Post Game Observations........

[Patulski]

Absolutely. He should have had TJ Jones for six on the opening drive.

The only thing I would suggest is that everybody realize that Golson is a sophomore, just as Rees was last year. It takes time for young QB's to develop both mentally and physically to the speed of the game. He will continue to develop in spurts. The one thing he must do is stop fumbling on runs, which is something he should be able to control. The great thing is that Kelly has Rees, who isn't turning the ball over in his junior year, in the bullpen.

 

[IrishSpartan]

what happened to our screen game????? last night would have been ideal for it

 

[gkIrish]

We need to run the ball to set up the pass not the other way around. And why in the world did we never throw a screen pass to a running back or Niklas. When someone is getting consistently beat by a pass rusher the best way to stop it is loop a screen over the guy for 6

 

[rikkitikki08]

Brian Kelly called it perfect before the game saying it was going to be a heavy weight title fight.......Thats exactly what it was

 

[irishog77]

My only 2 things that stick out to me, and might cost us some time this year, are these:

Diacos lack of a blitz. I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does.

&

Kelly's conservative Tulsa play calling. 3rd & goal at the end of the game and you run it up the middle instead of tossing a fade to Eifert? Eifert is like Mr. Automatic. Don't get me wrong, I am more than pumped that we won, but it could have been before OT.

I agree. It's obviously tough to be critical of Diaco and the D, but yeah, it bothers me as well...and I'm not exactly sure why.

I REALLY would've liked to have seen Kelly throw the ball into the end zone on 3rd down there.

The biggest thing holding back the offense is that Golson doesn't play with anticipation. There were a number of awesomely called plays where if he makes the pre-snap read and delivers the ball immediately it's a HUGE play. Every single time he was late, didn't see the open guy, held the ball too long, etc.

When we get into a rhythm running the ball and call quick plays... i.e. "throw it immediately to this guy".... he seems to be far more comfortable back there. It's when he's asked to diagnose where to go with the ball that he tries to wait until someone gets open before actually throwing it... where what he needs to be doing it beforehand assuming he's going to be open.

So I don't know whether to fault the playcalling because EG isn't capable of making those plays yet or... to fault EG because he isn't capable of making those plays yet... bottom line though is that the coaches saw things we could exploit and EG failed to exploit them.

I was trying to put my finger on what I felt was wrong with EG, and I think you just clarified it, Lax.

 

[Patulski]

what happened to our screen game????? last night would have been ideal for it

I agree. We used a few QB draws to deal with the pressure, but a center screen or a running back screen would have been interesting. I don't even know if we have them in the playbook.

The other thing is that we have tendency's- i.e. the pitch to GAIII when he come into the game- that good teams are going to recognize and stop. We did it the first time GAIII came in the game and they played it perfectly, making sure that their OLB didn't lose contain, while their safety cleaned up the play inside for no gain.

 

[irishog77]

I agree. We used a few QB draws to deal with the pressure, but a center screen or a running back screen would have been interesting. I don't even know if we have them in the playbook.

The other thing is that we have tendency's- i.e. the pitch to GAIII when he come into the game- that good teams are going to recognize and stop. We did it the first time GAIII came in the game and they played it perfectly, making sure that their OLB didn't lose contain, while their safety cleaned up the play inside for no gain.

I wonder if BK has some sort of audible/counter for that play that we may see later in the year. That play has obviously had some success, but it's fairly straight forward to recognize, diagnose, and stop if the opposition watches any film and executes. Perhaps there's a new wrinkle to it that we may see later in the year against OU or USC?

 

[IrishFaninTX]

Is this goal line stand better than one they had against Washington in 2009? That is debatable

We kept them out of the end zone on 7 or 8 straight plays so that was very impressive. Especially with the horrible defense we had that year. But Washington sucked on so many levels in 2009 and Stanford is the real deal so I would say this one is better and it kept us undefeated and shockingly still in the conversation for Miami!

 

[IrishFaninTX]

Haha totally forgot about the roughing the center call. What a ridiculous penalty.

Even our sh!t for brains announcers were scratching their heads over that one. It's like the refs came up with a penalty to give UDub the game. And they couldn't put it away even with help from the refs. Roughing the center? WTF?

 

[Chamellion]

Mike Leach style

he just wasn't sustaining them...he kept going for a knockout which wasn't going to happen to those dudes


Wtf are you talking about? That is awesome the crowd showing their support for the team

Celebrating on the field when the heavens opened up, I'll agree with Ryan and say that that was a top 5 moment at ND for me.

 

[Patulski]

The biggest thing holding back the offense is that Golson doesn't play with anticipation. There were a number of awesomely called plays where if he makes the pre-snap read and delivers the ball immediately it's a HUGE play. Every single time he was late, didn't see the open guy, held the ball too long, etc.

To be fair to Golson, who going through typical sophomore QB growing pains recognizing coverages, Stanford disrupted a number of plays by simply beating our blockers which disrupted the rhythm of the play. I'm watching the replay and there's a designed rollout, which is a key element of the offense for Golson, where Watt pulls and is supposed to lead Golson outside. Stanford's OLB Thomas beats Niklas' block like Niklas is a statue, and Watt now has to block Thomas in the backfield. So, Golson gets disrupted before the play can even develop. He can't get outside and throws the ball away.

 

[BeatSC]

Niklas is a good run blocker not a good pass blocker.
Riddick, GAIII are good but Wood is a pro prospect now, use him more!
We are routinely outpunted.
Play calling for the fumbled TD series was shear stupidity.
We need a Tebow package for Hendrix to mix things up.
If Golson can't take his play up at least one notch we will see another QB competition with Kiel.
Didn't see a lot from Shembo or Ishaq today. DB play was solid. YTD the db play is better than it was last year.
If Kelly had to did it over again we would have seen more running. Golson's play was equal to Kelly's play calling.
Crowd did sound much louder than usual.
Screen passes, quick slants, designed QB runs, quick outs? Where were the play to get the ball out of Golson's hand quicker?

I'll take the win for sure but I think I lost a year off my life. Also lost my voice. Quick note: 5 shots of Jameson's will reduce the butterfly's during a tense game like this.

 

[tadman95]

Our offense is just hard to watch. Stanford's defense is athletic, and SMART, and I'll give them credit but half way thru our season this O-line seems pretty average. Manhandling Navy and Miami is not much to hang our hats on.

Golson's sack/fumble in the endzone was 5 on 3 and they still beat us. Kelly even made note of it in his post game interview. (He also said he'd like to have that call over)

It's hard for me to believe we're a legit top 5 team with this offense. We're good, just don't know that we're that good.

A suspect O-line and a first year QB is a bad combination. They have to find some rhythm, some continuity.

 

[GowerND11]

My Observations:

Golson's struggles are something that can be coached. Run out of bounds, release the ball faster, recognize the pre snap. Tommy's struggles are physical. I love Tommy coming in with his experience, but we need Golson to continue to start and gain that experience which will stop those mistakes.

We need to use the screen game. Jet screens, middle screens, and even a TE screen would have greatly helped reduce the pressure.

Our defense plays with so much passion. They are the glue that keeps this team together.


Hey we are 6-0! Let's enjoy this for now, then get ready for BYU. I can't wait to be out there for the game!

 

[BeatSC]

The Oklahoma game looks scary. We need to win ball control, have not turnovers and rattle Landry early and often. Golson is going to be kept on a short leash.

 

[BeatSC]

Has anyone mentioned that the TD to Eifert was a third and 18? that was beyond huge for us. Wo makes third and 18 against that defense?

 

[NDTH91]

My only 2 things that stick out to me, and might cost us some time this year, are these:

Diacos lack of a blitz. I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does.

&

Kelly's conservative Tulsa play calling. 3rd & goal at the end of the game and you run it up the middle instead of tossing a fade to Eifert? Eifert is like Mr. Automatic. Don't get me wrong, I am more than pumped that we won, but it could have been before OT.

Hold on...

Tulsa: In a similar situation where all we HAVE to have is a field goal, we throw a fade to our go-to guy (Floyd), it gets picked, and we lose.

Stanford: We run the ball, make sure we don't turn it over, and we win!

I would've like to see it go in the air too, but at the end of the day, Kelly trusts his defense, and if Tommy threw a pick on 3rd and 2 (not 3rd and goal), Kelly would look like an idiot. We did the right thing.

 

[domer13]

I wonder if BK has some sort of audible/counter for that play that we may see later in the year. That play has obviously had some success, but it's fairly straight forward to recognize, diagnose, and stop if the opposition watches any film and executes. Perhaps there's a new wrinkle to it that we may see later in the year against OU or USC?

He does. Watch the first offensive play of the third quarter.

Golson was in the shotgun with Riddick to his left. Everett faked the pitch to Theo, then turned his eyes downfield. Theo stayed out in the flat, and after a couple of seconds, Golson threw it out to him. The Stanford LB stayed in the flat and stuffed the play.

It looked like a designed pass to Riddick, although obviously it didn't this time.

 

[irishtrain]

I'm 0-6 baby and ya hoo Lov'in it.

 

[Kak7304]

Has anyone mentioned that the TD to Eifert was a third and 18? that was beyond huge for us. Wo makes third and 18 against that defense?

Not to mention the fact that Eifert was double covered.

 

[Downinthebend]

Nicolas got roasted in pass protection.

Rushing the field was epic.

 

[phgreek]

1. What a huge win. This team just keeps playing hard, no matter the situation. This is one of the most glaring differences between this Brian Kelly team, and many of Weis' teams; there's no quit in this team.

2. Troy Niklas got absolutely schooled, today. He couldn't block the tuba player, I don't think, if they had rushed him. Golic had a terrible game, as well. The whole O Line looked mediocre, at best.

3. Touchdown Tommy Rees says, "Eat it, suckers............... AGAIN!"

4. This team is very good, but probably not as good as we would like to think. Stanford helped us more than a couple of times, with dropped passes.

5. Manti Teo............... nothing else needs to be said about this kid. He should make all ND fans proud.

agreed...especially 2...

 

[Patulski]

Troy Niklas got absolutely schooled, today. He couldn't block the tuba player, I don't think, if they had rushed him. Golic had a terrible game, as well. The whole O Line looked mediocre, at best.

To give Stanford their due, Thomas and Gardner are very good. As a few have stated, Kelly could help by developing some traditional running back screen pass plays.

 

[Walter White]

I am extremely glad we will not have to face another front 7 that good til our bowl game (Alabama maybe

Our O-line needs to get some confidence back. The whole unit could not handle their D-line or blitzes. They are fine on run blocking but so undisciplined/ confused on Pass pro.

On another note, I hope Niklas watches this game over again for motivation. He is a stud but he had one rough night. I bet he pushes himself this week hard on technique.

 

[irishtrain]

It should be said that the #5 team in the country's mvp is the backup QB. I would keep starting Golson but man Tommy R has done a job. Its working and unless Golson is hurt I wouldnt change anything. Once he gets the feel of throwing guys open and staying put in the pocket the sky is the limit. Stanford was tough and every bit a full days work-this game makes me think get by BYU and maybe just maybe they can win in Norman. Nah-I'm picking BYU already-0-7 baby and lovin it. At some point this year they have got to start using Eiffert more-that catch has been the play of the year in my opinion. Looking back on this season that catch will be pointed to as a pivotal play.

 

[Irish#1]

the one thing i was so confused about is why we didnt throw a single screen against such an aggressive stanford d

I'm with you there. I kept thinking the same thing during the game.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

ND beats Stanford, who has a tree for a mascot, because of a man named T. Rees.

Illuminati confirmed.

 

[Irish#1]

It should be said that the #5 team in the country's mvp is the backup QB. I would keep starting Golson but man Tommy R has done a job. Its working and unless Golson is hurt I wouldnt change anything. Once he gets the feel of throwing guys open and staying put in the pocket the sky is the limit. Stanford was tough and every bit a full days work-this game makes me think get by BYU and maybe just maybe they can win in Norman. Nah-I'm picking BYU already-0-7 baby and lovin it. At some point this year they have got to start using Eiffert more-that catch has been the play of the year in my opinion. Looking back on this season that catch will be pointed to as a pivotal play.

Unless EG has a concussion I think you'll see this as status quoe. The D is giving BK the ability to do this and let EG continue to learn while TR warms up in the bullpen just in case.

 

[dre1919]

I found it interesting that when some people online (writers for sports outlets) mentioned the last second play for the Stanford game was in a way justification for the Bush Push robbery. Funny, I thought the same thing!

 

[irishff1014]

1.I am super glad that we have Rees on the bench.

2. Golson has to know when to step out and not take a a shot at getting killed or fumbling the ball. The fumble int he third qrt he already had the first down plus it is ok to step out.

3. I would like to see Farley try to wrap up some more instead of trying to break guys in half.

4. I know that it has been said that Wood is in the dog house but give the man credit for not crying about it on social media and other places. (i still think he need more touches)

5. Was an ok game by the o-line and thats it.

I think Golson does so much for this offense Tommy could never do. He has a better arm but we need him to be smart once you chose to run hold on to the ball and tuck it. He runs with the ball to freely. He made some really good throws that made a huge difference. I am not a fan of that shove pass and against an aggresive defense that blitzed probably 80% of the time they ate that up. I still don't know why we didn't try a WR screen to TJ or Neal on a 3-2. Its not that risky of a play IMO.