Post Game Observations........

[T Town Tommy]

This is just a complete falsehood. Last year Yeldon was the 2nd best Rb on the team and he proved it. Him and Lacy were incredible and they ran up the gut and took advantage of play-action almost all year long. We do not have a Lacy and Yeldon. We also do not have Bama's OL from last year which is arguably the best in CFB, possibly ever. Yeldon performed and had a seasoned mega back ahead of him.


You are just trolling now. This is obvious. Cooper was not a factor in 2012 till halfway through the season. He had a grand total of 5 catches through the 1st 3 games. He started playing more due to injuries of the players in front of him. Then he went off in 2 high profile games against Georgia and Texas A&M and then destroyed us in the NCG. Saban does not tolerate shits from his players because he has talent coming out of the walls. Did you see what happened to Yeldon in the A&M game last week? He fumbles. What does Saban do? Puts in another Rb who still gets him the yards.

Please take the time to go and look at what Tenpenny and Henry have in front of them. Oh and what will be in front of Bo Scarborough when he gets there.

If Bryant and Folston are not seeing the field, they are not ready according to the coaches. End of story.

Agree. Yeldon only seen those carries because Fowler went down early. Otherwise, he only gets half the carries at best. Cooper's role increased when Black went out with an injury in the fifth game. Both Yeldon and Cooper played well and lived up to their expectations but barring injuries neither would have been featured more promenently. And both had the luxury of not having to be the "go to" guy in the offense. Given the current argument that would mean both Tenpenny and Henry would be seeing the ball more. That won't happen unless those in front go down. And Falkins may be the best WR in the entire Tide group but he hasn't sniffed the field. We can't always look at guys like the Ga Rb and then apply that to every situation. Those successes early doesn't happen often in CFB. The Irish rbs will get their reps when they are ready... and up till now the staff doesn't think they are.

 

[NDohio]

Agree. Yeldon only seen those carries because Fowler went down early. Otherwise, he only gets half the carries at best. Cooper's role increased when Black went out with an injury in the fifth game. Both Yeldon and Cooper played well and lived up to their expectations but barring injuries neither would have been featured more promenently. And both had the luxury of not having to be the "go to" guy in the offense. Given the current argument that would mean both Tenpenny and Henry would be seeing the ball more. That won't happen unless those in front go down. And Falkins may be the best WR in the entire Tide group but he hasn't sniffed the field. We can't always look at guys like the Ga Rb and then apply that to every situation. Those successes early doesn't happen often in CFB. The Irish rbs will get their reps when they are ready... and up till now the staff doesn't think they are.

Is he looking to transfer?

 

[T Town Tommy]

Is he looking to transfer?

lol ... and the swamp kitties will be sorry they let him get out of the state. We are gonna own the deed to La if ole Les don't shape up.

 

[returnofthemack]

MSU game could answer questions for ND - Notre Dame Fighting Irish Blog - ESPN

The author brings up how morose the locker room was after the terrible BYU game last year and how Kelly gave them the usual BS "it's hard to win games" or whatever before they cheered up. After this game, they were cheering and celebrating in the locker room. That says it all to me about this year's team. They struggled against a bad team and celebrated, whereas last year, they knew they were a good team, and were disappointed with a late win over a bad team. Good teams don't celebrate beating teams like Purdue by 7.

 

[returnofthemack]

My initial thoughs after a quick watch of the replay:

The Irish defense over pursued in the first half and Purdue used that to their advantage.

In the first half the D line shifts were occurring too late. Tuitt seemed to be late shifting too many times.

Purdue won the third down battle in the first half. The Irish adjusted and won more of those battles in the second half.

Shembo played well in the first half and Grace was the only consistent lb again.

The safeties missed some key tackles in the first half. Farley can't miss like he was early.

The first half offense was predictable. Way too many tendencies for the Purdue defense to key on.

It appeared the Purdue defense played a lot of two deep man under the first half but ND didn't react to that. Instead they asked Rees to throw a lot of 20+ yard bubble screens out in the flat.

The O line struggled in the first half with the delayed blitz but did improve in the second half. They missed a few there as well but was able to pick up most of them.

Rees was throwing off his back foot too much and it caused the Irish to miss some key passes in the first half. The fourth down play to the TE was a good example. Niklas squared up at the first down marker but Rees delivered the ball a fraction late. This allowed the defense to make the play instead of the Irish moving the chains.

The offensive play calling inside the ten was questionable. Two runs into the strength of the Purdue defense and then a horrible fade call on third down. That series was unforgettable.

On a positive note, the Irish made several adjustments at the half and played much better the second half. Everything I noted can be fixed easily and ND showed that in the second half. Moving forward the Irish can't play flat or miss those assignments against better teams. I felt that only being down that little going into the half was a win for ND considering they didn't play well. The second half was better. Now the Irish need to put two solid halfs together and they will be fine.

I don't know how you managed to watch the Bama - A&M game and then consumed the vomit that was the ND-Purdue game. You're a hell of a CFB fan.

 

[Cackalacky]

MSU game could answer questions for ND - Notre Dame Fighting Irish Blog - ESPN

The author brings up how morose the locker room was after the terrible BYU game last year and how Kelly gave them the usual BS "it's hard to win games" or whatever before they cheered up. After this game, they were cheering and celebrating in the locker room. That says it all to me about this year's team. They struggled against a bad team and celebrated, whereas last year, they knew they were a good team, and were disappointed with a late win over a bad team. Good teams don't celebrate beating teams like Purdue by 7.

Meh. You have to find ways to win the game and they did. I am fine with that. They need to come out fired up against MSU though. I want to plant the f'ing flag in Sparty's bung.

 

[GoIrish41]

My initial thoughs after a quick watch of the replay:

The Irish defense over pursued in the first half and Purdue used that to their advantage.

In the first half the D line shifts were occurring too late. Tuitt seemed to be late shifting too many times.

Purdue won the third down battle in the first half. The Irish adjusted and won more of those battles in the second half.

Shembo played well in the first half and Grace was the only consistent lb again.

The safeties missed some key tackles in the first half. Farley can't miss like he was early.

The first half offense was predictable. Way too many tendencies for the Purdue defense to key on.

It appeared the Purdue defense played a lot of two deep man under the first half but ND didn't react to that. Instead they asked Rees to throw a lot of 20+ yard bubble screens out in the flat.

The O line struggled in the first half with the delayed blitz but did improve in the second half. They missed a few there as well but was able to pick up most of them.

Rees was throwing off his back foot too much and it caused the Irish to miss some key passes in the first half. The fourth down play to the TE was a good example. Niklas squared up at the first down marker but Rees delivered the ball a fraction late. This allowed the defense to make the play instead of the Irish moving the chains.

The offensive play calling inside the ten was questionable. Two runs into the strength of the Purdue defense and then a horrible fade call on third down. That series was unforgettable.

On a positive note, the Irish made several adjustments at the half and played much better the second half. Everything I noted can be fixed easily and ND showed that in the second half. Moving forward the Irish can't play flat or miss those assignments against better teams. I felt that only being down that little going into the half was a win for ND considering they didn't play well. The second half was better. Now the Irish need to put two solid halfs together and they will be fine.

good post. my only criticism of Bama this week was they need taller corners

 

[T Town Tommy]

I don't know how you managed to watch the Bama - A&M game and then consumed the vomit that was the ND-Purdue game. You're a hell of a CFB fan.

In all honesty, I had the ND taped and watched late yesterday when I got home. And I didn't really spend as much time rewinding, etc to really watch the Irish game. But still, a win is always better than a loss... no matter how bad it really looked. The Irish are close... just need to shore up a few things.

 

[NDFAN22]

When the hell are the freshman gonna get a shot to show what they can do? Cam honestly might be the best rb right now. Atkinson I don't like too much as an every down back and he has no hands. Amir does run very very hard for his size and like his toughness. But holy hell give Bryant and folston a shot. I'd be interested to see what Kelly told them afterwards knowing before the game he said he had series scripted for them and they will play.

 

[DillonHall]

When the hell are the freshman gonna get a shot to show what they can do? Cam honestly might be the best rb right now. Atkinson I don't like too much as an every down back and he has no hands. Amir does run very very hard for his size and like his toughness. But holy hell give Bryant and folston a shot. I'd be interested to see what Kelly told them afterwards knowing before the game he said he had series scripted for them and they will play.

Probably when we aren't trying to come from behind on the road?

 

[BGIF]

Probably when we aren't trying to come from behind on the road?

^

It's such a simple concept.

But for some ...

 

[Damion704]

Random but.. Did Max Redfield play at safety on sat? Saw on an different website that he did.

 

[ickythump1225]

MSU game could answer questions for ND - Notre Dame Fighting Irish Blog - ESPN

The author brings up how morose the locker room was after the terrible BYU game last year and how Kelly gave them the usual BS "it's hard to win games" or whatever before they cheered up. After this game, they were cheering and celebrating in the locker room. That says it all to me about this year's team. They struggled against a bad team and celebrated, whereas last year, they knew they were a good team, and were disappointed with a late win over a bad team. Good teams don't celebrate beating teams like Purdue by 7.

Oh please. You can't tell jack from that. This a different year and a different team. They were fired up after a road win. BK has his 24 (or 48??) hour rule where they can celebrate before coming back to work and reality. Let the kids celebrate as long as they come back ready to crack skulls during the week I don't care.

 

[NDhoosier]

ickythump, I agree with ya 100%. but trust me, these guys are just looking for things to complain about. Logic does not appeal to them. They would probably get upset if they saw Kelly walking around ND with "too much swag." I am sure someone is going to get mad about the DD and Tuitt video that was just posted "because they were not practicing," especially Tuitt with his .5 tackles and "mediocre" play. Right now, the whiners are letting their emotions go.

 

[SoDakDomer]

Oh please. You can't tell jack from that. This a different year and a different team. They were fired up after a road win. BK has his 24 (or 48??) hour rule where they can celebrate before coming back to work and reality. Let the kids celebrate as long as they come back ready to crack skulls during the week I don't care.

Agreed. A road win after a lose is a reason to celebrate. 24 hour rule. This wasn't Akron at home. This was an in-state rival prime time game on ABC. It may have been more of a we played like crap and escaped with a win celebration.

 

[returnofthemack]

haha I'd like to see Alabama celebrate if they played like crap and barely beat South Alabama or someone. Even in high school, if we played that badly and barely beat a rival a week after getting trounced by another rival, there's no way we would've been celebrating. We would've been mad, ready to annihilate the next team. Of course, that's what we would've done after the loss.

 

[IrishLion]

haha I'd like to see Alabama celebrate if they played like crap and barely beat South Alabama or someone. Even in high school, if we played that badly and barely beat a rival a week after getting trounced by another rival, there's no way we would've been celebrating. We would've been mad, ready to annihilate the next team. Of course, that's what we would've done after the loss.

Now we're complaining that the team celebrated a close victory, over an in-state opponent, on the road, in primetime?

Jesus help our fanbase.

 

[returnofthemack]

Championship teams don't celebrate escapes. That's the next level, which ND is clearly not close to.

 

[kmoose]

Championship teams don't celebrate escapes. That's the next level, which ND is clearly not close to.

Thanks, Dr. Phil. With all due respect to your High School glory years: These kids are playing major DI-A football, while you presumably did not, so I would say that you are probably safe, refraining from passing judgement on what they choose to do (legally and within the bounds of sportsmanship)in their locker room.

 

[NDWorld247]

This discussion just shows how disconnected some fans are to the realities of playing the game of football.

 

[SoDakDomer]

(2) Alabama 26. (12-0, 8-0 SEC). Auburn 21. (7-5, 3-5 SEC).

This was 2009 and a championship Alabama team that beat a 7-5 Auburn team at Auburn. I have a feeling they were pretty happy winning by only 5.

Not to mention do you remember our wins last year. How many games didn't we win in single digits. Were we not suppose to be happy about winning those games?

 

[returnofthemack]

.

 

[returnofthemack]

(2) Alabama 26. (12-0, 8-0 SEC). Auburn 21. (7-5, 3-5 SEC).

This was 2009 and a championship Alabama team that beat a 7-5 Auburn team at Auburn. I have a feeling they were pretty happy winning by only 5.

Not to mention do you remember our wins last year. How many games didn't we win in single digits. Were we not suppose to be happy about winning those games?

That's the Iron Bowl, their biggest rivalry. And my point was that they were pissed about barely beating BYU, as they should. have been. I don't care how much they win by as long as they improve.

 

[IrishLion]

That's the Iron Bowl, their biggest rivalry. And my point was that they were pissed about barely beating BYU, as they should. have been. I don't care how much they win by as long as they improve.

This is the flaw in your "celebration" logic... they DID improve in this game. They started baaaad and sloooooow, but they picked things up in the second half (aided by some Purdue mistakes).

Losing guys like KLM, Teo and Motta on defense is not a matter of plugging and playing. It takes time for news guys to gel and find their groove. This team is going to continue to improve, so give them a break and let them celebrate while they find their identity. God forbid they're happy to win a game.

 

[Emcee77]

This is the flaw in your "celebration" logic... they DID improve in this game. They started baaaad and sloooooow, but they picked things up in the second half (aided by some Purdue mistakes).

Losing guys like KLM, Teo and Motta on defense is not a matter of plugging and playing. It takes time for news guys to gel and find their groove. This team is going to continue to improve, so give them a break and let them celebrate while they find their identity. God forbid they're happy to win a game.

This is something we just didn't fully appreciate before the season started, or at least I didn't. I think Kelly said in post-game or Sunday comments that Teo and Motta were not just good players but key communicators, and KLM was a captain in addition to a key starter. The importance of those three guys in keeping the whole defense organized was probably more critical than we realized. Also, Spond ... big loss.

 

[ickythump1225]

haha I'd like to see Alabama celebrate if they played like crap and barely beat South Alabama or someone. Even in high school, if we played that badly and barely beat a rival a week after getting trounced by another rival, there's no way we would've been celebrating. We would've been mad, ready to annihilate the next team. Of course, that's what we would've done after the loss.

Purdue=/=South Alabama. None of us know how Alabama reacts after a game so with all due respect I don't give a damn about your projected imaginings about how Alabama celebrates. Football is an emotional sport and there are highs and lows. This is one of our oldest rivals and they are in state, this was on the road with ABC in the house. They came from behind and won a game they needed to stay on the course for a BCS bowl. We have a young team too, let the freaking kids celebrate. Last year was a different team with a different team personality.

I don't know how they reacted but I imagine that Alabama was pretty happy to beat A&M this weekend. Yeah their D got shredded and they "squeaked" out a win but they won, period. I'm sure their was some level of celebration and then back to work. As I imagine will be the case for us. Some celebration, but by now I'm sure Kelly and crew are addressing the problems and sobering the team up for MSU. They can celebrate from the end of the game to Monday morning than it's all business.

 

[pkt77242]

Now we're complaining that the team celebrated a close victory, over an in-state opponent, on the road, in primetime?

Jesus help our fanbase.

 

[returnofthemack]

Alright, my point got mangled in between me taking things personally. I think a team that is disappointed in only barely winning is more hungry to improve and ready to tear heads off next game. After BYU, they crushed OU. When I hear about them celebrating a squeaked-out win over a team like Purdue, it makes me think they're satisfied with only playing well enough to barely win. That's what I was trying to say, it might be flawed, it's my opinion.

 

[IrishLion]

Alright, my point got mangled in between me taking things personally. I think a team that is disappointed in only barely winning is more hungry to improve and ready to tear heads off next game. After BYU, they crushed OU. When I hear about them celebrating a squeaked-out win over a team like Purdue, it makes me think they're satisfied with only playing well enough to barely win. That's what I was trying to say, it might be flawed, it's my opinion.

I can see where you're coming from, but you must also consider the situation and the "adrenaline" for lack of a better way to express my thoughts...

Against BYU, ND played crappy for an entire game and was lucky to get out with a win. It would be easy to feel disappointed in a game where you basically had no consistently good stretches of play to hang your hat on.

Against Purdue, ND played crappy for a 2.5 quarters. They picked up in the second half and played great football late in the game. I can see how they might not be happy with their overall effort once they watch the game film, but also how they would be pumped up with the way they finished the game, which lead to some post-game adrenaline and a nice celebration.

 

[returnofthemack]

I can see where you're coming from, but you must also consider the situation and the "adrenaline" for lack of a better way to express my thoughts...

Against BYU, ND played crappy for an entire game and was lucky to get out with a win. It would be easy to feel disappointed in a game where you basically had no consistently good stretches of play to hang your hat on.

Against Purdue, ND played crappy for a 2.5 quarters. They picked up in the second half and played great football late in the game. I can see how they might not be happy with their overall effort once they watch the game film, but also how they would be pumped up with the way they finished the game, which lead to some post-game adrenaline and a nice celebration.

I suppose you're right. I hope they can carry that on to MSU and actually start off quickly as opposed to our starts the last two games.