Post Game Observations

[military_irish]

Is it kicking to speak the truth? We are 4-3. So, it is bandwagon to say what is going bad with the team?

I will never get off. Have been there since I was a kid. Got my grad cert at ND and will always be Irish. But, I am not looking through rose colored glasses. And Rees is a problem. Not his fault that he has no running ability. Is a turnover machine. Locks on receivers. And isn't a vocal leader. He is who he is.

The good thing is that our freshman class is studly. And if our commits stay we will be studley once again. But, if Rees is there we will be nothing more than average to above average.

It is good to critique but some people not just on this board have completely gave up. They see only the negative rather than the positive. I guess I am a half full guy.

In the last three games Rees has had 1 TO, the Int last night. The pass to Wood that bounced off his hands and Wood hesitated. Then the USC jumps on it, not Rees' fault, nor was the fumbled snap to Crist.

In the Irish Connection video on UND.com website shows him going to all the offensive players before the game pumping them up. It may not be visible during the game but he seems like he is a leader.

Maybe I have "rose colored" glasses on but in the USF game he came in and scored 20 points in a half to at least attempt at a come back. In the Michigan he drove the team down the field and scored with 30 seconds left. The defense lossed that game. Last night he gets injured, then there is a horrible fumble. He comes back the next drive and drives down the field to make it a 7 point game. He has his faults as does every player to ever play the game.

No need to quit on the season to see what a backup can do when they can still have a chance to go 9-3. No one thought they would win out last year when they started 4-5 but they did. Anything is possible.

Maybe I am overly optimistic, oh well, but I see an upward trend.

I do agree a dual threat QB would be nice, but a dual threat QB is not the best option AT THIS TIME.

It is a new week, with a new game, and hopefully a different result.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Tommy is not a "franchise" QB.

He'll never be a Quinn or Clausen.

Tommy is just a conservative game managing QB. A Trent Dilfer.

 

[pkt77242]

Oh, I should clarify--Rees is a problem if we want to be elite or BCS level team. I think Rees has about zero chance of leading us to that level. He isn't a problem keeping us around the Sun Bowl Level and above .500.

If fans want to be like that, he is a zero problem. But, rising to an elite level NO WAY.

As of right now yes, I agree with you that he is an 8-4 type of QB, but then again you could say that about our whole team besides maybe 4-6 players. Something I find funny is how a lot of people on here are talking about Barkley being an amazing QB and how we need a QB like him (and for the record he is a very good QB) but here is his sophmore stats playing on a talented USC team
236/377 2791 yards 7.40YPA 26 tds 12 INT and a rating of 141.2

Not that different, now I agree that Rees doesn't have the same measurables as Barkley but it does provide a little perspective.

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

I did like seeing Tommy being slapped and showing more emotion than I have seen from Tommy. Especially after being a the sun bowl and seeing all the pre practices opened to the public. Anyhow, it was good to see. I still don't think he is even close to leading us to an elite level.

 

[irishff1014]

One of Rees problems is he misses wide open recivers when we need it. Tyler was wide open and gave 110% to try and catch it and just couldn't reach anymore. Everyone is talk about the Crist fumble yes it was hist fault. He should have just jumped on the ball and we probably get a FG. But the play call to switch out Hendrix was terrible. We have Crist who just came off the bench and was driving the team down the field and converted a huge 4th down. We have Jonas Gray that has been running like a wild fire. IMO it was terrible play call to bring hendrix in at that time because if Rees wasn't Hurt Hendrix wouldn't have come in.

 

[mgriff]

Tommy is not a "franchise" QB.

He'll never be a Quinn or Clausen.

Tommy is just a conservative game managing QB. A Trent Dilfer.

Hey hey now! Critiquing a player's performances are perfectly acceptable, but drawing comparisons with Dilfer is well and far beyond the line! That's just terrible. You should be ashamed. Horrendous...it's just wrong, mean and cold-hearted.

 

[PigtownIrish]

14. The refs tonight were especially **** poor. You could almost see the Trojan Bucks™ sticking out of their pockets.

I agree on this, although it wasn't to the point that it prevented us from winning. For the life of me I cannot understand why we allow a team to bring their own refs into our stadium. If I'm the AD, I tell our opponents that they can choose any refs they want, NOT FROM THEIR OWN CONFERENCE when they come to play.

Also, I would call NBC and tell them that they are never, under any circumstances, bringing on an USC player to babble in the middle of a ND home game, and that Hammond needs to go.

That is all.

 

[calvegas04]

After the game Tuitt and Nix both apologized to fans on facebook, they said they won't give up and want fans to still support the team.

 

[irishtrinity]

SUPPORT YOUR TEAM....

 

[irishtrinity]

defense again played well.. the penalties 4th down conversions, and that FUMBLE was the naik in the coffin....

USC vs Notre Dame fumble 2011 - YouTube
Watch the play i love dayne ,but it looked like he pushed the ball away if he falls on it we get the ball... FALL ON THE BALL....
we score it's tied in the 4th...
THAT WAS THE STRAW....


WAS DAYNES KNEE DOWN WHEN HE FIRST GRABBED THE BALL?

 

[BGIF]

Tommy is not a "franchise" QB.

He'll never be a Quinn or Clausen.

Tommy is just a conservative game managing QB. A Trent Dilfer.

Hey hey now! Critiquing a player's performances are perfectly acceptable, but drawing comparisons with Dilfer is well and far beyond the line! That's just terrible. You should be ashamed. Horrendous...it's just wrong, mean and cold-hearted.

IF Rees, (or Crist, Hendrix, or Golson) played as well as Dilfer did in college ND would be undefeated right now.

Dilfer led the nation in pass efficiency en route to being named the WAC Offensive Player of the Year. He also set the NCAA record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception (271) that would stand until 2007 ...

This IS college football NOT the NFL.

 

[JoeyGetherall]

One of Rees problems is he misses wide open recivers when we need it. Tyler was wide open and gave 110% to try and catch it and just couldn't reach anymore. Everyone is talk about the Crist fumble yes it was hist fault. He should have just jumped on the ball and we probably get a FG. But the play call to switch out Hendrix was terrible. We have Crist who just came off the bench and was driving the team down the field and converted a huge 4th down. We have Jonas Gray that has been running like a wild fire. IMO it was terrible play call to bring hendrix in at that time because if Rees wasn't Hurt Hendrix wouldn't have come in.

I agree with most of what you said especially the Jonas Gray part.

If the read option with Jonas and Hendrix works BK looks like a genius. In fact if it not were bad mesh and Hendrix running into the olineman he's in for a easy six. What happened next is as you said totally on Dayne and has nothing to do with the fact he was subbed out and then back in.

 

[koonja]

Kelly mentioned something in the press conference about how the players aren't going to like being around him this week. I'm ok with that, but I do think the O-line should get some credit. They definitely pulled their weight IMO and was probably the most focused and prepared group.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

Kelly mentioned something in the press conference about how the players aren't going to like being around him this week. I'm ok with that, but I do think the O-line should get some credit. They definitely pulled their weight IMO and was probably the most focused and prepared group.

I feel like the only player who has shown up ready to play every single game this year is Tyler Eifert. The line did well in pass protection, but not so much in the run game although I feel like if we had run the ball with more frequency the Oline would have been able to grind it out like they usually do.

 

[irishff1014]

Eifert has been very good this year. He holds on to the ball and is a tough kid.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Kelly mentioned something in the press conference about how the players aren't going to like being around him this week. I'm ok with that, but I do think the O-line should get some credit. They definitely pulled their weight IMO and was probably the most focused and prepared group.

They get credit for protecting Rees. They get no credit for letting SC's DL completely shutdown our rushing attack.

Our DL can at least point to EJ's absence for its inability to stop the Trojans. Our OL has no excuse for the anemic rushing production against SC.

 

[koonja]

I feel like the only player who has shown up ready to play every single game this year is Tyler Eifert. The line did well in pass protection, but not so much in the run game although I feel like if we had run the ball with more frequency the Oline would have been able to grind it out like they usually do.

Agreed, Eifert played about as perfectly as you can.

Notre Dame football: Kelly, Irish face the music - southbendtribune.com

Here's an article written by Eric Hansen. It's long, but discusses Rees, Kelly, and the future. Nothing earth-shattering, but if you're bored it's a decent read.

 

[irishtrinity]

Eifert has been very good this year. He holds on to the ball and is a tough kid.

i know.... this guy needs more touches... look at USC game he was very solid...

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

Agreed, Eifert played about as perfectly as you can.

Notre Dame football: Kelly, Irish face the music - southbendtribune.com

Here's an article written by Eric Hansen. It's long, but discusses Rees, Kelly, and the future. Nothing earth-shattering, but if you're bored it's a decent read.

I know you were at the game as well, so you probably saw what we saw...Eifert was wide open quite a few times and Rees missed him. Most notably on a 3rd down in one of the Irish's first drives. Eifert broke like he was running a slant then cut back towards the outside and sat down in a soft spot. There was nobody within 15 yards of him but Rees forced a throw into coverage and we ended up punting. I feel like we really miss Mike Ragone a bit this year too. People may have forgotten about him already, but he was an animal in the run game and would have been a key piece to the puzzle this year had he not gone down with injury.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Eifert has been very good this year. He holds on to the ball and is a tough kid.

I'd love to know what % of 3rd down passes Eifert has caught for us this season. He's a chain-moving machine.

 

[irishff1014]

I'd love to know what % of 3rd down passes Eifert has caught for us this season. He's a chain-moving machine.

And on those 3rd downs he makes sure he gets enough yards he doesn't cut it close he get 2 or 3 more yards.

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

I know you were at the game as well, so you probably saw what we saw...Eifert was wide open quite a few times and Rees missed him. Most notably on a 3rd down in one of the Irish's first drives. Eifert broke like he was running a slant then cut back towards the outside and sat down in a soft spot. There was nobody within 15 yards of him but Rees forced a throw into coverage and we ended up punting. I feel like we really miss Mike Ragone a bit this year too. People may have forgotten about him already, but he was an animal in the run game and would have been a key piece to the puzzle this year had he not gone down with injury.

I think the three comments get it better than Hansen does. They've squarely hit the nail right on the head for the most part.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I know you were at the game as well, so you probably saw what we saw...Eifert was wide open quite a few times and Rees missed him. Most notably on a 3rd down in one of the Irish's first drives. Eifert broke like he was running a slant then cut back towards the outside and sat down in a soft spot. There was nobody within 15 yards of him but Rees forced a throw into coverage and we ended up punting. I feel like we really miss Mike Ragone a bit this year too. People may have forgotten about him already, but he was an animal in the run game and would have been a key piece to the puzzle this year had he not gone down with injury.

As an aside, it's worth noting that very few QBs are good enough to play well without the benefit of a credible rushing attack. When ND has moved the ball well on the ground, Rees has generally been outstanding. When our rushing attack has been stuffed, he's unimpressive.

 

[kmoose]

Tommy is not a "franchise" QB.

He'll never be a Quinn or Clausen.

Tommy is just a conservative game managing QB. A Trent Dilfer.

Trent Dilfer has a Super Bowl ring.