Post Game Observations....

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Blanton and #4 are polar opposites.

 

[jason_h537]

Blanton and #4 are polar opposites.

Gray apparently has a foot injury which explains why he can never plant and make a play in the air. Sounds like it is more a sign of how little confidence they have in the other CB's

 

[Riddickulous]

Kelly had Gary Gray lead the singing of the fight song in the locker room.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Gray apparently has a foot injury which explains why he can never plant and make a play in the air. Sounds like it is more a sign of how little confidence they have in the other CB's

If there's no cornerback on campus who can do better than he did, Darby and Shepard are both starters next year.

 

[jason_h537]

If there's no cornerback on campus who can do better than he did, Darby and Shepard are both starters next year.

Darby is a project still. Better hope someone steps up if you want your name to hold true.

I do expect Shepard to start, whether thats good or bad, fits Diaco's scheme too perfectly

 

[bjohnmwc]

A lot of which is a hurting Gary Gray's fault. I swear everytime I see an open receiver, I see Gary Gray closest in the vicinity.

I hope his foot heals completely soon because it is definitely effecting the way he plays.

Glad you brought this up. I was having trouble when they said Gray had received a 3rd round projection from the NFL after last year. He's been a shell of that projection this season.

 

[kmoose]

Glad you brought this up. I was having trouble when they said Gray had received a 3rd round projection from the NFL after last year. He's been a shell of that projection this season.

If the scouts feel like he can cover in the NFL, his open field tackling will raise his draft position significantly.

 

[tommyIRISH23]

Whewww. Im finally off suicide watch, I am one of those people whose mind replays every game over and over while at work all week. Michigan was killing me. Thank God ND came out strong.

1. Still too many mental errors, but they played ALOT better then the previous two weeks,

2. Hopefully RJ's INT was the turning point for this team.

3. Cierre is awesome. I liked the balance between him and Jonas.

4. Props on TJ Jones, and the other recievers getting involved in the passing game.

5. Tommy Rees has a chance to be a clutch QB. He's only a true soph, and is playing very well. He has a few lapses in judgement now and then reminding me of his experience level

6. Dline looked solid. LB's looked good. I can't figure out why Gary Gray doesn't make plays on the ball. I feel like it's difficult for him to turn the right direction to make a play, maybe hed be more comfortable on the opposite side of the field?

I think ND's edges are still too slow to handle a mobile QB. Luckily, there is not one on the schedule for the rest of the season. I hope they keep polishing up, and reduce the TO's each week.

 

[phgreek]

5. Finally, some bounces go our way! That fumble by GAIII? That ball could not have bounced better.

I agree w/ everything in the OP..., and yea we got one in GAIII's recovery. WE also got some of our own from the D...wohooo!

However, Turnovers in general...still really, really bad.

Turnovers happen...you expect them to come when your QB gets blind-sided, or even occasionally when its 3rd and forever, and you go over the top and get picked..like a punt anyway. But we still don't have that voice that whispers the game situation in our ear to lock us in...not sure if we hear voices of doubt, or our guys are ADD, or what...but the times and places of our TOs are simply horrific.

It has got to stop...or we'll drop other games we shouldn't.

 

[ErieIrish13]

@jgoodman81
I muffed a punt... Oops. Short memory. We won. Defense killed. OFfense did work. Special teams showed up! Team game baby. Go Irish

 

[kmoose]

Another observation that I had, that I forgot to put into the OP:

Is it me, or are there way too many times when there is :02 left on the play clock, and we are scrambling to get the ball snapped?

 

[Chicago Irish Fan]

Winning is more fun than losing.

 

[IrishGiant]

I avoided posting too much the last two weeks due to the jump off a bridge crowd. I'm glad we beat a ranked team. Could you imagine if we held on versus Michigan last week? I think we would be ranked next week if so. I was very pleased with most aspects of our game except our punter (ugh). Rees made some mistakes, but he seems to be a bit of a gunslinger, so for every pick he can also throw a great pass in coverage. I'm willing to live and die with him for now. Obviously Cierre Wood and Floyd are our bread and butter. As they go so goes ND. The Defense was great. They made the big plays, and didnt look lost. Good job by coach Diaco getting them ready. I'm very pleased.

 

[phgreek]

Another observation that I had, that I forgot to put into the OP:

Is it me, or are there way too many times when there is :02 left on the play clock, and we are scrambling to get the ball snapped?

yea...seems that way...

it looked worse in games 1 and 2, but still lingers. Not sure what the deal is there. I thought I read where kelly said Tommy needs like 7-10 seconds to survey things at the line...so that part is a known quantity...so why all the consternation...is the play from the sidelines late?

 

[DONTH8]

This is the team i thought we'd be rolling out week in and week out. Hopefully this is the turning point for the rest of the year.

However i still wish we had a game changer at QB and not so much a game manager... i wish we could get up on a team and have the QB to go out and wanna kill the other team, not try and manage the game (by the way this might be Kelly saying to do this but as i watch Cincy i have a hard time believing it is.) Also i feel that we need the guy to go out and get the snap off as quick as possible and not audible every stinkin' play. Just my 2 pennies.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

This is the team i thought we'd be rolling out week in and week out. Hopefully this is the turning point for the rest of the year.

I said it last year...the Utah game was the turning point for this program. The first two games this year were a blip.

Amazing day today. Total dominance.

 

[Black Irish]

The offense slowed down big time in the 4th quarter. It was like they were afraid to make plays. Not forcing throws into double coverage is one thing, but air one out on 1st down to strike fear into an opposing D. And stop running the same run play all game just because it worked a few times in the 1st half. Aside from that, I'm very pleased with the performance the Irish put on today.

 

[ab2cmiller]

We only had the ball one time in the fourth quarter where we weren't simply icing the game so I'm not to concerned over the lack of production in the fourth quarter.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

There's got to be a player on the team who can catch a punt, right? Put Floyd back there and just have him fair catch it every time for Christ's sake. Those are the most mindless turnovers possible.

 

[irishtrain]

When you go for a fake field goal in that situation you might as well say we cant win this game straight up-I liked that. This team can still get my 9-3 prediction-lota talent on defense and real young. Keep learning how to win. Wood is really special-we havent had that slasher in a while-thanks guys for making a good day. Now beat Pitt.

 

[JughedJones]

When you go for a fake field goal in that situation you might as well say we cant win this game straight up-I liked that. This team can still get my 9-3 prediction-lota talent on defense and real young. Keep learning how to win. Wood is really special-we havent had that slasher in a while-thanks guys for making a good day. Now beat Pitt.

Fake field goal in that situation was an absolute joke.

The whole world saw that coming.

BWAHAHAHAHAA.

 

[kmoose]

There's got to be a player on the team who can catch a punt, right? Put Floyd back there and just have him fair catch it every time for Christ's sake. Those are the most mindless turnovers possible.

Do you actually watch and remember the games, or do you just flush your memory right before the next game? Goodman has been doing just that, fair catching punts. And he's been money, right up until his cough-up today. I'd say his turnover today was an aberration.

 

[JughedJones]

This is the second week in a row you called players or coaches "bums". Critique their play if you're capable. Don't insult their character.

+1

 

[Irish Houstonian]

This is the second week in a row you called players or coaches "bums". Critique their play if you're capable. Don't insult their character.

This poster is Paulie from Rocky.

Rocky III - Paulie Gets Cussed - YouTube

 

[BGIF]

1. Despite the game day thread laments about Special Teams they did a lot of right things.

Atkinson Kickoff Return - His speed helped but watch the blocking by Salvi and Filer on the right side. Salvi was one of the up men. A couple of Spartans came down the the ND right side unimpeded drooling at nailing the return man. Then Salvi drops back and takes out two of them followed by Filer kicking out another. Atkinson cuts to the right sideline beats the kicker, gets an escort and scores.

That was no accident that those Spartans were met no opposition on the way down. They were drawn in on a setup play and then the trap was sprung.

2. Turk averaged 41.5 yds/kick for all the whinning in the game and post game thread he had a very good day after the opening 30 yarder. He had two kicks inside the 20 and buried one at the one. And that's a 41.5 NET yds/kick as MSU got no runbacks.

3. Turnovers Improved - Still too many but ND was only -1 on the day.

4. Red Zone Offense 2-2

5. Red Zone Defense 2-5

6. QB Hurrys 10 - Lynch had 6, Johnson 3, Cwynar 1

7. Rushing Defense - Allowed 29 NET YARDS, 1.3 YARDS/CARRY against a Power Running Team.

8. ND Won Penalty Battle, MSU 12-86, ND 6-53.
ND penalties down significantly. ND had a False Start Dever, Holding Blanton, Ineligible Receiver Downfield Robinson, Unsportsmanlike Conduct Jones, Personal Foul Johnson

 

[JughedJones]

"That was no accident that those Spartans were met no opposition on the way down. They were drawn in on a setup play and then the trap was sprung."

My man.

That's the kind of **** that wins. That and a chip on our shoulder...#19 got's the chip.

 

[JughedJones]

Alright I'm gonna say it.


We beat Pitt and we're ranked. (It just sounds good.)



Sorry I've been posting so much but I've never seen 'Our Mother' sung from such a great level. I got a little teary.

MSU- Post game on Vimeo

Good.

 

[rocket66]

I would like to see collinsworth return punts. He seems sure handed and is a good deal quicker than Goodie.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

I would like to see collinsworth return punts. He seems sure handed and is a good deal quicker than Goodie.

I'd like to see him pick up more blocks on ST, and to get out of the way of the ball carrier.

 

[EifertPower]

The Good
*We're starting games on a great note, instead of having to play from behind all the time
*TJ Jones is starting to come into his own as a player
*Eifert is proving to be a great safety net
*Aaron Lynch could eventually evolve into an unstoppable defensive end
*Rees makes some perfect throws
*Offensive line has done a great job this year
*We completely shut down their rushing game
*No Injuries
*Thanks to Harrison Smith we rarely ever missed the first tackle in this game
*Robert Blanton is a playmaker
*Jonas Gray is improving
*Atkinson with a real nice kickoff return
*Even though it was a chip shot, it still was nice to see Ruffer make a clutch field goal that iced the game

The Bad
*Gary Gray is still getting beat
*Zeke Motta is becoming a liability with his coverage and his tackling
*Our linebackers are not playing well at all. Dan Fox is really struggling and even Manti Te'o isn't asserting himself with big-time plays so far this year
*We keep fumbling and turning the ball over
*Rees INT was horrible. A good throw and that's a TD
*The only way we could've lost that game was if Goodman fumbled that punt and he did
*I still don't trust Ben Turk as a punter although he did make a great tackle.
*Our offense looked out of sync for much of the second half


Plays of the Game
1. Blanton when he blew up the fake play and sacked Cousins in the 3rd quarter
2. Ethan Johnson blowing up that fake field goal before the half
3. Blanton's INT and return for 80 yards
4. The first down to Eifert deep in our own end in the 2nd quarter on a 3rd-and-8
5. Lynch's sack and forced fumble
6. The pass interference against Mich State on Floyd in the 4th quarter when they intercepted it