Post Game Observations........

[Seanthornton]

When did they run a screen play with Golson at QB? If the job was run the clock out and let the D win the game then yes TR did a god job other than that idk. How can we blame Golson for making mistakes when TR is still making mistakes as a JR????

It was in the first qtr. second series. Im not sure what down. he threw the ball over Toma's? head. I think it was Toma. With work Golson may get there. Just not convinced the time is now. thats all.

 

[BurningRiver]

Why doesnt hoke use a headset?

Hey. If Fred Flinstone didn't need a headset, then neither does his descendant Brady Hoke.

 

[pkt77242]

When did they run a screen play with Golson at QB? If the job was run the clock out and let the D win the game then yes TR did a god job other than that idk. How can we blame Golson for making mistakes when TR is still making mistakes as a JR????

Not to say that Tommy Rees is making all great plays, but so far this year when he has been in he hasn't made the critical mistakes (INT, fumble, etc). Has he missed some reads, of course but show me a QB that doesn't make a bad read a couple times a game. We played to get a lead and then hold on to it by running the ball and eating the clock. When we needed the clutch throw he made them including the nice throw to eiffert at the end of the game.

 

[Teomonsternd]

Golson is light years better than Rees. He brings a whole new dimension. Without Golson, no way ND beats MSU. no way. How quickly you forget his 40 yard bomb and rollout past 3 NFL ready defenders into the end zone. Tommy Rees barely made it the 5 feet with great blocking yesterday on the planned QB draw. The only reason it actually worked is precisely because Tommy is so unathletic that nobody in their right mind would have predicted that playcall. I still remember Tommy getting chased down from 30 yards away in about 2 seconds against FSU last year in the bowl game.

And another thing. Golson made some bad passes yesterday and was clearly rattled. Even his completed pass to Daniels was poorly thrown and could have been picked if not for a great effort by the receiver. However, Tommy has a track record of making even worse throws to the tune of teens of picks last year. He got Floyd hurt in the bowl game by throwing the worst TD pass I have ever seen. Only Turnover tommy could turn a wideopen michael floyd into a benchwarmer with such a crap throw. I don't see how anybody could want Tommy Rees to start. His ceiling is so low, if you want an offense that scores 3 points in the second half against a crap michigan defense then go with tommy. And don't give me this crap about protecting the ball. He has thrown more bad balls and INTs than any ND QB I can remember.

 

[ulukinatme]

Back from the game, heck of a time. It was a little louder than usual, and more standing than usual imo, but it was a big game and I expected the stands to pick it up a bit.

1. Offense was obviously ugly. I don't like this new offense with our best receiver, Eifert, staying in to block. Yeah, protection might be a bit better, but we lose a huge weapon. We must be able to pass the ball better, because the running game isn't a big threat at the moment. I understand a lot of these teams are loading up the box on us to stop the run, but that should open up the pass. I think we need to throw some screens in and quick play action to offset the extra pressure. A deep threat would help keep these defenses honest too.

2. Defense was absolutely phenominal. No way can you say the front seven was manhandled or not as good as advertised. They answered the bell time and time again with pressure and only gave up a few long runs, only one of which resulted in 3 points later. They kept us in this game. The secondary stepped up in a big way, thanks to the pressure from the D-line and LBs. The biggest thing that impressed me with this defense: They finished the game, and with a lot of minutes on their plate. There were quarters where it seemed our guys couldn't stay off the field because the offense was so bad. In other years our guys would be too beat to finish the 4th quarter. They endured though, and I was impressed.

3. Kelly best offensive call may have been the QB draw by Tommy for the TD. I never expected it, and neither did Michigan. A lot of the other offensive calls were head scratchers, but it was a conservative game plan.

4. Manti should win the Heisman. Unfortunately an offensive player will win the award. I don't think there is a better player in college football this year though, he's going to leave a huge hole on defense next year.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

It was in the first qtr. second series. Im not sure what down. he threw the ball over Toma's? head. I think it was Toma. With work Golson may get there. Just not convinced the time is now. thats all.

Not to say that Tommy Rees is making all great plays, but so far this year when he has been in he hasn't made the critical mistakes (INT, fumble, etc). Has he missed some reads, of course but show me a QB that doesn't make a bad read a couple times a game. We played to get a lead and then hold on to it by running the ball and eating the clock. When we needed the clutch throw he made them including the nice throw to eiffert at the end of the game.

I looked at the replay and didnt see any screen play.

The plays he missed, a Jr Qb shouldn't miss.

 

[tadman95]

I was really surprised at how rattled Golson was. I don't know him obviously but he seemed to have lost his faith in his ability to make plays. I don't have any doubt he'll come back, he's had tough games in high school (First half of the State Championship game in High School against Clowney).

The game was running him, not him running the game. That's not his nature and I bet he's a little pissed. He's growing as we sit.

I like having Tommy in there too. He's got the goods, he can stop a negative mojo, put the game back in the defense's hands. What a hole card to have!

Our offense has to turn the page in the next two weeks. I don't think we beat any of the three teams left on the schedule we need to beat. We need to beat at least one of them and take care of business with the rest and they are not all cake walks.

 

[pkt77242]

I looked at the replay and didnt see any screen play.

The plays he missed, a Jr Qb shouldn't miss.

Are you talking about the blitz were he threw it to Daniels and not Eiffert?

If so, often times when you read the blitz you throw the ball to where the blitzer came from, so he threw it to Daniels as the blitzer came from that side. Daniels was open, but Rees couldn't get enough strength behind it (as his arm is just ok) to get it across the hash to Daniels. Not the best read, but not a horrible read either. It is very easy to be an armchair critic. You seem to excel at it.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

Are you talking about the blitz were he threw it to Daniels and not Eiffert?

If so, often times when you read the blitz you throw the ball to where the blitzer came from, so he threw it to Daniels as the blitzer came from that side. Daniels was open, but Rees couldn't get enough strength behind it (as his arm is just ok) to get it across the hash to Daniels. Not the best read, but not a horrible read either. It is very easy to be an armchair critic. You seem to excel at it.

Eh I guess I shouldn't blame a Junior Qb for having two blitzers coming from the side of his BEST player and not throwing to him...

 

[Seanthornton]

I looked at the replay and didnt see any screen play.

The plays he missed, a Jr Qb shouldn't miss.

look again.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

look again.

NBC must have cut it out because there was no screen play on the second drive.

He hit someone on a WR screen and Koyack missed a block.

And he overthrew Daniels on a ten yard stop or something like that

 

[pkt77242]

Eh I guess I shouldn't blame a Junior Qb for having two blitzers coming from the side of his BEST player and not throwing to him...

You said that how can we blame Golson for his mistakes when Rees our JR QB is still making them.

1. They are completely different levels of mistakes.
2. Rees may not have made the best read on that play, but he did not make a horrible read. He didn't throw it into double coverage, or to where there was no WR. He just threw the ball to a WR who was open but wasn't as wide open as Eiffert. Also again, I will point out that a lot of times the first read on a blitz is where the blitzer came from and the blitzer came from Daniels side, so that would make sense as his hot read on that play.

I am not saying can't blame him, I am saying that, your premise is weak at best and that the read isn't anywhere near as bad as you are making it out to be. Rees made some iffy throws, and God knows he isn't fast and doesn't have a rocket arm but your whole idea of "how can we blame Golson for his mistakes when our JR QB Rees still makes them" doesn't make sense in light of the evidence you have presented.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

You said that how can we blame Golson for his mistakes when Rees our JR QB is still making them.

1. They are completely different levels of mistakes.
2. Rees may not have made the best read on that play, but he did not make a horrible read. He didn't throw it into double coverage, or to where there was no WR. He just threw the ball to a WR who was open but wasn't as wide open as Eiffert. Also again, I will point out that a lot of times the first read on a blitz is where the blitzer came from and the blitzer came from Daniels side, so that would make sense as his hot read on that play.

I am not saying can't blame him, I am saying that, your premise is weak at best and that the read isn't anywhere near as bad as you are making it out to be. Rees made some iffy throws, and God knows he isn't fast and doesn't have a rocket arm but your whole idea of "how can we blame Golson for his mistakes when our JR QB Rees still makes them" doesn't make sense in light of the evidence you have presented.

So a Jr Qb with a whole year of game experience should not have thrown to his Best O player when the blitzers came from right on top of him and instead try and make a throw which he doesn't have the arm strength for. Got it.

Golson made one inexcusable pass... the rest he could have made once his nerves were calm.

 

[Grimm]

Rees did a great job in this game (and the Purdue game). First series he comes in and we get a touch down. Then basically the game plan was to do nothing and get no turnovers. Missing a receiver with a guy blitzing from that same side and same line of site doesn't even classify as a mistake and is just petty bs. Then with 3 and 4, on a designed QB run, he audibles and hits Eifert for 38 yards. Just a big time play. If they needed to score, I think Rees could have put some more points on the board. They didn't need to, so they didn't take any risk.

I'm a huge Golson supporter. But the fact is that he missed a ton of easy passes against MSU and didn't make many good plays. On his best play to Goodman, it was a jump ball type of pass and he missed a wide-open Toma in the opposite end of the endzone. In fact, I would go as far to say he didn't play well against MSU. Not sure how you make the case we wouldn't have won the game without Golson. This is just my opinion and I really didn't realize this live but when I watched the replay it seemed clear to me. He continued to miss players in the Michigan game. My guess is BK would have let him miss guys all day and kept him in ... but then he turned over the ball over and was rattled. Hopefully he can settle down to be the guy we heard about in the preseason. Elusive, no interceptions and accurate. If he does, we are in good shape. If he doesn't, I guess there will be alot of whining about Rees, because he is going to be playing alot.

 

[Teomonsternd]

Rees did a great job in this game (and the Purdue game). First series he comes in and we get a touch down. Then basically the game plan was to do nothing and get no turnovers. Missing a receiver with a guy blitzing from that same side and same line of site doesn't even classify as a mistake and is just petty bs. Then with 3 and 4, on a designed QB run, he audibles and hits Eifert for 38 yards. Just a big time play. If they needed to score, I think Rees could have put some more points on the board. They didn't need to, so they didn't take any risk.

I'm a huge Golson supporter. But the fact is that he missed a ton of easy passes against MSU and didn't make many good plays. On his best play to Goodman, it was a jump ball type of pass and he missed a wide-open Toma in the opposite end of the endzone. In fact, I would go as far to say he didn't play well against MSU. Not sure how you make the case we wouldn't have won the game without Golson. This is just my opinion and I really didn't realize this live but when I watched the replay it seemed clear to me. He continued to miss players in the Michigan game. My guess is BK would have let him miss guys all day and kept him in ... but then he turned over the ball over and was rattled. Hopefully he can settle down to be the guy we heard about in the preseason. Elusive, no interceptions and accurate. If he does, we are in good shape. If he doesn't, I guess there will be alot of whining about Rees, because he is going to be playing alot.

i can't watch Rees return to form as Tommy Turnover which we all know is coming. He didn't have to take any risks yesterday because Michigan is terrible and our D was owning them. We all know that Turnover Tommy almost got Michael Floyd killed against F$U last year in the bowl game and it's only a matter of time until we run up against a good team and he does it again. His ceiling is very low. Golson has a much higher ceiling and needs to take his lumps because we have ZERO chance to beat Stanford, SC, or Oklahoma with Tommy at the helm.

 

[Grimm]

i can't watch Rees return to form as Tommy Turnover which we all know is coming. He didn't have to take any risks yesterday because Michigan is terrible and our D was owning them. We all know that Turnover Tommy almost got Michael Floyd killed against F$U last year in the bowl game and it's only a matter of time until we run up against a good team and he does it again. His ceiling is very low. Golson has a much higher ceiling and needs to take his lumps because we have ZERO chance to beat Stanford, SC, or Oklahoma with Tommy at the helm.

i actually don't disagree. I think we probably need a well playing golson to beat those teams (although with our defense, if we can avoid turning the ball over, we have a shot with any qb). But that it going to be up to Golson and whether he can start playing well by then. In the meantime, I certainly don't want to lose against Purdue and Michigan so he is ready for those other games. What I disagree with is bagging on Rees and trying to find flaws in his performance that aren't there. He has shown he has a giant sack and made some great plays in limited action. Off the bench, no reps during the spring, he has stepped into high intensity situtations and prevailed. He has basically saved the season - or at least kept it alive. Trying to nit pic his performance when he has basically made no mistakes ... I just don't get it.
And just so it is clear, you aren't going to find a person on this board that wanted Rees to start this season over Golson - or that wants Rees starting now (I don't think).

 

[pkt77242]

i can't watch Rees return to form as Tommy Turnover which we all know is coming. He didn't have to take any risks yesterday because Michigan is terrible and our D was owning them. We all know that Turnover Tommy almost got Michael Floyd killed against F$U last year in the bowl game and it's only a matter of time until we run up against a good team and he does it again. His ceiling is very low. Golson has a much higher ceiling and needs to take his lumps because we have ZERO chance to beat Stanford, SC, or Oklahoma with Tommy at the helm.

Ceiling means nothing. It is a what have you done for me today attitude in College football. Golson deserves to start but if he looks as bad against Miami as he did against Michigan I hope that he gets pulled and Rees gets put back in.

 

[Patulski]

Kelly chose to mostly run between the tackles in the 4th quarter, even though Michigan had 8 men in the box. Using this strategy, we ate up 9:51 of the fourth quarter clock and added a field goal with 6:46 left that extended the lead to 10 again.

Kelly's thinking must be that if you can do that, and your defense doesn't show any signs of breaking, there's no reason to run the wildcat or throw the ball.

-prevent offense, we talk about Golson's upside but we haven't run the read option and it looked like it was there every time he handed off the ball. Quit treating him like a franchise QB/china doll nd turn those legs loose. It is all about giving the D a lot of different looks to keep t.them off balance.

- if we are going to play a prevent offense why don't we throw in the wildcat with riddick?

- toma, TJ, Daniels, eifffert, hercules, etc. You can't tell me we can't throw some quick slants or
quick outs to these guys.

 

[kmoose]

Golson is light years better than Rees. He brings a whole new dimension. Without Golson, no way ND beats MSU. no way. How quickly you forget his 40 yard bomb and rollout past 3 NFL ready defenders into the end zone. Tommy Rees barely made it the 5 feet with great blocking yesterday on the planned QB draw. The only reason it actually worked is precisely because Tommy is so unathletic that nobody in their right mind would have predicted that playcall. I still remember Tommy getting chased down from 30 yards away in about 2 seconds against FSU last year in the bowl game.

And another thing. Golson made some bad passes yesterday and was clearly rattled. Even his completed pass to Daniels was poorly thrown and could have been picked if not for a great effort by the receiver. However, Tommy has a track record of making even worse throws to the tune of teens of picks last year. He got Floyd hurt in the bowl game by throwing the worst TD pass I have ever seen. Only Turnover tommy could turn a wideopen michael floyd into a benchwarmer with such a crap throw. I don't see how anybody could want Tommy Rees to start. His ceiling is so low, if you want an offense that scores 3 points in the second half against a crap michigan defense then go with tommy. And don't give me this crap about protecting the ball. He has thrown more bad balls and INTs than any ND QB I can remember.

1. I'm not in favor of starting Rees.

2. You, sir, are full of sh!t

 

[Irish#1]

So a Jr Qb with a whole year of game experience should not have thrown to his Best O player when the blitzers came from right on top of him and instead try and make a throw which he doesn't have the arm strength for. Got it.

Golson made one inexcusable pass... the rest he could have made once his nerves were calm.

I think that's why he got pulled. He wasn't calming down. He threw that second pick in the EZ that he should have thrown away. Kelly saw it was going to be tight and felt EG probably wasn't going to relax and just play. He'll continue to mature and I like the idea Kelly has already told him he's still the starter, so that should relieve any pressure.

Rees doen't have the tools the EG does, but he's not making the stupid mistakes he made last year. I personally like how BK is handling this right now.

 

[RDU Irish]

Anyone else hear Kelly say Golson had three exams and two papers this week as an excuse for his head being on backwards? I think Kelly is handling the QB situation fine.

Defense wins championships. It is hard to see anyone blowing us out without bolstering their score with ST-TDs or pick-6s. In that regard, kick/punt coverage is more concerning to me than the offense.

 

[Veer option]

Why doesnt hoke use a headset?

IIRC during a game last season they mentioned that Hoke, lets his DC and OC do their jobs and not using a headset lets him be in better contact with his players.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

we need a running game. and soon.

 

[Meacon Irish]

NBC must have cut it out because there was no screen play on the second drive.

He hit someone on a WR screen and Koyack missed a block.

And he overthrew Daniels on a ten yard stop or something like that

Golson overthrew Toma on a bubble screen. Toma is short, but I'm fairly certain nobody could have gotten it.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

Golson overthrew Toma on a bubble screen. Toma is short, but I'm fairly certain nobody could have gotten it.

Golson was 3-8 with 2int

Passes during the 5 drives he was in:

1. Int
2. Overthrow Daniels on a ten yard stop or something
3. Wr screen to Riddick completion
4. Play action and overthrow Eifert
5. Overthrow Niklas
6. pass to Riddick completion
7. pass to Daniels completion (excellent catch by Daniels, saved Golson)
8. Int

 

[koonja]

Just going to add something real quick that I'm not sure has been mentioned. DD seems like he's going to be a really good receiver for ND. Dude has great hands, even almost made that catch in the back of the endzone on the over-throw. Great hands.

 

[IrishAlum1997]

Just going to add something real quick that I'm not sure has been mentioned. DD seems like he's going to be a really good receiver for ND. Dude has great hands, even almost made that catch in the back of the endzone on the over-throw. Great hands.

Glad you mentioned that. I've seen that catch 3 or 4 times, and I'm still not convinced he didn't drag his toe in bounds. Never showed a replay on that, but I think it was really close, and never received a mention or a replay.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

Okay watched it once again and I will say I was a little harsh on Rees. He made some good plays, some IMO not so good plays. But at the end of the day we won. I just don't know about him leading us to victory.

 

[bjohnmwc]

Here's the way I view the QB "controversy." If you had one game to win, who do you start at QB? Seems to me, that's where we are with a ranking at #10....win all games possible.

If you think it's TR who gives you the best chance to win on any given Saturday, you're calling for TR. If you're worried about a QB's psyche and are looking to win a game in 2013, then maybe you swing towards starting EG and throwing TR under center in relief as needed.

In August, I did not think TR was the answer. Now I'm not as sure. EG didn't look great vs. MSU or UM. I think he may give a stronger showing with two weeks to prep for Miami, but it's possible that EG isn't ready to be a starter.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

Here's the way I view the QB "controversy." If you had one game to win, who do you start at QB? Seems to me, that's where we are with a ranking at #10....win all games possible.

If you think it's TR who gives you the best chance to win on any given Saturday, you're calling for TR. If you're worried about a QB's psyche and are looking to win a game in 2013, then maybe you swing towards starting EG and throwing TR under center in relief as needed.

In August, I did not think TR was the answer. Now I'm not as sure. EG didn't look great vs. MSU or UM. I think he may give a stronger showing with two weeks to prep for Miami, but it's possible that EG isn't ready to be a starter.

I think people here are underestimating the difficulty of being a first year starter. EG is a second year college kid who didn't see the field last year. There are growing pains. Tommy gives us some flexibility when he's having troubles. It's not a terrible situation.

In his first year starting, Matt Barkley threw 15 TDs and 14 INTs. Freshman Jimmy Clausen (consensus best recruit in the country) threw 7 TDs and 6 INTs in a severely limited offense and followed it up with 25 and 17 as a Sophomore. Brady Quinn was 9 TDs and 15 INTs as a freshman and 17 TDs and 10 INTs as a sophomore.

Interestingly, as a point of comparison, Tommy was 20 TDs and 12 INTs last year as a true sophomore and 12 TDs and 8 INTs as a freshman. Admittedly, that's not including lost fumbles (can't seem to locate that state). But, Clausen threw 5 more picks and TDs than Tommy as a sophomore.