Post Game Observations....

[BeatSC]

I was thinking to myself, as the game clearly was in ND hands that I could not wait to post here and slam all the haters, but yet again I get crushed. For a while it looked as if the D might have its best game this season, because they were making key 3d down stops and only giving up a FG. But then the third quarter rolls around and like a fake Rolex watch, the defense stopped suddenly. Manti is going to be a monster.

The offense....I could just cry after watching Jimmy, Golden, Mike Floyd, and Hughes just play like madmen out there. So much wasted. And you know to a man, they love CW and love playing for him. Sad that he could not get it all together.

Does this team have the size, speed and talent on defense to compete in the top 25? I see some flashes here and there but week in and week out our D-line just looks pathetic. They cannot survive without the LB's and safety's coming in for run support. I think the coaching on D is worse than the talent level but that isn't saying much. Our guys just can't get off their blocks, I'm talking about the whole team!

 

[GoIrish41]

Announcers during the game sited something that was very telling ... Kyle M. was the only player who started at the same position in every game all year. Even that was wrong, as he moved from SS to FS when H. Smith was moved to SAM. Still, I think this was the problem all year on Defense. ND recruited Ethan Johnson as a stud DE and ended up moving him to DT, where he has been mostly ineffective. KLM was said to be the next great DE, but he too has been playing inside a lot lately. Why? So John Ryan could get on the field? Harrison was terrible at safety, and moving him to SAM was probably a good move, but it took the likes of guys like Filer out of play because CW and the rest of the D staff seems to get enamored with guys and make personal decisions instead of football decisions. Gray and ONeal were, IMHO, the best two CBs on the field this year, but again the staff tried to force Walls and Blanton on the field as much as possible. Hell, I could even make the argument that Manti should have played MIKE from day one, as he is a bigger, stronger, tougher LB than Brian Smith. I would have been much more comfortable, for example, with Manti taking on that Stanford FB than Bryan Smith getting knocked back every play.

The reason the defense looked so unsettled all year is because the staff kept them unsettled. Terrible decisions and forcing the wrong body types into positions they are not meant to play (Flemming at DE and not LB; EJ at DT and not DE; H. Smith at LB) made sure that no one ever got comfortable in any position. All these things should have been figured out in camp. Every time any team had the ball all year, I held my breath and waited for the damage to be done. We need decisive, effective defensive coaches who know how to utilize the top-level talent.

 

[nd1988]

defense is aweful...............someone messed up when they took the defense away from corwin brown.....who is randy hart...? Rushing yards per game in November...Navy...348 yards....Pitt..193 yards....Uconn....231 yards....Stanford...280 yards...this is disgusting and the people in charge should be ashamed of themselves.....

when brown was in charge....ND was ranked 38th and 39th in total defense...now with this blitz happy natzi we are 89th or some shit....

 

[kmoose]

ND recruited Ethan Johnson as a stud DE and ended up moving him to DT, where he has been mostly ineffective. KLM was said to be the next great DE, but he too has been playing inside a lot lately. Why? So John Ryan could get on the field?

Actually, I think moving Johnson and Lewis-Moore inside, and playing Fleming and Ryan at the end positions was a good move. Fleming was moderately successful at getting pressure on the QB. I'm not saying that this was a great move, but I think it gave us more speed off of the edges, and resulted in a more successful pass rush than last year(not that that is saying a whole lot).

 

[GoIrish41]

Actually, I think moving Johnson and Lewis-Moore inside, and playing Fleming and Ryan at the end positions was a good move. Fleming was moderately successful at getting pressure on the QB. I'm not saying that this was a great move, but I think it gave us more speed off of the edges, and resulted in a more successful pass rush than last year(not that that is saying a whole lot).

I think if they didn't pack an extra 30 lbs on EJ and an extra 60 on KLM, we would have had more speed off the edge for pass rushing. My real point here was that we had undersized guys at tackle playing out of their natural positions when we had, by all accounts out of HS, studs riding the pine who were natural to the position.

 

[kmoose]

I think if they didn't pack an extra 30 lbs on EJ and an extra 60 on KLM, we would have had more speed off the edge for pass rushing. My real point here was that we had undersized guys at tackle playing out of their natural positions when we had, by all accounts out of HS, studs riding the pine who were natural to the position.

Sam Young was a "stud", coming out of high school, too. How's that working out for us?

I know that the defense has underperformed, but I doubt that Tenuta AND Corwin Brown BOTH suddenly forgot everything that they know about coaching.

 

[IrishFanForLife]

Defense was awful again. Don't even know where to start.

If this team didnt have golden and jimmy, where in the hell would they be?

I know stanford has a good returner but the short kickoffs drive me crazy gave them good field postion all night without really having to earn it(not that it really woulda mattered anyways)

Bye charlie thanks for your hard work, but its time to move on.

And thank you jimmy clausen and golden tate. You are the only reasons that notre dame football has been fun to watch this year. Congrats on great years and good luck in the nfl

 

[phgreek]

Even though the "let 'em walk it in" call wasn't exactly a pat on the back for our defense, it was much more of a clock management call than a judgment on our defense. I tried to look for exact numbers but I may be off.

Stanford had the ball on the 4 with 1:05 left, and I think we had one timeout. Even if the defense stops them on three plays forcing a field goal, I think either time has already run out or else there are a few seconds left. It is essentially an extra point. Even a great goal line stand by our D in this situation would be essentially useless.

Like I said, it's not a compliment to our defense, but it is much more of a clock management decision (what Charlie managing the clock? ), than a judgment of the defense. The only indictment of the defense that could be taken from this call is that Charlie didn't believe they could force a turnover - and can you really expect a defense to do that in the given situation?

I don't disagree...I saw the logic too...made perfect logical sense...but how often have you ever seen someone actually do it? There is alot of emotion, posturing, psychology right there to go along with the logic...I think Charlie still had to be sick to his stomach...its just not done...at least that I can recall...

 

[phgreek]

I was at a sports bar for the second half, sitting next to a Sooner fan. We both agreed that ND needed to let Stanford score quickly at that point. It was their only chance.

Defense played so poorly they should be humiliated. Tenuta should slap himself. How can a defense play an entire season taking wrong angles to the ballcarrier and whiffing on the tackle? How can they spend an entire season out of position? There were only a few plays where I noticed lateral pursuit, and it seems to me that ND stopped them cold on those plays. Hook zones and flats were open all night. Oh well...

I can't believe the season is over.

...don't disagree with the logic of letting them score...knowing what we know about our D...knowing how close they were, and how little time was left. But, I come back to the question of how often have you've seen it done...I can't recall ever seeing it...I can recall teams being in similar positions...but I never saw a coach let another team score...so our D knows just how badly they played to have CW choose to allow points on the board with under a minute to play . He bet against them knowing the best he could after the the score was a tie...he bet against them making a play on the ball, geting a sack, stopping the drive, or blocking a field goal...something, anything.

On the assessment of the D...I agree, right on. I can't recall seeing people so entirely wide open, nor can i recall a team that tackled worse than this one, nor can I recall a team that could be gashed as regularly...

 

[phork]

The sad part of it all is that it didn't look much different from the actual defense