Post-Game Thoughts: Georgia

[SoDakDomer]

1. I hate our first down run game
2. Wimbush is to indecisive and sometimes looks like he still thinks he is in HS and can beat everyone to the outside. Sometimes you just need to get 3 yards. I don't even know what kind of comment to make on the accuracy. Many of the passes we completed were great catches. Which brings me to my next point.
3. When wimbush does deliever a good strike we have serious issues with drops. We are going to need someone to seriously step up as a second option after ESB.
4. I did not see this defensive performance coming. Proud of those guys they were flying around out there. Tons of hustles plays on both D and ST's that caught my eye.
5. If the Georgia defense is truely as elite as we made them look and what everyone says, then the offensive game plan baffles me. The amount of WR screens we threw and just the overall lateral offensive game plan is crazy.
6. Not sure where we go from here but it's a typical ND game against better competition where we can never have all phases going.

 

[Blaise]

Wimbush did not play well but he was getting creamed all day by a very good defense. Hopefully he learns from it and gets better every week. I'm moving on to BC and let's run the rest of Setpember

 

[Blaise]

1. I hate our first down run game
2. Wimbush is to indecisive and sometimes looks like he still thinks he is in HS and can beat everyone to the outside. Sometimes you just need to get 3 yards. I don't even know what kind of comment to make on the accuracy. Many of the passes we completed were great catches. Which brings me to my next point.
3. When wimbush does deliever a good strike we have serious issues with drops. We are going to need someone to seriously step up as a second option after ESB.
4. I did not see this defensive performance coming. Proud of those guys they were flying around out there. Tons of hustles plays on both D and ST's that caught my eye.
5. If the Georgia defense is truely as elite as we made them look and what everyone says, then the offensive game plan baffles me. The amount of WR screens we threw and just the overall lateral offensive game plan is crazy.
6. Not sure where we go from here but it's a typical ND game against better competition where we can never have all phases going.

#5- I couldn't agree more. Long was terrible today and it makes me long for days of Kelly calling the plays which I never thought I would say

 

[IrishFanJMercy]

Running up the middle would work against anyone else on our schedule but not UGA. Last nights game gives me hope though I don't see us having problems with anyone on our schedule outside of USC. We should be able to put up points against USC though.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Doesn't sting as bad today after some sleep and the liquor wearing off, and it won't, so long as Georgia actually proves they are good moving forward the next few weeks.

 

[stlnd01]

Nah. UGA has one of the top D's in the country and two of the best RB's in the country. They will be a hard out for anyone this year.


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Agreed. By any measure Georgia's defense is very good. Probably the best we'll play this year. Their speed is why our offensive scheme didn't work (maybe we should have adjusted, but that's another post). On our schedule only USC has those kind of athletes.

I was actually surprised how little damage Chubb and Michel really did. Can't tell if that's their young O Line or if our defensive front was that good.

Either way, looking at Georgia's schedule, once Fromm gets a couple more games under his belt they should be favored in every game they play the rest of the season except maybe Auburn. They could well win the SEC East. So, probably, they'll go 8-5.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Agreed. By any measure Georgia's defense is very good. Probably the best we'll play this year. Their speed is why our offensive scheme didn't work (maybe we should have adjusted, but that's another post). On our schedule only USC has those kind of athletes.



I was actually surprised how little damage Chubb and Michel really did. Can't tell if that's their young O Line or if our defensive front was that good.



Either way, looking at Georgia's schedule, once Fromm gets a couple more games under his belt they should be favored in every game they play the rest of the season except maybe Auburn. They could well win the SEC East. So, probably, they'll go 8-5.

If they go 8-5, we will be lucky to go 6-6.

 

[IrishFanJMercy]

I don't blame last night on winnush yes he needs work but that will come with experience. He needs to be more accurate and learn when to get rid of the ball he held on to the ball way to long at times. Make a play if nothing is there take off and run or throw it away. With that said I think he will be fine this was his second start. Kizer never saw a defense like georgias last night. We do need to get more guys involved though on offense. I'd rather have a team where we see 10 plusguys getting catches ever week rather than 1-2 guys getting the bulk of work. Also running backs. Only thing that worked at times last night was when josh Adams broke out for a pass. Why not try a tworunning back set?! Have Adams line up as a fullback with Williams at running back?

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Can I throw in a shout out to one of the most complained about players on this board?

Nick Coleman played like a man last night. Several solo, open field, touchdown (or big play) saving tackles.

Even got in the backfield a couple of times.

Nick Colemans improvement alone is a testament to who and what Elko is. Not to mention all of the other position groups on D.

Beyond thrilled with the improvement I've seen thus far on defense.

(also a shout out to Balis, he also played a part in this)

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[stlnd01]

If they go 8-5, we will be lucky to go 6-6.

I thought my italics were understood. With that defense and the schedule they play, Georgia should win 10 and a trip to the SEC championship.
But then I always feel that way about the first team that beats us...

 

[notredomer23]

With Kizer that game is over at half time

 

[Old Man Mike]

This probably won't change anyone's views, but I looked up what Phil Steele said about defenses pre-season.

A). Georgia was one of the top ten defenses in the country (7th, essentially tied with LSU for 6th.)
B). They were ranked in the top 20 at every defensive level, their lowest unit rating being a 16th.
C). They were ranked significantly higher than Notre Dame overall, and were of course favored.

Given that: If someone was coaching Georgia, and saw that Notre Dame could run the ball down your throat if you didn't plan against that; and you had a defensive front seven rated 11th and 6th in the country; and the other half of the Notre Dame offense featured a kid QB learning on the job with only one effective medium-fast wide receiver, what would that person's game plan be? All the numbers would point to a very hard time for that opponent offense if you stacked the box. Your seven highly rated guys outnumber their five highly rated guys. Their RBs don't block well and most of their TEs are either poor at it or learning. Their kid-QB is still a hesitater. Georgia DC: sounds like a plan.

With all that, we still almost won. By any rational analysis, that would have been an upset.

Phil Steele says that we will face only one defense potentially higher rated in the front seven: Miami. USC could be better overall if they get their minds off the surf. Stanford is good but not on the DL. NCState is good on the DL but not elsewhere.

Georgia was the wrong team (defense-wise at the wrong place in the schedule --- home vs away was not as important as second game.) I still think that this team wins nine games.

 

[IrishLax]

This probably won't change anyone's views, but I looked up what Phil Steele said about defenses pre-season.

A). Georgia was one of the top ten defenses in the country (7th, essentially tied with LSU for 6th.)
B). They were ranked in the top 20 at every defensive level, their lowest unit rating being a 16th.
C). They were ranked significantly higher than Notre Dame overall, and were of course favored.

Given that: If someone was coaching Georgia, and saw that Notre Dame could run the ball down your throat if you didn't plan against that; and you had a defensive front seven rated 11th and 6th in the country; and the other half of the Notre Dame offense featured a kid QB learning on the job with only one effective medium-fast wide receiver, what would that person's game plan be? All the numbers would point to a very hard time for that opponent offense if you stacked the box. Your seven highly rated guys outnumber their five highly rated guys. Their RBs don't block well and most of their TEs are either poor at it or learning. Their kid-QB is still a hesitater. Georgia DC: sounds like a plan.

With all that, we still almost won. By any rational analysis, that would have been an upset.

Phil Steele says that we will face only one defense potentially higher rated in the front seven: Miami. USC could be better overall if they get their minds off the surf. Stanford is good but not on the DL. NCState is good on the DL but not elsewhere.

Georgia was the wrong team (defense-wise at the wrong place in the schedule --- home vs away was not as important as second game.) I still think that this team wins nine games.

We were favored by 5.5 points.

 

[IrishLax]

With Kizer that game is over at half time

And a normal Brian Kelly game plan instead of that ridiculousness from Chip Long. And good WRs. For Long's second real game of calling plays in his career, it sure wasn't encouraging.

 

[phgreek]

This probably won't change anyone's views, but I looked up what Phil Steele said about defenses pre-season.

A). Georgia was one of the top ten defenses in the country (7th, essentially tied with LSU for 6th.)
B). They were ranked in the top 20 at every defensive level, their lowest unit rating being a 16th.
C). They were ranked significantly higher than Notre Dame overall, and were of course favored.

Given that: If someone was coaching Georgia, and saw that Notre Dame could run the ball down your throat if you didn't plan against that; and you had a defensive front seven rated 11th and 6th in the country; and the other half of the Notre Dame offense featured a kid QB learning on the job with only one effective medium-fast wide receiver, what would that person's game plan be? All the numbers would point to a very hard time for that opponent offense if you stacked the box. Your seven highly rated guys outnumber their five highly rated guys. Their RBs don't block well and most of their TEs are either poor at it or learning. Their kid-QB is still a hesitater. Georgia DC: sounds like a plan.

With all that, we still almost won. By any rational analysis, that would have been an upset.

Phil Steele says that we will face only one defense potentially higher rated in the front seven: Miami. USC could be better overall if they get their minds off the surf. Stanford is good but not on the DL. NCState is good on the DL but not elsewhere.

Georgia was the wrong team (defense-wise at the wrong place in the schedule --- home vs away was not as important as second game.) I still think that this team wins nine games.

Yea...agree. UGA strategy wise...yup. And scheduling wise, I must admit I was thinking the same thing. This was a perfect storm ( no pun intended). With ND's defensive showing...if it keeps up, and continues to improve...they will be in every game. Frustrating the pieces don't align. All I can say is, I feel better about this team than last years team...The things that lack...well I know Kelly can personally fix. Still a nine win team.

 

[IrishLax]

1. I hate our first down run game
2. Wimbush is to indecisive and sometimes looks like he still thinks he is in HS and can beat everyone to the outside. Sometimes you just need to get 3 yards. I don't even know what kind of comment to make on the accuracy. Many of the passes we completed were great catches. Which brings me to my next point.
3. When wimbush does deliever a good strike we have serious issues with drops. We are going to need someone to seriously step up as a second option after ESB.
4. I did not see this defensive performance coming. Proud of those guys they were flying around out there. Tons of hustles plays on both D and ST's that caught my eye.
5. If the Georgia defense is truely as elite as we made them look and what everyone says, then the offensive game plan baffles me. The amount of WR screens we threw and just the overall lateral offensive game plan is crazy.
6. Not sure where we go from here but it's a typical ND game against better competition where we can never have all phases going.

What the game plan should have been:
1. Quick hitting runs up the middle.
2. Quick hitting passes to short and intermediate routes in the middle of the field so their LBs can't just crowd the LOS and run downhill every play.
3. Vertical passing plays preferably off of play action where possible.

Instead we called:
1. Tons of slow developing runs and option runs that allowed the entire defense to flow to the ball and account for Wimbush. And used our back that is least explosive at the line of scrimmage.
2. Tons of shorts passes to the sidelines and screens. Lots of RPO style crap or long developing routes.
3. We did a decent job with vertical passing play calls our WRs were just bad and Wimbush missed some throws too.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Post-Game Thoughts: Georgia

Personally, I think the game plan was more stubborn than stupid, although there are plenty of good arguments for it being stupid.

It reeked of "this is our house, we are running our offense, to hell with adjustments."

I wanted to see the offense go full Boise State all second half.

*First play from scrimmage IIRC correctly was a flea flicker type play that completely took them off guard, just wasn't executed.

 

[gkIrish]

Georgia is not that good foilks. We dropped balls all night and our receivers were open downfield often. Their run D is definitely elite but I think with better WRs/better passing QB we would have been able to score.

Similarly on offense I was not impressed with Fromm. One of his TD throws was on a miracle catch. Their run game looked good at times but they often were unable to get a yard when they needed it. I thought our defense played well but USC is going to light us up.

 

[NDRock]

9 wins? Don't see it at all. There are going to be a bunch of tough, close games and this team has shown no ability to win those. Will be very surprised if we finish better than 7-5.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Another thing: with all the heat constantly flying around the edge, wouldn't going under center have provided a little more space? Feel like they had a straight line to Wimbush every play.

 

[BobbyMac]

- IF Elko is around in '20, his D will be special. They looked much better than I expected them to... his current roster is new to his system and there's significant impact players in the pipeline, recruited for this system.

- We all wanted double TE's, two RB sets and a FB... well we got it at the wrong time. Kelly's 4 WR spread would have been more effective than playing SEC football with no worse than the #3 D in the SEC. I do believe this style of O will help eliminate the silly losses to the Duke's of the world... along with Elko's D.

- Offensive Line and Alize Mack... Put up or shut up.

- They better not have to honor both of Canteen's years.

- Either use and target Claypool or move him to D where he will do the targeting. Quit wasting his talent.

- Talking with 2014 me last night, he said Mike McGlinchey or Jerry Tillery should've been the RT this year.

- How can football coaches making millions of dollars not understand Dexter Williams is the back that could make things happen last night. Suddenness is how you get past the LOS against that D. Adams waaaaaits on slow developing plays... like a good NFL back. Dex sees 18" of turf between two lineman and hits it full speed. They needed some Dex last night.

- If CJ's hand would have been a few inches close to his body...

- If Godwin makes that catch for the Irish, it gets over turned. (FYI: I think that and all Megatron like scenarios should be receptions)

- I hope the Captains got in Kevin Stepherson's face in front of the hole team and asked if that one blunt was worth one point? He was needed last night. He better come out of the corner swinging vs. Miami U.

- Wimbush... disappointed but Phil's still in high school . Hopefully he, the OL and the play calling get on the same page.

 

[Free Manera]

Kirby Smart : "Our fans were huge. Our quarterback could go on cadence. You can't do that in the SEC."

Way to go sellouts. This is going to kill in recruiting.

 

[GATTACA!]

Another thing: with all the heat constantly flying around the edge, wouldn't going under center have provided a little more space? Feel like they had a straight line to Wimbush every play.

Naw that would have required an actual adjustment.

 

[Cali_domer]

Kirby Smart : "Our fans were huge. Our quarterback could go on cadence. You can't do that in the SEC."

Way to go sellouts. This is going to kill in recruiting.

Hey the admin sold-out long ago. Fans are just following suit.

 

[NDRock]

- IF Elko is around in '20, his D will be special. They looked much better than I expected them to... his current roster is new to his system and there's significant impact players in the pipeline, recruited for this system.

- We all wanted double TE's, two RB sets and a FB... well we got it at the wrong time. Kelly's 4 WR spread would have been more effective than playing SEC football with no worse than the #3 D in the SEC. I do believe this style of O will help eliminate the silly losses to the Duke's of the world... along with Elko's D.

- Offensive Line and Alize Mack... Put up or shut up.

- They better not have to honor both of Canteen's years.

- Either use and target Claypool or move him to D where he will do the targeting. Quit wasting his talent.

- Talking with 2014 me last night, he said Mike McGlinchey or Jerry Tillery should've been the RT this year.

- How can football coaches making millions of dollars not understand Dexter Williams is the back that could make things happen last night. Suddenness is how you get past the LOS against that D. Adams waaaaaits on slow developing plays... like a good NFL back. Dex sees 18" of turf between two lineman and hits it full speed. They needed some Dex last night.

- If CJ's hand would have been a few inches close to his body...

- If Godwin makes that catch for the Irish, it gets over turned. (FYI: I think that and all Megatron like scenarios should be receptions)

- I hope the Captains got in Kevin Stepherson's face in front of the hole team and asked if that one blunt was worth one point? He was needed last night. He better come out of the corner swinging vs. Miami U.

- Wimbush... disappointed but Phil's still in high school . Hopefully he, the OL and the play calling get on the same page.

We used to always be 2 years away, now we're 3. Good times.

 

[Cali_domer]

We used to always be 2 years away, now we're 3. Good times.

Got to give the process time. 2020 the Defense will be awesome, 2022 the offense will click, by 2028 we will be a special teams juggernaut. Can't wait.

 

[IrishFanJMercy]

ND needs to be 5-1 going into the USC game. Anything less is gonna be a dissapointment. I'm honestly not that scared of Michigan State, they barely beat 2 nobodys this year so far. They don't scare me as much as UNC. UNC will give us a game for sure. This team needs to rebound and go 5-1 into the USC game then beat USC.

 

[STLDomer]

Kirby Smart : "Our fans were huge. Our quarterback could go on cadence. You can't do that in the SEC."

Way to go sellouts. This is going to kill in recruiting.

I imagine most teams could say this when they come to Notre Dame, not just UGA with their 30,000+ fans. Notre Dame is not as loud as most SEC + OSU, Michigan etc. enviroments. This week was nothing new, just even more pronounced.

 

[drayer54]

I feel like the defense is improving and I'll take the progress.

The offense...

The line wasn't amazing, but I think they lined up against a stellar D. That defense looked fast.

Biggest disappointment was the sea of red. Second, was the offensive slowdown and WR production.

 

[BeatSC]

Wow! Haven't seen this much analysis in years.
Most disappointing was how poorly Wimbush played. Concerned about the QB position more now than ever. Was the play calling a Schmitt show? Hell yes! Was it good enough to win? Yes. Execution at QB at even an average level was way off. It's as if Wimbush pulled a Costanza and made the wrong read option decision every time. He has no feel for touch passes. This is his third year there and he has all that "Grit" too bad it equaled Schmitt.
Josh Adams will not get drafted, McG will go second round based on footage from this game. He should have come out. Very few plays made on offense. More boners than plays. I kept saying from second Qtr on where is Dexter? It's as if Kelly refuses to give in to pressure and digs his heels in. Coverage on punts and kickoffs is slow as schist. Copmapre it to Georgia. Some greedy F's selling there tickets. They should look into anyone doing this Schmitt and pull their privelages.
Kudos to some nice plays by Coleman. I know Daelin Hayes is getting better but he rally wiffed on that TFL. Didn't see as much rotation this week. I think opposing teams think ND can bring pressure and counter with all these quick strikes. I was honestly not concerned at the prospect of Book taking over as he seems to make quick smart decsisions and delivers the ball quickly.

Note: ESB won't be leaving early and neither will Wimbush or anyone else.