Post Game Observations (Oklahoma)....

[Irishman77]

I think Hendix throws with too much strength and not enough touch. He's never looked natural as a passer, but maybe if he gets a bunch of reps he'll settle down?

IDK. I still like Rees because of what he's been through and won't be mad if he's still the starter, but I'd be excited to see Hendrix.

I don't think that second part is true. Turnovers aside, they had 125 more offensive yards than us and over 10 minutes time of possession. They beat us in about every area, not only turnovers.

The 125 yds and 10 minutes were due to the 3 extra possessions we gave them

 

[Bluto]

Two things:
1. Kelly proved at his previous stops that he's not conservative. I think he's playing the QB hand he's been dealt.

2. I'm not sure that Hendrix has shown us that he can throw. He seems to freeze when he gets on the field. If that wasn't the case in practice, I think Kelly would be playing him.

But I don't really know. I'm not in practice.

The thing is Rees isn't a gunslinger either. Hell, Tebow couldn't really throw right? I say roll with Hendrix and play to his strengths. He might make some mistakes but it'll be more exciting and dynamic at the very least and at worst a wash. Stanford is kicking the crap outta Wash. State for what it's worth.

 

[palinurus]

IMO Tommy also sits in the pocket too long. I feel like the OL has given him plenty of time for the most part this year.

I felt more like that before today. Today, I felt like Oky pressured him a lot. I will say that it looked like he threw too late on several passes ... guys were open or would have been open at a certain spot, but by the time the ball got there, it was Times Square.

 

[koonja]

The 125 yds and 10 minutes were due to the 3 extra possessions we gave them

The 1st turnover had zero impact on offensive yards or TOP. And the other two gave them the ball, yes, but they also kept and moved the ball. Something we could not do.

They had 25 first downs, we had 12. They were better in about every way.

 

[Bluto]

Kinda off topic but does anybody know off hand how highly ranked the last couple Stanford recruiting classes were? Those dudes are animals on D this year.

 

[koonja]

Kinda off topic but does anybody know off hand how highly ranked the last couple Stanford recruiting classes were? Those dudes are animals on D this year.

2013: 51st
2012: 7th
2011: 22nd
2010: 22nd

We've had a better class than them every year besides 2012. According to 247. I'd love to see their S/C program. They are athletic everywhere.

 

[Irishman77]

All the data

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...o_pdf/2013-14/box_score/stats_20130929aaa.pdf

 

[Bluto]

2013: 51st
2012: 7th
2011: 22nd
2010: 22nd

We've had a better class than them every year besides 2012. According to 247. I'd love to see their S/C program. They are athletic everywhere.

Seems like a clear identity across the board. Big and tough on both sides of the ball. They smashed Az State and are smashing Wash. St. Seems like there are tons of 3 star players from Cali on the rooster too.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

I know this has been said before on here but seriously what kind of team is ND? If you think of a Alabama, LSU, Georgia you think smash mouth football with occasional play action, & Tuff Defense if you take a Oregon, Texas A&M there associated with the spread option & scoring a butt load of points. Texas Tech is associated with an air attack. My point is those teams are associated with all those things & most would say they do it well! What is NDs identity of course people are going to say we throw the ball yes, that's quite obvious but we don't do it well. Is it running the ball it could be, we ran the ball fairly well today! But I wouldn't say we're a running team. You guys get what I'm saying here we are year 4 and what are we building? An offense primarily out of shot gun that's going to throw 40-50 times a game while sitting in the pocket! Maybe eventually more of a spread option? I don't see us going back to a pro or I with Kelly & I'm not saying we should, but where should we be heading in year 4 of Brian Kelly's scheme? What's the identity of Notre Dame?

The identity of ND is inconsistency at the most important position on the field.

Johnny Manziel
Braxton Miller
Marcus Mariota
Tajh Boyd
Teddy Bridgewater

That's a list of QBs that make their coaches look really good.

Kelly wants to run his offense with someone in that talent pool. He was doing a nice job of developing a certain QB that looked to have the potential to be on that list. We all know what happened there.

Kelly is forced to go with Rees, who is tough and smart but lacks the ability to escape the pocket and also struggles with accuracy at times.

Now this isn't necessarily a swipe at Rees. He's just better suited for a traditional offense. There is a reason Stanford and Charlie recruited him. He's tough, smart and in the wrong offense.

The fact is Kelly planned for Everett running the show. Kelly needs Everett running the show. Everett's escapability and rocket arm can make him look like he's a smarter coach than everyone else. Everett's dual threat opens up the playbook, the running game and increases the preparation load for opposing coordinators and players.

I have a ton of respect for Tommy Rees stepping in and out of this offense built for a dual threat QB and handling it like a professional when he new he was always second choice. He's put up some damn good numbers at times and barring a few deflections was moving the offense today.

He gives it all he's got and like it or not he's all we've got. Andrew still hasn't gained the complete trust of the staff. He would not have the package he had today if EG was here. They just needed to add the running dimension somewhere.

We won't reach the identity Kelly wants this year. But hopefully we continue to develop defensively (they are close) and the young WRs and RBs keep getting game reps. Rees will lead us to 9-3 I believe.

Once Kelly gets the QB he needs consistently in place we'll see another identity.

 

[sportallyr]

Ugh. I hated watching the game today. Irish played with no passion (which is probably a result of the terrible start). Tommy was not good today. Turnovers killed us (although the first one wasn't really his fault), but he also missed some easy ones at critical times. His lack of mobility hurts us, but I don't think Hendrix is the answer.

On a side note, I'm watching the SC /ASU game and I have a bad feeling that they are both going to beat us. ASU looks really good offensively and their mobile QB is a stud. We've had trouble with mobile QB's all year. We're in big trouble next week!

 

[aubeirish]

2013: 51st
2012: 7th
2011: 22nd
2010: 22nd

We've had a better class than them every year besides 2012. According to 247. I'd love to see their S/C program. They are athletic everywhere.

I remember this being posted around here a while back. It might have something to do with it...

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/e8J6ov48rG0?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[bigedefense]

Yeah but.....ahhh.....

I am sure the delusional will think of something to blow holes in that iron clad evidence.

Well yeah, of course! All you gotta do is remove those pesky little decimals! 10.3 become 103. See, now things are awesome. It's not TR's fault someone put those decimals in there.

 

[GATTACA!]

2013: 51st
2012: 7th
2011: 22nd
2010: 22nd

We've had a better class than them every year besides 2012. According to 247. I'd love to see their S/C program. They are athletic everywhere.

I think this stuff goes hand in hand with the other discussion on here about team identity.

Results compared to recruiting is like making a meal. 5* recruits have tons of good attributes across the board while 3* kids are one dimensional, good at one thing but weak at others.

Notre Dame has steak, caviar, mangos, coffee, and olives. A bunch of random stuff that all looks really good on paper. But without a direction and an idea of what to make with it, or even the possibility of it all fitting together it's all useless.

Stanford has noodles, tomatoes, and some random meat. While the ingredients seem lame and one dimensional if you know what your doing you can make something really great with them.

 

[BGIF]

2013: 51st
2012: 7th
2011: 22nd
2010: 22nd

We've had a better class than them every year besides 2012. According to 247. I'd love to see their S/C program. They are athletic everywhere.

How many of there's transferred out, were tossed out, etc?

ND was head and shoulders better on LOI Day but I don't think that disparity made it to the two deep.

 

[Bluto]

I think this stuff goes hand in hand with the other discussion on here about team identity.

Results compared to recruiting is like making a meal. 5* recruits have tons of good attributes across the board while 3* kids are one dimensional, good at one thing but weak at others.

Notre Dame has steak, caviar, mangos, coffee, and olives. A bunch of random stuff that all looks really good on paper. But without a direction and an idea of what to make with it, or even the possibility of it all fitting together it's all useless.

Stanford has noodles, tomatoes, and some random meat. While the ingredients seem lame and one dimensional if you know what your doing you can make something really great with them.

Looks like beef to me. Lol.

 

[frankygoes69]

We can have the best class in the universe but without leadership its unorganized movement thought the field.

H0lY Fvck, were was the leadership today?

"I've seen monkey **** fights more organized than this".

 

[bigedefense]

At the risk of upsetting the plethora of nicer fans on this site I heartily agree with NDSean. Tommy is done and possibly the worst QB at ND as far back as I can remember. Not sure if mentioning Demetr us Jones is fair. Evan Sharpley also had a horrible team around him so that would not be a fair comparison either. This offense has good protection, good WRs and TEs and still somehow this offense thanks to Chuck, Brian and Tommy is awful and inconsistent. Having an immobile QB, with. Weak arm and accuracy issues is a recipe for today's results. I will take Zaire and our chances . Anything else is playing not to lose as opposed to playing to win.

No chance of losing any coaches for a while either. We can also expect Tuitt to stay as his draft stock has been dropping.

Defense looks slow, overweight and unathletic. We have players but can't seem to get them engaged in the game. Tommy has done some nice things at ND but nothing any other average QB couldn't have done. Disco will be around for as long as we want him. He and the D are grossly over rated and we need to go for making a bowl game.

I am beginning to wonder why not MZ. Sure he is a freshman & will make mistakes, but I think we are seeing mistakes out of a senior. TR has done the best he can, I won't bash the man. I have great respect for him. I think he will make a great coach one day. However, ND has another very good QB coming next year (fingers crossed DK keeps his commitment). I would like to see MZ come in and get game experience. I have only seen a few seconds here & there of him on the highlight clips & read how the coaches say he is picking up the play book great. Coach Kelly adapted it last year for EV & helped him get his game experience & it worked out pretty well. Not saying the MZ 'game experience' would result in the same results, but ole Tommy will be gone next year & an experienced backup will be a great asset. I don't buy saving this year so ND has him for a 5th year. Kelly & co. have done a pretty good job bringing in players. I hope that the QB situation five years from now isn't hanging on MZ. SURELY there will be at least 3 QB's brought in during that time. I just do not understand sitting on a talent like MZ. I do know why I don't understand. It's because I am not on the staf & don't know all the info, maybe MZ isn't as far along as was led to believe earlier. Maybe he gets nervous & gets theBG's (bubble guts) in pressure situations & soils his linen.
I am just like the rest of you, I HATE to see ND lose & every fiber of my being wants to do anything I stop it. I can't though, so all I can do is think of things that might.

On a side note, hate to see Marquis Lee get hurt. It looked and sounded like he hurt his knee pretty bad. However, the a$$hole part of me (many people say that's the majority of me) hopes he isn't able to play in 2 weeks. Next a weeks opponent is kicking sc's a$$. I am hoping a few (only about 19 starters) sprain an ankle and can't go next week!

 

[GATTACA!]

Looks like beef to me. Lol.

Could be pork lol

 

[frankygoes69]

After thinking this through, MZ and EV are going to fight for the starting position next year, pending EV's return. BK in all hope and faith feels that EV's return may interfere with MZ's early play time.

While I wish to win this year more than anyone else, we may have to endure this season the best we can with what we have. Not saying anything bad about anyone or any position in particular.

 

[GATTACA!]

After thinking this through, MZ and EV are going to fight for the starting position next year, pending EV's return. BK in all hope and faith feels that EV's return may interfere with MZ's early play time.

While I wish to win this year more than anyone else, we may have to endure this season the best we can with what we have. Not saying anything bad about anyone or any position in particular.

Eddie Vanderdoes at QB! Cant wait I'm in lol

 

[Anchorman]

After thinking this through, MZ and EV are going to fight for the starting position next year, pending EV's return. BK in all hope and faith feels that EV's return may interfere with MZ's early play time.

While I wish to win this year more than anyone else, we may have to endure this season the best we can with what we have. Not saying anything bad about anyone or any position in particular.

Vanderdoes at QB?

EDIT: Gattaca beat me to it.

 

[Emcee77]

Man what a frustrating game.

I walked away from the stadium today feeling almost exactly like I felt after the USC game in 2011: like the defense's performance was not great but good enough for us to make a statement win against a top program ... and the offense let the D down.

I definitely don't think this was the disaster that some of you think it was though. The turnovers were bad, and they cost us the game, no question. We fell into a 14-0 hole. There was a lot of time left, and to our credit we didn't panic and stuck with the game plan, and we ALMOST climbed back into it. After the Niklas TD, with 14 minutes to play, it was 27-21. We just needed a big stop there ... but on the ensuing drive OK scored a touchdown/2pt conversion to make it 35-21 ... Down two scores in the 4th, we had to throw, and OK knew it, and that 3-3-5 defense is BUILT to stop the pass, as BK said in his postgame comments. So we got away from the game plan, stopped trying to run, went to the pass, just as OK wanted us to do, and we ended up punting THREE STRAIGHT TIMES in the 4th quarter. And lost the game. If we never fall into the 14-0 hole early, then maybe we can stick with the game plan all the way through and maybe we win that one. 14 points was the difference in the game. (btw, as kmoose said, not sure we can blame Tommy for the 7 points OU scored off the third turnover ... they had to drive 88 yards for those points.) But even with the turnovers, we had a real chance of winning this game in the 4th quarter. Frustrating game but I didn't see the disastrous, demoralizing performance some people saw.

I admit I walked out of the stadium today saying that that had to be Tommy's last game as a starter. Still think that might be the way to go, but kmoose made great points in the OP. Not sure the turnovers were totally Tommy's fault. Kelly said that some of the passing problems came down to poor/wrong routes, and there were definitely some miscommunications between Tommy and receivers in the 4th quarter, but I have to think those were probably the receivers' fault. We'll see how the staff and the boys respond next week. I thought Hendrix was effective as a change-up QB and I'd like to see more of that.

 

[bigedefense]

I think this stuff goes hand in hand with the other discussion on here about team identity.

Results compared to recruiting is like making a meal. 5* recruits have tons of good attributes across the board while 3* kids are one dimensional, good at one thing but weak at others.

Notre Dame has steak, caviar, mangos, coffee, and olives. A bunch of random stuff that all looks really good on paper. But without a direction and an idea of what to make with it, or even the possibility of it all fitting together it's all useless.

Stanford has noodles, tomatoes, and some random meat. While the ingredients seem lame and one dimensional if you know what your doing you can make something really great with them.

Thanks! Now I'm hungry too!

 

[frankygoes69]

Yes, EV still hurts. You know I meant EG! C'mon Man!

 

[Bluto]

Could be pork lol

The other white meat!

 

[GATTACA!]

Yes, EV still hurts. You know I meant EG! C'mon Man!

I kid I kid. But for real I agree with what you meant. It's gonna be crowded once Kizer comes in too.

 

[PJWhitfield]

"Forty seconds wasn't enough time in my estimation," said Kelly on taking a knee to end the half. ...That'll show 'em. What though the odds be great or small, just say to hell with it.

 

[frankygoes69]

I was there in 08 for the cuse game and I feel that this team, students, fans and media are acting the same way. No one and I mean no on is better than ND! ND beats itself (n0 pun intended) every time!

For the love of all that is good, RUN the ball and do not force the pass! (Tommy)

 

[GATTACA!]

"Forty seconds wasn't enough time in my estimation," said Kelly on taking a knee to end the half. ...That'll show 'em. What though the odds be great or small, just say to hell with it.

40 seconds in enough time for Rees to throw another TD........oh wait no I mean another pick6

 

[frankygoes69]

Not even cool BRO!