Post Game Observations (Syracuse '14)...

[ickythump1225]

Good points. I' also like to add that GB needs to be more decisive with his runs. Get the yards that are there and stop dancing when he's clearly surrounded by tacklers.

It's frustrating watching GB because I see the potential and the talent. It's like he can't decide what he wants to do.

 

[luckathe1]

O line Pathetic , especially after a bye week.
Defense looked good, except for luke getting burned

 

[Riddickulous]

O line Pathetic , especially after a bye week.
Defense looked good, except for luke getting burned

He had pretty good coverage both times. Tough to defend a perfect ball. Hunt threw several.

 

[phgreek]

Good points. I' also like to add that GB needs to be more decisive with his runs. Get the yards that are there and stop dancing when he's clearly surrounded by tacklers.

yea...he needs to watch some Theo film...1 cut at the first level, then another if you get to the second level...punish tacklers

 

[irishtrain]

1. Sloppy, sloppy game. Not much to say about the turnovers. I think we all know that they would kill us, against a good team.

2. The thing is; we still don't know how good we are, or aren't. ND has not played anyone of note. Michigan is the biggest name, but they are an absolute dumpster fire right now. We have played two games where we have looked really bad against really bad competition.


3. BVG continues to play a ton of 3-4, moving Jaylon inside with Schmidt. I'm sure that is probably a game plan thing, put in to counter something specific in the opponent's offense. Perhaps the mobile QB, as they played tons of 3-4 against Michigan, as well.


4. The Defense looks to be decent, but again; given the competition that we have played, it is hard to judge.

5. Congrats to Everett Golson (school record for consecutive completions), Torii Hunter, Jr. (first TD), and Corey Robinson (career high in catches, presumably yards, too), on their milestone achievements.

6. I have a hard time watching Notre Dame football, when they are not able to enforce their will on teams, by simply running the ball and moving down the field. I know that College football is changing, but you still have to be able to run the ball. And we are not strong in that area. For all of the talent at TB, we should be running for 250-300 yards per game. The coaches have got to figure this one out, and do it quickly.

Game ball to Corey Robinson. Great game for him, and he has established himself as someone that opponents will have to respect.

Same with me on the o line, its got to get better or my 8-4/7-5 prediction is going to be true. The feel and rhythm of this game was off , even the refs seemed a little out of sink not with the calls but just overall timing. Anyway a win is a win-Happy for Hunter Robinson and Fuller. Golson needs games like this to progress and if this is a bad one then we are asking too much-he's a fine college QB. Backs are running hard there was just not much room tonight. Syracuse has a good defense. I bet they play better against Stanford but I don't think we win. Gotta run the ball better to have any chance. Anyway 4-0 was my prediction for the start but 3-5/4-4 for the finish. By the way guys I hope I'm full of crap and dead wrong because this team is very admirable and smart intelligent football players. The defense is really in sync with BVG. I may not watch the FSU game it may be ugly. Go Irish!

 

[NDTH91]

O line Pathetic , especially after a bye week.
Defense looked good, except for luke getting burned

A bye week where they all got moved to new positions?

Not great, but not pathetic.

Syracuse isn't a bad team. We're acting like we played St. Ignatius School for the Blind.

We comfortably handled a decent ACC team. We're a pretty good team.

 

[NDTH91]

I may not watch the FSU game it may be ugly. Go Irish!

Oh, the team that let up 41 points against NC St. and should've been beat by Clemson? Let's not act like they're the best team ever assembled. We may or may not win, but I would be surprised if we don't hang.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Same with me on the o line, its got to get better or my 8-4/7-5 prediction is going to be true. The feel and rhythm of this game was off , even the refs seemed a little out of sink not with the calls but just overall timing. Anyway a win is a win-Happy for Hunter Robinson and Fuller. Golson needs games like this to progress and if this is a bad one then we are asking too much-he's a fine college QB. Backs are running hard there was just not much room tonight. Syracuse has a good defense. I bet they play better against Stanford but I don't think we win. Gotta run the ball better to have any chance. Anyway 4-0 was my prediction for the start but 3-5/4-4 for the finish. By the way guys I hope I'm full of crap and dead wrong because this team is very admirable and smart intelligent football players. The defense is really in sync with BVG. I may not watch the FSU game it may be ugly. Go Irish!

Why do you watch any game? What is it helping if this is what you are going to take away from this? 8-4 or 7-5? Are you high?

 

[luckathe1]

A bye week where they all got moved to new positions?

Moving the positions helped some with pass blocking, but not so much with the run game. Guess I'm just not sold on Heistand and his ability to teach zone blocking.

 

[BobD]

I thought they were among the ugliest ever.

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[Who'saWildManNow]

I watched this from the stands and intently took in every play. Without getting into specifics right now, we simply did not impose our will.

Offensively, we went for the "take what they give us" approach and failed to capitalize the way we should have.

Screen after screen after flat after screen....

As critical as I am being, I'm still happy with the win. Who isn't?

But make no mistake, we are not playing championship level football. Plain and simple.

 

[sportallyr]

The Good:

Joe Schmidt played another very solid game.

Robinson and Fuller were excellent and it was great to see Hunter Jr get some PT and his first TD.

Golson was excellent most of the game, although he did have a few terrible plays. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the botched spike at the end of the first half would have technically been an incompletion, right? If so, then the record streak would have never happened. Speaking of the spike, has anyone ever seen a QB fumble a spike attempt?

The Bad:

Gotta hang onto the ball. 5 turnovers could have easily been 8 if the flag hadn't stopped the play on Folston's fumble, the ball hadn't gone out of bounds on Riggs fumble and the lineman hand't jumped on the ball after Golson's fumble. That many fumbles is inexcusable.

I didn't think the DB's played very well. We are going to need KVR back for the upcoming big games (fingers crossed for good news this week).

Still waiting for a RB to break a long run. They are certainly more than capable, but have yet to do so this year. They just don't seem very fast. I believe they are fast, but they are not getting the holes they need to get into second and third gear.

 

[stlnd01]

Here's the thing: It wasn't so long ago we lose games like that. A couple of early turnovers lead to points for the other guys and we're on our heels all night. The offense rallies but presses in the end and the defense can't hold on late and we lose 27-21. Anyone on this board over the age of five has seen that game.
That doesn't happen anymore.
We were sloppy with the turnovers, but our defense was stout and the outcome of this game was really never in doubt after Fuller caught that long touchdown. And turnovers, especially fumbles, are largely fluke events that hold no particular bearing on what'll happen next week.
I'm as worried as anyone about our O line play and this running game that seems to lack a certain spark. While we "blitz" a lot, I'm not that impressed with our pass rush thus far.
But on balance, this is college football. Your team changes every week and you just want to have more points than the other guy at the end of the game. We did. I'll take it.

 

[#1rish]

We protect the ball and we win by 2 more TDs. Messy game but still were able to win.

Thanks to my buddy who's a state trooper was able to make it onto the field right before kickoff. Amazing.

 

[ickythump1225]

I think the most surprising thing about this game is the fact that SU got over 400 yards of offense. I watched the entire game and cannot remember them racking up so many yards. I remember a couple of nice throws from Hunt but I'm amazed they got so many yards.

 

[ickythump1225]

I watched this from the stands and intently took in every play. Without getting into specifics right now, we simply did not impose our will.

Offensively, we went for the "take what they give us" approach and failed to capitalize the way we should have.

Screen after screen after flat after screen....

As critical as I am being, I'm still happy with the win. Who isn't?

But make no mistake, we are not playing championship level football. Plain and simple.

The thing is the whole "impose your will" thing almost never happens. It maybe only happens when Oregon plays Jacksonville St. or Alabama plays Troy. A middling ACC team isn't very often going to have anyone's will "imposed" on them.

In reality most teams just adjust to what the opposing team is giving and exploit that. We were able to do that pretty efficiently most of the night sans the turnovers. We moved the ball quite well and left probably another 100 yards and 20 points on the board. The reason we went "screen after screen" is because SU was giving it to us so we were more than happy to take it. Hell Fuller took one to the house.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Syracuse isn't a bad team. Even after dominating Rice, Michigan and Purdue, we were only favored by 10 points. We beat them by 16, in spite of a -4 TO margin, and the game was never really in question.

Yes, our run-blocking is disappointingly weak, and our WRs are inconsistent. But none of our upcoming opponents looks like a complete team either. Stanford's offense is downright pedestrian, and FSU's defense gave up 41 points to NCSU.

So chin up. Our team's prospects are trending strongly upwards.

 

[ThePiombino]

Syracuse isn't a bad team. Even after dominating Rice, Michigan and Purdue, we were only favored by 10 points. We beat them by 16, in spite of a -4 TO margin, and the game was never really in question.

Yes, our run-blocking is disappointingly weak, and our WRs are inconsistent. But none of our upcoming opponents looks like a complete team either. Stanford's offense is downright pedestrian, and FSU's defense gave up 41 points to NCSU.

So chin up. Our team's prospects are trending strongly upwards.

This. A thousand times this!

 

[Buster Bluth]

So chin up. Our team's prospects are trending strongly upwards.

It's honestly weird how beatable everyone looks. No one in the country looks great. It bodes well for the Irish.

 

[Spitfire]

I think our problems running the football are the result of a few things:

- Brian Kelly plays "take what the defense gives you" offensive football and has never been one real intent on trying to establish a consistent running game. His preference is to spread things out, throw the ball around, and run it situationally. It's a spread, and not a scheme that is going to impose their will on a team running the football ala Georgia, Bama, or Stanford.

- There is no continuity in anything from offensive line personnel to rotating 3 RB's. You can play multiple RB's, but you better have one bell cow that get's a majority of the reps. Right now Kelly is trying to keep everybody happy in the rotation and it's having an adverse reaction on the running game as a whole.

 

[ShawneeIrish]

Just read on NBC Inside the Irish that teams with -4 turnover margin are 1-28 against Power 5 Conference teams over past two years, so winning by double digits when playing sloppily is nothing to scoff at. Also the defense imposed their will and shutown the Cuse rushing attack. Syracuse has to run the ball to win so I think BVG and the D were willing to give up a few deep balls in order to shutdown the rushing attack. It wasn't a perfect game and will need to protect the ball much better to win in future games, but overall this was another step forward IMO.

 

[NDPhilly]

I think BKs been watching some Chip Kelly. One play early where Golson faked the handoff in the shotgun and then rolled out and had the option to either pass to the WR on the bubble screen or run is a staple of the Eagles offense and we (Eagles) run it a couple times a game. It's my favorite play that the Eagles run consistently.

Here it is.

 

[ThePiombino]

I think BKs been watching some Chip Kelly. One play early where Golson faked the handoff in the shotgun and then rolled out and had the option to either pass to the WR on the bubble screen or run is a staple of the Eagles offense and we (Eagles) run it a couple times a game. It's my favorite play that the Eagles run consistently.

Here it is.

This is the type of sh!t that I've been waiting 5 years to see! Man, this offense is going to be SICK as it progresses. God help all opponents if (when) Golson comes back nest year.

 

[ThePiombino]

It's honestly weird how beatable everyone looks. No one in the country looks great. It bodes well for the Irish.

It's funny you mention this. I was just thinking the same thing and wondering if it's more about a leveling of the "elites" of college football? Is ND just closing the gap? Both?

 

[Irish Insanity]

BK during his field interview after the game mentioned it was good that we were able to run when they knew we were gonna run. What specifically was her referring to? Are we that predictable with our running plays?

 

[irishfanjho15]

It was the best of times; the worse of times.

530 yds Total Offense; They had 427

-4 Turnovers; They got 6 pts.

Offense converted 9 of 14 Third Downs; They only converted 3-15

Golson Career Game for Completions, %, YDs, TDs, ; and Turnovers

ND ran 30 times averaging 4.5 yds/carry; Could tell that from watching the OLine.

ND had about 6 and 1/2 minute Time of Possession advantage; Despite 5 Turnovers.

Bryant lead ALL rushers in yds, 55, and carries 11; ]He thinks at the hole instead of running

It's the same reason he doesn't get long stretches of carries. The game is still moving too fast to him. Mostly why hes dancing around a bit too, he thinks he needs to move 'quicker' and 'juke' all these guys around him because he doesnt understand he has space. He cant perceive it yet. Everything looks like its in his jock to him. These are his first live, meaningful college games. Some guys it takes a game or two, sometimes a half season, sometimes a full season, or sometimes they just never get it. I started the second game of my college career in the slot and EVERYONE looked like the f'in Flash running around. After a few weeks it started getting better and was fine for rest of year. My second season starting it was like night and day. Once it slows down he'll be fine.

 

[ARALOU]

BK during his field interview after the game mentioned it was good thre able to run when they knew we were gonna run. What specifically was her referring to? Are we that predictable with our running plays?

I think he was stating that we were able to move the ball when they stacked up to stop the run....you know, imposing your will.

Guys, five years ago we lose this game. They are winning and making some outstanding plays with outstanding players. As it was said, every other team in the country looks great one week and bad the next. The days of teams like 95-96 Nebraska are likely gone.


I am enjoying watching them play. That game was never in doubt the way I saw it.

 

[NDRock]

I think the most surprising thing about this game is the fact that SU got over 400 yards of offense. I watched the entire game and cannot remember them racking up so many yards. I remember a couple of nice throws from Hunt but I'm amazed they got so many yards.

It felt like we dominated on D more than the 400 showed. Of course the 40+ yard fake punt accounted for a 1/3 of their rushing yards and their QB completed some long passes. I'd say they got most of their yards on a few plays. Overall we looked good.

 

[irishfanjho15]

BK during his field interview after the game mentioned it was good that we were able to run when they knew we were gonna run. What specifically was her referring to? Are we that predictable with our running plays?

We converted a number of 3rd and shorts running the ball. I mean it's obvious Kelly was running the ball with that down and distance. Syracuse was putting a seventh guy in or moving into the box on those downs. We also had at least one 3rd and 6 where we ran a power off tackle for a first down also. I think we had two 3rd down conversions on 3rd and 5+ by running.

It has very little to do with predictability. It has to do with an offensive system that doesn't run the ball to set up anything. The bubble screens and smoke screen and middle screens to the receivers are the extension of the run game. I mean this is how the spread is ran. This is how I coach it everyday with my HS team. We did it in college. Half the teams in FBS do it. In this offensive system you have to be able to get 2 to 4 yards in predictable situations to be very successful. Cant be getting stuffed or leaving 3rd and 2 yards in the field and having to punt. Thats what Kelly is referring to.

The eye test shows it and the numbers show it. We don't run a system that is like Auburns in terms of running the ball, it's more like A&M/Clemson to an extent, we chuck it, run if we can/have to, use a mobile QB, and throw tons of screens. We move the ball. We score points. I mean 5 TOs and game is never in doubt? Plus we control the ball and convert 3rd downs. Oh yeah and we won.

 

[Cackalacky]

BK during his field interview after the game mentioned it was good that we were able to run when they knew we were gonna run. What specifically was her referring to? Are we that predictable with our running plays?

We have discussed it abit here and there in multiple threads but BKs offensive philosophy is to run so he can pass to keep the defense honest. He averages about 30 runs a game and as far as production goes it seems to me that if they can get 150+ yards he is happy. This game we had 30 rushing attempts and we hit +150 in yards averaging 5.1 ypc. Target achieved.

So that being said RBs are on the field for the remaining 40-50 plays and must be able to block, catch the ball out of the backfield. It's why I think many RBs struggle early on under BK and why we don't see more of Bryant. He just does not do the little things right consistently and when he is in the game teams know he is gonna get the ball because he is not good at blocking and they don't throw to him out of the backfield. Bks philosophy on RBs is one of the reasons why I think we will not likely land elite RBs consistently while BK is here.