Black Irish
Wise Guy
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Like everyone else on IE, I was flabbergasted & heartbroken by the loss to Michigan. The Irish did a lot of things right, but enough things wrong to lose it; won more battles but still lost the war. Many others have pointed out how both of these games have hinged on just a few mistakes, and that gives me reason to hope. Don't get me wrong, I don't blindly go about with shamrock-tinted glasses on. The rest of this season will be tough. The way the Irish are playing, nothing looks like a gimmee. If ND doesn't clean up its act, we'll be LUCKY to finish 6-6, and we could do worse. But, I seriously believe we can do better and turn the corner. So, for all of you that woke up with angry, bitter hangovers, here are my reasons to keep the faith.
1.) We aren't the only team that's struggling:
The 2 games I watched prior to ND were OSU & South Carolina. Both of these teams went in ranked (15 & 12, respectively) against teams they should've handled, easily. But OSU struggled all game against Toledo (!) and won by 6, while S. Carolina went down to the wire against Georgia only won by only 3. This may seem apples to oranges because both of these teams won while ND lost. But, remember, the Irish aren't the only team that's having a hard time and making mistakes; ours are just more spectacularly bad.
2.) ND is making a lot of (correctable) mistakes:
The mistakes are bad and costly; but most can be fixed. DBs not looking for the ball while in coverage, shoddy tackling (saw a few plays where a Michigan ball carrier went through 4-5 defenders before he went down), too many penalties, and shoddy special teams play. These thing can all be fixed or at least minimized with some work. This biggest problem is turnovers, especially with Rees. That, to me, looks simple. Brian Kelly should have Tommy write on a chalkboard 100 times "I will not throw into double coverage, especially on 1st down, unless the game is on the line."
3.) Improved play calling:
Brian Kelly has 2 pretty decent RBs but seems to have only 2 running plays; 1 for each of them. Michigan showed that even a sub-par defense can stuff your run game if you punch it between the tackles EVERY TIME. Try a sweep, a draw play, or how about a WR reverse for Floyd, which would be a thing of beauty. Even if these plays aren't big yardage gainers, they will put opposing defenses on notice that, even if they are 100% sure ND is running, they still have to spread out and defend the whole LOS rather then just tackle-to-tackle.
4.) Make adjustments:
I likes that the Irish D was aggressive against Michigan early, putting pressure on Robinson and getting sacks and INTs. When UM is down big in the 4th quarter, you know Denard is going to have to toss bombs to try to gain big yardage which is what happened. So why didn't they play more guys in coverage as a result? I know Denard burned ND for lots of run yards last year, but everyone knew that wasn't going to happen with UM down 10 points in the 4th. Put more Irish defenders in coverage to take away the long ball (and tell Gray to turn around and LOOK!). If Denard takes off to run, so what? Let him burn the time on a run. You have a bunch of guys playing coverage who should be able to close, contain, and tackle. Make adjustments on both sides of the ball based on the situation you're in.
I don't know everything, but I do know that this Irish team is more talented and capable than this 0-2 start suggests. If Kelly & company can make some adjustments and improvements, we can make a solid run for the rest of the season, finish in the rankings, and play (and win) in a bowl game. Keep the faith and go Irish!
1.) We aren't the only team that's struggling:
The 2 games I watched prior to ND were OSU & South Carolina. Both of these teams went in ranked (15 & 12, respectively) against teams they should've handled, easily. But OSU struggled all game against Toledo (!) and won by 6, while S. Carolina went down to the wire against Georgia only won by only 3. This may seem apples to oranges because both of these teams won while ND lost. But, remember, the Irish aren't the only team that's having a hard time and making mistakes; ours are just more spectacularly bad.
2.) ND is making a lot of (correctable) mistakes:
The mistakes are bad and costly; but most can be fixed. DBs not looking for the ball while in coverage, shoddy tackling (saw a few plays where a Michigan ball carrier went through 4-5 defenders before he went down), too many penalties, and shoddy special teams play. These thing can all be fixed or at least minimized with some work. This biggest problem is turnovers, especially with Rees. That, to me, looks simple. Brian Kelly should have Tommy write on a chalkboard 100 times "I will not throw into double coverage, especially on 1st down, unless the game is on the line."
3.) Improved play calling:
Brian Kelly has 2 pretty decent RBs but seems to have only 2 running plays; 1 for each of them. Michigan showed that even a sub-par defense can stuff your run game if you punch it between the tackles EVERY TIME. Try a sweep, a draw play, or how about a WR reverse for Floyd, which would be a thing of beauty. Even if these plays aren't big yardage gainers, they will put opposing defenses on notice that, even if they are 100% sure ND is running, they still have to spread out and defend the whole LOS rather then just tackle-to-tackle.
4.) Make adjustments:
I likes that the Irish D was aggressive against Michigan early, putting pressure on Robinson and getting sacks and INTs. When UM is down big in the 4th quarter, you know Denard is going to have to toss bombs to try to gain big yardage which is what happened. So why didn't they play more guys in coverage as a result? I know Denard burned ND for lots of run yards last year, but everyone knew that wasn't going to happen with UM down 10 points in the 4th. Put more Irish defenders in coverage to take away the long ball (and tell Gray to turn around and LOOK!). If Denard takes off to run, so what? Let him burn the time on a run. You have a bunch of guys playing coverage who should be able to close, contain, and tackle. Make adjustments on both sides of the ball based on the situation you're in.
I don't know everything, but I do know that this Irish team is more talented and capable than this 0-2 start suggests. If Kelly & company can make some adjustments and improvements, we can make a solid run for the rest of the season, finish in the rankings, and play (and win) in a bowl game. Keep the faith and go Irish!
