Post Game Impressions

[Riddickulous]

Surprised we don't have this thread up yet.

* Everett Golson is the man.

* Theo Riddick continues to ball. Tough, tough runner and a fine receiver.

* Cierre Wood needs more carries. Please. Luckily we play an absolutely dreadful run defense next week, so he should get his due.

* DaVaris Daniels had a great game. He's blossoming into a nice weapon for us.

* TJ Jones again with a solid game. Love this kid.

* How about Toma coming alive with 6 receptions? That out route is money.

* Eifert with another impressive showing. Finally getting the targets he deserves.

* Offensive line played another solid game.

* Kapron Lewis-Moore is quietly having a pretty damn good season. He's been excellent these past few games.

* Gotta love the toughness and grit of Louis Nix to play even while recovering from flu symptoms.

* Tuitt is a beast. Nothing new here.

* Shembo went off in the second half. Sucks in space, though.

* Spond had another good game.

* Very quiet day for Manti. Probably took himself out of the Heisman discussion (at least a realistic chance to win the award). Came alive in the fourth quarter.

* Carlo had a great stuff in the first half.

* Russell!

* Brindza is inconsistent.

 

[Junkhead]

Nothing to argue there. I love Theo too, but goal line fumble aside, I'd love to see Wood get the rock more.

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

Shumate had good coverage in nickel/dime.

 

[IrishLax]

Here are my thoughts:

-The coaches abandoned the gameplan way too early. Stopped running the ball... panicked into a QB switch... just an all-around poorly called game.
-First time all year we've given up big plays.
-Our 4th quarter... where a Charlie Weis team would've quit... we instead manhandled Pitt. Even after a soul crushing INT in the endzone we got the ball back immediately and marched right down the field.
-Our special teams are all-around atrocious. By far the worst part of our team right now. Incredible that it hasn't cost us games.
-A win is a win is a win... probably not going to the NC... effing Les Miles... but we're staring down a worst case scenario of 11-1. Just great desire and mental toughness to gut out these victories.

 

[IrishinSyria]

Bennett Jackson was a stud- I would have given him the game-ball.

Pitt took Te'o out of the game by chop blocking him on nearly every play. Not sure what changed near the end of the game, but Te'o came alive.

We got lucky. Pitt's kicker was on point today, not sure how he missed the big one.

Pretty sure our D-line has been calling fake cadences for a while. Never seen as many early snaps as I've seen over the past two weeks.

 

[Yes]

If ND wasn't 9-0 this game would be an instant classic. Now it's just a dissapointing, sloppy win. Whatever. 9-0.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

side note, Les Miles cost his team the game tonight

 

[magogian]

I think BK got too cute with the QB switches. Ok, so Golson was missing some reads. The offense was still moving with him. I don't think you can blame the failure to punch into into the end zone in the first half on him.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

* Very quiet day for Manti. Probably took himself out of the Heisman discussion (at least a realistic chance to win the award). Came alive in the fourth quarter.

Pitt keyed on him and he looked sick too...

 

[Junkhead]

Here are my thoughts:

we're staring down a worst case scenario of 11-1.

Worst case scenario? I'd say that would have to be 9-4, Willingham hired as head recruiter shortly after.

 

[Patulski]

1. When Graham broke free in the 1st drive, Russell showed incredible speed running him down. Russell is incredibly fast. Something we have not seen in a cornerback in a long time. He's going to have a great career.

2. Poor play calling with 1st and goal from the 1 in the 1st half. Big momentum change when they stopped us. Thankfully, when it counted in overtime Kelly used the common sense sneak.

3. Golson needs to be allowed to stretch the ball more early in the game. The only time he did in the first half was predictably the throw to Brown in the 1st half. Golson has a very strong arm. Throw some long passes to stretch the field in the 1st half. That will loosen things up. Our offense is potentially more dynamic, but only if Golson is allowed to do more. Rees should never see the field again unless Golson is hurt. Golson should have more designed runs and should be opened up in downfield passses earlier. Style points matter now. Let the kid show his stuff.

4. I'm glad we squeaked by, but let's not kid ourselves. Pitt isn't LSU or USC whom Alabama and Oregon beat. We need to win big against BC and Wake and beat USC by at least 10. If we don't and AL, Oregon and K-State take care of business, we're going to be left out of the big dance.

 

[Junkhead]

Golson's scrambling kept us in it.

 

[Riddickulous]

Golson has run for 230 yards these last four games. He's really developing into a true dual threat.

 

[IrishinSyria]

1. When Graham broke free in the 1st drive, Russell showed incredible speed running him down. Russell is incredibly fast. Something we have not seen in a cornerback in a long time. He's going to have a great career.

2. Poor play calling with 1st and goal from the 1 in the 1st half. Big momentum change when they stopped us. Thankfully, when it counted in overtime Kelly used the common sense sneak.

3. Golson needs to be allowed to stretch the ball more early in the game. The only time he did in the first half was predictably the throw to Brown in the 1st half. Golson has a very strong arm. Throw some long passes to stretch the field in the 1st half. That will loosen things up. Our offense is potentially more dynamic, but only if Golson is allowed to do more. Rees should never see the field again unless Golson is hurt. Golson should have more designed runs and should be opened up in downfield passses earlier. Style points matter now. Let the kid show his stuff.

4. I'm glad we squeaked by, but let's not kid ourselves. Pitt isn't LSU or USC whom Alabama and Oregon beat. We need to win big against BC and Wake and beat USC by at least 10. If we don't and AL, Oregon and K-State take care of business, we're going to be left out of the big dance.

Seems like that play-action post is the only thing Brown is ever in the game for. We should try to get him some touches just to keep the surprise value of that play.

 

[Riddickulous]

Seems like that play-action post is the only thing Brown is ever in the game for. We should try to get him some touches just to keep the surprise value of that play.

Would love to see Brown on a bubble screen or a drag route.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Would it be possible to never play another home game again? Maybe switch to all neutral sites. We've looked unbeatable on the road, but keep having to eke out wins against inferior opponents in Rock's House.

Something's not right when you're happy to play the last 3 on the road. Hope the coaching staff gets this figured out soon.

 

[Junkhead]

Seems like that play-action post is the only thing Brown is ever in the game for. We should try to get him some touches just to keep the surprise value of that play.

Someone on the chat also noted that every time Daniel Smith is in, it ends up being a running play. (he did have 1 catch though, so who knows....)

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

As most who have read this board the past few month know, I'm a big EG guy. But if ND is going to win a BCS bowl game he really needs to start picking up the "science" of being a QB as Kelly says. That is a lot to ask from a Freshman QB but it's the only way ND wins a big bowl game.

And the obvious play calls when certain players are in might hurt us one day.

 

[South Jersey Domer]

Surprised we don't have this thread up yet.

* Everett Golson is the man.

* Theo Riddick continues to ball. Tough, tough runner and a fine receiver.

* Cierre Wood needs more carries. Please. Luckily we play an absolutely dreadful run defense next week, so he should get his due.

* DaVaris Daniels had a great game. He's blossoming into a nice weapon for us.

* TJ Jones again with a solid game. Love this kid.

* How about Toma coming alive with 6 receptions? That out route is money.

* Eifert with another impressive showing. Finally getting the targets he deserves.

* Offensive line played another solid game.

* Kapron Lewis-Moore is quietly having a pretty damn good season. He's been excellent these past few games.

* Gotta love the toughness and grit of Louis Nix to play even while recovering from flu symptoms.

* Tuitt is a beast. Nothing new here.

* Shembo went off in the second half. Sucks in space, though.

* Spond had another good game.

* Very quiet day for Manti. Probably took himself out of the Heisman discussion (at least a realistic chance to win the award). Came alive in the fourth quarter.

* Carlo had a great stuff in the first half.

* Russell!

* Brindza is inconsistent.

What I don't understand is why did Brian Kelly take out Golson for Tommy Rees? Golson's helmet didn't come off once and I don't recall anything saying that Golson was "hurt".

 

[notredomer23]

my biggest impression from this game is that half of the fans that attend games have no clue what is going on. Many a time on offense I'd hear ND fans yelling like we are playing defense. Likewise, at the end of the game, some students tried storming the field. Come on. It was Pitt. They lost to Youngstown State.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

Someone had a post saying Bk took him out because he missed some reads and check downs.

 

[South Jersey Domer]

I think BK got too cute with the QB switches. Ok, so Golson was missing some reads. The offense was still moving with him. I don't think you can blame the failure to punch into into the end zone in the first half on him.

I agree, Golson can do a lot more than Rees could do. Like you said, at least the offense was moving with EG. Rees is a turnover waiting to happen. I really think Brian Kelly just has a hard on for Rees. I'd put in Gunner Kiel before I'd ever put Rees in.

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

What I don't understand is why did Brian Kelly take out Golson for Tommy Rees? Golson's helmet didn't come off once and I don't recall anything saying that Golson was "hurt".

Someone had a post saying Bk took him out because he missed some reads and check downs.

Yes it did.

SoCal with your answer, though.

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

I agree, Golson can do a lot more than Rees could do. Like you said, at least the offense was moving with EG. Rees is a turnover waiting to happen. I really think Brian Kelly just has a hard on for Rees. I'd put in Gunner Kiel before I'd ever put Rees in.

Excuse me? You would pull the redshirt off of Gunner before going to a kid who has done nothing, prior to today, but help this team win?

 

[Irish YJ]

1. D took a few quarters off. Chalking it up to the flu.
2. EG continues to grow, but still needs to improve his reads.
3. EG continues to separate himself from TR. I think pulling him for a minute allowed him to calm down. I'm confident though that in time he'll figure things out, the game will slow down, and he'll be rock solid for 4Qs. Likely in time for GK to start competing, which will make them both better.
4. Chris Brown continue to get more looks. Once EG and CB find their groove, this O will be lights out.
5. I love BK, but I still get irritated with some of his play calling and personnel packages.
6. Manti is human. But what a great one he is.
7. I'm happy as a pig in $#!+ to pull this one out and be 9-0. Even though the game likely took a few years off my life.

 

[charlyp123]

was nice to see Ishaq making some plays. Made a couple of tackles and got some pressure on the QB. I think he's starting to turn the corner. 9-0 Go Irish! Gotta love it!

 

[South Jersey Domer]

Excuse me? You would pull the redshirt off of Gunner before going to a kid who has done nothing, prior to today, but help this team win?

Yes Rees did have his moments earlier in the year but today he was his usual self. EG would never make that throw, that ball went right to the Pitt defender for an interception. I'm still not sold on Rees, maybe I will never be sold on him.

 

[Irish YJ]

my biggest impression from this game is that half of the fans that attend games have no clue what is going on. Many a time on offense I'd hear ND fans yelling like we are playing defense. Likewise, at the end of the game, some students tried storming the field. Come on. It was Pitt. They lost to Youngstown State.

It was a 14 point rally and triple OT win. Pitt or not, it was a classic come back. Say what you will but half this board was crapping their pants with joy, even against Pitt.

 

[Patulski]

Someone had a post saying Bk took him out because he missed some reads and check downs.

That's what Kelly said in his postgame press conference. I was right behind the bench when Kelly went to Golson after Rees threw his pick. Golson was not a happy camper and was siting on the bench with a jacket on over his pads. Kelly screamed at him , "are you ready!", At first, Golson didn't really respond and I wondered at the time if Goslon had been dazed when he was hit in the 1st half and his helmet came off. But I think Golson was pissed.

Golson may be missing some reads, but he is the reason we won tonight. Kelly needs to open up the offense more, roll him out more and let him do his stuff imo. He is an extremely dangerous dual threat QB whose strength is his improvisational skills. I hope Kelly adjusts to him and puts him in a position where he can improvise earlier in the game.

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

Yes Rees did have his moments earlier in the year but today he was his usual self. EG would never make that throw, that ball went right to the Pitt defender for an interception. I'm still not sold on Rees, maybe I will never be sold on him.

We aren't talking about EG vs Rees. You said you would put Gunner in before Rees. Explain.