stonebreakerwasgod
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I repped ya, because the criticism at this point is deserved. Before, it was premature.
Post Game Thoughts
- Thread starter loomis41973
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A
almccrory
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In 20 years of rooting for Notre Dame (including the time spend in school), I have never been more miserable. I truly believe the future is bright with the recruiting class we have coming in. I am just not certain that this coaching staff is up to game day management. Maybe if we had Belichick to make the final calls, we would have better results.
The Polish Irishman
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I quit
Navy Game Analysis
Navy Game Analysis
Well, I am totally spent emotionally after watching that game. I will say that the team gave maximum effort for the entire game. Our players deserve kudos for their effort. I will also say congrats to Navy. I actually will say that I hated to see the PI flag on the 2 point conversion. Navy did not deserve to lose in that manner if it cost them the game. That is a situation similar to the end of a B-ball game when a ref needs to swallow the whistle unless it is blatant. On to the game analysis. I will go D first.
DEFENSE:
DL- It was too bad that Kuntz got hurt. He is such a good emotional player. I will say though, Ian Williams played very well in relief. He will have alot to say about Omar and the other incoming taking his spot. He will be a force. Laws played his usual solid game. Overall this group did well, but got a bit tired due to long drives and our lack of depth. Grade B-
OLB - This group had a tough assignment all day. Overall the did good, but I can't help but notice John Ryan get overpowered alot. Brian Smith had a solid game. He is gonna be soo special. He and Neal will be feared in the years to come. Was Neal hurt today?? I did not notice him?? Grade C+ would be better if just a grade for Smith.
ILB - Brockington and Crum are a case of two guys who give HUGE effort, but are just average LB's. Neither will play on Sunday's, but I will take them on my team. Brockington has become a hard hitter and flys to the ball. I am puzzled by the lack of PT that Toryan is getting. This is another case of where I believe we do a horrible job of playing lots of players. These guys did decent on middle plays, but both are a step slow on sideline pursuit. Grade C+
Safeties - This was Zibby's best game of the year. He played the pitch well and made some good stops. He also ran inspired with punt returns. I am not really impressed with McCarthy. He is a weak tackler. I have to believe that we have more talent, just young. Harrison Smith will be a force in another year or two. Bruton played sparingly. I am not sure what injury he has, but he was OK today. Grade B-
CB - The only guy I noticed all day at CB was Walls. He was both good and bad. He had a couple great run stops, but gave up a couple pass plays. I think he was so commited to the run that he missed on a couple coverages. I will give him a pass on these because this kid gives unbelievable effort. He will be an AA before he leaves ND. Lambert was on the field today, but did not notice good or bad of him. Grade C (B on run, D on pass)
D Gameplan - I think the D overall did a decent job. This O is just freakin frustrating to play against. I played against a team in high school who specialized in this type of O. I is absolutely horribly frustrating to figure out. You MUST play assignment ball. I will give us a decent grade on our gameplan for this outing.
OFFENSE:
QB - I think Evan managed the game fairly well today. He had a fumble where he should have tucked the ball. He also took a sack on a 3rd down where he was well out of the pocket and could have thrown the ball away. On the contrary, he made some really nice throws today. The pass to Carlson on 4th down was solid. The TD to Kamara was placed perfect. Further, he made a few nice runs today. His ceiling is not what JC's will be, but right now he runs the O a little better. Grade C+(without the fumble he gets a B)
RB - These guys ran hard all day. James Aldridge had a solid game. The only part of his game that is missing is his ability to pick holes. To many times he runs into traffic instead of making a cut. He is an incredibly hard runner and rarely goes down with one hit. As for Armando Allen, wow. AA will be incredible next season with one full year in the weight room. He runs with passion and makes people miss. I cannot believe we did not run him wide on any of the final plays. He was killing them on the outside run. Kudos to Travis Thomas for his TD and effort on the 4th down call. Grade B+
FB - Asaph does NOTHING to impress me. He is a below average runner. Cannnot catch. Is barely and average blocker. It is killing me that we have a guy like Luke Schmidt on the sidelines. He can run better. He gives us another receiving threat. Another situation where we are wasting talent. Grade C-
TE - Carlson has come back to being himself. He is catching everything throw to him and running well after the catch. Yeatman is becoming a solid blocker. I hope Yeatman and Ragone can catch as well as Carlson. Grade B+(passing grade on the 4th down catch alone)
WR - This group had a decent day, but there were some drops on particularly easy passes. Grimes had a couple drops. West dropped one really easy catch. Kamara is becoming another Stovall quickly. He will be brutal with one full year of conditioning. Parris is struggling to get open the last few games. I think he is getting alot of attention. Here is another position where we are not playing some guys who I think could be good contributors. DJ Hord is being wasted on the sideline. West is not as big and does not impress me in the least. Grade B-(grade drops significantly without Kamara)
OL - Overall this group played fairly solid today. Our two guards are improving. Turk and Olsen will be good next season. I am concerned about Sam Young. He should be the most solid player and yet he struggled again today. Part of this units issue is that the D knows what is coming on many plays. Tough sledding with no creativity in playcalling. Grade C+
O Gameplan - Overall I agree with the general gameplan. CW wanted to have ball controlling long drives that ate up clock. For this reason, we did not go downfield on the pass game. We did this well for the most part. I will give the concept of our gameplan a passing grade. It is the playcalling in certain situations I will take issue with.
Charlie Weis Grade - As I said above, he will get a passing grade on the overall gameplan. Where he failed miserably and I mean miserably was some HORRIBLE calls today. Fake FG on 4th and forever is totally ridiculous. You put points up or atleast try to. I would accept the fake on a 4th and 2,3 even maybe 5, but not 15. Next, if I see another screen pass this season I will puke. We are so predictable on these plays. That is the call when Sharpley got killed and fumbled. Next, you have to kick the FG at end of regulation to win the freakin game. If he missed the FG, noone in the stadium blames CW. DUMB call Charlie. Finally, we score with TT on 4th down. When the penalty gets called, we go right back to the same run with TT out of the same formation. Wow the D was suprised on that call, NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you Kool-Aid drinkers, you better add lots of sugar this week because CW flavor is getting awful sour. If CW is the offensive genius he calls himself, I must be a freakin Einstein of Defense because his play calling is so vanilla and predictable that my wife who barely watches knows what is coming. CW is a great recruiter, good person, loves ND, but he is NOT a good college strategist. There is not a single game you can point to where we can say, "wow, CW made some great adjustments to get our O moving". In most big games, our O got worse as the game went on. This points to coaches making adjustments and CW's inability to counter them. In both BCS games, our O got worse as the game went on. At OSU, we score fast and then sputter. At LSU, we score in first half and then LSU adjusts and shuts us down. CW should bring in a new Offensive Co-ordinator and turn over the play calling. I believe CW can run a great program, but he should let go of the play calling reigns. Charlie, get it fixed for 2008 because it is a make or break it year for you in South Bend.
Navy Game Analysis
Well, I am totally spent emotionally after watching that game. I will say that the team gave maximum effort for the entire game. Our players deserve kudos for their effort. I will also say congrats to Navy. I actually will say that I hated to see the PI flag on the 2 point conversion. Navy did not deserve to lose in that manner if it cost them the game. That is a situation similar to the end of a B-ball game when a ref needs to swallow the whistle unless it is blatant. On to the game analysis. I will go D first.
DEFENSE:
DL- It was too bad that Kuntz got hurt. He is such a good emotional player. I will say though, Ian Williams played very well in relief. He will have alot to say about Omar and the other incoming taking his spot. He will be a force. Laws played his usual solid game. Overall this group did well, but got a bit tired due to long drives and our lack of depth. Grade B-
OLB - This group had a tough assignment all day. Overall the did good, but I can't help but notice John Ryan get overpowered alot. Brian Smith had a solid game. He is gonna be soo special. He and Neal will be feared in the years to come. Was Neal hurt today?? I did not notice him?? Grade C+ would be better if just a grade for Smith.
ILB - Brockington and Crum are a case of two guys who give HUGE effort, but are just average LB's. Neither will play on Sunday's, but I will take them on my team. Brockington has become a hard hitter and flys to the ball. I am puzzled by the lack of PT that Toryan is getting. This is another case of where I believe we do a horrible job of playing lots of players. These guys did decent on middle plays, but both are a step slow on sideline pursuit. Grade C+
Safeties - This was Zibby's best game of the year. He played the pitch well and made some good stops. He also ran inspired with punt returns. I am not really impressed with McCarthy. He is a weak tackler. I have to believe that we have more talent, just young. Harrison Smith will be a force in another year or two. Bruton played sparingly. I am not sure what injury he has, but he was OK today. Grade B-
CB - The only guy I noticed all day at CB was Walls. He was both good and bad. He had a couple great run stops, but gave up a couple pass plays. I think he was so commited to the run that he missed on a couple coverages. I will give him a pass on these because this kid gives unbelievable effort. He will be an AA before he leaves ND. Lambert was on the field today, but did not notice good or bad of him. Grade C (B on run, D on pass)
D Gameplan - I think the D overall did a decent job. This O is just freakin frustrating to play against. I played against a team in high school who specialized in this type of O. I is absolutely horribly frustrating to figure out. You MUST play assignment ball. I will give us a decent grade on our gameplan for this outing.
OFFENSE:
QB - I think Evan managed the game fairly well today. He had a fumble where he should have tucked the ball. He also took a sack on a 3rd down where he was well out of the pocket and could have thrown the ball away. On the contrary, he made some really nice throws today. The pass to Carlson on 4th down was solid. The TD to Kamara was placed perfect. Further, he made a few nice runs today. His ceiling is not what JC's will be, but right now he runs the O a little better. Grade C+(without the fumble he gets a B)
RB - These guys ran hard all day. James Aldridge had a solid game. The only part of his game that is missing is his ability to pick holes. To many times he runs into traffic instead of making a cut. He is an incredibly hard runner and rarely goes down with one hit. As for Armando Allen, wow. AA will be incredible next season with one full year in the weight room. He runs with passion and makes people miss. I cannot believe we did not run him wide on any of the final plays. He was killing them on the outside run. Kudos to Travis Thomas for his TD and effort on the 4th down call. Grade B+
FB - Asaph does NOTHING to impress me. He is a below average runner. Cannnot catch. Is barely and average blocker. It is killing me that we have a guy like Luke Schmidt on the sidelines. He can run better. He gives us another receiving threat. Another situation where we are wasting talent. Grade C-
TE - Carlson has come back to being himself. He is catching everything throw to him and running well after the catch. Yeatman is becoming a solid blocker. I hope Yeatman and Ragone can catch as well as Carlson. Grade B+(passing grade on the 4th down catch alone)
WR - This group had a decent day, but there were some drops on particularly easy passes. Grimes had a couple drops. West dropped one really easy catch. Kamara is becoming another Stovall quickly. He will be brutal with one full year of conditioning. Parris is struggling to get open the last few games. I think he is getting alot of attention. Here is another position where we are not playing some guys who I think could be good contributors. DJ Hord is being wasted on the sideline. West is not as big and does not impress me in the least. Grade B-(grade drops significantly without Kamara)
OL - Overall this group played fairly solid today. Our two guards are improving. Turk and Olsen will be good next season. I am concerned about Sam Young. He should be the most solid player and yet he struggled again today. Part of this units issue is that the D knows what is coming on many plays. Tough sledding with no creativity in playcalling. Grade C+
O Gameplan - Overall I agree with the general gameplan. CW wanted to have ball controlling long drives that ate up clock. For this reason, we did not go downfield on the pass game. We did this well for the most part. I will give the concept of our gameplan a passing grade. It is the playcalling in certain situations I will take issue with.
Charlie Weis Grade - As I said above, he will get a passing grade on the overall gameplan. Where he failed miserably and I mean miserably was some HORRIBLE calls today. Fake FG on 4th and forever is totally ridiculous. You put points up or atleast try to. I would accept the fake on a 4th and 2,3 even maybe 5, but not 15. Next, if I see another screen pass this season I will puke. We are so predictable on these plays. That is the call when Sharpley got killed and fumbled. Next, you have to kick the FG at end of regulation to win the freakin game. If he missed the FG, noone in the stadium blames CW. DUMB call Charlie. Finally, we score with TT on 4th down. When the penalty gets called, we go right back to the same run with TT out of the same formation. Wow the D was suprised on that call, NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you Kool-Aid drinkers, you better add lots of sugar this week because CW flavor is getting awful sour. If CW is the offensive genius he calls himself, I must be a freakin Einstein of Defense because his play calling is so vanilla and predictable that my wife who barely watches knows what is coming. CW is a great recruiter, good person, loves ND, but he is NOT a good college strategist. There is not a single game you can point to where we can say, "wow, CW made some great adjustments to get our O moving". In most big games, our O got worse as the game went on. This points to coaches making adjustments and CW's inability to counter them. In both BCS games, our O got worse as the game went on. At OSU, we score fast and then sputter. At LSU, we score in first half and then LSU adjusts and shuts us down. CW should bring in a new Offensive Co-ordinator and turn over the play calling. I believe CW can run a great program, but he should let go of the play calling reigns. Charlie, get it fixed for 2008 because it is a make or break it year for you in South Bend.
SoCalDomer
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Good Navy post game thoughts. Prolly would have been good to add these to http://www.irishenvy.com/forums/fighting-irish-football/27755-post-game-thoughts.html
stonebreakerwasgod
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The way I feel as well.
stonebreakerwasgod
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I have issue with saying the team gave maximum effort. I don't buy that, but anyone is free to feel that, as that is subjective.
Then again, effort is one thing, results are another. I want results, not the good 'ol college try.
I think CW put too much faith in TT, who I guess is the 4th RB, and not enough faith in his kicker.
Then again, effort is one thing, results are another. I want results, not the good 'ol college try.
I think CW put too much faith in TT, who I guess is the 4th RB, and not enough faith in his kicker.
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Stoney,
Maybe I should say that this was the best effort of the season so far. They play with passion on both sides of the ball. I to do not understand the Travis goal line thing. I am wondering why we do not try Armando on the edge in that situation. His speed on the edge was giving them fits all day. But, we decide it is better to run up the gut again. PUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe I should say that this was the best effort of the season so far. They play with passion on both sides of the ball. I to do not understand the Travis goal line thing. I am wondering why we do not try Armando on the edge in that situation. His speed on the edge was giving them fits all day. But, we decide it is better to run up the gut again. PUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mlcspinner
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we simple have no Offense, or defense isn't very good, and we don't trust our special teams. Oh one more thing Questionable Coaching calls
mlcspinner
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2007 the year that will live in infamy
I have put in 35 years, and what wories me is that I'm NOT miserable. I'm not real optimistic about 2008. I'm not even sure ND will get by DUKE. I think it's gotten SO bad that I just start laughing. Having read a lot of these posts, I agree that the playcalling CW has displayed this year has been disturbing. He calls a very IMPATIENT game. Not aggressive, in my view. He doesn't have the patience to let his players win games. He seems to think HE is going to. Case in point, the FIRST stupid "go for it on fourth and way too much". The fake FG was ND's 16th play of the game. Leading up to that series, ND had run 7 seven plays, and racked up a TD and a 5 yard per play average. Then, as soon as ND enters the red zone, out came the passes! Dink pass complete to lose four. Two incompletes. And this from the NAVY 16 YARD LINE! Weis is infatated with pass first. He thinks this is the key to "pro style" offense. And he goes to the pass every chance he gets. When he had Quinn and experienced receivers, he got away with it. This year, he can't protect his QB's, his receivers aren't running precise patterns, and his QB's are misfiring and fumbling too much. I hope CW is learning a lot this season. Otherwise, unless someone comes up with the Mother of all buy-out funds, it's going to be a loong ten years.
IrishinTN
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Good Golly, miss molly. Words cannot express, so I won't even try. But this is easily the lowest I have ever felt as an Irish fan. And, yes, I am still a fan. A BIG one, but God, I am PISSED today.
Why, Charlie? Why not even try the frigging field goal?!? Arrrrrgghhh!!
Why, Charlie? Why not even try the frigging field goal?!? Arrrrrgghhh!!
stonebreakerwasgod
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Spinner is the ying, Goshen is the yang. 
D
doublehorn48
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Talks cheap...Charlie needs to prove himself....he lost the game today not the players
IRISHDODGER
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About the only point I agree with you on is that Schwaap is a non-factor.
The OL, IMO, showed zero improvement. Keep in mind that Navy has one of the worst defenses in the nation. They have not improved one iota since game one. They give me little, if any, hope for next year. I was hoping this game along w/ the next four would be great momentum going into next year. I was sorely mistaken.
The OL continues to frustrate me. Are the blocking schemes too complicated? Keep it simple, we're not in the NFL. Most of these kids are 4 & 5 star recruits who couldn't block a tackling dummy. Meanwhile, I see SEC teams w/ young OL that simply block the guy in front of them...assignment football.
Evan Sharpley showed us that Jimmy Clausen should be working at QB now in preparation for next year. He never failed to lock on to the primary receiver, thus telegraphing virtually every pass. He's a junior & should know when to throw the ball away vs. taking a sack.
The OL, IMO, showed zero improvement. Keep in mind that Navy has one of the worst defenses in the nation. They have not improved one iota since game one. They give me little, if any, hope for next year. I was hoping this game along w/ the next four would be great momentum going into next year. I was sorely mistaken.
The OL continues to frustrate me. Are the blocking schemes too complicated? Keep it simple, we're not in the NFL. Most of these kids are 4 & 5 star recruits who couldn't block a tackling dummy. Meanwhile, I see SEC teams w/ young OL that simply block the guy in front of them...assignment football.
Evan Sharpley showed us that Jimmy Clausen should be working at QB now in preparation for next year. He never failed to lock on to the primary receiver, thus telegraphing virtually every pass. He's a junior & should know when to throw the ball away vs. taking a sack.
I was wondering along the lines you folks are posting.
See if these sound familiar...
When did ND last run a pitch out? 2006? It sure worked for Navy today.
WHEN WILL WE EVER RECRUIT A COMPETENT KICKER????
Has CW given up on Sullivan learning to snap to the shotgun?
Didn't Walls play well against the run in the second half?
Isn't it hard to judge this defense when, every week except today, they suit up knowing that, if they don't pitch a shut-out, they lose?
Now that CW Year Three is gong the way it is, don't you start to wonder when the ominous rumbling about "How they treated TW" will start?
Can December 1 possibly come quickly enough?
See if these sound familiar...
When did ND last run a pitch out? 2006? It sure worked for Navy today.
WHEN WILL WE EVER RECRUIT A COMPETENT KICKER????
Has CW given up on Sullivan learning to snap to the shotgun?
Didn't Walls play well against the run in the second half?
Isn't it hard to judge this defense when, every week except today, they suit up knowing that, if they don't pitch a shut-out, they lose?
Now that CW Year Three is gong the way it is, don't you start to wonder when the ominous rumbling about "How they treated TW" will start?
Can December 1 possibly come quickly enough?
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G
goldenlid
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What does ND do when they need two yards or what is our money play?
ND does not have a clue at what to do and that to me as a fan is the worst part of the season.
Can anyone tell me why the bigger team could not move the smaller team?
ND does not have a clue at what to do and that to me as a fan is the worst part of the season.
Can anyone tell me why the bigger team could not move the smaller team?
SoCalDomer
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Sorry, can't tell you.
On the other hand...
The O line blocked well enough to notch up 193 yards on 42 carries (I count sacks against the PASSING game)
Most of the O line are sophomores and, at most, second year players, who, according to AARON TAYLOR and TOM PAGNA, didn't get enough pre-season and early season practice hitting.
The ONE coaching decision I wholly agree with has been the Clausen benching. He was taking a beating, and he CAN learn a lot watching. There was simply no reason to bang him up any more this year.
SoCalDomer
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We're already 1-8
Ops...not used to having to keep up with all these loses. After AF we will be 1-9. It's too bad ND didn't schedule Army this year.
johnnd05
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Well, I think most of what needs to be said has already been said. Three quick points, though:
1. Despite the numbers, I was unimpressed with the running game. As I think someone said earlier, the huge size differential between our guys and theirs made it so that all the line had to do was give a big shove, and the holes were there (see that fourth down conversion from early in the game). After that, though, it didn't seem like there was much in the way of downfield blocking, so guys were consistently being brought down after 4-5 yards instead of being able to break of really big gains. So I don't think that anything the o-line, or anyone else involved in run blocking, did today suggests any real improvement. They got an undersized opponent and pushed them around. Woohoo.
2. Sharpley threw the ball 27 times. That is WAY too many times. He was stunningly inaccurate, and missed a bunch of open receivers. There were some dropped balls as well, but the fact of the matter is that if Sharpley is going to be in there, it's going to have to be as a guy who basically does nothing but hand the ball off. Whenever I saw a third and long come up, I just hung my head, because I knew it wasn't going to happen ... the fact that we didn't just pound it - whether between the tackles or around the outside - on first and second in EVERY series seems like the biggest play-calling blunder of them all.
3. That was NOT the defense's fault. Navy had 250 rushing yards and 28 points in regulation - both well below their season averages. They had to punt the ball twice after doing that only nine times in their first eight games. No doubt we had serious problems stopping the option, but that was NOT the key issue. If we'd won 49-28, which we should have if the offense hadn't been so dreadful (see above), we'd all be praising Corwin and his boys for the job they did.
Anyway, ugh. What an awful game, what an awful season, what an AWFUL job by Weis. I'm done defending him, and I can't say I'm looking forward to next year much at all. (ND23, want to send along some of what you're drinking?) After that game, I've pretty much completely lost the confidence I had in his ability to turn this thing around.
Go Irish, though.
1. Despite the numbers, I was unimpressed with the running game. As I think someone said earlier, the huge size differential between our guys and theirs made it so that all the line had to do was give a big shove, and the holes were there (see that fourth down conversion from early in the game). After that, though, it didn't seem like there was much in the way of downfield blocking, so guys were consistently being brought down after 4-5 yards instead of being able to break of really big gains. So I don't think that anything the o-line, or anyone else involved in run blocking, did today suggests any real improvement. They got an undersized opponent and pushed them around. Woohoo.
2. Sharpley threw the ball 27 times. That is WAY too many times. He was stunningly inaccurate, and missed a bunch of open receivers. There were some dropped balls as well, but the fact of the matter is that if Sharpley is going to be in there, it's going to have to be as a guy who basically does nothing but hand the ball off. Whenever I saw a third and long come up, I just hung my head, because I knew it wasn't going to happen ... the fact that we didn't just pound it - whether between the tackles or around the outside - on first and second in EVERY series seems like the biggest play-calling blunder of them all.
3. That was NOT the defense's fault. Navy had 250 rushing yards and 28 points in regulation - both well below their season averages. They had to punt the ball twice after doing that only nine times in their first eight games. No doubt we had serious problems stopping the option, but that was NOT the key issue. If we'd won 49-28, which we should have if the offense hadn't been so dreadful (see above), we'd all be praising Corwin and his boys for the job they did.
Anyway, ugh. What an awful game, what an awful season, what an AWFUL job by Weis. I'm done defending him, and I can't say I'm looking forward to next year much at all. (ND23, want to send along some of what you're drinking?) After that game, I've pretty much completely lost the confidence I had in his ability to turn this thing around.
Go Irish, though.
Ultimate Penn St. Hater
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I think Weis really messed this one up. The two-point conversion call was just a really dumb call. Just my opinion, but thats what an "offensive genius" comes up with.? i'm pretty devastated that we lost that game today. Go Irish!
WaveDomer
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Just to play Devil's Advocate on a couple of plays: TT had scored from inside the 5 on the day. What would be the reaction if Sharpley had rolled out on the conversion and thrown an interception? Or any play that resulted in a missed conversion? (I'm not criticizing anyone who is down on Weis by the way. Just playing DA.) On the decision not to go for the game winning FG: we had already missed a 40 yarder and made a long 4th down conversion. (Just for the record, I don't agree with the call at all, just interjecting another viewpoint.) Whatever Weis's reasons for his playcalling are, he has them. Sitting with one win on the season, I doubt the reason is ego. I have to conclude that he thinks the play he calls is the best option. Despite the competitive nature of this game, we are still a team that struggles with fundamentals. (This is what really scares me in regards to coaching.)
You also have to credit Navy. They know who they are and what they need to do to win. 3 defensive stops and there is a chance. The sack at the end was a great defensive play. The touchdown pass in OT was brilliant.
This is a really tough year. I still get pumped on Sat. though. I don't know how we will look in 2 years or 5 years. That is unknown. What is known is that in 2 and 5 years I will be rooting for ND... unless I'm in the cold Earth.
You also have to credit Navy. They know who they are and what they need to do to win. 3 defensive stops and there is a chance. The sack at the end was a great defensive play. The touchdown pass in OT was brilliant.
This is a really tough year. I still get pumped on Sat. though. I don't know how we will look in 2 years or 5 years. That is unknown. What is known is that in 2 and 5 years I will be rooting for ND... unless I'm in the cold Earth.
NDsuperfan09
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IMO Clausen isn't healthy, and Weis decision not to play him proves that. Also Weis needs to hand the playcaling down to someone else. He is too damn stubborn calling plays.
kjones
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Agree with everything said here as the key points to the game. The run game was decent, but we couldn't break any big runs. Overall it looks good, until you consider just how much bigger we are. Watching the lines stand up next to each other before getting in their stances, our guys were ALL at least 4 inches taller and a good 40+ lbs heavier than the biggest Navy lineman. We could have done much better.
Sharpley, imo, looked terrible. His passes floated SO long in the air and were often wildly inaccurate. We in our section wanted a running play on the 2 pt. conversion simply because we didn't want Sharpley throwing another pass that would be easily anticipated or off-target. I remember one play he threw a quick out to Grimes, and the CB had time to run up all 10 yds and hit him before he had barely caught the ball. He had almost NO zip on any passes, and stared down several receivers in the same way the Jimmy detractors did. He also still tends to throw to the outlet passes a little too soon when other guys are open downfield. But perhaps he is coached to do this, it's just not always a good idea when you need more yards on a third down.
Play-calling...i don't think we need to talk about some of the bad calls. Overall, the calling was decent, but the mistakes were so glaring and elementary as to make even the staunchest of Weis loyalists wonder if he perhaps was drunk at the game? I mean, seriously, fake FG on 4th and 15 and it's a RUN PLAY? Not even a fake FG that's a pass from your starting QB who's the holder, but a freaking RUN PLAY? Absolutely retarded.
There's blame to go around though, Grimes drop to kill the last drive when the ball hit his hands while he was wide open comes to mind. I don't think you can hate on the defense though. They stopped Navy about 3 times? And I think that's about all you can expect against a team like Navy. You just have to capitalize, and we didn't.
I do somehow cling to belief that next year will be better, that the lessons will be learned and the snowball will stop rolling. I wonder how many games it actually takes to start a snowball like this? Was it sealed after Michigan? BC? Hopefully a fresh start with less mistakes can avoid this kind of travesty, because frankly, this freaking SUCKS.
Ah....another convert to that silly little thing that I like to call reality.
And to clarify something for a couple kool-aid drunks on here (not you john)....wanting good coaching for your team and being utterly
at an absolutely horrendous showing by the coaching staff over an entire year is NOT a failure to either be a fan or to "support the team." On the contrary - if you're not pissed beyond all belief at this coaching staff (CW) and seriously questioning their (his) abilities then I say your "fanhood" and support of the team should be questioned.
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