Reasons we lost.

[FrankMA]

Just my opinion here.

1. Redzone execution was horrible. Penalties, turnovers, missed FGs, and horrible OL drive blocking.

Yes, that is an understatement. How can a team, which has one of the highest rated offenses in the country, have 4 or 5 chances in the red zone where they don't score a point? One FG would have won the game.

 

[JefMaj]

Not as good as we wish we were.

 

[Domer4ever]

Everyone wants Tenuta's head now? When are we going to hold the head coach accountable for the defense? I haven't seen a good defense from ND since the Charlie years have began!
.

While that is true, I think Weis thought this season he had turned the defensive reigns over to a guy in Tanuta who he had total cofidence in,and it would allow him to concentrate strictly on the offensive side of the football as once again the offensive playcaller. The offense has lived up to billing, the defense has sputtered all season, no matter what it is they have tried to do (blitzing, not blitzing, tackling) and that falls on Tenuta because the reality is HE IS IN CHARGE. Weis will make all the improtant team decisions and will ultimately be held responsible, but Tenuta is completely in charge of that defense and what they are doing or not doing.

 

[tankjeep]

In a nutshell.

The team did not perform on either side of the ball in the first half, thus giving Navy the only chance they had to win... a short game.

The defense was not sharp, and the offense simply wasn't physical enought to finish a drive. The coaches were responsible for both on these things. NAvy, on the other hand, executed for the full 60 minutes.

When a team with as much physical advantage as ND hed today gets beat, it is usually about the coaching.

really? we played much better in the 2nd half and held them to 9 points.

 

[Bubba]

Too bad we can't play two 2nd halves every game!!

 

[tankjeep]

Too bad we can't play two 2nd halves every game!!

so true, but i was just pointing out that navy did not play great for a full sixty minutes.

 

[Bubba]

Tank, that wasn't directed at you. I'm just frustrated with the fact that this team comes out flat often. It has to change. I'm not sure what it is. Attitude? Do they think they are better than the other team without proving it? The sense of urgency is just not there. I watched the USC - ASU game last night. Even though ASU didn't win, you could see they wanted it from the beginning. They ran hard, gave effort. That's all I want out of this team. Effort. From the beginning. No team is going to lay down for you, so treat them all as if they can beat you ... because they can.

 

[GDomer09]

Reasons we lost:

1. Outside of Teo, the defense is filled with guys that would have no business starting for most other big time college programs. QUOTE]

Other than everything IrishAddiction stated, this by far is the main reason we have lost and came close to losing all year. If you have good players, the defensive schemes don't matter as much. We are not recruiting highly touted D players, minus Teo. So the question is Who is responsible for D recruits?

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

Our offensive line has come a long, long way. Latina set these guys back so far, but Verducci is making strides. However, the fact that we can't come out in goal line situation and just impose our will on the other team is disheartening. I am putting up my "Fire Mendoza" flag again because we look weaker than other teams. From my couch, we look significantly weaker - not just along the offensive front, but across virtually the whole team.

I am not talking Asaph Shwap bench press strength that doesn't amount to a hill of beans in games - I am talking footbal strength where our Oline can just move a pile anytime they decide to do so. Especially against smaller teams. I don't fault the kids, I fault the staff. Latina going was a huge step. Now let's get rid of the giant Grimace-looking guy that runs the S&C program (I know it is a personal knock, but...really, the guy looks like Grimace from McDonald's).

I would take these guys to the Chesterton Dunes and have them running with sandbags and engine blocks and pushing cars and pulling airplanes. Have them push blocking sleds while convicted felons beat them with baseball bats. Anything to make them stronger, meaner, tougher.

FIRE MENDOZA!!!

 

[IrishAddiction]

Reasons we lost:

1. Outside of Teo, the defense is filled with guys that would have no business starting for most other big time college programs. QUOTE]

Other than everything IrishAddiction stated, this by far is the main reason we have lost and came close to losing all year. If you have good players, the defensive schemes don't matter as much. We are not recruiting highly touted D players, minus Teo. So the question is Who is responsible for D recruits?

I personally find it very odd that you both mentioned Teo....... as being the one Defensive player that did well. I cant say anyones effort on defense was good yesterday. Maybe Ian Williams, but even he had some misques giving ground on double teams. Teo has all the physical skills, that is for sure, and mentally he is catching on, but he definately made some freshman errors yesterday that i seen.

I seen him at least three times go in and try to tackle Dobbs on the option, letting the pitch man go for 30 yards. The pitch man is his responsability, unless tenuta has a very odd scheme against the triple option. Defensive end has QB/FB mesh point, Mike and DT also share responsability on the FB.

They just did not play their keys well at all the first half. Did not get off blocks. Got blown off the line. Safeties didnt come up and hit on run support. It made me miss Zibby, he put them navy runners in their place when he was here. 2nd half they did much better, but it was too late.

Tate should have touched the ball more in the 1st half. Redzone execution must be addressed because it has been poor all year. Its just unacceptable.

 

[BillyIrish]

1. Navy flat out wanted it more and kicked our butt on all sides of the ball! This team did not show up and frankly got embarrassed!

2. 51 pass attempts! Are you kidding me? Weis did not even attempt to run the ball at any point during the game. This is a Navy team that got gashed by TEMPLE on the ground the week before. The simple fact that it is Navy should be enough that our first priority would be to establish dominance up front. An absolute joke of a game plan. Charlie played right into Navy's hands.

3. The D had so many breakdowns, both mental and communication breakdowns. Was B. Smith on the same planet? He isn't alone. As the leader though a lot is on his shoulders.

4. Kicking game, redzone offense, and penalties. Intangibles. Did not have a single check mark in that category.


The Mids did everything they needed to do to win this game. They deserve all the credit. They earned this win.

Go Irish!! Beat Pitt!!

 

[weisbank4]

4th and Goal From the 3

4th and Goal From the 3

Just another game where you go back to a odd decision. How many did we lose by again?

 

[Big23Head]

It was early either that I was ok with the decision down by 14. the OL needs to get the ball in way before 4th and 3 happens IMO.

 

[neags23]

Considering two previous field goals were missed, and you've got 5 offensive linemen that outweigh the D-line by 50 lbs a man (approximately), I'm okay with that decision. You should be able to get 3 yards there no problem.

One caveat to this is that I actually don't remember what the play call was. If it was anything other than a run through the middle, it was probably a poor play call.

 

[weisbank4]

It was early either that I was ok with the decision down by 14. the OL needs to get the ball in way before 4th and 3 happens IMO.

I agree with you to an extent. But I also see the really good NFL coaches get that 3 points on the board when its early in the game. I admit I will say "oh just go for it" a lot of times but this was the 3 yard line. This wasnt 4th and goal from the 1. To me it was a obvious passing down for ND and Navy knew this.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

Not as good as we wish we were.

Bingo

I've been reading "stuff" all preseason and during the season that I believed was overly optimistic. Remember, my ND friends, I have said all along that this is a .500 team. And I have said it too much these last 24 hours.

I hope we win, but I just don't see it. I think they blew their wad in San Antonio. Special teams have been a farce since CW arrived. Fix it dude. Once and for all.

 

[GDomer09]

I personally find it very odd that you both mentioned Teo....... as being the one Defensive player that did well. I cant say anyones effort on defense was good yesterday. Maybe Ian Williams, but even he had some misques giving ground on double teams. Teo has all the physical skills, that is for sure, and mentally he is catching on, but he definately made some freshman errors yesterday that i seen.

I seen him at least three times go in and try to tackle Dobbs on the option, letting the pitch man go for 30 yards. The pitch man is his responsability, unless tenuta has a very odd scheme against the triple option. Defensive end has QB/FB mesh point, Mike and DT also share responsability on the FB.

They just did not play their keys well at all the first half. Did not get off blocks. Got blown off the line. Safeties didnt come up and hit on run support. It made me miss Zibby, he put them navy runners in their place when he was here. 2nd half they did much better, but it was too late.

Tate should have touched the ball more in the 1st half. Redzone execution must be addressed because it has been poor all year. Its just unacceptable.

1. Teo is a Freshman
2. He hit Dobbs 1 sec after he tossed it. Hardly his fault.
3. He was given assignment and his assignment was laying on the ground behind the line of scrimage much more than the rest of the teams assignments.

 

[irishfan]

I personally find it very odd that you both mentioned Teo....... as being the one Defensive player that did well. I cant say anyones effort on defense was good yesterday. Maybe Ian Williams, but even he had some misques giving ground on double teams. Teo has all the physical skills, that is for sure, and mentally he is catching on, but he definately made some freshman errors yesterday that i seen.

I seen him at least three times go in and try to tackle Dobbs on the option, letting the pitch man go for 30 yards. The pitch man is his responsability, unless tenuta has a very odd scheme against the triple option. Defensive end has QB/FB mesh point, Mike and DT also share responsability on the FB.

The defense that ND has used in previous years against the option was to have the safeties take the pitch-man. I haven't watched a replay of the game and honestly half the D looked confused enough where I couldn't tell what ND was trying to defensively, but I'm guessing the pitch-men were McCarthy's and Sergio's responsibilty.

 

[BGIF]

The defense that ND has used in previous years against the option was to have the safeties take the pitch-man. I haven't watched a replay of the game and honestly half the D looked confused enough where I couldn't tell what ND was trying to defensively, but I'm guessing the pitch-men were McCarthy's and Sergio's responsibilty.

Through all this conversation, I've seen no mention of Ethan Johnson. People had lauded or trashed mostly trashed every other defender. I can't say that I heard his name called in the game. He wasn't listed as a starter but the offiial stats list him as having played but he had NO Tackles recorded.

I posted this in the gameday thread Saturday but don't recall any responses. Did he play or was he missing? I didn't hear Weis mentioning him at all either.

 

[irishfan]

Through all this conversation, I've seen no mention of Ethan Johnson. People had lauded or trashed mostly trashed every other defender. I can't say that I heard his name called in the game. He wasn't listed as a starter but the offiial stats list him as having played but he had NO Tackles recorded.

I posted this in the gameday thread Saturday but don't recall any responses. Did he play or was he missing? I didn't hear Weis mentioning him at all either.

I saw him out there a couple plays after they announced the lineup, but was shocked that he wasn't starting. Honestly I was so focused on Dobbs and the fullback I wasn't paying too much attention to who was where on the d-line.

 

[GOLDENISTHYTATE]

GDomer09 said exactly the right thing, when you are playing defense against an option offense, it is assignment defensive football, and it takes just one guy not doing what he is supposed to do to screw everything up. If we hit the QB, we better have a guy right there to hit the pitch man. This is crap you learn in high school, and there are no excuses for our defense.

BGIF, Ethan was out there a lot during the game, I saw him on his butt most of the time though. Kid couldn't avoid a cut block for the life of him.

I haven't heard anyone really mention this and I have no problem saying this because I am so upset we lost to Navy that I don't even want to watch the rest of the season. Michael Floyd really let us down today, he had at least four drops, two of which were in the endzone, and apparently he didn't hear Clausen's cadence telling him to run a slant when he was blocking for God knows what. His drops in the endzone and that bonehead interception that was his fault certainly were one of a few deciding factors that sealed our fate. Weis said that he was going to use Floyd in a limited fashion during the game, whether to protect him or because he was a little rusty, and the latter certainly proved true. If you are not fit to play, and for whatever reason, get the hell off the field. I love Floyd and am more than glad that he is back, but there is no excuse for someone of his talent to have played the way he did. His stats were great for the game, but only one stat matters, and that is winning. And unfortunately, Floyd hurt that stat on Saturday.