Post Game Thoughts: Boston College

[ThePiombino]

I guess I'm one of the few that thought BW did a hell of a job taking what the defense gave him. If he completes 4-5 more passes in the game this conversation doesn't take place. He can come out next week and go 20/25 for 250 + and a lot of you will say either it's just one game or it was just a depleted MSU team.

I think even with the stat line as it is (well under 50%), we would feel a lot better if he at least hit the wide open receivers. That's what's most troubling to me.

 

[GowerND11]

A bittersweet anomaly.

You did say never...

 

[dublinirish]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Love this down block by Durham Smythe. Watch Adams cut right behind him, stay tight and rip off a big gain. Q Nelson with a strong block too <a href="https://t.co/yagvYFGxC2">pic.twitter.com/yagvYFGxC2</a></p>— Bryan Driskell (@BGI_CoachD) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_CoachD/status/909807338210676736">September 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[wizards8507]

Addazio Ripped on WEEI’s Kirk and Callahan

 

[NDohio]

My goodness. Some of you would bench last year's Heisman Trophy winner 'cause he can't pass well...

 

[MPClinton22]

People need to realize (and understand) that "practice time" and "game time" have resulted in two different Brandons...

In practice, by all accounts, his mechanics and pocket presence were fine. No one was saying, "oh boy, I don't know if they kid can throw".

NOW, he is facing blitzes and breakdowns. Now he is ACTUALLY able to run (which he surely wasn't doing in practice). So, what has happened? He is playing with zero (now 3 games) of actual experience. He has been leaning on his God given talents. He has been throwing on the run without settling his feet. He's probably nervous, anxious or "antsy"... He is lapsing mentally, he is lapsing in mechanical discipline.

Guess what, all of these things require (bad) experiences and mistakes to learn from. Kelly and Co can't simulate these situations in practice.

But now that it's happening, it can be taught. And all of Brandon's mistakes are correctable.

While I do agree with what you're saying here, boy do I wish our transition between QBs could be like what we're seeing with Clemson right now. Offense hasn't missed a beat, and they're replacing THE best QB in their history.

 

[wizards8507]

The argument is not "bench Wimbush." The argument is "RTDB."

 

[ThePiombino]

Just throwing this out there, but maybe hiring Tom Rees as QB coach wasn't the best idea after all. Seems a seasoned QB coach would have made more sense considering the complete lack of experience at the position for ND.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

The argument is not "bench Wimbush." The argument is "RTDB."

They RTDB 51 times on Saturday.

 

[NDohio]

The argument is not "bench Wimbush." The argument is "RTDB."

Isn't that what we are doing?

 

[dublinirish]

https://www.bcinterruption.com/2017...49-boston-college-20-thumbs-up-ad-thumbs-down

I’ll fully admit that I left the game halfway through the third quarter because it was just impossible to watch, but the game was out of hand after that and didn’t really matter. So here we go!

BC's SBnation editor left the game in the 3rd quarter lol, would love to see the reaction if Prister or Sampson ever did that haha

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

While I do agree with what you're saying here, boy do I wish our transition between QBs could be like what we're seeing with Clemson right now. Offense hasn't missed a beat, and they're replacing THE best QB in their history.

That's the difference between a "stable" transfer of the QB position vs an "overhaul".

Going to be growing pains, you have to expect/mitigate them.

 

[irishandy]

There are A LOT of armchair quarterbacks on this board...too many. This board used to bring a lot of good conversations, observations, and good news.

For all you on the bandwagon of getting rid of HH-- you are an idiot. Have you seen what recruits he's brought into the program? Have you read what visiting recruits have said about him? Did you know that the current ND roster has 2 projected first round lineman on their team?

Concerning Wimbush-- I get that he is a work in progress, that this week will be his 4th collegiate game...but this is his third year in the program, I want to see his passing game grow, the 'Brandon Wimbush Show' will not beat USC, Miami, or Stanford.

On a good note our tight end group now has 15 catches on the season, 3 more than last year as a whole.

Let's be happy the Irish are 2-1.

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

My concern is that is bw really going to fix major accuracy issues in the last 3/4 of the season? Where he can't really throw at all in the fist 1/4 of the season.

I hope he can, but I really don't like what I see on his throwing. Accuracy is usually the major red flag to a qb.

Maybe it really falls to Kelly and I don't trust him at all.

 

[wizards8507]

They RTDB 51 times on Saturday.

Isn't that what we are doing?

Yeah, we RTDB against Temple and BC. Very positive first step. But we chucked it 39 times against Georgia. When the game is in doubt, Kelly reverts to Kelly.

 

[N_D_Fighting_Irish]

You did say never...

I did and I was wrong.

 

[BobbyMac]

Holy hell, you guys are brutal. I didn't know there were so many batsh!t crazy people on this board. I've conversed with many of you too and you 100% had me fooled. You guys that can predict BW's future and KNOW he can't pass now and never will be able to, should hang out in the recruiting threads with me. You guys could save me hours and hours looking at a kids tape for a minute and telling me his future. Unbelievable.

There are tons of high level teams that have very competent offenses utilizing a run-first QB that is not a good thrower. You just have to commit yourself to it.

For example, Bama put up nearly 400 yards and 31 points on an elite Clemson defense in the NCG despite their QB going 13/31 for 131 yards... why? Because as a team they rushed for 6.5 YPC.

This might be the worst take I've ever read in this thread. If you want to say "the passing game sucks" that's fine... when we have a record setting performance by our QB running the ball against a team that had the #8 rush defense in the country last year AND beat the spread by 2 TDs AND put our biggest whooping on BC in decades you cannot call it "irrelevant."

I caught some of this thinking watching the game with some NDNation types. After the game I asked, "If I told you before the game BW would have 300 yds of offense and 4 TD's and they'd win by 29, would you have believed me? Well guess what, not only did that happen, it happened in addition to Adams running for 225 yards." This is a once in a life time game.

Offensively that was the game that posters on IE have been wanting for years. Run the ball early and even if it isn't effective keep running so we can wear down a lesser opponent knowing that by the fourth quarter it will pay off. I loved seeing that and I am sure IE was full of positive thoughts as the game plan played out to perfection...

RTDB is soooo like 30 years ago man.

Okay - the passing game sucks. We'll never make it to the CFP with BW at QB. If you think running for 200 yds against BC means something, you're kind of reaching. Ok its a record setting rushing performance. That's great. Awesome. But it really doesn't matter. We learned one thing from this game - when we can't rush for 400+ yards in a game (99% of the time) we're going to be forced to throw and we don't have a guy we can trust doing that.

Thanks Carnac the Magnificent.

Actually they run the ball 400 yds 66% of the time.

The problem is our offense is atrocious, and...

(1.) our QB is not developing--the OC is.

(2.) Wimbush is not and never was a great passer.

(3.) Had he been as good a passer as DK, he would have played.

Wimbush is just not a good QB. EVERYONE knew we were overhauling the offense and defense--and we ALL knew this already--but Wimbush is not a good passer and Long is not a good OC. When that happens, you are crippled offensively, and your defense has to be stellar. Thank god our defense has been stout, because...

(4.) we were one half away from losing to fvcking BC

thanks to our inept passing game. How good was Kizer just 3 games into his first starting season? EXACTLY. Wimbush is a garbage passer, period...and now if you can force ND to become one-dimensional and have a decent offense...

(5.) you can beat ND, UGA showed how to do it

and they might be the worst UGA team in years. THAT should be scary, because Wimbush never will be.

(1.) He had 200 yds rushing and 4 TD. That's a new development... in the history on ND football. While his RB had 225+.

(2.) Never a great passer? You're fired.

(3.) That's right, Joe Montana started every game at ND. He also never developed after his 3rd college start.

(4.) Also just a half away from beating them by 46. Perspective.

(5.) They sure did. Recruit 4-5 star All Americans and hire the best DC in the country from Bama. Easy to replicate.

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This Wimbush isn't good, doesn't have talent or never was any good is STOOOOPID. He has all the ability in the world and all the tools. That'w why EVERYBODY that knows the game disagrees with the dozen or so experts here.

Here's his Sr. year stat line playing for the #10 team against a Murder's Row schedule.

192/265 ... 3187 yds ... 72.3% ... 37 TD ... 4 Int ... 723 yds rushing ... 6 TD

That's against IMG, Bergen twice, St. Joseph's, Paramus...

Reminder for the short of memory:

<iframe width="600" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9uHmMcQy1uU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[NDohio]

While I do agree with what you're saying here, boy do I wish our transition between QBs could be like what we're seeing with Clemson right now. Offense hasn't missed a beat, and they're replacing THE best QB in their history.

Interesting. So both ND and Clemson have played two games where they absolutely dominated. The third game for each team was against an SEC team.

ND played Georgia - a team that most people are picking to win the SEC East and their defense is thought of as one of the best in the country.

Clemson played Auburn - a team that was preseason ranked about the same as Georgia but their strength is offense. Their defensive line and secondary are seen as weaknesses.

Notre Dame scored 19 points and had 265 total yards. Wimbush 210 passing.

Clemson scored 14 points and had 264 total yards. Bryant 166 passing.

 

[#1rish]

Really wish Sanford stuck around 1 more year to coach Wimbush as a starter.

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

We will see, I hope he gets better accuracy. We need him too. The pollsters see we can't throw it at all and that is why we are not ranked We can all say one thing or another, but the outsiders see we are extremely flawed. If we can't throw we are in a huge mess. Through three games we can't throw, now we need to improve. We have 9 games left to get better. I sure hope we do. We all need it.

 

[koonja]

That's the difference between a "stable" transfer of the QB position vs an "overhaul".

Going to be growing pains, you have to expect/mitigate them.

We return one of the best OL's in the country, we're getting our TE back who's supposed to be one of the best in the nation, we have a future NFL WR, we have 2-3 future NFL backs... This year's offense wasn't an overhaul.

We are as loaded as we've ever been in the BK era - and we thought we had a really good QB coming in who's been here 3 years and was a high-4 star. And he's been really bad at throwing a football. The offense was set up to roll as much as any in the Kelly era.

And on the other side of the ball, the defense is playing outstanding. The answer isn't to bench Wimbush. But frankly, given how set we are on offense, and how highly regarded he was, and the fact he's in his 3rd year, his passing is abysmal.

No one needs to be fired, no one needs to be bench, we're just disappointed in Wimbush and realize everything else is clicking, but our QB play, if it doesn't drastically improve, will hold us back this year when almost everyone who can spell "Notre Dame" thought the opposite heading into the season.

 

[NDohio]

We return one of the best OL's in the country, we're getting our TE back who's supposed to be one of the best in the nation, we have a future NFL WR, we have 2-3 future NFL backs... This year's offense wasn't an overhaul.

We are as loaded as we've ever been in the BK era - and we thought we had a really good QB coming in who's been here 3 years and was a high-4 star. And he's been really bad at throwing a football. The offense was set up to roll as much as any in the Kelly era.

And on the other side of the ball, the defense is playing outstanding. The answer isn't to bench Wimbush. But frankly, given how set we are on offense, and how highly regarded he was, and the fact he's in his 3rd year, his passing is abysmal.

No kidding. I can't believe we are only averaging 39 pts per game this season...

 

[irishandy]

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This Wimbush isn't good, doesn't have talent or never was any good is STOOOOPID. He has all the ability in the world and all the tools. That'w why EVERYBODY that knows the game disagrees with the dozen or so experts here.

Here's his Sr. year stat line playing for the #10 team against a Murder's Row schedule.

192/265 ... 1785 yds ... 72.3% ... 3187 yds ... 37 TD ... 4 Int ... 723 yds ... 6 TD

NDCrusader-- I 100% agree with you. I am 100% confident with Wimbush as our QB. I want to see his passing game grow. The wide receivers he's surrounded with are talented and have experience in this program. I believe when Wimbush gets his passing game going he'll be a better dual threat QB and more of a head ache for opposing defensive coordinators. Right now if I am an opposing defensive coordinator I am only concerned about his running game.

 

[Irish#1]

Here it is in very simple terms.

1. Wimbush is still developing. This is just his third start. his passing needs to develop a lot, but he took a big step Friday with his running. He looked more decisive.
2. We have a new QB and a new OC with new plays. To think we would be humming on all cylinders is not very practical.
3. I've seen progression each week, so I think we're getting there.
4. Big game for BC, we're on the road. Not surprised it was close for a half, but ND showed what good teams do. They made adjustments at the half and ran away with the game.
5. For everyone that was throwing Mack (Koon, cough) under the bus, he is starting to look like the receiver we thought he could be.
6. Defense took another step in the right direction. Hats off to Terry Jillary. Kid is bringing it all the time.

 

[koonja]

Here it is in very simple terms.

1. Wimbush is still developing. This is just his third start. his passing needs to develop a lot, but he took a big step Friday with his running. He looked more decisive.
2. We have a new QB and a new OC with new plays. To think we would be humming on all cylinders is not very practical.
3. I've seen progression each week, so I think we're getting there.
4. Big game for BC, we're on the road. Not surprised it was close for a half, but ND showed what good teams do. They made adjustments at the half and ran away with the game.
5. For everyone that was throwing Mack (Koon, cough) under the bus, he is starting to look like the receiver we thought he could be.
6. Defense took another step in the right direction. Hats off to Terry Jillary. Kid is bringing it all the time.

Not at all to me. He doesn't look explosive at all. He hasn't ran by anyone, or broken a single tackle all year. He's simply caught his 7 yard out, which any TE on the roster should be able to do. His explosiveness that had people debating if he'd spend most of his time at WR this year, is gone with the wind. Or at least we haven't see it once.

Show me the GIF where he has broken a tackle, ran away from a defender, or simply separated. He's supposed to 'look different' out there. He doesn't.

 

[wizards8507]

No kidding. I can't believe we are only averaging 39 pts per game this season...

Maybe you're missing how shockingly terrible both Temple and BC are. We've played exactly one decent opponent and we failed to move the ball. Obviously any team is going to be better against poor opponents than they are against quality opponents, but the discrepancy we've seen so far is way too severe for my liking.

We have a new QB and a new OC with new plays. To think we would be humming on all cylinders is not very practical.

Except the (primary) issues aren't reads and confusion and audibles. We have problems with accuracy, touch, explosiveness, strength, speed, and agility (not just Wimbush but the offense as a whole).

Honestly, I think the biggest thing that a lot of people are missing is that they're underestimating how terrible Boston College is and overestimating how good Georgia is.

 

[koonja]

Maybe you're missing how shockingly terrible both Temple and BC are. We've played exactly one decent opponent and we failed to move the ball. Obviously any team is going to be better against poor opponents than they are against quality opponents, but the discrepancy we've seen so far is way too severe for my liking.

If you're going to have standards and point out who's not living up to expectations, go to ND nation you prude.

 

[beryirish]

Maybe you're missing how shockingly terrible both Temple and BC are. We've played exactly one decent opponent and we failed to move the ball. Obviously any team is going to be better against poor opponents than they are against quality opponents, but the discrepancy we've seen so far is way too severe for my liking.


Except the (primary) issues aren't reads and confusion and audibles. We have problems with accuracy, touch, explosiveness, strength, speed, and agility (not just Wimbush but the offense as a whole).

Honestly, I think the biggest thing that a lot of people are missing is that they're underestimating how terrible Boston College is and overestimating how good Georgia is.

How is Georgia being overestimated at this point in time? They are living up to expectations thus far. They are picked to be a top team in the SEC. Their defense has been nothing short of outstanding against their 3 opponents so far.

Notre Dame fans: the teams they beat aren't very good - panic. the teams they lose to aren't very good - panic more.

 

[wizards8507]

How is Georgia being overestimated at this point in time? They are living up to expectations thus far. They are picked to be a top team in the SEC. Their defense has been nothing short of outstanding against their 3 opponents so far.

The SEC blows.

SEC looks like Alabama Crimson Tide and not much else

Notre Dame fans: the teams they beat aren't very good - panic. the teams they lose to aren't very good - panic more.

Right. We shouldn't look at the quality of our opponents when evaluating where we are as a program. Where have I seen that before? Oh yeah...

Notre Dame vs. Alabama - Game Recap - January 7, 2013 - ESPN

 

[Ndaccountant]

My biggest take away...Paul Pasqualoni is back in the college game as an assistant at BC. Didn't know that. Dude knows how to pose for a picture.

BC staff file....

UCONN staff picture

dolphins staff photo

Paul....what did you think about your DL play against ND....