Post Game Observations(NW)

[connor_in]

The more I think about it, the more I don't necessarily hate what BVG is doing.

We all agree that we have a serious lack of experience (maybe talent?) on defense. And that our offense is explosive, even if they shoot themselves in the foot 4-5 times a game.

Therefore, why not try to make some big plays on defense rather than just sit back and let teams slowly score on us?
Try to pressure the quarterback and force turnovers. We know we aren't going to win any games 17-14 like we have in the past. It's a live by the blitz die by the blitz mentality.

It wasn't the terrible scheme at the beginning of the year that it appears to be now.

To me, two things have begun to happen:
1) way too many turnovers
2) unsustainable amount of injuries to key players

Maybe the injuries are just a part of the sport, and we, just like every other team, must deal with them. The turnovers, in my opinion are directly to blame for our recent shortcomings.

This...thank you

 

[DONTH8]

What were your thoughts about the post game press conference? I think it would have been a good idea for Kelly to taken some of the blame himself. Instead he tried to defend himself and his decisions and put a lot of the blame on the team. This usually doesn't bode over well with a team. I think he has a lot of reason to show up and put it on the team, and i believe that the team knows that they are the ones to blame (Chris Brown with the fumble on the goal line and other mental errors during the game that could of changed the outcome of the game and never put us in the situation that we found ourselves in) however I think players can rally around a coach that to the media will take the blame for them and just make sure they know in film, practice, or in a 1 on 1 meeting the truth. i just don't find it classy when coaches defend themselves while throwing the kids under the bus. Even though he is right, i feel the great coaches just don't do that. I love Brian Kelly, he's the real deal and i can just imagine the pressure he feels everyday for being the ND coach. we all know that as Notre Dame fans we are championship or nothing. We don't talk about 9 win seasons, we talk about 11 National Championships. The players know that, the coahces know that, once the championship dream is over, they feel the pressure of the fans. But i still feel if he had shown up and taken some of the blame, i would have even more respect for the man.

Anyways just my thought.

 

[Irish YJ]

And you were that dbag talking on his cell phone!

Absolutely. Just saw him walking away after my buddy shuck his hand. Was so pissed.

 

[IrishinSyria]

What were your thoughts about the post game press conference? I think it would have been a good idea for Kelly to taken some of the blame himself. Instead he tried to defend himself and his decisions and put a lot of the blame on the team. This usually doesn't bode over well with a team. I think he has a lot of reason to show up and put it on the team, and i believe that the team knows that they are the ones to blame (Chris Brown with the fumble on the goal line and other mental errors during the game that could of changed the outcome of the game and never put us in the situation that we found ourselves in) however I think players can rally around a coach that to the media will take the blame for them and just make sure they know in film, practice, or in a 1 on 1 meeting the truth. i just don't find it classy when coaches defend themselves while throwing the kids under the bus. Even though he is right, i feel the great coaches just don't do that. I love Brian Kelly, he's the real deal and i can just imagine the pressure he feels everyday for being the ND coach. we all know that as Notre Dame fans we are championship or nothing. We don't talk about 9 win seasons, we talk about 11 National Championships. The players know that, the coahces know that, once the championship dream is over, they feel the pressure of the fans. But i still feel if he had shown up and taken some of the blame, i would have even more respect for the man.

Anyways just my thought.

I hate Kelly press conferences post bad loss. They always feel like exercises in finger pointing.

 

[NorthDakota]

I love Brian Kelly, he's the real deal and i can just imagine the pressure he feels everyday for being the ND coach. we all know that as Notre Dame fans we are championship or nothing. We don't talk about 9 win seasons, we talk about 11 National Championships. The players know that, the coahces know that, once the championship dream is over, they feel the pressure of the fans. But i still feel if he had shown up and taken some of the blame, i would have even more respect for the man.

Anyways just my thought.

Pressure of the Notre Dame job has got to be the heaviest burden in college coaching, maybe any coaching job in the US. The longer Notre Dame goes without a title, the burden gets heavier.

I like Kelly. A lot. This year has fallen off. Next year the Irish better not fall apart again. If so, might be time to find someone new to lead.

 

[koonja]

Another thing I noticed from watching 3 games live this year is that outside of the Michigan game, the players have zero fun playing on this team. There's almost no emotion outside of an interception or touchdown. It's like they're going to a 9-5 rather than playing a game they love.

I could handle a 9 win year and blame it on youth if it at least looked like they were having fun and ND was a fun place to play. Golson, RBs, WRs, OL, everyone on defense, zero fun, sir.

 

[connect the dots]

Another thing I noticed from watching 3 games live this year is that outside of the Michigan game, the players have zero fun playing on this team. There's almost no emotion outside of an interception or touchdown. It's like they're going to a 9-5 rather than playing a game they love.

I could handle a 9 win year and blame it on youth if it at least looked like they were having fun and ND was a fun place to play. Golson, RBs, WRs, OL, everyone on defense, zero fun, sir.

I think you bring up a good point about player enthusiasm. Interim Ed Orgeron made football fun again at USC, and dramatically, turned their program around. Speaking of Ed - Orgeron went from a Graduate Assistant at Miami to defensive line coach(recruiter), and Viola! Cortez Kennedy, Russell Maryland, and Warren Sapp are not a bad start to a major college coaching career.

 

[NCND]

Another thing I noticed from watching 3 games live this year is that outside of the Michigan game, the players have zero fun playing on this team. There's almost no emotion outside of an interception or touchdown. It's like they're going to a 9-5 rather than playing a game they love.

I could handle a 9 win year and blame it on youth if it at least looked like they were having fun and ND was a fun place to play. Golson, RBs, WRs, OL, everyone on defense, zero fun, sir.

Ha. This is true. No fire, no emotional leader when things are going wrong. They look tight and uninspiring.

 

[tussin]

I just don't understand why every ND team over the last 10 years (even 2012) consistently plays down to the level of the opponent. We are more talented than at least 75% of the teams we play.

Is blowing out mediocre teams too much to ask?

 

[N_D_Fighting_Irish]

Another thing I noticed from watching 3 games live this year is that outside of the Michigan game, the players have zero fun playing on this team. There's almost no emotion outside of an interception or touchdown. It's like they're going to a 9-5 rather than playing a game they love.

I could handle a 9 win year and blame it on youth if it at least looked like they were having fun and ND was a fun place to play. Golson, RBs, WRs, OL, everyone on defense, zero fun, sir.

Good grief. The we need to play fun to win games thinking. Losing and struggling is never fun. Next, someone is going to mention that there are no leaders on this team. If we had leadership, things would be different. Such tripe.

 

[clashmore_jon]

anyone else still cold?

 

[wizards8507]

anyone else still cold?

Jonas Gray laying an absolute beatdown on the Colts last night helped a great deal.

 

[pkt77242]

Jonas Gray laying an absolute beatdown on the Colts last night helped a great deal.

Except he sat on the bench in my fantasy league. The saving grace being that I have Rodgers at QB and still romped.

 

[wizards8507]

Except he sat on the bench in my fantasy league. The saving grace being that I have Rodgers at QB and still romped.

Yeah I played AGAINST Rodgers needing big points from Brady and Gronkowski so Gray's performance screwed me from a fantasy perspective. Still worth it.

 

[Irish Fam]

While I understand the issue with players enjoying themselves while they are out there playing a game they love. It is pretty fucking difficult to have fun when you turn the ball over consistently, give up major chunks on defense, and are currently in a slump where you have lost 3 of 4.

To be honest, if they were laughing, joking, and smiling these last couple games, I would have a real issue with that.

Losing is not suppose to be fun.

 

[Irish#1]

A couple more comments.....

1. I think there is a distinct possibility that we lose the next two games. Our defense cannot get a stop when it needs one.
2. It's the youth on defense that is hurting us at the moment (bad angles, trying to strip the ball instead of tacking, reading the play instead of reacting, not quite physically mature enough yet, etc.).
3. I think a lot of the freshmen have hit that proverbial brick wall.
4. We have no real identity when it comes to our run game. It seems BK calls a run play more as an afterthought instead of trying to accomplish something with it.
5. I wouldn't mind having someone else call the plays.
6. I can deal with losing when you're busting butt, but when you make bonehead calls (BK) that cost the game you need to think about your role.

 

[Irish#1]

I know I am not saying anything new, but I just woke up so I am going to throw my two cents in. This game is squarely on the coaching staff. Yes, the players didn't do good things individually, but at some point, the coaches have to make adjustments and give some players a swift kick in the ass.

I like Golson and he should be our starter, but I think Malik has to get some reps over the next two games. Start the quarterback competition now. Don't wait until the Spring. Get them each some game reps to start to determine what next year will bring. No reason not to play Malik more at this point.

To paraphrase something from Herb Brooks, this team is playing worse every game and right now, they are playing like its next week. Trying the same stuff won't work now. Time to shuffle the deck and hope for a better hand.

I think we have a big chance of losing to Louisville and I have a bad feeling that USC might take this team to the woodshed. I hope I am wrong, but if they play like they did yesterday, USC might hang 60 on us.

Something needs to be done to light a fire under EG and his turnover issues.

 

[Irish#1]

Honestly, I could see BK leaving for the NFL on his own free will if that were to happen. Kelly has done well for us recruiting wise and program wise, but his on-field coaching has been abysmal at several times over the last 4 years.

NFL teams watching how BK coaches and manages the game may have second thoughts.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Here's Murtaught's review of the NW game:

Well, it's time to have one of those big picture talks. It's never a good thing to have one of these talks.

Both Sides of the Ball, Not Clicking

I thought this would be a 8-4 season primarily because the defense was going to struggle under a new DC having to replace a bunch of veterans. Obviously, a lot more attrition has occurred and that hasn't helped matters but my sole lament in the pre-season was that Kelly wasn't going to be able to get both sides of the ball humming at the same time. Well, look where we are right now. The offense is averaging over 35 points per game. All the naysayers predicted the offense needed to hit that average, they have, and yet we're still looking at a mediocre record.

In a vacuum the attrition on defense is a legitimate excuse for Kelly and VanGorder. Perhaps once the season is over we'll be able to look at the defense with clearer and more understanding eyes but right now it's tough to swallow.

It Shouldn't Be This Bad

The defense is going to return a ton of bodies next year. That is exciting. Like I said, there is enough room to argue that the defense is just too young and injured to be good right now. However, they shouldn't be this bad. Giving up 547 yards to a very, very mediocre Northwestern offense is horrid. Allowing 263 rushing yards is embarrassing. I don't like saying "it's unacceptable" because it's one of the most over-used phrases that has lost nearly all meaning in college football but that really is an unacceptable performance.

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? Y'all want to focus on offensive play-calling when Northwestern almost dropped six bills of offense with this is going on at defense?

Look, this unit will be better next year. There's no doubt about that. An entire 11-man team of starters will be back with 2 young and large recruiting classes providing depth. But right now you have to question just how good the defense is going to be under Brian VanGorder because his ability to go from something to nothing and back to something is going to determine just how good this team will be in 2015.

Short-Term, Defense is a Disaster

The defense already broke the record for most points given up over a 4-game span. Well, that 5-game record was just obliterated. This team shutout Michigan, didn't give up more than 17 points in any game through week 6, and will be flirting with 2007 in terms of total points surrendered. If Louisville and USC can combine for 75 points this 2014 defense will have given up more points than 2007.

I just don't know what this defense does well anymore. I think the lack of a pass rush is simply a season-long problem that is getting worse as teams are figuring out VanGorder's scheme. It's a harbinger of death against any team with a decent line and a good quarterback. Heck, against Northwestern Siemian was a handful of drops from going something like 35 for 48 with almost 400 yards. Could USC drop 600 passing yards on the Irish?

Even the run defense has crumbled in recent weeks. This may be the most concerning problem because it was something the Notre Dame defense has been able to lean on for most of the Kelly era. Somehow they slowed down Florida State on the ground but against the last 3 non-triple options teams the Irish have given up 641 yards at 4.7 yards per rush.

On the Offense

The offense should be doing better but their issues aren't nearly as bad as the defense. The offense doesn't have nearly as many excuses but they are doing enough to win games. They converted nearly half of their third down conversions, totaled 498 yards, averaged 6.2 yards per play, and once again put up over 30 points on the scoreboard.

Now, if you want to argue they should have scored 50 I think that's fair. I'm just not sure that's a major criticism, and really it's more of a back-handed criticism of the defense in any event.

What is frustrating are the turnovers and the inability to overwhelm a mediocre opponent to the point where the defense simply can't lose the game for you. But those shortcomings shouldn't equal a loss to Northwestern on their own. This team shouldn't have to rely on the offense to score 45 points to win against bad teams.

Don't Give Up on Golson

By the end of the game enough of the ire had been directed away from Golson but there's still going to be a lot of criticism for the Irish quarterback. He shouldn't be exempt from that criticism but I don't think he's near the top of the list of problems. To put it another way, I don't think you can simultaneously gag when talking about the defense and criticize the offense for not putting up huge numbers when Golson is big reason why a lot of good things are still happening on offense.

You can't just sweep two more turnovers under the rug--although he got hit again throwing his lone interception which bounced off a helmet and into a defenders hands--and I don't want to do that. I'm just looking at what we've got and Golson is still playing really well. I stand behind that completely. You can only get so upset at 365 yards and 4 touchdowns. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.

Poor Gameplan?

I'd like to differentiate between coming in with a bad gameplan and making a some bad coaching decisions. There were a lot of nits to pick with some of the play-calls but that's really no different than any other game. Just like the tendency to say something is "unacceptable" so too do people turn too quickly on play-calling based on just one or two plays.

Going for the two point conversion while up 11 points didn't make sense to me. But that is just one of a hundred decisions made by Brian Kelly most of which were plenty successful.

There has been a major over-reaction to Kelly's play-calling and gameplan based on the result of the game. Blaming play-calling is the refuge of the dumb. It's a favorite past-time of the most disgruntled fans. The ones who expect perfection and point to two or three plays out of 80 snaps as evidence of terrible play-calling. I'm not saying if you're unhappy with the play-calling that you're necessarily dumb but it's an easy trap to fall into after a loss.

Case in point, this was legitimately one of the worst defensive performances in Notre Dame history and the bulk of the post-game criticisms are surrounding offensive play-calling. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Simply put, the offense was far too productive for this to have been anywhere close to a bad play-calling game from Brian Kelly. To me, you can point to bad play-calling when the offense consistently fails and that wasn't the case on Saturday.

The same people who want to salt the game away with 80% runs with a 40-29 lead in the fourth quarter are the same who will cry about poor play-calling when that strategy fails and we go three and out. They're the same who cry when there's too much passing and the same who reflexively blame the play-calling when your senior running back fumbles when you are in fact salting the game away with run calls.

When a play doesn't work out it doesn't necessarily mean it was a bad play-call.

The Loss is Still on Kelly

Now, don't get it twisted Kelly deserves so much blame for this loss. It's just pointing to a fumble on a jet sweep to Chris Brown as a major part of that blame is misplaced.

Somehow, someway you have to take care of business in a game like this. Call it lack of preparation, a lack of focus, or losing a young team. Brian Kelly has done a lot of good things while at Notre Dame but this season has gone off the rails in a hurry and he alone is responsible.

Yes, it was a poorly coached game but it was more so in the big picture sense. He's ultimately responsible for the defense but I don't know how much blame he gets for that side of the ball in this game. The offense had some major mental errors mixed in with good production and Kelly has to do whatever he can to limit those mistakes.

I don't know what else there is to say. For the majority of this season the Irish have been playing sloppy football with plenty of shining moments but far too many mental mistakes.

Has Kelly Already Peaked at Notre Dame?

There's no way to get around it, this was a terrible loss. It's a loss that shatters so much effort built up over the past five years. Just losing as such a heavy favorite is bad enough but this makes a 5-loss season enormously more likely, it can pump the brakes on recruiting, and it damages the progress of the program on the national scene.

Perhaps worst of all, it just makes the margin for error next year that much smaller.

The talk about firing Brian Kelly after this season is crazy and doing so would be insanely stupid. However, there is going to be a lot on the line in 2015 and if that season falls short of lofty expectations then it'll be the right time to think about going in a different direction.

Even then, if you move on after 2015 following something like a 9-3 regular season you damn well better have a very attractive and proven new coach ready to come in to the lead the program. That's always a really difficult situation to be in and I've said it before Notre Dame has never really been in that spot before in modern times. It's entirely uncharted waters for the administration.

Listen, it's nothing earth shattering or groundbreaking to say that Kelly can't or won't win a National Championship at Notre Dame and using this thesis to build your case that he needs to go. That's a non-starter for me and no that doesn't mean I don't have the proper expectations for Notre Dame. I don't think Kelly is going to win a title, never have, but I'd feel that way about almost every coach that took the helm in South Bend.

However, we're past the point where Kelly gets credit for improving over the Davie/Willingham/Weis years. We just are and it's a crutch that really isn't applicable anymore. Wondering if there is a better coach out there than Kelly is also fine but not if entering into those discussions is meant to shut down the hiring of any potential new head coach. I'm really not interested in taking a hard stance that Kelly needs go sooner rather than later or that Swarbrick couldn't get a better coach at some point.

When you lose games like this you open yourself to this type of criticism. It does the Notre Dame Football Program an injustice not to think of changing at some point. This is not the basketball program where the talent restrictions and pre-Brey history give the current head coach near immunity to a search for a new leader. That's understandable for basketball but I loathe the day when loads of people reflexively want to keep Kelly on the sole reason that Notre Dame couldn't do better.

However, I cannot stress that change for change sake is usually a bad idea. More importantly, you have to make sure you're getting a good new coach and I know I'm not the only one who has been scanning the country and sees a serious talent deficiency of candidates. Like I said, this won't always give Kelly a pass but right now I think it does. Whether that's true in 13 months from now I do not know.

I've always envisioned a future where Kelly is putting together a bunch of good seasons but the amount of bickering about his future just gets worse and worse over time. We're beginning to see this frustration here and now.

In a way, it's really depressing because setting aside the rest of this season even 10-2 in 2015 isn't going to be good enough for a lot of people. Is that fair? I don't know if it will be or not.

I just want to see Brian Kelly get to coach one team with an explosive offense (I think we'll be okay there next year) with a legitimately good defense (that is definitely to be determined). If he can't get those two pieces together next year that's ultimately on him and if he does get them together and the team still loses a perplexing game or two and truly underachieves that's on him too.

So, I can understand how "Top 5 finish or bust" makes sense next year but it's still an insanely high bar to set. The pressure is going to be ridiculous in 2015.

Now What?

Well, all the fun got sucked out of the football program didn't it? I'm sure many of us would like to just skip right to National Signing Day and spring ball. It seems there's nothing left for us to see in 2014.

It's tough to imagine Notre Dame beating either Louisville or USC. However, things can change in the blink of an eye in college football. Think about how just a couple weeks ago so many thought this team was the bees knees and it was this great injustice how we weren't ranked highly enough. Now, we're wondering about Kelly's future.

College football can be so cruel like that.

However, it wouldn't be unheard of for the Irish to at least split the last two games, or even win both. Far crazier things have happened in college football. If there's one thing Kelly has done well it's dig deep when the team and program are up against a wall.

More Thoughts from this Loss

• It didn't seem like a wise coaching decision to bench Max Redfield for Drue Tranquill in this game. Following the game Kelly mentioned it was a decision based upon Redfield's play in the ASU game. Fair enough, but I still would have gone with the more experienced player in this game.
• Upon review my biggest problem with the play-calling came in overtime on three straight passes. Then again, I'm always wanting to get the ball into Folston's hands more on screens and that's exactly what happened on first down. Still, with a shaky kicking game the yards were at a premium and at least seeing what a run could get you seemed wise to me. Then again, trying to put myself in Kelly's shoes you might have been looking for a big play precisely because you didn't have faith in Brindza. It's really easy being a Monday Morning Quarterback but it can be very difficult to call plays in the heat of the moment.
• Speaking of that shaky kicking game it appears as though Kyle Brindza has lost all of his confidence. At one point he seemed like someone who could maybe get picked in the last couple rounds of the NFL Draft but that's probably not happening now. He shanked a couple of punts and has now missed 6 out of his last 10 field goal attempts. What's more, as a senior I put some blame on him for continually trying to kick the bad snaps. If he's a little more savvy Northwestern doesn't take back the PAT for 2 points.
• The Zaire experiment as the holder backfired. Yeesh, with hindsight that was a very poor decision.
• There's not a whole lot of of good things to talk about on defense but I thought the trio of Luke-Riggs-Farley played pretty all things considered.
• File this away in the overreaction department but I've seen a lot of criticism on the offensive line for their run blocking. Did I miss something where Notre Dame didn't run for over 200 yards? I don't think you can say Folston was killing Northwestern without giving some props to the linemen up front. I've seen a lot of inconsistencies with the complaining about this topic.
• The funny thing is the offensive line looked much worse in pass blocking, though. But even looking back things weren't terrible. They're just not consistently playing at a high level and allowing too much pressure than we're used to seeing under Heistand. Someone like Ronnie Stanley shouldn't get abused like he did on Golson's interception.
• Will Fuller had a drop early in the game but otherwise was on fire finishing with 9 catches, 159 yards, and 3 touchdowns. Don't look now but he's currently tied for the national lead with 13 touchdown receptions. He's not catching Golden Tate's yardage from 2009 but 3 more touchdowns by Fuller will give him more touchdowns and the season school record. Will he finally be talked about as No. 1 receiver then?
• Nothing symbolized the feeling that Northwestern was winning this game more than their struggling kicker hitting 3 field goal from over 40 yards.
• This pains me to type but Northwestern only punted once the entire game.
• Tempo against this young, injured, and confused Irish defense is absolutely killer. It was so important to Northwestern that they ran 96 plays which was 12 more than their previous season high.
• I've seen a lot of talk about how Kelly should have taken several knees on the McDaniel fumble drive. That this guaranteed a win. Yeah, like Brindza wouldn't have punted the ball 18 yards or even worse it may have been blocked or the snap fired over Brindza's head. That all seemed as likely as McDaniel fumbling the ball. Sure, maybe Folston should have carried the ball but it was just one carry by McDaniel. The previous carry was by Folston and if McDaniel doesn't fumble it might have been Folston carrying again on third down. It's just one carry. I cannot get that mad at coach for giving the ball once to his senior captain in that position.
• Lost in all the madness was the fact that this was just the second home loss since the middle of the 2011 season. The Irish were on a 16-1 run with the lone loss to Oklahoma last season as the only blemish until this past Saturday.
• After the game Collinsworth mentioned that his shoulder hurts so bad that it bothers him just sitting in class. I'm not sure he should be playing football right now. I hate to say it but I don't see how he can just turn on the switch this late in the season after not having played, deal with all that pain, and help this defense get better.
• We may be doomed if Day and Cage are lost for the season. That will mean against Louisville we'd be without those two plus Grace, Schmidt, Baratti, Russell, and Ishaq plus Collinsworth's one healthy arm and Eilar Hardy not in game shape and rendered useless.
• Looking ahead to next year that season opener against Texas is looking tougher and tougher. They've won 4 out of their last 5 games and are coming off back-to-back victories over West Virginia and Oklahoma State.

Buster touched on this earlier, but many of us predicted a 7-5 or 8-4 record pre-season because we lost of a ton of talent to the draft, suspension and injury; especially on defense, which would be learning a new scheme. Well, after a magical start to the season, ND now looks like the team we expected to see from the beginning (except that no one projected all these back-breaking TOs).

I think Van Gorder deserves credit for much of our early season success. But it looks like Joe Schmidt was the lynchpin of our front-7, and his injury (as I feared) has caused everything else to unravel. What BvG had built through the first 8 games was held together with spit and bailing wire. It might have held up, but we got unlucky (might be more accurate to say "Navy'd") with injuries.

Winning consistently in CFB is hard, and it's a lot harder at ND than any other top program. What does this season look like if Golson hadn't been suspended last season? Or if the Frozen Five had been allowed to play? I'm with Eric in that I don't expect we'll ever win another title, but I honestly don't think we can do better than Kelly. Hopefully we can dig deep and win out.

Vegas has us favored by 4 over UL; I have no idea why, but maybe the sharps see something I'm missing. And Kelly has won 3 of the last 4 against SC. A double digit win season is still within reach, and would be a huge victory all things considered. But anything short of 10 wins will feel like a serious disappointment.

 

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Pft who wrote that giant article? Kmoose?

 

[RDU Irish]

At some point, isn't there some type of base defense you can fall back into when everything else is just sucking balls? I didn't have high hopes of a dominant defense this year but I sure as sh!t didn't think it would be down right horrible. I thought we would show improvement throughout with all arrows pointing to Top 25 Defense in 2015. I really don't see how we can think 2015 is going to magically be a top 25 defense, no way these greenhorns turn into studs in that timeframe. 2016 maybe.

So KVR, Day, Smith and Luke look like they will enter 2015 with NFL expectations (not hopes). Maybe you can throw Jones in that mix. Other than that you don't have anyone playing on a power conference starter level! Who is suddenly going to develop? Morgan is two years off, probably Redfield too. Linebackers? D-Line? Seems like we are (again) two years from having true depth.

Exactly how do we envision the front 7 producing a pass rush next year? Day and Jones are legit but where is their help? Who else has shown an ability to dominate a one-on-one match up with any level of consistency? Most of these linemen won't be ready to do that until 2016. Add to that, their youth prevents proper execution of stunts and such.

Holy, wtf. North-f-ing-Western.

 

[tussin]

Winning consistently in CFB is hard, and it's a lot harder at ND than any other top program. What does this season look like if Golson hadn't been suspended last season? Or if the Frozen Five had been allowed to play? I'm with Eric in that I don't expect we'll ever win another title, but I honestly don't think we can do better than Kelly. Hopefully we can dig deep and win out.

You don't think ND will ever win another title? Maybe that's true, but damn that's super depressing.

 

[RDU Irish]

We absolutely can win another title. I am undecided if a playoff makes it easier or harder. On one hand, one win seasons are still in the hunt for a title where we needed to be undefeated in the past. Has to increase post season odds by 2:1 (two one-loss seasons for every undefeated). On the other, we have to beat two top teams in a row to claim the ultimate prize.

 

[dublinirish]

You don't think ND will ever win another title? Maybe that's true, but damn that's super depressing.

PAC-24 champs 2047..book it

 

[Whiskeyjack]

You don't think ND will ever win another title? Maybe that's true, but damn that's super depressing.

I think the odds are strongly against it. Even 'Bama, which in this ultra-competitive era has managed to create and maintain a modern CFB dynasty, needs a fair amount of luck to win it all in any given year. And Saban effectively has a blank check to win at all costs, whereas any ND coach has to deal with myriad restrictions that hamstring us competitively.

As long as we keep recruiting competitively, a moonshot is possible. We could remain healthy and unscandalized for a whole season, and a mature, balanced team could make it to the title game and win. But that hasn't happened for us yet in the modern era, and the odds of it happening seem a little worse with each passing year. Even BK, who is undoubtedly the best coach we've had since Holtz, is struggling in his 5th year, because There's Always Something Wrong With ND Football™.

 

[RDU Irish]

You could say that of anyone. Who saw FSU winning it all last year? The best you can do is build yourself into a perennial Top 10/Top 25 team which puts you in a position to make the playoffs once or twice every 5 years. Do that and you will eventually hit the jackpot.

We make the playoff next year, that will be two shots in four years, with a team set up to compete going forward. Hard to as for more than that.

 

[connect the dots]

I think the odds are strongly against it. Even 'Bama, which in this ultra-competitive era has managed to create and maintain a modern CFB dynasty, needs a fair amount of luck to win it all in any given year. And Saban effectively has a blank check to win at all costs, whereas any ND coach has to deal with myriad restrictions that hamstring us competitively.

As long as we keep recruiting competitively, a moonshot is possible. We could remain healthy and unscandalized for a whole season, and a mature, balanced team could make it to the title game and win. But that hasn't happened for us yet in the modern era, and the odds of it happening seem a little worse with each passing year. Even BK, who is undoubtedly the best coach we've had since Holtz, is struggling in his 5th year, because There's Always Something Wrong With ND Football™.

Holy Mary, Mother of God help us be unscandalized for a whole season. Unscathed for a whole season? Unscandalized - I like the sound of it, and those segments of speech belong in a prayer.

 

[ND NYC]

had a feeling Van Gorder was gonna be Tenuta part deux...

 

[wizards8507]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A bet is a bet, paying off my wager to <a href="https://twitter.com/Espngreeny">@Espngreeny</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GolicButtPhoto?src=hash">#GolicButtPhoto</a> <a href="http://t.co/cY8UUndVlf">pic.twitter.com/cY8UUndVlf</a></p>— Mike & Mike (@MikeAndMike) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeAndMike/status/535772983798018048">November 21, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[blackirish]

All you need to know we lost and gave up 547 yards to Northwestern.

yep. It took me a long time to reply because what else is there to say