Post Game Observations (North Carolina '14)

[ickythump1225]

I wasn't the one who removed the QB's running numbers. And I am not going to go look at all 84 teams that would have better rushing numbers, to see how much their QB adds to the mix. But the fact is that, as a team, 150 yards a game is not much. And that was the contention that was made

Well when you take away a key rusher 150 yards is good. Especially since we're comparing our stats minus Golson vs other teams at full strength. It's just unbelievable, people asked for a good running day and we got one and it's still not enough. UNC's defense sucks sure but so does Syracuse and Purdue and everyone was upset we didn't exploit them more. We exploited UNC. My god just appreciate a good TEAM running performance and a win.

 

[kmoose]

It's just unbelievable, people asked for a good running day and we got one and it's still not enough.

Who said that?

 

[phgreek]

They were speaking about the win, the other graphic had the accurate score, and the stats were correct. You don't think maybe there was just an intern who didn't shift the graphic from the UGA/Mizzou game?

I really think the anti-ESPN narrative here is a bit over the top.

...because ND never has such a mistake...cough, couch Vander Does cough, cough announcement

I think ESPN loves to jab Notre Dame...and now it is fueled by a vested interest in the SEC...I think its foolish to discount all of that....but yea this one was incompetence not malice.

 

[pkt77242]

Where does it rank, with other teams in the country?

I haven't done the math (and don't plan too) but what I can say is that
5.2 yards a carry we averaged yesterday (without Golson, if we included him it would go up as he avg 5.9 a carry) puts us at about 30th in the nation for the season if we could maintain it.

Also if we averaged 219 yards a game (what we had yesterday including Golson) we would rank 26th in the nation for total rushing. So overall yesterdays game was a very good rushing game. Though for the season we have struggled at rushing and are currently at 69th in the country at yards per game, which is just about average.

I understand why people want us to establish the run earlier in the game, but I also understand why Kelly takes what the defense gives him as well. If the D is running two deep safeties then run the ball but if they are bringing 7 or 8 to the box when we are in a 3 WR set then throwing makes significantly more sense especially since NC has a bad pass defense and Fuller was consistently getting open and our o-line has struggled to run block at times.

 

[IrishFaninTX]

LOL, I don't remember it ever being 34-0?

It was nice to leave with a win when we lost the turnover battle and gave up over 500 yards. One thing that gives me comfort in our sloppy wins: Kelly finds a way to make it work. We just had a defensive slugfest against Stanford that ended 17-14, then we welcome North Carolina and can't keep them off the scoreboard so we just outscore them 50-43.

I at least have faith that Kelly recognizes what must be done during games and adapts accordingly. Now, if we could just put together one game where we are locked in and avoid turnovers and Golson sustains drives with throws on time and accurate.

Didn't we do that with Michigan and Rice?

 

[kmoose]

I understand why people want us to establish the run earlier in the game, but I also understand why Kelly takes what the defense gives him as well. If the D is running two deep safeties then run the ball but if they are bringing 7 or 8 to the box when we are in a 3 WR set then throwing makes significantly more sense especially since NC has a bad pass defense and Fuller was consistently getting open and our o-line has struggled to run block at times.

I don't necessarily disagree with this, except.......

Remember when the Alabama players were saying that they knew exactly what our offense would try to do, based on the alignment that they (Alabama) lined up in, before the snap?

Against a defense like North Carolina, you can probably get away with that. But against the better defenses in the country, like you might see in the playoffs, you have to have some kind of identity. You have to make the defense react to you, not you react to them. You may not be able to do it against everyone, but if you can't do it against defenses like North Carolina, Purdue, and Syracuse; then you can forget about doing it to any playoff team.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Collinsworth getting injured was big. Most likely he took all first team reps this week and knew the calls. Put Shumate at a disadvantage.


Sent via tapatalk

 

[ickythump1225]

I don't necessarily disagree with this, except.......

Remember when the Alabama players were saying that they knew exactly what our offense would try to do, based on the alignment that they (Alabama) lined up in, before the snap?

Against a defense like North Carolina, you can probably get away with that. But against the better defenses in the country, like you might see in the playoffs, you have to have some kind of identity. You have to make the defense react to you, not you react to them. You may not be able to do it against everyone, but if you can't do it against defenses like North Carolina, Purdue, and Syracuse; then you can forget about doing it to any playoff team.

Alabama knew what we were going to do because our offense sucked that year. We had zero creativity in the playcalling and Alabama's defense>>>>>>>our offense that season.

You seem to be arguing two separate contradictory points here. First you seem like you want us to have an established "identity" (which I take it to mean you want us to run more) but then you seem to want us to mix it up so teams don't know what we're going to do. If we have an "identity" teams are going to know what we're trying to do. Yeah we're making them "react" to us but so what? We had an "identity" as a team in 2012 as a rush based team and that played right into the hands of Alabama. We actually would have benefited from attempting to exploit Alabama's only seeming weakness that season which was defending an up tempo pass attack. However we didn't really have the personnel to do that and we were mismatched against Alabama anyway.

 

[ab2cmiller]

I don't necessarily disagree with this, except.......

Remember when the Alabama players were saying that they knew exactly what our offense would try to do, based on the alignment that they (Alabama) lined up in, before the snap?

Against a defense like North Carolina, you can probably get away with that. But against the better defenses in the country, like you might see in the playoffs, you have to have some kind of identity. You have to make the defense react to you, not you react to them. You may not be able to do it against everyone, but if you can't do it against defenses like North Carolina, Purdue, and Syracuse; then you can forget about doing it to any playoff team.

I don't believe the quote was that they knew what our offense was going to do. The quote was regarding our defense. Alabama knew exactly what we were going to do based upon our shifts. I don't think there were any similar quotes about our offense.
http://irish.nbcsports.com/2013/01/09/the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-notre-dame-vs-alabama/

With six weeks to break down the Irish’s defensive principles, the Tide created a series of playcalls that looked to expose Bob Diaco’s scheme. After the game, center Barrett Jones discussed the Tide’s counter to what they expected the Irish defense to do.

“They’re good because they are so simple,” Jones told ESPN’s Ivan Maisel. “But, also, they’re simple. We knew if we had certain shifts, they would get into certain formations that we felt like we would have good runs against. We were right — every play, almost. This is not a flaw in Notre Dame. We watched a lot of film. We had a lot of time to figure out what they did in certain formations.”

 

[kmoose]

I don't believe the quote was that they knew what our offense was going to do. The quote was regarding our defense. Alabama knew exactly what we were going to do based upon our shifts. I don't think there were any similar quotes about our offense.
The good, the bad, the ugly: Notre Dame vs. Alabama | Inside the Irish

Good catch. My bad, I got them confused.

 

[irish#underground]

Its simple we're a passing team. We use the pass to set up the run which have our offence flowing right now but against a very good defence, we're gonna have to establish the run alil better if we want to win a championship. Since our oline is not clicking, alil misdirection wouldnt hurt(& with golson holding on to the ball).

 

[ab2cmiller]

I think BK has said from the beginning that his philosophy is to pass to set up the run.

 

[Irish#1]

IMO
CBK always seems to prepare/motivate the team to the level of the opponent, always has, always will.
Golson has some very bad ball carrying habits, always has always will.
The O line is showing very little improvement.
Folston might have clicked for the season, showed a lot more patience.
BVG better figure out a better scheme for up-tempo O's. Can you say Arizona State.
ND tackling was piss poor. Wouldn't want to be in that film room with BVG this week.
The officiating was, whatever, guess I shouldn't expect any better.
ND is a fairly good team, that could be great next year. This year just seems like its four or five players short. Oh! snap!

Don't agree with this prepare/motivation thought. He knew this would be a trap game and he told the team so. The good thing is this team fought back more than once and still won. NC scores out the whazoo. If we don't give them the first two TO's this game is a double digit win.

BVG and the team had a great lesson in preparing for a hurry up offense. I was at the game an NC runs it different from any team I've seen including ASU.

The game had enough mistakes in it that the team will have plenty to focus on this week. I think we'll be okay.

 

[blackirish]

I thought the tempo of the NC offense kind of took Van Gorder out of the game. ND couldn't get lined up right quick enough. The defense is so complex. Probably not the best defense for the no huddle, especially in its first year of installment. BVG was still bringing the heat at times but when the tempo is that fast it does limit the playbook and the impact of the DC.

Fortunately FSU's head coach is Jimbo Fisher who comes from the Nick Saban coaching tree and thus does not believe in going no huddle a bunch, maybe just for a change of pace here and there.

You might want to take a look at last year's FSU - Clemson game. FSU had a serious fast paced offense huddle or not and although a couple of players from that offense has gone on to the NFL, Jimbo still has the Athletes to turn it up a notch when they have to

 

[Cackalacky]

I think BK has said from the beginning that his philosophy is to pass to set up the run.

Yes. It's been said plenty of times. BK will gladly throw as much as he can and run just to keep the defense honest.

 

[ab2cmiller]

Yes. It's been said plenty of times. BK will gladly throw as much as he can and run just to keep the defense honest.

That may be what actually happens, but what BK claimed when he first started was that he would pass in order to create/set up opportunities for big running plays. That's a lot different then just trying to keep the defense honest.

I'm not sure if BK still believes this or not.

 

[chicago51]

You might want to take a look at last year's FSU - Clemson game. FSU had a serious fast paced offense huddle or not and although a couple of players from that offense has gone on to the NFL, Jimbo still has the Athletes to turn it up a notch when they have to

Florida State v. Clemson 2013 box score.

Florida State Seminoles vs. Clemson Tigers - Box Score - October 19, 2013 - ESPN

FSU by my count ran 73 plays (38 run, 35 pass) the really fast paced teams run 90+ plays a game, sometimes over 100. Baylor against TCU last Saturday ran 109 plays. FSU had the most efficient offense in the country last year. So yes they where capable of scoring points virtually every drive. Not dismissing there offensive ability.

I'm not saying FSU's O is not potent and ND doesn't have their hands full. BVG though should have time to dial things up. No huddle's especially when the opposing offense is in rhythm going full out warp speed the defense often doesn't have to call in a play and has to go to more of a default/base D type call. BVG was still able to send heat at times but the no huddle kind of makes it hard to dial up certain pressures at times.

 

[Cackalacky]

That may be what actually happens, but what BK claimed when he first started was that he would pass in order to create/set up opportunities for big running plays. That's a lot different then just trying to keep the defense honest.

I'm not sure if BK still believes this or not.

He said it a one or more press conferences this year for sure. We rarely run more the 35 run plays per game. We would probably run more if the RBS did what he wants, which he said more than once this year as well.

 

[GBdomer]

only breakdown that matters from our boy NDsean

 

[stlnd01]

Yes. It's been said plenty of times. BK will gladly throw as much as he can and run just to keep the defense honest.

He also runs to slow down the game/keep the other team's offense off the field. Which he wisely started doing with Folston in the second half yesterday.
I'm one of those who feels like Kelly doesn't really have "an offense." He leans towards a power spread, but mostly takes what his personnel can produce and what the defense will give him.
By and large I think that's OK. We have a lot of weapons, but no dominant ones. So, best to spread it around. Stanford's probably the best defense we'll play and it worked against them.

 

[GATTACA!]

only breakdown that matters from our boy NDsean

Is that THE NDsean??

 

[GBdomer]

Is that THE NDsean??

Yes sir

 

[BGIF]

You might want to take a look at last year's FSU - Clemson game. FSU had a serious fast paced offense huddle or not and although a couple of players from that offense has gone on to the NFL, Jimbo still has the Athletes to turn it up a notch when they have to

Chicago51 documented FSU's 73 plays in that '13 game which is about normal. Clemson was probably the uptempo team in this game as they ran 86 plays but only had the ball 24-1/2 minutes. FSU had an extra 10-1/2 minutes of possession but ran 13 fewer plays.

I agree FSU has team speed but their starting center is supposed to be out for the game. I should think he'd be an essential part of an effective uptempo pace.

So far this year ND has actually run more plays/game than FSU 434 to 421, or 73.8 plays/game to 70.2.

FSU has only exceeded ND average once running 74 plays (ND's average) against Wake. Their other games have been 71, 67, 66, 71, and 72. That's a spread of only 8 plays from high to low.

ND ran 64 against Rice and 65 against UM. Then they upped the pace over the next 4 games with 78, 80, 75, and 81.

 

[Irish#1]

I just watched the first half of the game. I guarantee you, you have no idea feeling for NC's hurry up compared to what you saw on TV. The cameras weren't catching everything. FSU's hurry up won't effect us like NC's did.

 

[irisheyes]

Didnt know where to put it but did anyone else notice it looked like Bryant had all gold teeth? Didnt look like a mouth guard from what i could see.

 

[ACamp1900]

Didnt know where to put it but did anyone else notice it looked like Bryant had all gold teeth? Didnt look like a mouth guard from what i could see.

He did, although I wondered if it was a gold mouth piece...

 

[Whiskeyjack]

OFD's Larz just published a film breakdown of Kelly's use of the Jet Sweep against UNC:

Final Thoughts

Brian Kelly has been setting this up for weeks. After the bye week, we saw more sweep plays being called, especially against Stanford. It almost got to the point where it became predictable. When a receiver or back used sweep motion, they generally got the ball. This is exactly the mindset Brian Kelly wanted.

In the 4th quarter when the Irish needed a spark, Kelly found it. He sprung the trap he set with the sweep. Fake the sweep, play action deep. Next play, fake the sweep, give to the running back. Critical 2 point convert, fake the sweep, bootleg, hit the tight end in the flats. Subtle. Patient. Outstanding. Well done Coach Kelly. This is what great play calling is all about.

Read the whole thing if you have time.

 

[Luckylucci]

OFD's Larz just published a film breakdown of Kelly's use of the Jet Sweep against UNC:



Read the whole thing if you have time.

So over the years this is what I thought all those obvious screens that we'd run over and over were essentially trying to do. However, we'd never really be able to beat them deep. Could be due to personnel.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

OFD's Punter Bro just published his ST film breakdown of the UNC game. In short:

1. the kick-off and punt coverage was outstanding;
2. the blocking on our returns was poor;
3. Jones blocked another PAT;
4. Koyack's on-side kick recovery was outstanding;
5. the Roughing the Snapper penalty was long overdue, since UNC was fouling Daly all game.

Lots of good stuff in there if you have time to read it.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Hey Whiskey,