Post Game Observations (Oklahoma)....

[koonja]

I understand that he doesn't know the whole playbook, so that will handicap him in that regard. But he's producing on every play he's in, so why not run more of the plays that he does understand is what I'm saying, and obviously build a little more each week.

He looked like our best RB in the 1st half yesterday, I think almost everyone would agree. But he didn't see the field in the 2nd I don't think. That's what's puzzling.

 

[Irish Insanity]

I understand that he doesn't know the whole playbook, so that will handicap him in that regard. But he's producing on every play he's in, so why not run more of the plays that he does understand is what I'm saying, and obviously build a little more each week.

He looked like our best RB in the 1st half yesterday, I think almost everyone would agree. But he didn't see the field in the 2nd I don't think. That's what's puzzling.

That would be the answer to me. If you want him to run more, call more plays for him.

 

[Irish Insanity]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NotreDame&src=hash">#NotreDame</a> coach Brian Kelly said unless one of the top two QBs suffers an injury, freshman Malik Zaire will likely redshirt.</p>— Eric Hansen (@hansenNDInsider) <a href="https://twitter.com/hansenNDInsider/statuses/384364826853511168">September 29, 2013</a></blockquote>
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[koonja]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NotreDame&src=hash">#NotreDame</a> coach Brian Kelly said unless one of the top two QBs suffers an injury, freshman Malik Zaire will likely redshirt.</p>— Eric Hansen (@hansenNDInsider) <a href="https://twitter.com/hansenNDInsider/statuses/384364826853511168">September 29, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It's the right move.

Boys, this season will be ugly but after this, BK will be set at QB for the rest of his time here. Golson for 2 more years, Malik with 4 more years, Kizer with 6 essentially. There can be no excuses for poor offense starting next year.

 

[anarin]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NotreDame&src=hash">#NotreDame</a> coach Brian Kelly said unless one of the top two QBs suffers an injury, freshman Malik Zaire will likely redshirt.</p>— Eric Hansen (@hansenNDInsider) <a href="https://twitter.com/hansenNDInsider/statuses/384364826853511168">September 29, 2013</a></blockquote>
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It makes sense to add passing plays to this "complimentary" role. He has to find out the progression of Hendrix as a complete QB. 9 for the world and a bucket full of Int's isn't cutting it.

 

[Damion704]

It's the right move.

Boys, this season will be ugly but after this, BK will be set at QB for the rest of his time here. Golson for 2 more years, Malik with 4 more years, Kizer with 6 essentially. There can be no excuses for poor offense starting next year.

AGREE

 

[ACamp1900]

Look, I feel for Rees... And the kid has always been up for the challenge... But you can't have a top flight program with that much deficiency at the QB position... Far too inaccurate and can't protect the ball... QB play has killed ND during the Kelly era... Funny thing is coming in that was the one thing everyone thought for sure we wouldn't have to worry about...

Anyway, Rees is our guy because he's all we got, we know it and I assume he does too... Not a good place to be but if he can pull out three of: ASU, SC, BYU and Stanford... And not give away any of the 'easy ones' this program has a good year all things considered... It's not impossible.

 

[ScooterIrish]

GA3 looked great running yesterday. He was quick to the hole, made his cuts quickly. And his 80 yard run was run blocking and his cut that he made. Give him some credit.

 

[NDfaninBama]

It's the right move.

Boys, this season will be ugly but after this, BK will be set at QB for the rest of his time here. Golson for 2 more years, Malik with 4 more years, Kizer with 6 essentially. There can be no excuses for poor offense starting next year.

My thoughts exactly. Kelly looks to be building a program, not just trying to get some quick wins a la Weis. Silver lining of this season is that the bandwagon fans that got on last year will get off the bandwagon this year.

 

[koonja]

GA3 looked great running yesterday. He was quick to the hole, made his cuts quickly. And his 80 yard run was run blocking and his cut that he made. Give him some credit.

He played his best game. But to think he turned the corner is ridiculous IMO. Great holes and a small defense. It's not like he became stronger or more agile in a week.

 

[ACamp1900]

It's the right move.

Boys, this season will be ugly but after this, BK will be set at QB for the rest of his time here. Golson for 2 more years, Malik with 4 more years, Kizer with 6 essentially. There can be no excuses for poor offense starting next year.

Right in time for the defense to take two steps back.... Lol

 

[Voltaire]

What I specifically have really liked about Folston is his innate ability for negotiating the traffic at the line of scrimmage. Obviously, he's had limited carries, but in many of those you see him hit the line of scrimmage where there seems like there's no hole, and then he makes small cuts or is patient while keeping his feet moving, and he picks up a few extra yards, setting up a 2nd and 6 or 2nd and 4 whereas any of the other backs would almost certainly have gone down for no gain.

 

[Bluto]

This could get very ugly.
ASU, USC, Pitt, BYU, Stanford are all possible losses with the bolded being probable.


I'm feeling a bit shellshocked with how quickly everything has fallen apart since last year's, now miracle, season.


Honestly, what happened to the defense?
I knew the offense was going to struggle with Tommy, but I thought the defense would actually be better than last.
I was expecting epic slugfests with power running and defensive battles with the occasional shootout mixed in.

This sucks.

Have you watched BYU play? They are like a b movie version of Oklahoma. Calling that a probable loss is a bit of a stretch.

ASU and Stanford are going to be tough. At this point I think our d matches up better with Stanford's O. The way Stanford handled ASU (and Oregon last year for that matter) was that they simply ran right over them on both sides of the ball right out of the gate, used the run to set up play action and did not give up any big plays for the first three quarters. USC had some pretty big plays in the run game last night (total yards rushing and passing were pretty close) but much like ND they had a bunch of costly mistakes in the form of turnovers and break downs on D that lead to a bunch of big plays/points by ASU. I'll also give credit to SC for not quiting. They played to the bitter end and honestly if Kiffin hadn't been fired they would have given (and still might give) ND all they can handle.

What has happened to the defense is that they are giving up way too many home run/big chunk plays and we lost five key players from last year (Spond, Teo, Baratti, Springman and Motta).

Anyhow, if this team plays a clean game (eliminates dumb penalties and turnovers) they will be in every game this season and win most if not all of them. If they don't they won't. We shall see.

 

[DillonHall]

He played his best game. But to think he turned the corner is ridiculous IMO. Great holes and a small defense. It's not like he became stronger or more agile in a week.

Premature maybe, but not ridiculous. I thought we saw some flashes against MSU too. We'll continue to find out more each week.

 

[Hammer Of The Gods]

Look, I feel for Rees... And the kid has always been up for the challenge... But you can't have a top flight program with that much deficiency at the QB position... Far too inaccurate and can't protect the ball... QB play has killed ND during the Kelly era... Funny thing is coming in that was the one thing everyone thought for sure we wouldn't have to worry about...

Anyway, Rees is our guy because he's all we got, we know it and I assume he does too... Not a good place to be but if he can pull out three of: ASU, SC, BYU and Stanford... And not give away any of the 'easy ones' this program has a good year all things considered... It's not impossible.

Agree 100%

 

[N_D_Fighting_Irish]

Look, I feel for Rees... And the kid has always been up for the challenge... But you can't have a top flight program with that much deficiency at the QB position... Far too inaccurate and can't protect the ball... QB play has killed ND during the Kelly era... Funny thing is coming in that was the one thing everyone thought for sure we wouldn't have to worry about...

Anyway, Rees is our guy because he's all we got, we know it and I assume he does too... Not a good place to be but if he can pull out three of: ASU, SC, BYU and Stanford... And not give away any of the 'easy ones' this program has a good year all things considered... It's not impossible.

Rees has done a lot for this program. I understand criticizing his play and citing his limitations, but some have gone overboard. If you want to bitch about somebody, bitch about Kelly's insistence (by how Martin/he calls the plays) that Rees can carry this team. He can't. We have known it since his freshman year.

Kelly's delusional assessment of Rees' abilities is the reason why we have no other options at the QB position. Kelly has made no attempt to develop another QB...none. Golson got a shot last year only because of Rees' arrest. In blowouts, he could have played Hendrix or anybody. He could have played Hendrix or anybody in packages. You need to give backups playing time to a)allow them to get acclimated to the speed of the game and b)give them an honest shot of what they can and cannot do in an actual game. Kelly has hitched his wagon to the idea that Rees can carry this team.

The talent on this team is a top 15 team. With decent QB play and rational play calling on both sides of the ball, we are 5-0.

All the bitching about the defense makes no sense to me. You lose Teo and you expect no impact. The offenses of today are such that you will get into a shootout from time to time.

A more balanced attack and a sprinkle of a Hendrix/Zaire package, I think we beat ASU, SC, and BYU. I think we lose to Stanford...and to another team. If Rees is asked to carry or set the tone of the offense, we might go 0-4 against those teams.

 

[stlnd01]

Kelly's delusional assessment of Rees' abilities is the reason why we have no other options at the QB position. Kelly has made no attempt to develop another QB...none. Golson got a shot last year only because of Rees' arrest. In blowouts, he could have played Hendrix or anybody. He could have played Hendrix or anybody in packages. You need to give backups playing time to a)allow them to get acclimated to the speed of the game and b)give them an honest shot of what they can and cannot do in an actual game. Kelly has hitched his wagon to the idea that Rees can carry this team.

Completely agree that the Rees-blame has gone overboard. But I'm not sure what more Kelly was supposed to do to "develop" another QB. He thought he had his starter for the next three years in Golson. And if not, he had Kiel in the wings. This year, they're both gone. Hendrix has never shown that he's better than Rees, and he's had three years of opportunity.

I liked what we did with Hendrix yesterday, it helped open up our running game. We're going to need to do more like it against ASU, because we can run on those guys and because we'll need to to keep their offense off the field. But at some point Hendrix is going to have to throw the ball. At which point I worry we'll see exactly why Rees is the starter.

 

[arrowryan]

All I have to say is that Mathias Farley stinks, that is all. How many times is this guys gonna get ran over by a receiver or running back?

And since it's still fresh on my mind and I called it before the ball was even snapped. When BJax started to slide down towards the o-line on a corner blitz (first of all, he showed it wayyyy too early), the right tackle called it out and now the whole offense knows BJax is coming. Why not get out of that blitz!? Drop back into coverage at the last second and you have a pick 6 fall right into your hands or bring the safety down! The receiver didn't even have to run a route for crying out loud, all he had to do was run 5 yards and stop. At this point in the season, who knows if Diaco will get a HC job some where and I don't know if that's a good thing or not

 

[irishff1014]

I do believe that Grace is making progress each week.

Good to have a descent running game going.

Glad to see some crossing routes.

Still had some questionable play calling but much improved.

I think Coach D got WAY to much credit last year. I thought the defense looked worse in the second half then the first.

 

[kmoose]

Have you watched BYU play? They are like a b movie version of Oklahoma. Calling that a probable loss is a bit of a stretch.

ASU and Stanford are going to be tough. At this point I think our d matches up better with Stanford's O. The way Stanford handled ASU (and Oregon last year for that matter) was that they simply ran right over them on both sides of the ball right out of the gate, used the run to set up play action and did not give up any big plays for the first three quarters. USC had some pretty big plays in the run game last night (total yards rushing and passing were pretty close) but much like ND they had a bunch of costly mistakes in the form of turnovers and break downs on D that lead to a bunch of big plays/points by ASU. I'll also give credit to SC for not quiting. They played to the bitter end and honestly if Kiffin hadn't been fired they would have given (and still might give) ND all they can handle.

What has happened to the defense is that they are giving up way too many home run/big chunk plays and we lost five key players from last year (Spond, Teo, Baratti, Springman and Motta).

Anyhow, if this team plays a clean game (eliminates dumb penalties and turnovers) they will be in every game this season and win most if not all of them. If they don't they won't. We shall see.

Huh?

 

[ThePiombino]

Look, I feel for Rees... And the kid has always been up for the challenge... But you can't have a top flight program with that much deficiency at the QB position... Far too inaccurate and can't protect the ball... QB play has killed ND during the Kelly era... Funny thing is coming in that was the one thing everyone thought for sure we wouldn't have to worry about...

Anyway, Rees is our guy because he's all we got, we know it and I assume he does too... Not a good place to be but if he can pull out three of: ASU, SC, BYU and Stanford... And not give away any of the 'easy ones' this program has a good year all things considered... It's not impossible.

Great post. Couldn't agree more.

 

[Patulski]

He looked like our best RB in the 1st half yesterday, I think almost everyone would agree. But he didn't see the field in the 2nd I don't think. That's what's puzzling.

GAIII and Folston clearly looked like our best running backs yesterday. GAIII looked like I hoped he would: He ran strong inside and took it to the house.

 

[IrishLax]

Positives
-Ran the ball pretty well

Negatives
-Basically everything else, although I was impressed with the defense somewhat save two big play TDs that shockingly exploited what we already knew were weaknesses.
-Biggest single negative is Tommy shows he STILL can't protect the ball in big games and it costs us one more time. There is no reason for him to be playing if he's going to turn the ball over and be inaccurate. Really disappointed and he needs to sit... or at least sit more with the playbook opened up a bit for Hendrix.

 

[Irishman77]

GAIII and Folston clearly looked like our best running backs yesterday. GAIII looked like I hoped he would: He ran strong inside and took it to the house.

Patulski you are needed in the alma mater thread...go lay down some more forum gold.

 

[Patulski]

Kelly's delusional assessment of Rees' abilities is the reason why we have no other options at the QB position.

I think Kelly is playing Rees because he has recruited a lot of receivers and wants to run a wide open offense. So, he is going with the better passer because developing the receivers is important for next year when he will have Golson who is a true dual threat QB. If Hendrix could throw he'd be playing. He has no future at ND imo.

However painful to watch, this is a rebuilding year. The good news is that we have as much skill position talent as I can remember. If Golson delivers the goods, we should have a very potent offense next year.

I worry much more about the defense. It doesn't appear as if we have as much young talent on that side of the ball, particularly at linebacker where only Smith looks promising.

 

[gkIrish]

Positives
-Ran the ball pretty well

Negatives
-Basically everything else, although I was impressed with the defense somewhat save two big play TDs that shockingly exploited what we already knew were weaknesses.
-Biggest single negative is Tommy shows he STILL can't protect the ball in big games and it costs us one more time. There is no reason for him to be playing if he's going to turn the ball over and be inaccurate. Really disappointed and he needs to sit... or at least sit more with the playbook opened up a bit for Hendrix.

Not trying to be a prick, just want your honest opinion. Do you still think Rees is a top 25 QB?

 

[DillonHall]

I think Kelly is playing Rees because he has recruited a lot of receivers and wants to run a wide open offense. So, he is going with the better passer because developing the receivers is important for next year when he will have Golson who is a true dual threat QB. If Hendrix could throw he'd be playing. He has no future at ND imo.

However painful to watch, this is a rebuilding year. The good news is that we have as much skill position talent as I can remember. If Golson delivers the goods, we should have a very potent offense next year.

I worry much more about the defense. It doesn't appear as if we have as much young talent on that side of the ball, particularly at linebacker where only Smith looks promising.

I agree with the skill positions. But I'm scared about all the new players that will have to start on the OL in 2014.

 

[arrowryan]

I agree with the skill positions. But I'm scared about all the new players that will have to start on the OL in 2014.

The left guard and tackle?

 

[irishpat183]

Have you watched BYU play? They are like a b movie version of Oklahoma. Calling that a probable loss is a bit of a stretch.

ASU and Stanford are going to be tough. At this point I think our d matches up better with Stanford's O. The way Stanford handled ASU (and Oregon last year for that matter) was that they simply ran right over them on both sides of the ball right out of the gate, used the run to set up play action and did not give up any big plays for the first three quarters. USC had some pretty big plays in the run game last night (total yards rushing and passing were pretty close) but much like ND they had a bunch of costly mistakes in the form of turnovers and break downs on D that lead to a bunch of big plays/points by ASU. I'll also give credit to SC for not quiting. They played to the bitter end and honestly if Kiffin hadn't been fired they would have given (and still might give) ND all they can handle.

What has happened to the defense is that they are giving up way too many home run/big chunk plays and we lost five key players from last year (Spond, Teo, Baratti, Springman and Motta).

Anyhow, if this team plays a clean game (eliminates dumb penalties and turnovers) they will be in every game this season and win most if not all of them. If they don't they won't. We shall see.

Have you seen US play?? BYU is ten times better than Purdue.

And anyone saying our D matches up with ANY team at this point is delusional. We suck on D.

 

[ACamp1900]

Rees has done a lot for this program. I understand criticizing his play and citing his limitations, but some have gone overboard. If you want to bitch about somebody, bitch about Kelly's insistence (by how Martin/he calls the plays) that Rees can carry this team. He can't. We have known it since his freshman year.

Kelly's delusional assessment of Rees' abilities is the reason why we have no other options at the QB position. Kelly has made no attempt to develop another QB...none. Golson got a shot last year only because of Rees' arrest. In blowouts, he could have played Hendrix or anybody. He could have played Hendrix or anybody in packages. You need to give backups playing time to a)allow them to get acclimated to the speed of the game and b)give them an honest shot of what they can and cannot do in an actual game. Kelly has hitched his wagon to the idea that Rees can carry this team.

The talent on this team is a top 15 team. With decent QB play and rational play calling on both sides of the ball, we are 5-0.

All the bitching about the defense makes no sense to me. You lose Teo and you expect no impact. The offenses of today are such that you will get into a shootout from time to time.

A more balanced attack and a sprinkle of a Hendrix/Zaire package, I think we beat ASU, SC, and BYU. I think we lose to Stanford...and to another team. If Rees is asked to carry or set the tone of the offense, we might go 0-4 against those teams.

Not saying anything about this post other than I have no clue whatsoever why you quoted me than typed this.....

Lol