Post Game Observations....

[IrishSteelhead]

I can't observe anything. Just did a shot of bleach and lost all vision.

 

[West Coast Domer]

We averaged 5.1 yards per carry, as a team. The running game was not a problem.

I didnt think we ran the ball enough. The play calling was questionable at times

 

[Seanthornton]

Our defensive backs were not very good. Noticed most were not even looking back for the ball. I was yelling at the TV "Turn around". A lot of receptions that should not have been. Better in the second half but a passing team will have a field day with us . Tough loss. I hope we get to play them again.

We did look a lot sharper on offence.

4th qtr. Bad call..... denied interception. That's all I'm going to say about that.

 

[Kak7304]

1st half, UM's O was nearly perfect. We had good pursuit on Gardner who perfectly placed the ball while getting hit multiple times. Can't really do much against that. My biggest takeaway from this game is Manti Te'o was really ****ing good. Not only did he clean up everything and make great plays, but he was the heart and soul of this D and he elevated the play of those around him.

 

[dang227]

The two man route on fourth down was a. Really bad call

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

IMO, the worst part is the coverage was there most of the night.
They just made the plays.

Fuk it.
Anyone who thought we were going undefeated this year was fooling themselves.
This is college football.
Even the SEC occasionally drops 40 points on one another.
Those are the games where the team has to win in a shootout and we'll fall short every time with Tommy.
Once Golson was out, so were our chances.

We can still make a BSC game and maybe we'll get lucky and face someone like Northern Illinois and finally win.

 

[cody1smith]

Totally disagree. I don't think an even slug-match constitutes being out coached.

Come on man I love this team as much as the next guy, but they had our number. The score did not show how bad it was. One of two things happened.

A:we got out coached.
B:we were out matched talent wise.

I'm not saying we cant win 9 games this season or even 10, but tonight was a poor night for Notre Dame football.

 

[palinurus]

You guys probably know a lot more than me about this, but do you believe that a run first offense would have served us better tonight? I saw some decent holes, the numbers were pretty decent about 100 yards on 18 carries, and it would keep the ball out of Michigan's hands. I just saw no evidence that Michigan had a shut down front 7; to the contrary, I think ND's O Line was a bright spot. Instead we ran a pass first offense that relies on Tommy (and I know some of you disagree with me, and I'm not a hater), and he is not a Aaron Murray type who is going to light up the score board. To me, he's more of a possession/short pass thrower. To count on him to throw 45 passes and 350 yards and 4 touchdowns is just too much to expect vs. good teams.

That's one complaint about this game. Another is the failure to contain, but that's obvious.

Kudos to the O Line and the kicking game.

 

[gkIrish]

1. Too many passive play calls on 2nd/3rd and long in the first 3 quarters
2. Really sh1tty tackling in the first half

Really pleased with the kicking game and TJ looks like he is capable of breaking one this year on punt returns.

 

[IrishLax]

1. Just another example of how our D is FAR worse against mobile quarterbacks. We figured crap out in the second half by going more aggressive (or maybe that was just out of necessity) but Diaco needs to get his crap together when it comes to scheming for athletic guys. Our ILBs are simply not going to make the plays in space you need them to make to sit back in coverage and rush a couple guys while keeping contain.

2. The Rees INT was just an awful game changer. The PI call was another game changer. We played well in the second half, but dug too much of a hole. This is not a team built to rally. We also took WAY too much time with plays in the hurry up.

3. TJ Jones looked hurt... missed a lot of plays he normally makes. Hope he gets better.

4. Michigan is probably the least classy school/group of individuals I've ever seen. This must be what it was like for the older crow with Miami.

5. Anyone still want to argue with me about GAIII having good hands?

 

[CanadalovesND]

Short and sweet for me:

1) We dominated, or if you want me to lesser it, we controlled the LOS. On D, minus one or two intermediate runs from TOuissant and Gardner zone read runs, we had them at the line. On O, minus a sack (or two?) we gave tommy plenty of time mostly, and opened up nice running lanes. We had more consistent running game

2)Pass Interference penalties. We had too many. Four I believe. The one on BJax on 3rd down was not a penalty. But oh well, cant change that now


We didnt play bad, we actually had a good game. Minus two turnovers and a few big plays out of Gardner-Gallon, and Gardner runs, we should have won.

 

[anarin]

I think all those kids we lost over the last couple years like Greenberry, Lynch, Neal, Vanderdoes, and the corner who got booted come back to haunt you when you play the big boys. We just weren't athletic enough tonight.

Exactly which one of those guys would've made a huge difference tonight?

 

[dang227]

How bad does the recruiting decision to take Fox over Keuchly look now? What a bad call that was.

 

[peoriairish]

I'm not in all this team blow mode but when we have players (projected) like Bryant and Redfeild waiting in the wings, why not give them a shot?

I'm a huge BK supporter, but he has a tendency to stick to long with players that struggle (sans the QB... he'll pull him at the first sign of trouble).

Greg needs real reps at RB, Max needs real reps at Safety and Cole needs real reps at CB. Bennett got burned tonight. Bad.

 

[magogian]

Yep, we played OK. Michigan just played better.

 

[magogian]

I'm not in all this team blow mode but when we have players (projected) like Bryant and Redfeild waiting in the wings, why not give them a shot?

I'm a huge BK supporter, but he has a tendency to stick to long with players that struggle (sans the QB... he'll pull him at the first sign of trouble).

Greg needs real reps at RB, Max needs real reps at Safety and Cole needs real reps at CB. Bennett got burned tonight. Bad.

We will see much more of a rotation with the backs next week I bet.

 

[anarin]

How bad does the recruiting decision to take Fox over Keuchly look now? What a bad call that was.

Keuchly is in the NFL. How could this have impacted our game tonight?

 

[dang227]

Exactly which one of those guys would've made a huge difference tonight?

Not saying any of them specifically just that those losses add up over time. Can't keep losing talented players to transfers and such.

 

[IrishHokie22]

- Outside of two really bad passes (one of which didn't result in an INT), I thought Tommy played well.

- I think Carlisle is better than Atkinson.

- I want Bryant to start getting some reps.

- I thought Diaco called an awful game.

- "containment" is a foreign concept to this defense...

- Haven't seen much out of Nix or Tuitt this season. Or Day for that matter.

- The awful call against Jackson late killed any real chance we had.

- Aside from his pick that didn't stand, I thought Jax was bad.

- The secondary in general was bad. Our linebackers can't cover either.

- I feel good about my 8-4 prediction, unfortunately.

- I hate Michigan.

 

[West Coast Domer]

Would have liked to have seen Corey Robinson in the red zone. Missed some opportunities to score touchdowns

 

[Irish YJ]

1. Just another example of how our D is FAR worse against mobile quarterbacks. We figured crap out in the second half by going more aggressive (or maybe that was just out of necessity) but Diaco needs to get his crap together when it comes to scheming for athletic guys. Our ILBs are simply not going to make the plays in space you need them to make to sit back in coverage and rush a couple guys while keeping contain.

2. The Rees INT was just an awful game changer. The PI call was another game changer. We played well in the second half, but dug too much of a hole. This is not a team built to rally. We also took WAY too much time with plays in the hurry up.

3. TJ Jones looked hurt... missed a lot of plays he normally makes. Hope he gets better.

4. Michigan is probably the least classy school/group of individuals I've ever seen. This must be what it was like for the older crow with Miami.

5. Anyone still want to argue with me about GAIII having good hands?

+1000

I'd also just say
/////they need to get Amir out in space... too much of him going up the middle.
/////why are they not looking for Hercules more

 

[kmoose]

Exactly which one of those guys would've made a huge difference tonight?

None

 

[Ndaccountant]

The mlb and safties are average and i am still waiting for nix and tuitt. Tge nix on the last drive is what i expected all day. Tuitt was in the right apot at the right time, but i was more impressed with day that tuitt. Part of me wonders if the intensity was there in the offseason.

 

[Buster Bluth]

I'm a huge BK supporter, but he has a tendency to stick to long with players that struggle (sans the QB... he'll pull him at the first sign of trouble).

Like?

 

[NDWorld247]

QB - This one is not on Tommy. He threw a bad INT towards the end of the first half, missed some throws throughout the night, and, in hindsight, should have thrown that last ball away. However, he did a great job managing the game. Checked into some good plays and made some nice throws. Stats: 29/51, 314 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs.

RB - Where was Carlisle after the first series of the 2nd half? GA3 really hurt us in the passing game. I thought each did a good job running the ball when given the chance. More on that later.

WR - They played OK. Not great, not bad, just OK. We needed them to make some of the catches they didn't make.

TE - Niklas balled out.

OL - They played well. Tommy had a clean pocket for most of the night and the run game worked when we went to it.

DL - Not deserving of some of the bashing I've read tonight. For the most part, they outmanned Michigan all night. Some breakdowns in containing Gardner, but they provided a solid push all night.

LB - Basically a replay of the Temple game. Grace looked good. The rest? Not so much.

DB - Neither Russell nor Jackson are as good as we thought. Russell played terrible while Jackson wasn't much better. My immediate reaction is the safeties were OK.

ST - Much improved from week 1.

Additional thoughts:

- Really poor tackling tonight. We have to get better.
- We abandoned the run too quickly. We could have run all night on them. I really don't understand it. Martin calling the plays was one of my biggest fears coming into the season and those fears have only intensified after this game.
- Diaco called an OK game. A lot of people want to point fingers at him but he's not the one missing tackles, getting beat in coverage and losing contain on Gardner.
- If Jaylon Smith makes that interception in the 2nd quarter, we win tonight. It's the difference between going into halftime down four or tied and going in down 14.
- Bullsh!t PI call on Jackson.
- The meltdown on IE was very disappointing to see. Get it together.

 

[aubeirish]

- Thought Tommy did awesome out there except for that 1 play in the 2nd half. The one at the end was a desperate attempt...
He was picking up blitzes, making decent throws, and making the right calls at the line of scrimmage. 115,000 is pretty loud you know.

- Defense was frustrating to watch. We missed too many tackles, and was not very good in coverage.

- Granted, Gardner was awesome.

- 1,000,000,000 vbucks bounty on the head of the ref who made the interference call on BJ. Dead or Alive...

 

[Junkhead]

Tuitt and nix have been disappointing in back to back games.

I know it was 1 play, but if not for Tuitt's acrobatic INT TD, that game would've been over quite a bit earlier. And Nix is double teamed constantly, we just don't have the strong LBs to take pressure off them. Just sayin'.

 

[anarin]

Not saying any of them specifically just that those losses add up over time. Can't keep losing talented players to transfers and such.

So it's ND's fault that these guys had a change of heart? Or couldn't make it into ND?

 

[loomis41973]

I can't observe anything. Just did a shot of bleach and lost all vision.

I did the same every time #6 got burned by a WR.

Drank the whole damn gallon

 

[dang227]

Keuchly is in the NFL. How could this have impacted our game tonight?

Again, stating that Fox clearly isn't good enough vs the big boys. I know Keuchly wouldn't have helped us tonight for obvious reasons but Fox sure as heck doesn't either