Post Game Observations (Navy '14)...

[pumpdog20]

Schmidt didn't exactly die, and Morgan is on his own. Schmidt is going to be giving him a crash course this week on all the mental adjustments he needs to know. I have full faith Schmidt (not BK or BVG) will have Morgan ready to go.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Schmidt didn't exactly die, and Morgan is on his own. Schmidt is going to be giving him a crash course this week on all the mental adjustments he needs to know. I have full faith Schmidt (not BK or BVG) will have Morgan ready to go.

I have full faith Schmidt, bvg, and Kelly will, collectively, have him ready to go.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

I agree and disagree. Agree that its not necessary for Morgan to be the guy to make the calls but disagree that its the DL that will do it. I think it is a LB that has to be the one as they can see more of the field.



As Kelly said and even I mentioned last night, what it does is it causes everyone to elevate their game mentally. Will it be the same? No. But it doesn't mean it will be worse. Guys might spend just a little more time film studying or staying with coaches to get assignments down. We are deep enough into the season where most of the guys should have a pretty good idea as it is. Schmidt wasn't making the calls for the secondary anyway as they have their own responsibilities. Jaylon is more then capable at making the calls. He's played about 20 games so far into his career, he's not really a young guy anymore. Even Morgan might be able to handle some of those duties. Instead of one guy, its just gonna take a team effort mentally.

Different doesn't always necessarily mean bad or worse. This is not to discredit anything Joe Schmidt has done up to this point. Athletically its an upgrade. Before we talk about it being a huge loss, lets give it a chance.

Hope you're right. Morgan hasn't played much this year. He's a true freshman. No Schmidt for me = Golson tearing an ACL and his backup is Kizer, a true freshman.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

Automatically assuming that Morgan will not be able to do what is necessary is just as silly. What I'm saying is that a DB could take over the defensive calls. It's not ideal, but it certainly can be done.

Again, hope you're right. Athletically Morgan and Schmidt aren't even close. Unfortunately that is the case from the shoulders up, and with experience too.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Anyone have this clip? I've read about it a couple of times but haven't seen it.

With no exaggeration I can say it was the most obvious OPI anyone on this board has ever seen. The WR planted his foot to cut right while in the endzone. They were 5 yards directly in front of the ref who was looking directly at them. When he planted he took his arms and threw Riggs to the left and cut to the right.

 

[Andy in Sactown]

Hope you're right. Morgan hasn't played much this year. He's a true freshman. No Schmidt for me = Golson tearing an ACL and his backup is Kizer, a true freshman.

No love for Malik?

 

[KPENN]

No love for Malik?

I think he's comparing Morgan coming in for Schmidt to Golson getting hurt, not having Malik and Kizer coming in.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Dude straight shoved Riggs to the ground. Arms extended and all.

Here's a link to the full replay. Its 1st quarter about 13:25 mark.

2014 Navy vs. #10 Notre Dame | NOONKICK

Well that was fairly obvious. How on God's green earth is that missed?

 

[kmoose]

I agree and disagree. Agree that its not necessary for Morgan to be the guy to make the calls but disagree that its the DL that will do it. I think it is a LB that has to be the one as they can see more of the field.

No one said that it WOULD be the DL. I just threw that out there as an example that it could be anyone. Ideally, you would like it to be your MLB, but it doesn't have to be. Jaylon Smith, or one of the safeties, is probably the most likely answer, if Morgan can't handle it.

 

[Irish#1]

I do remember South Carolina nearly losing to Navy a few years ago

Navy gives everyone fits. They almost beat OSU and they did beat IU. Teams that don't play Navy have no idea what a handful they can be.

 

[ulukinatme]

Even though we're young and we've had some injuries, I have a feeling that teams are learning how they can attack BVG's defense. The last 3 games they haven't looked quite as tough, although they were pretty good that first half against FSU. I think North Carolina showed how you can attack this defense. To be fair, we didn't face that many good offenses at the beginning of the year, but BVG also caught a lot of our early teams off guard given how much more aggressive we were. I said at the start of the season it was only a matter of time before teams got enough film to figure out what he was doing, it's going to be a lot harder from here on out. We'll have to rely on offense like we figured we would at the start of the season.

 

[Old Man Mike]

As to calling the defensive signals: if we stay essentially in 4-2-5 [i.e. Nickel package] then I have seen teams which used their "rovers" to call defensive signals if they were experienced brainy types. We might possibly use Matthias in that way, and I think that he could do this.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Even though we're young and we've had some injuries, I have a feeling that teams are learning how they can attack BVG's defense. The last 3 games they haven't looked quite as tough, although they were pretty good that first half against FSU. I think North Carolina showed how you can attack this defense. To be fair, we didn't face that many good offenses at the beginning of the year, but BVG also caught a lot of our early teams off guard given how much more aggressive we were. I said at the start of the season it was only a matter of time before teams got enough film to figure out what he was doing, it's going to be a lot harder from here on out. We'll have to rely on offense like we figured we would at the start of the season.

I don't agree, since you can't really compare the success North Carolina had to Navy, since they run completely different offenses, almost opposites in fact. The key difference seems to be handling mobile QB's. In both situations, it could be that they were simply looking ahead to Arizona State. I know that this is a bad mentality since ND needs style points to move up, but this is a young team so something like this isn't out of the realm of possibility.

 

[Bluto]

What? You got beef with Da Kine Coach, brah?

I'm not gonna pound em you pound em.

 

[Wild Bill]

This is the problem with ND in the last 20 years or so. ND used to have guys on the d line that would almost always beat the guy across from them(when playing the academies), and even the two guys that would double team them. That was my point about the lines. We no longer have the elite guys all the way across both lines, that can simply line up and pound the guy across from them, no matter the blocking technique.

With respect to Navy and the option, penetration, whether it's blitzing or slanting gaps, isn't necessarily the best way to stop the option, unless you pick up a tendency, i.e., they run midline to the field on 2nd and 3rd and three so you slant the defensive line play side. You need all 11 men flying to the ball if you want to consistently stop the option. If you decide to blitz, let's say your mike, to the strong side A gap and they run a weak side option, you've taken away one of your 11 that you desperately need scraping over the top to make a tackle. Worse yet, the blocker who is assigned to him can simply move up the field to the third level to spring a big play. You just can't over-blitz or shoot gaps against an option team. I think there was a combination of things that allowed some yardage in the second half - we were repeatedly getting cut and it started to wear on them, Navy made some good adjustments at half-time, injuries took reps away from Jarron, Day and Schmidt (our run stopping battery) and it forced young players to play more than BVG anticipated. Those young guys probably made some mental mistakes that cost us (which is specifically what the option is designed to do - exploit one mistake by one player on any given play).

The defensive line, generally speaking, has been good to great under Kelly. He's sent most of his starters to the NFL and we'll probably see Day, Jones and Trumbetti playing on Sundays in the future too. Teo got all the credit but most of us know we got to the title game with our defensive line. I would have laughed my ass off if someone told me in 2010 that Kelly would take the 2012 team to the title game by riding a dominant defensive line. They're exceeding most expectations this year too. Jarron has been the one that's impressed me (Day is clearly the best but we knew that before we kicked off against Rice). It's obvious he's worked hard and it's paid off. They did their part in lining up and kicking the ass out of all of their opponents this year (UNC is probably the one exception).

 

[FDNYIrish1]

The defense is fine. Morgan closes like he's shot out of a cannon. Navy is a tough team to defend in my opinion because they're one of the few teams (Ga Tech in the future) who run option attack. Modern defense is more about stopping spread attacks with lots of passing. I know that seems simplistic, but I'm sure BVG isn't spending weeks in advance scouting and preparing to stop the option attack. I could be completely wrong, but this game yearly seems more about survive and move on. Credit to Navy, they do what they do well.

 

[irishtrain]

The defense is fine. Morgan closes like he's shot out of a cannon. Navy is a tough team to defend in my opinion because they're one of the few teams (Ga Tech in the future) who run option attack. Modern defense is more about stopping spread attacks with lots of passing. I know that seems simplistic, but I'm sure BVG isn't spending weeks in advance scouting and preparing to stop the option attack. I could be completely wrong, but this game yearly seems more about survive and move on. Credit to Navy, they do what they do well.

Credit and respect given but this game is starting to takes its toll. Is it just me or did they muck the game up and seem to be junking up the game. Do we ever play these guys without losing someone to leg injury-yeh I know it was a roll up that's what they do and I'm not real juiced about playing these guys like I used to be. Playing Navy is a pain in the ass with absolutely no benefit to Notre Dame. Notice sec teams don't schedule them and when they do they almost beat a very good So Car team. The game has no value for Notre Dame, no value at all. Kelly said so much with his comments about asking any coach in the country if they want to play Navy-hell no they don't because Navy's victory in most cases is the extraction of opposing players-this loss of Schmitt has burned my ass. Who else is injured for ASU.

 

[stlnd01]

Hope you're right. Morgan hasn't played much this year. He's a true freshman. No Schmidt for me = Golson tearing an ACL and his backup is Kizer, a true freshman.

All due respect to Joe Schmidt, there's a big difference between being the "quarterback of the defense" and being the actual quarterback. Also Golson may be the single most impressive playmaker we've had on offense since the Holtz era. Schmidt's been better than expected, but he's not that.
I'd rather have Schmidt in there than not, too, but I'll be surprised if his absence actually makes the difference between winning and losing a football game. Especially with a week to prepare and get someone else up to speed.

 

[ulukinatme]

I'd rather have Schmidt in there than not, too, but I'll be surprised if his absence actually makes the difference between winning and losing a football game. Especially with a week to prepare and get someone else up to speed.

Yeah, I mean, it's not like we missed Manti in the middle in 2013, I'm sure Schmidt will be easy to replace as our leading tackler and the QB of our defense.

 

[GATTACA!]

Yeah, I mean, it's not like we missed Manti in the middle in 2013, I'm sure Schmidt will be easy to replace as our leading tackler and the QB of our defense.

Golson's absence was more responsable

 

[House16]

Yeah, I mean, it's not like we missed Manti in the middle in 2013, I'm sure Schmidt will be easy to replace as our leading tackler and the QB of our defense.

There's a very big difference between Manti production and Schmidt production. One was a heisman candidate, the other is an undersized, albeit smart and hardworking, journeyman. The loss hurts, but I think a more physically gifted Morgan can step in without a huge drop off on defense.

 

[Buster Bluth]

The loss hurts, but I think a more physically gifted Morgan can step in without a huge drop off on defense.

Hopefully, but the fact that they went with one defensive call the rest of the game against Navy isn't encouraging.

 

[Grahambo]

Hopefully, but the fact that they went with one defensive call the rest of the game against Navy isn't encouraging.

True but we can at least agree that the Navy triple option isn't ideal for a new player to come in and make adjustments. It's hard enough for the vets.

 

[rocket66]

There's no point yet in throwing the towel in on the season's expectations. Is it possible this team was looking forward a bit to the ASU game? This Navy game and the comments in this thread remind me exactly of the comments post-UNC. If ND goes out to ASU and beats them down everyone will change their tune again.

Whether you want to admit it or not, the players and coaches have heard for 2 straight weeks that the ASU game will be the true measurement for this team's perception. I consider Navy a look-ahead game and will take nothing from it other than the excitement that we are focusing on getting one RB into a groove in this offense.

 

[Irish#1]

Even though we're young and we've had some injuries, I have a feeling that teams are learning how they can attack BVG's defense. The last 3 games they haven't looked quite as tough, although they were pretty good that first half against FSU. I think North Carolina showed how you can attack this defense. To be fair, we didn't face that many good offenses at the beginning of the year, but BVG also caught a lot of our early teams off guard given how much more aggressive we were. I said at the start of the season it was only a matter of time before teams got enough film to figure out what he was doing, it's going to be a lot harder from here on out. We'll have to rely on offense like we figured we would at the start of the season.

True, but no one has played us like NC did. NC's success wasn't as much their schemes, but the way they run the hurry up. I was at that game and watched it later on TV. You cannot get a good grasp of what NC was doing when you watch the game on TV.

 

[kmoose]

With respect to Navy and the option, penetration, whether it's blitzing or slanting gaps, isn't necessarily the best way to stop the option, unless you pick up a tendency, i.e., they run midline to the field on 2nd and 3rd and three so you slant the defensive line play side. You need all 11 men flying to the ball if you want to consistently stop the option. If you decide to blitz, let's say your mike, to the strong side A gap and they run a weak side option, you've taken away one of your 11 that you desperately need scraping over the top to make a tackle. Worse yet, the blocker who is assigned to him can simply move up the field to the third level to spring a big play. You just can't over-blitz or shoot gaps against an option team.

When I mention penetration, in regards to the Navy game, I am not talking about blitzing, stunting, or shooting gaps. I'm talking about lining up across from a guy who weighs, on average, 40 lbs less than you, getting lower than him, and pushing him into the backfield. This is what used to differentiate ND from Navy. ND used to have such a gap in athleticism and strength, that the D Line would just whip Navy's O line. That's not me being pessimistic, or overly critical; it's just an example of one way that things have changed for ND, over the years.

 

[IrishLion]

My post game observation:

Ya'll done predicting blowouts against Navy yet or nah?

 

[GolsonHeisman14]

Does anyone have a link for a full-event replay... I only caught the 2nd half.

 

[kmoose]

Does anyone have a link for a full-event replay... I only caught the 2nd half.

Nope. No one. Especially not the guy one page back, in post #139.

 

[BigIrish]

Seems like everything has pretty much been covered here...I'll post my thoughts nonetheless:

1. I don't mind that we schedule Navy every year. I don't recall hearing any such complaints when ND hung 50 on them versus just 10 scored by the Midshipmen in 2012.

2. The end of the game when Navy was forced to pass and play outside their normal rhythm? ND bottled them up. This is how you beat Navy - put them behind by several touchdowns and force them to abandon the grind it out run game. ND was about to do this at the end of the first half, and failed to capitalize when Golson threw the pick. That one play changed everything for the duration of the game, but don't lose perspective on the fact that ND was one play away from putting Navy into hurry up mode for the entire second half, which would have gone very differently if that were the case.

3. Navy could not stop ND's offense. The only thing that stopped ND's offense was conservative play calling and poor decisions on the field.

4. In the 1980's and 1990's, ND could rely on at least a few of their players having seen the option rushing attack at the high school level. There's likely not a player on the roster today who encountered that style of offense before coming to ND. This may be as much of a factor as any perceived deficiencies at the DC position.

5. ND has already exceeded expectations for the season. Does it hurt to think that after many fans adjusted their expectations upward, we might not make the playoffs and win a national championship this year? Sure it does. But given the youth of this team and the foundation that Kelly has built and continues to build, the future looks very bright. Some fans seem to forget that it's been quite some time since ND was still being discussed as a championship contender after 8 games of the season - BK has put us in that position 2 of the last 3 years. Perspective, folks.

6. ND was not the only top 10 team who struggled to beat an opponent this weekend. Do our fans think that the voters are more sympathetic to close calls for everyone BUT ND? ND has one of the toughest remaining schedules of any team in college football. Winning out will take care of such concerns. Stumbling into one or two more losses will only confirm those concerns. Either way, ND is still largely in control of its own destiny. The only playoff vote that matters is the final vote, and by then we'll know whether or not ND deserves a spot.