff than the players.

 

[ThePiombino]

Is Diggs injured? They were raving about him in camp and he hasn’t had any involvement at all.

Unless he is REALLY good at picking up blitzes, I doubt he sees any burn this year. Considering we can't use our RBs for, you know, running the ball...

 

[RDU Irish]

I am somewhat in awe that our team would be a playoff contender if we didn't shit the bed in retooling the OL and QB (while accepting subpar WR play). Part of that is nobody outside of UGA and Bama look like they want to go to the playoffs but the bigger piece is how high we have raised the floor in so many areas. I never imagined our OL floor could be this low but here we are. In many ways I am encouraged by this team but then again I was going to be happy with a 9 or 10 win season. Without this loss, I'm not sure Pyne is ever given the reigns. Sooner the better on that end - go get better and lean on the young'uns. Hopefully Colzie and Styles an Buchner can develop in to threats by season end and have tons to build on in off season.

I am struggling to see who beats us the rest of the way but I am sure someone will. I think we play for blood at VT with Pyne rallying the troops, maybe Stanford in their shitbox stadium. USC is a dumpster fire and I don't think we let that happen.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I am somewhat in awe that our team would be a playoff contender if we didn't shit the bed in retooling the OL and QB (while accepting subpar WR play). Part of that is nobody outside of UGA and Bama look like they want to go to the playoffs but the bigger piece is how high we have raised the floor in so many areas. I never imagined our OL floor could be this low but here we are. In many ways I am encouraged by this team but then again I was going to be happy with a 9 or 10 win season. Without this loss, I'm not sure Pyne is ever given the reigns. Sooner the better on that end - go get better and lean on the young'uns. Hopefully Colzie and Styles an Buchner can develop in to threats by season end and have tons to build on in off season.

I am struggling to see who beats us the rest of the way but I am sure someone will. I think we play for blood at VT with Pyne rallying the troops, maybe Stanford in their shitbox stadium. USC is a dumpster fire and I don't think we let that happen.

Yup. I think we'll drop one more random game, but finish 10-2 with a win over Texas in a NY6 bowl.

Losing to Cinci sucks because it could have been avoided by better decisions by the coaching staff, but it doesn't change much in the big scheme of things. If you had offered me 10-2 with a good bowl win and a strong recruiting finish in August, I'd have taken it every day of the week and twice on Sunday.