Post Game Impressions

[peoriairish]

Manti is a top 5 pick.

where were the other frosh??

On ST.

 

[obi wan mahoney]

Glad we got the win. Like others have noted, it is hard to assess our overall ability just yet; we'll have to see how we play against tougher opponents. But we didn't choke and we handle business. Good enough for week one in my book.

 

[Irishbounty28]

I know Navy is not considered a powerhouse, but this same team ran for 274 yards against a pretty stout South Carolina defense last year. I think we can surely say that our run defense will be stellar, after only allowing 149 yards rushing.

Conversely, on the offensive side of the ball South Carolina, with Lattimore, Rushed for similar yardage with 274. Even though Navy's defensive line is undersized, the still find ways to compete with top level opponents. I think we will see some pretty spectacular play from our o-line this year.

I have heard already that our team looked one-dimensional, mostly from some of the dimwits over at bang-bang. I guess it would seem that way from the statistics, but we didn't need to pass the ball to win. You don't see teams like Alabama and LSU forcing the pass game when they are dominating in the run game. For once we showed that we were able to outclass an opponent, and physically dominate. This should be seen as a positive, more so than a negative. The kool-aid is rich this morning!

 

[BGIF]

I think part of the reason we struggled against the pass because we weren't game planning for it.

A-D-J-U-S-T-M-E-N-T-S

We all knew the secondary is young and suspect. That said, when an Option Team gets down a couple of scores they have to throw. It's when defenses eat Option Teams up. Now besides being down a couple of scores, their QB, decent passes, was limping. Did Diaco think he was going to run the ball 40 times with a twisted ankle?

Also consider ND was playing a 4-2-5. There was no Carlo to blame for lax coverage.

In the gameday thread somebody called out Russell for busted coverage on a pass play. He didn't get blown by, rather he committed to a jam and whiffed. The receiver was by him and made a big play. BUT ... like Rossum and unlike Jefferson, Russell ran his man down and made the tackle. He has recovery speed. His whiff was an error of commission. I rather that than the errors omission last year. The "O $hit was he MY man. Somebody grab him!"

We played off receivers playing prevent. We gave up yards today but nothing like the yards (and the game) we gave up to Michigan last year in their last drive with a veteran secondary.

A lot of concern for the secondary but also some signs of progress of progress by the newbies.

 

[aubeirish]

You're going to see Tommy come in way before Gunner.

Let's not come to that though.

 

[West Coast Domer]

If we control the line of scrimmage like this we will continue to have success running the ball and stopping the run. I was very encouraged by forcing two turnovers as well. I think Shumate was number 22 he had some big tackles on special teams.

 

[BGIF]

Ishaq, Tuitt, and Te'o were awesome, as were others on D, but they stood out. We have a lot of speed. Our run game is solid: no balls on the ground, run hard, fast, find the holes, and finish. Golson looked a lot more comfortable than Hendrix. Punt return blocking still looks not great. Great win. Neal has great hands and will do damage if he gets near open space. Niklas has great hands. Love how the D swarms the ball.

One nit. No turnovers from balls on the ground but we still put it on the ground 3 times that I recall - with unforced errors.

Golson dropped a line drive at his ankles (but recovered nicely), there was a muffed catch of a snap on a XP, and a fumble by our replacement QB on his first or second play (deja vu EXCEPT he fell on the ball).

 

[NDBoiler]

I think it's hard to fully assess the game given Navy's style of offense and size compared to a typical BCS team. I think the coaches game planned well and got the team to execute it well. The biggest thing to me - winning the turnover battle handily and not committing any hugely aggrevious turnovers themselves. Plus 3 after one game? I'll take it. Obviously plenty of things to work on as others have pointed out.

 

[ACamp1900]

Every aspect looked great except for the secondary... The front seven must get better with pressure against more physical, bigger o lines... And the secondary has to grow up quick...

 

[pkt77242]

One nit. No turnovers from balls on the ground but we still put it on the ground 3 times that I recall - with unforced errors.

Golson dropped a line drive at his ankles (but recovered nicely), there was a muffed catch of a snap on a XP, and a fumble by our replacement QB on his first or second play (deja vu EXCEPT he fell on the ball).

Neal also put the ball on the ground on the punt return (it hit the ground then hit him and then he grabbed it and ran). So 4 balls on the ground.

 

[PANDFAN]

riddick ran really hard
We got pressure but got faked out or missed a tf
l
Golson looked calm
Mcdaniel looked good and ran hard
Teo and tuitt were on a different level
Tj looked good just needed more touches
Liked that they went right back to daniels...our wrs never blew by anyone...was hoping for a post or go route..
Neal ran hesitant which was I guess expected but hoping he would have looked quicker...
Just as we were worried about....secondary and outside wrs were very suspect

 

[MrIrishCanadian1]

o-line as potential to be one of the nations best
(but navys d-line is kinda a push over so dont get too excited yet)

I remember our o-line and running backs looking extremely good in the spring game. I was worried that maybe we just had a weak d-line. But our d-line looked pretty good today.

So I would say, o-line has played against a solid d-line (in the spring game, that is) and they proved to be pretty good then.

 

[tadman95]

For a first game, and overseas at that, pretty good start. For the most part their execution was sold. A lot of freshmen got their first taste. Protected the ball. Kelly has to be pleased with the start although he may not admit it publicly.

Golson played well, needs to work on not focusing on one receiver.

Diaco made good adjustments when needed.

Get on the plane, get on home. There's work to do.

Every team in the country has work to do at this point. Let's enjoy the win!

 

[magogian]

O-line -- Great job by the big guys. Golson had all day to pass and only had to move when he wanted to, not because he was forced to. I don't think that sack was the o-line's fault. I think a TE missed an assignment. In the short yardage situations, our o-line just plowed Navy back.

TEs - Eifert = awesome. I love that Golson went right back to him after that first catch was out of bounds in the end zone. Koyack needs to catch the freakin ball. Niklas looked scary out there.

RBs - I like Theo. I really do. But he doesn't seem all that fast to me. His legs seem to churn fast and he does have good agility and "wiggle", but he doesn't have great speed. GA3 was great and he never seemed even close to dropping the ball. With his long strides, it seems that he doesn't run as fast as Theo, but he just blows by people. And once he is past you, you simply aren't catching him. Cierre/Theo/GA3 is a great backfield. Also, I was impressed by Cam. He seemed to have serviceable speed and agilility and would just blow through people.

Golson -- Did good enough. He seemed poised, and mostly in control of the offense. I'd prefer he didn't throw that INT but that seemed like the type he should be able to learn from. I do wish they had kept him in longer to let him make some more throws especially deep balls. I was very happy that he didn't fumble when he took that sack. He will get sacked at times, but as long as he doens't fumble, that will be very manageable.

Hendrix - Ugh. I feel bad for the guy. Looked totally lost out there. And he tucks and runs wayyyy too quickly. He might have a limited run package. But if Golson were injured, I beat Rees is next one in.

WRs - Daniels had two nice plays, but I want more. Did Goodman get a single catch? TJ has two wonderful runs after the catch. He just weaved beautifully through traffic after each of those catches. I think TJ does well this year. I was disappointed they couldn't get the ball to Brown. I like how they are already trying to be creative with Neal. Not all of it worked out, but its good that they are starting now to try to make use of his skill set. I just wish our punt coverage team would give him some freaking room to make a return!

TWO MISSED/FLUBBED PATs! Are you kidding me?

 

[BGIF]

Neal also put the ball on the ground on the punt return (it hit the ground then hit him and then he grabbed it and ran). So 4 balls on the ground.

Thanks I missed that completely, probably while posting in the game thread.

No damage but sloppiness by 4 different players.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Hard to believe Manti's fumble recovery and his pick were his first ever. I hope we see many more.

 

[Black Irish]

I'll give the Irish a B+. They played well in a lot of ways, but made some errors that were fortunately not game-changing. If they work out the kinks and keep playing hard it should be a good season.

 

[peoriairish]

On the Neal punt thing... he didn't muff it or put it on the gound. He was waving everyone off the ball, and then it took a really weird bounce right at him. He recovered well and gained positive yards.

Goody started right? Did he get a reception or even a single target?

 

[Old Man Mike]

Missed the start of this, and posted in wrong section, so here's my "post-game" for what it's worth:

Being stuck in a television-less and internet-almost-less apartment in Wheeling, I didn't have the pleasure nor the perspective on the game as you guys did, but... I find it difficult not to be extremely pleased with the start. Last year Navy scored 21 points or more against every team on their schedule [except us] --- three mighty cheers for Coach Diaco. Last year only one team [except us] scored more points against them --- at least two-and-a-half cheers for Coach Kelly. We pushed them around and have not always done so. Three cheers for both lines. We got turnovers and never did so recently. Three cheers for the front seven.

Golson wasn't brilliant, but he was good. The runners were good. Cam McDaniel proved that he is a player. Tyler Eifert is a defensive nightmare, even though we didn't go there as effectively as we should have.

As to the DBs --- we'll see. Diaco said to himself: Navy cannot beat you if you stack up their run game. He loaded up against it and stopped it. Diaco said to himself: Navy cannot beat us with its passing game if I have our guys play conservatively and give up no big plays. That happened. Diaco said to himself: Navy's offense stops itself with negative plays if you force it to go long fields. It did. Sounds to me that the defense did just what Coach wanted it to.

Quite happy.....


To the people who suggest taking a knee instead of running a rushing play.... most real ball players that I know consider the opponent taking a knee as an insult. A passing bomb or an extra field goal is different.

 

[tadman95]

I think Manti losing weight is going to help in his pass defense skills. That was one area he needs to improve.

 

[BGIF]

O-line -- Great job by the big guys. Golson had all day to pass and only had to move when he wanted to, not because he was forced to. I don't think that sack was the o-line's fault. I think a TE missed an assignment. In the short yardage situations, our o-line just plowed Navy back.

TEs - Eifert = awesome. I love that Golson went right back to him after that first catch was out of bounds in the end zone. Koyack needs to catch the freakin ball. Niklas looked scary out there.

RBs - I like Theo. I really do. But he doesn't seem all that fast to me. His legs seem to churn fast and he does have good agility and "wiggle", but he doesn't have great speed. GA3 was great and he never seemed even close to dropping the ball. With his long strides, it seems that he doesn't run as fast as Theo, but he just blows by people. And once he is past you, you simply aren't catching him. Cierre/Theo/GA3 is a great backfield. Also, I was impressed by Cam. He seemed to have serviceable speed and agilility and would just blow through people.

Golson -- Did good enough. He seemed poised, and mostly in control of the offense. I'd prefer he didn't throw that INT but that seemed like the type he should be able to learn from. I do wish they had kept him in longer to let him make some more throws especially deep balls. I was very happy that he didn't fumble when he took that sack. He will get sacked at times, but as long as he doens't fumble, that will be very manageable.

Hendrix - Ugh. I feel bad for the guy. Looked totally lost out there. And he tucks and runs wayyyy too quickly. He might have a limited run package. But if Golson were injured, I beat Rees is next one in.

WRs - Daniels had two nice plays, but I want more. Did Goodman get a single catch? TJ has two wonderful runs after the catch. He just weaved beautifully through traffic after each of those catches. I think TJ does well this year. I was disappointed they couldn't get the ball to Brown. I like how they are already trying to be creative with Neal. Not all of it worked out, but its good that they are starting now to try to make use of his skill set. I just wish our punt coverage team would give him some freaking room to make a return!

TWO MISSED/FLUBBED PATs! Are you kidding me?

Good points.

On the sack the TE flew off on the snap as a receiver without even a brush block. There was no RB in the backfield to pick him up. Don't know if somebody was in the wrong spot or somebody missed a blocking assignment. Golson didn't have time to see him coming.

Goodman didn't have a reception but 10 of his teammates did, 3 TEs, 3 RBs, and 4 WRs. Good distribution.

 

[rikkitikki08]

A few things

1. Cam M is a stud
2. The security at that game wasnt doing its job at all lol
3. Our running game is going to be the backbone of our offense all season
4. The two guys calling the game were beyond awful

 

[k1ssme1m1r1sh]

My first game impressions are that absolutely nothing this team does will impress some of you. Also, this is why Kelly got the job and you didn't.

 

[Grimm]

oline was the mvp. If they ran every play and never attempted to pass, I think we would have scored on every drive.

dline looked great, but often didn't seem to have speed on the qp, so give oline the nod. Probably as a result of containing the option. Golson's poise was outstanding - no dayne deer in the headlights, no running too early, etc. But still didn't see enough to know whether he can be a difference maker in winning a close game. Would have like to see a couple more high quality throws out of him. Running backs and LBs are extremely solid.

Couldn't really ask more out of this game.

And tuitt ... it is hard to believe a 303 pounder can run like that. It looked like a rb was chasing him and couldn't make up any ground. Highlight of the game.

 

[rikkitikki08]

My first game impressions are that absolutely nothing this team does will impress some of you. Also, this is why Kelly got the job and you didn't.

We just believe it tough love, do i think the irish played great today? NO, but do i think they played well enough for me to be happy? Yes

The secondary makes me extremely nervous though

 

[Grimm]

ohh ... and cbs coverage suck a$$

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Really hope this game makes Mackenzie Alexander realize he can get a bunch of playing time here.

 

[ohara831]

Good start to the season. Overall, very happy. Little concerned with pass defense. Needs to improve. Golson was solid, but for the INT where he stared down the receiver. But he'll be a good one.

 

[BurningRiver]

How badaass do these helmets look with the scuff marks on them?

 

[tommyIRISH23]

Old man,

I was in Wheeling watching the game. I may have to watch SC in Wheeling as well. If you need somewhere to watch it, let me k ow