Post Game Observations USC

[irish1958]

Sorry for the double post.
You can't play high level sports with your cerebral cortex. It has to be with superior native athletic ability, rapid pattern recognition and reflex (i. e. unthinking) response.

 

[Redbar]

I think people are being extraordinarily hard on Hendrix. Look, he isn't giving himself a scholarship. He can't train himself. Should he be improving on his own, yes, of course, but I really blame two others much more.

Brian Kelly is REALLY on the hook here. Hendrix has been in the program for what, 4 years now? Kelly should be developing the guy, or should have switched his position by now. If he's REALLY that bad, and you are working your *** off develop him but nothing is working, then you just can't keep him as a scholarship QB, one snap away from starting. Something is wrong with what I'm seeing, and I lay it at Kelly's feet.

The other person responsible for this predicament is Golson. His supremely selfish act is really hurting the program, his teammates. I realize he's paying the price, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't recognize his fault here.

Lets stop killing Hendrix. He's doing the best he can, but apparently his best isn't the caliber we need, and for THAT, others are responsible.

Tommy could have hung his head last year and allowed his confidence to waver when he got passed by a redshirt freshman, he didn't. Tommy stayed sharp mentally and realized that he was one play away from having to step up for his team. I am not one to come down on any football player that where's the blue and gold, but IMO Andrew was not mentally ready to do what has become cliche since Coach Kelly got here "next man in." When you say that you are taking responsibility for yourself no matter where you are on the depth chart. Does the staff need to do a better job of preparing him? No one on a team operates in a vacuum, so of course they do, but absolving Andrew of all responsibility and portraying him as a victim is not accurate either, it won't help him or this team if he is needed in the upcoming weeks.

Andrew can, and needs, to play better.

 

[irish1958]

You don't agree, that's cool. Never have a problem with someone disagreeing but before you call someone out like you did above, try learning a little about them, you'd be surprised.

I apologize to you. I wasn't calling you out. The "you" in my statement is an editorial "you" not personal.
I took pre-med at Notre Dame and I know how hard it is and how much time is involved. In addition to this Hedrick has to graduate in four years and maintain his grades enough to get into medical school. How much time does that leave for the weight room, film study, and independent practice?

 

[Irish Insanity]

I apologize to you. I wasn't calling you out. The "you" in my statement is an editorial "you" not personal.
I took pre-med at Notre Dame and I know how hard it is and how much time is involved. In addition to this Hedrick has to graduate in four years and maintain his grades enough to get into medical school. How much time does that leave for the weight room, film study, and independent practice?

Thats his fault. Being an ND QB is more important that any degree. If he wanted to focus on being an actual student athlete maybe he shoulda went to an SEC school

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

...absolving Andrew of all responsibility and portraying him as a victim is not accurate either...

Wot? I didn't suggest that at all. Might want to read the post again.

 

[Booslum31]

We beat USC. Though we were supposed to...it still feels good to say out loud!

 

[Grahambo]

I apologize to you. I wasn't calling you out. The "you" in my statement is an editorial "you" not personal.
I took pre-med at Notre Dame and I know how hard it is and how much time is involved. In addition to this Hedrick has to graduate in four years and maintain his grades enough to get into medical school. How much time does that leave for the weight room, film study, and independent practice?

We good man. I may not have been pre-med at ND nor have attended ND at all for that matter but I know a thing or two about pressure and impossible situations.

The point I was trying to make was the blame for his inability is not all on BK as was suggested.

Random: Would like to give a little love to Ronnie Stanley. I think hes become a pretty good RT over the course of the season.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

If you told me Rees was going to get hurt, we were going to get shutout in the 2nd half, and we were still going to cover the spread, I would have called you an idiot.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

We good man. I may not have been pre-med at ND nor have attended ND at all for that matter but I know a thing or two about pressure and impossible situations.

The point I was trying to make was the blame for his inability is not all on BK as was suggested.

Random: Would like to give a little love to Ronnie Stanley. I think hes become a pretty good RT over the course of the season.

Stanley's block on McDaniel's first big run was huge. As a redshirt freshmen, he is keeping up with a veteran offensive line and outplaying the interior linemen IMO.

 

[BGIF]

...

- What happened to Folston? He did not get any carry after his great run against Oklahoma. I'm not so high on Mcdaniel as everyone here. He had two beautiful runs but other than that i'm not impressed with him.
...

Folston injured his hamstring on that run. Don't know if it's still bothering him OR the medical staff/coaches were protecting that hamstring on a cold night and a wet field.

 

[MJ12666]

For reference Rees led the following drives (7 total, 6 if you take out the one right before the half):

1st Drive:
We go 74 yards to the goal-line and get stoned because we run pistol at the goal line. A very good drive by Rees. He was efficient. Given USC was playing very soft, but still.

2nd Drive:
10 Plays, 71 yards for a Touchdown to Niklas to end the first quarter. Ties the game at 7's. Obvious another great drive bby Rees, who is 2/2 on drives so far.

3rd Drive:
3 and out with 4 yards. A Stanley false start turns 3rd and 2 to 3rd and 7 and ends the drive.

4th Drive:

4 Plays, 20 yards. Rees hits Niklas for 30 yards if the ball was thrown 3-6 inches shorter Niklas doesn't lose his balance and can pick up 10 more yards. Which probably would have resulted in 3 points. But the drive comes to a halt with the intentional grounding/sack on 3rd and five from the USC 34. say its 4th and 5 [Rees throws the ball away earlier]. Do we go for it? Kick a FG? Would have been interesting. Brinzda had a great punt to the USC 5 yard line after the intentional grounding. Anyway I think we lost out on a couple of potential points here.

5th Drive:
5 Plays 91 yards, for a TD to TJ Jones. Great performance by Cam. Rees was solid as well. Puts us up 14-10 for good.

6th drive:
End of Half (2 plays)

7th (and final full Drive):
Off of the Jaylon INT,
5 plays, 22 yards for a punt. Amir dropped a big pass and a potential 1st down on 3rd and 3. Wel**** has a nice punt to pin USC deep. Forcing them to punt from their own five after a nice stop by the D.

3 of Rees's 6 drives should have ended in points (if not TD's). Potentially 4 (if we could salvage a FG out of the intentional grounding drive).

Either way that combined with USC's lack of depth and I think Rees's 1st half performance could have translated to 35-ish points for the whole game.

First off if we had a legit D1 quarterback we would have scored 35 points in the 1st half and 14 additional points in the 3rd qtr before he would have been taken out to let the back-up get some reps. Look we somehow won. Am I happy, you bet I hate SC. But let's step back and be a little realistic. Many of TR's throws after the first drive and SC tightened up the coverage a little were marginal at best. The second TD was all Jones. It was a spectacular catch.

 

[MJ12666]

If I had one complaint after this game it would be this. It's annoying that you will see McDaniel for example tear it up during a series only to sit out the next series or two in favor of Atkinson or Carlisle who were unable to get anything going. I'm not sure why the coaching staff continues to go to this running back by committee approach and not let one guy just settle into the flow of a game.

Amazing win though and one that has been a long time coming.

Just curious, how do you explain the last two series that ND got the ball, each started with GA getting the first carry. In the first it when for 12 yards and a first down. Immediately AG was replaced by CAM and ND punted three plays later. Then GA starts the next series with a 4 yard run and is replaced by CAM again. My timing might be off but didn't Cam ultimately fumble? At least when Carlisle fumbled he was hit hard while spinning, Cam wasn't even hit hard and gave SC life. Carlisle was is in Kelly's doghouse over that play, let's see if the same thing happens to Cam.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Just curious, how do you explain the last two series that ND got the ball, each started with GA getting the first carry. In the first it when for 12 yards and a first down. Immediately AG was replaced by CAM and ND punted three plays later. Then GA starts the next series with a 4 yard run and is replaced by CAM again. My timing might be off but didn't Cam ultimately fumble? At least when Carlisle fumbled he was hit hard while spinning, Cam wasn't even hit hard and gave SC life. Carlisle was is in Kelly's doghouse over that play, let's see if the same thing happens to Cam.

Cam led all rushers. And as someone pointed out to me last night, GAIII involuntarily takes a step sideways at the line and when he is meeting an opponent, while returning a kick-off. Takes away all advantage of his size and speed.

That was a hard hitting game last night. Everyone should feel good about it. I don't do well with who is better than whom, but that sounded like the hardest hitting game of the season to me.

It is a shame that kid from SC complained about the officiating being unfair to SC. From what this half-blind, entirely stupid observer could see, SC's offense committed a penalty almost every play against our front, and the beginning of the game was at least as partially officiated as the NC game last January! It is doubly bad because those kids on both sides of the ball played their hearts out all night.

The guys behind us at the game thought I was a Voodo priest or something. Just as soon as I commented there was no Crazy Train, they played it, and then I said something to the effect that they would probably play it three times in a row. Which they did, (maybe four). But it was interesting how they used it to ramp up the stadium noise before a USC play, and then would just cut it out before the ball was snapped! The crowd caught on and went nuts. I don't think that was very helpful for USC.

 

[RuntheBall]

The guys behind us at the game thought I was a Voodo priest or something. Just as soon as I commented there was no Crazy Train, they played it, and then I said something to the effect that they would probably play it three times in a row. Which they did, (maybe four). But it was interesting how they used it to ramp up the stadium noise before a USC play, and then would just cut it out before the ball was snapped! The crowd caught on and went nuts. I don't think that was very helpful for USC.

Wait... your not...?

 

[MJ12666]

Cam led all rushers. And as someone pointed out to me last night, GAIII involuntarily takes a step sideways at the line and when he is meeting an opponent, while returning a kick-off. Takes away all advantage of his size and speed.

That was a hard hitting game last night. Everyone should feel good about it. I don't do well with who is better than whom, but that sounded like the hardest hitting game of the season to me.

It is a shame that kid from SC complained about the officiating being unfair to SC. From what this half-blind, entirely stupid observer could see, SC's offense committed a penalty almost every play against our front, and the beginning of the game was at least as partially officiated as the NC game last January! It is doubly bad because those kids on both sides of the ball played their hearts out all night.

The guys behind us at the game thought I was a Voodo priest or something. Just as soon as I commented there was no Crazy Train, they played it, and then I said something to the effect that they would probably play it three times in a row. Which they did, (maybe four). But it was interesting how they used it to ramp up the stadium noise before a USC play, and then would just cut it out before the ball was snapped! The crowd caught on and went nuts. I don't think that was very helpful for USC.

Do you really believe that if AG or AC would have been given the ball 18 times they would have gained less then Cam?

Look I am glad we won. As I previously stated, I really hate SC. But I read some of these posts and I really wonder if we are watching the same game. Not you in particular because I saw the same thing about the SC o-line seemingly holding significantly more then what was called, but if I didn't watch the game I would have thought that Cam ran for 10 ypc and Rees was unstoppable.

One final thought, I always thought that Rees was our best option when EG couldn't play this year. I have never seen in the play of AH anything that would lead me to believe that he should play any significant minutes.

 

[Rack Em]

My post game analysis:

I got told to sit down twice when USC was huddling up for a 3rd down. I understand that it was the 2nd quarter, but that doesn't fvcking matter. On of my buddies sensed how livid I was and took me to the student section where we could actually 'cheer' for the team without getting scolded.

I hate, hate, hate our stadium atmosphere.

 

[Ironman8]

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[kmoose]

My post game analysis:

I got told to sit down twice when USC was huddling up for a 3rd down. I understand that it was the 2nd quarter, but that doesn't fvcking matter. On of my buddies sensed how livid I was and took me to the student section where we could actually 'cheer' for the team without getting scolded.

I hate, hate, hate our stadium atmosphere.

I was in Section 18, and stood for at least 3/4 of the game. No one said a word. In fact, we all celebrated the big plays together. I think that the atmosphere that you experienced is limited to a small percentage of the stadium.

Now, my observations:

1. Kelly played A TON of guys. I bet he played 10 WRs. He was rotating at least two groups, and more rarely, a 3rd group of guys into there. I also saw a lot of guys getting in on D. And this was a rivalry game that was VERY close. Kelly showed a lot of trust in these guys, letting them get some "real" time in this game. I'd say that this means that there are quite a few guys who are picking up the schemes, and working hard in practice. That's a good sign. If Kelly can continue to recruit the talent he has been, and get them to put the effort in, then very good things are in Notre Dame Football's future.

2. From about the middle of the 2nd quarter on, the defense looked REALLY GOOD. Previous to that, they looked pretty porous. Crossing routes were killing us, early on. Overall, though, the defense gets some pretty serious props.

3. USC helped us out a lot, with penalties. They were holding all night long, and the worst of them got called. This helped us put them in some really tough down and distances, and effectively killed some of their drives.

4. Andrew Hendrix............. wow! I don't want to be critical of the kid, as he has been a class act. But after the first series with Hendrix, USC was putting 9 guys in the box. Even on 3rd and 6. It was so bad, that I thought our best chance on 3rd down might have been to throw a halfback pass. Cam McDaniel, George Atkinson, or even one of the freshmen, could not have thrown a worst pass than what Hendrix was slinging out there. It was really bad!!

5. The stadium was rocking pretty good. I only get to go to a game a year or so, so I by no means an expert on the average decibel level of Notre Dame Stadium, but it seemed to be plenty loud, the whole game.

6. What a great weekend! The weather was good, the football was great, and spending time with family just brought it all together.

 

[calvegas04]

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BK's opening speech made me wanna run through 5 brick walls, then sack every usc QB ever

 

[clashmore_mike]

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that was ****ing awesome

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Do you really believe that if AG or AC would have been given the ball 18 times they would have gained less then Cam?

Look I am glad we won. As I previously stated, I really hate SC. But I read some of these posts and I really wonder if we are watching the same game. Not you in particular because I saw the same thing about the SC o-line seemingly holding significantly more then what was called, but if I didn't watch the game I would have thought that Cam ran for 10 ypc and Rees was unstoppable.

One final thought, I always thought that Rees was our best option when EG couldn't play this year. I have never seen in the play of AH anything that would lead me to believe that he should play any significant minutes.

Okay. Cut them all down to their best runs, or their first however many runs the least of them logged. See? Cam still had the best night! And it was about hitting the hole and running hard through the line. Also Cam had a really nice difficult catch, on a pitch and catch from Tommy.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Wait... your not...?

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[IrishLax]

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So f*cking awesome. I really wonder what the Weis/Willingham versions of that speech would've been. I'm guessing...

Weis: "You're not going to be able to think your way through this game, men! You have to SCHEME your way through it!! DECIDED SCHEMATIC ADVANTAGE RAWR!!!"

Willingham probably would've just skipped it to hit a bucket of balls or something.

 

[ulukinatme]

Just curious, how do you explain the last two series that ND got the ball, each started with GA getting the first carry. In the first it when for 12 yards and a first down. Immediately AG was replaced by CAM and ND punted three plays later. Then GA starts the next series with a 4 yard run and is replaced by CAM again. My timing might be off but didn't Cam ultimately fumble? At least when Carlisle fumbled he was hit hard while spinning, Cam wasn't even hit hard and gave SC life. Carlisle was is in Kelly's doghouse over that play, let's see if the same thing happens to Cam.

First off, USC was loading the box on those series because Tommy was out by then and Hendrix couldn't throw the ball.
Second, even sure handed RBs will lose the ball every now and then. To me it looked like the defender may have put his had on the ball, I only got to see the play once though, so don't quote me. Even the Bus fumbled now and then, he even had a costly one at the goal line his Super Bowl year that nearly kept them from making it to the big game.
Third, Cam is our best back this year, at least when it comes to consistency and doing all the right things. We don't use him as a receiving threat, so that may be his one weakness. He keeps his pads low though, he's very hard to bring down. He runs between the tackles better than any of the other upper classmen, can't really compare the freshman at this stage yet, not enough reps. He blocks well, and he generally takes care of the football even when the defense knows he's coming in to run the ball. GA and Carlisle either do some of these things well, or they don't do any of them well with great consistency. I was glad to see Cam get a bigger role last night, and I think he's earned it. Aside from the fumble, which I think was a good defensive play and not poor ball security on his part, he played well and fought hard last night. The kid has a huge heart, and you can see it in the way he plays.

 

[TheSunIsRising]

4. Andrew Hendrix............. wow! I don't want to be critical of the kid, as he has been a class act. But after the first series with Hendrix, USC was putting 9 guys in the box. Even on 3rd and 6. It was so bad, that I thought our best chance on 3rd down might have been to throw a halfback pass. Cam McDaniel, George Atkinson, or even one of the freshmen, could not have thrown a worst pass than what Hendrix was slinging out there. It was really bad!!

In fairness to Hendrix, of his 4 passing attempts: the one to Niklas (3rd and 20-something from about the ND 10) was a touch low, but definitely on Troy for dropping it - that ball should have been caught; the deep sideline route to DD wasn't that bad; the two bounced throws were indeed very BAD

 

[calvegas04]

delete

 

[kmoose]

In fairness to Hendrix, of his 4 passing attempts: the one to Niklas (3rd and 20-something from about the ND 10) was a touch low, but definitely on Troy for dropping it - that ball should have been caught; the deep sideline route to DD wasn't that bad; the two bounced throws were indeed very BAD

In fairness to Hendrix, he did NOT sodomize any children on the field. That's the ONLY good thing you can say about his performance on the field. It doesn't mean he is a bad guy, or that he can't play better. But seriously............ be honest, have you EVER before seen 9 defenders in the box, on 3rd and more than 5? 'SC didn't load up the box because Hendrix was throwing decent, and just missed, on his first 4 attempts.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

In fairness to Hendrix, of his 4 passing attempts: the one to Niklas (3rd and 20-something from about the ND 10) was a touch low, but definitely on Troy for dropping it - that ball should have been caught; the deep sideline route to DD wasn't that bad; the two bounced throws were indeed very BAD

Ok. If a QB wants to throw it to the knees of our tallest player while he is running a crossing route, something is radically wrong.

 

[TheSunIsRising]

In fairness to Hendrix, he did NOT sodomize any children on the field. That's the ONLY good thing you can say about his performance on the field. It doesn't mean he is a bad guy, or that he can't play better. But seriously............ be honest, have you EVER before seen 9 defenders in the box, on 3rd and more than 5? 'SC didn't load up the box because Hendrix was throwing decent, and just missed, on his first 4 attempts.

I don't think my post inferred that he played 'well', or that his body of work wasn't bad over the time he was in there (the two bad throws were very bad). My point was only that all 4 of his pass attempts weren't as bad as the two short hops. I was responding more pointedly to the comment that the half-back option might have been a better choice for passing plays.

 

[RuntheBall]

So f*cking awesome. I really wonder what the Weis/Willingham versions of that speech would've been. I'm guessing...

Weis: "You're not going to be able to think your way through this game, men! You have to SCHEME your way through it!! DECIDED SCHEMATIC ADVANTAGE RAWR!!!"

Willingham probably would've just skipped it to hit a bucket of balls or something.

I don't think kids will want to play for him... his face is getting all shades of purple and red again