Post Game Observations....

[CanadalovesND]

Yes it is. Maybe it happens at other schools i dont follow but it seems we dont do a good always do a good job making sure we are recruiting the right kids. The coaches are getting paid a lot of money and it is a bottom line business in case you didn't know. Michigan looked way more talented tonight and quite frankly that concerns me. Michigan's recruiting is off the charts right now and ND's needs to be also. ND needs an infusion of athleticism especially on defense. Sorry if you don't like that but it's my opinion.

Michigan didn't look way more talented. Besides Gardner's running ability and Gallon (seriously, **** him!), we are more talented.

 

[NDTampa]

Gardner happened. Name another QB who can do what he does. I'll wait.


Marcus Mariotta

 

[IrishFaninTX]

Gardner happened. Name another QB who can do what he does. I'll wait.

Teddy Bridgewater

Braxton Miller

And Teddy Bridgewater causes a lot of fits for opposing defenses. Braxton does, too, but Teddy is practically his whole offense.

 

[Kak7304]

Missing out on Randy Moss really killed us tonight.

 

[stlnd01]

The defense could have played a lot better. The five guys colliding on that missed tackle on the long TD in the first quarter was embarrassing. Fox whiffed on Gardner on that 3rd and 8 in the 3rd quarter and they were in the end zone three plays later. Etc.
But, we had two bullshit PIs called on third downs deep in our territory, that's two field goals that became touchdowns. And Gardner was a stud. Especially in the first half. We had pressure and tight coverage and they still made the plays. Not sure what you're supposed to do about that.
Michigan keeps that up and they're going to win a lot of games this year. If we tighten up our middle pass D, we will too.

 

[IrishHokie22]

Nix is ridiculously good man. It's hard to see it on every play because he isn't getting sacks but he influences every single play. He made a ton of plays in the backfield tonight and also drew a couple holding calls. I agree that Tuitt seems to have taken a small step backwards despite the nice pick but it's still only week 2.

I can't disagree with this. It's just Nix is considered to be one of the five best players in the country (per Kiper and McShay). I guess my expectations have been too high. I've just been expecting him and Tuitt to be blowing up linemen on virtually every play. Again, ridiculous expectations on my part. Nix does effect every single play, like you said. I just figured we'd get pressure by only rushing four, and we haven't had much success in doing so.

I'm just disappointed. I thought we were the better team and thought we'd win. Oh well, I'll get over it....

 

[NDinTEXAS]

As a starting quarterback Tommy is great, does great things, makes good choices but as a starter hes not a winner. I would drink a beer with Tommy any day but if a bar fight breaks out he just needs to film it for the police (unless I started it).

 

[Free Manera]

- 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.

I agree with every point. Carlisle is far and away a better back than Atkinson. Lack of contain is extremely frustrating and the cause of pretty much every third down conversion tonight. Jackson was not good but I am starting to believe our secondary coaching is below average. Teach these kids how to get in position and make plays. Russell was all over his man several times, but gave up receptions because he wasn't in position. Our middle linebackers are just too slow - try someone new. 8-4 is reality. And last but not least, muck fichigan.

 

[Irishman77]

Gardner happened. Name another QB who can do what he does. I'll wait.

Diaco called a fine game and I'm seriously not worried about the defense. Will they be among the top two defenses in the country again? NOOOOOOOOO. They will still be damn tough and I thought they were tonight. Michigan stole everything they got on athleticism keeping plays alive and taking advantage of it nearly every time.

How many times did Gardner evade a sack tonight? Eight? Ten? It was impressive and just give him credit and get on with life. That's what this coaching staff will do. Diaco had guys in position tonight, they just got beat.

In case you didn't know, Michigan outplayed Notre Dame last year too and Notre Dame was lucky to get that W.

To say the defense has been pathetic is just stupid. I'm sorry but it is.

With all do respect watch some non nd football. A monkey would have doubled gallon...

When you don't stop a team but once in a half and show no emotion and have a so called all American (tuitt ) stand up and do nothing...you certainly have some issues...

This it's ok mentality is old and chalked full of 8-5 seasons.

Get real.

 

[Irishbounty28]

Russell had a few good plays, and when he got beat, he was in position every time. If he was a 5th year, it might be bad, but kid has only played what 15 games? Jackson on the other hand, had a really bad game.

Jackson has started the same amount of games as Russell fwiw. The game was played very well by Michigan, and only OK by Notre Dame. Michigan was not much better on defense then we were, but their offense was very efficient.

I think in the first half our coaches were caught off guard by some of the things Michigan was doing. First off, the OC for Michigan mixed in some play action with the pro style with some spread type plays. These are what hurt us on third down, as I believe we did not game plan for it. Once the second half got into motion our defense adjusted and played a little better. Granted 14 points in a half isn't what you want to give up.

We will not face another Gardner this year, which is a plus for this team. There are some teams that have "Mobile' quarterbacks , but most haven't proven much to this point. We will see how they stack up when we play them.

Overall, this isn't the last game of the season and there are many more to come. I believe our team can play MUCH better, and will prove it on the field. It is hard to go undefeated, especially two years in a row. ALABAMA doesn't even go undefeated. The coaches will find a lot of things to show the players this week in practice, and knowledge will be gained.

Lets all GET ON BOARD FOR PURDUE!

 

[NDWorld247]

Agreed except:
Councell played pretty well at LB when he was in. Set the edge really well. I also thought Farley played rather poorly.

GA3 has hands of bricks.

Agreed. That's one evaluation I'd like to have back. I thought Shumate and Collinsworth were OK, but Farley was not.

 

[kmoose]

All the resus bs is over hopefully.

REESUS!

j/k............ but Tommy didn't exactly lose the game for us. He didn't play a complete game, but he did complete 57% of his passes, for 314 yards, 2 TDs, 2INTs.

 

[DomerInHappyValley]

Hopefully back to South Bend where they will work a lot of 7 on 7 drill to get the DB's the practice they need.
And to work on tackling.

 

[CanadalovesND]

One great thing did happen tonight:.....


Ishaq finally got his first career sack. Boom.

 

[anarin]

To West Lafayette. Week by week.

Sounds like a plan.

 

[Buster Bluth]

Just please stop.

 

[Irish YJ]

QB
TR did great except for the INTs. He had some nice check downs. If he were not playing catch up, at least one of those INTs don't happen. Regardless, the one INT was just bad, really bad....

WR/TE
WRs were OK. Hercules was awesome. I don't understand why they are not calling more plays to him.

RBs
Play calling was awful IMO. Why throw that much to GA3 when you know his hands are suspect. Why not get Amir out in space. Why abandon the run so early. Why not involve the younger guys just a bit.

OL
Solid except for a couple whiffs.

DL
Not bad, but I still think Tuitt is too heavy.

LBs
Bad, just bad. Can we fast forward to Jaylon's 2nd year.

DBs
Worse than LBs. I've said all along our success last year was due in large part to our front 7. Can't wait to see Cole and Max develop.

ST
Sucked

O - Coaching
See RB comments. Other than that, and not targeting TE more, OK. BK should have pulled TJ for a while after the injury. He was not 100% and short handed a couple.

D - Coaching
D scheme should have been adjusted after the second series instead of waiting till the second half. We acted like we've never seen a mobile QB. Bob needs a new hair style. I think we see some changes in the DBs against Purwho

Overall -not a lot to be happy about.

 

[Irish Houstonian]

Hate to be one of those people, but it appears there are like 10 threads all discussing the same thing.

 

[BMT]

I say Jaylon played well, secondary victimized, Gardner was Golson like.
I love Tuitt, but his extra weight I think is clearly limiting him at times, anyone agree? I wish Nix had that passion in the first half that he had the last few series.

 

[pkt77242]

9-3 or 10-2

Nothing has changed.

 

[Bluto]

To wins against the next two opponents guaranteed because they stink! Haha.

 

[NDWorld247]

ST
Sucked

What sucked about the ST?

 

[phork]

BJax was drawn and quartered tonight, it was almost painful to watch. I am so sick of losing to these bastards.

We'll win a lot of games with Rees managing the game IF the defense can pull its head out of its ***. The tackling, the HUGE missed assignments, the **** poor coverage and the tackling.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Hunt for a championship is over now. We need to find a way to not lose 2 more games and make a BCS Bowl. It feels unlikely right now since Stanford will definitely be a loss.

 

[pkt77242]

QB
TR did great except for the INTs. He had some nice check downs. If he were not playing catch up, at least one of those INTs don't happen. Regardless, the one INT was just bad, really bad....

WR/TE
WRs were OK. Hercules was awesome. I don't understand why they are not calling more plays to him.

RBs
Play calling was awful IMO. Why throw that much to GA3 when you know his hands are suspect. Why not get Amir out in space. Why abandon the run so early. Why not involve the younger guys just a bit.

OL
Solid except for a couple whiffs.

DL
Not bad, but I still think Tuitt is too heavy.

LBs
Bad, just bad. Can we fast forward to Jaylon's 2nd year.

DBs
Worse than LBs. I've said all along our success last year was due in large part to our front 7. Can't wait to see Cole and Max develop.

ST
Sucked

O - Coaching
See RB comments. Other than that, and not targeting TE more, OK. BK should have pulled TJ for a while after the injury. He was not 100% and short handed a couple.

D - Coaching
D scheme should have been adjusted after the second series instead of waiting till the second half. We acted like we've never seen a mobile QB. Bob needs a new hair style. I think we see some changes in the DBs against Purwho

Overall -not a lot to be happy about.

What the ****? Brindza was great.

 

[BMT]

Still can have a great year, remember, a tough place to play and lots of teaching points tonight, still could have won oddly enough a number of times.

 

[NDWorld247]

I say Jaylon played well, secondary victimized, Gardner was Golson like.
I love Tuitt, but his extra weight I think is clearly limiting him at times, anyone agree? I wish Nix had that passion in the first half that he had the last few series.

Jaylon had a chance to really impact this game but he dropped an easy interception. Sure, he played well the rest of the game, but that play would have been huge and he didn't make it.

 

[Buster Bluth]

With all do respect watch some non nd football. A monkey would have doubled gallon...

And take one out of the box, leaving yourself open to an even worse outing against Gardner and Touissant? Going to go to the nickle and let Butt kill the seams even more?

Get real.

You should do that, and go rewatch the game and see how many times Gardner evades a DL (or two) in his face and finds a Gallon coming back to the football. It happened on nearly every big play.

 

[Buster Bluth]

Gardner happened. Name another QB who can do what he does. I'll wait.

Teddy Bridgewater

Braxton Miller

Funny I don't see them on the schedule...

 

[IrishLax]

It's funny to me that Vegas set the line at 8.5 wins WITH Golson and most people on here predicted ~9 wins... and after 1 loss on the road in a game that we were the underdog are ready to panic.

I'll judge this team on how they do against the gauntlet of ASU/Oklahoma/USC. If we're 6-1 heading into the home stretch I'm not sure how you can complain. I'd be very happy with 5-2 personally.