Sep 28 | Oklahoma

[koonja]

They had the ball for 10+ more minutes, had 125 more offensive yards, forced 3 TOs and had 25 first downs to our 12.

They were clearly better than us in more than just the TO department. They could sustain drives, we could not (see 1st downs).

And TOs aren't just bad luck all of the time. They had guys flying around the ball, they were in the right spot, they forced the TOs with pass rush and good coverage. Playing the if game with TOs is silly IMO, because they were making the plays with good pressure and tight coverage.

Not to sound like a D-bag or a couch coach, but if you don't think they weren't the better team all around, then you're making excuses IMO.

 

[palinurus]

They had the ball for 10+ more minutes, had 125 more offensive yards, forced 3 TOs and had 25 first downs to our 12.

They were clearly better than us in more than just the TO department. They could sustain drives, we could not (see 1st downs).

They forced one TO; the other two were from crappy passes. And ten minutes of possession is partially the result of the last two TOs. Our short pass defense was, and has been, a problem. But they had no long runs and no long passes. Two first downs, at least, were on penalties. Take out two gimme TDs and it's a different game; not saying ND would have won, and everything afterwards is different, I know, but they had a huge impact -- it wasn't clear quality. And I am hardly biased, as most here will attest.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

Are people serious about the taking a knee thing? Rees was terrible all day. Could have easily been a turnover giving Oaklahoma a chance for a quick score.

Ok, except our first play from scrimmage in the third quarter was a GA TD. Could have put it in the ground a couple times before half and see what happens.

 

[Grahambo]

You live by the Rees, you die by the Rees. He's enough to beat mediocre teams and occasionally good teams. He's a lower B1G, top MAC team talent. Nothing wrong with that and certainly not a knock. An 8-4 to 10-2 season is what most of us expected. If you're gonna be a one dimensional QB, you have to have great accuracy and strength, he is average at best.

EG makes a difference in these 2 losses; ND wins yesterday if EG is back there.

 

[johnnycando]

You live by the Rees, you die by the Rees. He's enough to beat mediocre teams and occasionally good teams. He's a lower B1G, top MAC team talent. Nothing wrong with that and certainly not a knock. An 8-4 to 10-2 season is what most of us expected. If you're gonna be a one dimensional QB, you have to have great accuracy and strength, he is average at best.

EG makes a difference in these 2 losses; ND wins yesterday if EG is back there.

You nailed it.

Blake Bell isn't near the passer Tommy is, IMHO.

But when the pocket breaks down, he was able to obtain three or four first downs. That's the dynamic we lack. That's why we beat Pitt last year. That's why we beat other teams last year which eventually meant a Natty bid.

That's what we lack.

 

[Grahambo]

You nailed it.

Blake Bell isn't near the passer Tommy is, IMHO.

But when the pocket breaks down, he was able to obtain three or four first downs. That's the dynamic we lack. That's why we beat Pitt last year. That's why we beat other teams last year which evently meant a Natty bid.

That's what we lack.

He's not even a threat to run and is slow stepping up in the pocket. With Bell in, our D had to hesitate at the line a lot which bought an extra second or two for him to allow the play to develop. This is why EG makes a difference. He not only has a cannon for an arm and is a threat vertically but you have to respect his mobility. 3rd and 3 you know the crossing pattern is coming and Rees is not rushing for the 1st down. He also lacks strength to fit the ball in tight spaces.

Random: Redfield needs PT.

 

[tko]

He's not even a threat to run and is slow stepping up in the pocket. With Bell in, our D had to hesitate at the line a lot which bought an extra second or two for him to allow the play to develop. This is why EG makes a difference. He not only has a cannon for an arm and is a threat vertically but you have to respect his mobility. 3rd and 3 you know the crossing pattern is coming and Rees is not rushing for the 1st down. He also lacks strength to fit the ball in tight spaces.

Random: Redfield needs PT.

I expect it really, really soon, especially after Farley's weak attempt at a third down stop in the fourth quarter where he got trucked. He showed little effort or desire on that play.

 

[Grahambo]

I expect it really, really soon, especially after Farley's weak attempt at a third down stop in the fourth quarter where he got trucked. He showed little effort or desire on that play.

Its been like two straight weeks I've heard how close he is. His athleticism is better then all the S on the roster. He cant lineup pre snap any worse so lets get that athleticism in there!

 

[Irish#1]

And another re-post.

I'm in the camp that this was a very winnable game. We spotted them 14 points in three minutes and were still within striking distance in the fourth quarter. Our defense played its best game of the year and so did the running game. The trouble was three picks, a couple of defensive breakdowns and that pathetic display of passing in the fourth quarter. Put Everett Golson back there at QB and I think we win today. If blaming someone for a loss is important to you, don't forget to include him.

We were right back in it at 14-7. The third INT is what finally did us in. Once again, Tommy tried to fit two passes in where he should have looked somewhere else. Those passes are the ones that has gotten him in trouble in the past. I would have thought he would have learned this by now.

I loved how we ran the ball. GAIII finally ran like he meant it. For the most part our defense did well. If we don't throw the third INT, this game would have went down to the wire.

 

[Irish#1]

They had the ball for 10+ more minutes, had 125 more offensive yards, forced 3 TOs and had 25 first downs to our 12.

They were clearly better than us in more than just the TO department. They could sustain drives, we could not (see 1st downs).

And TOs aren't just bad luck all of the time. They had guys flying around the ball, they were in the right spot, they forced the TOs with pass rush and good coverage. Playing the if game with TOs is silly IMO, because they were making the plays with good pressure and tight coverage.

Not to sound like a D-bag or a couch coach, but if you don't think they weren't the better team all around, then you're making excuses IMO.

They forced one TO; the other two were from crappy passes. And ten minutes of possession is partially the result of the last two TOs. Our short pass defense was, and has been, a problem. But they had no long runs and no long passes. Two first downs, at least, were on penalties. Take out two gimme TDs and it's a different game; not saying ND would have won, and everything afterwards is different, I know, but they had a huge impact -- it wasn't clear quality. And I am hardly biased, as most here will attest.

I was going to reply with the same comment, but decided to finish reading the posts first. I will give OU the first TO, but the second two INT's were all on TR. The D did a great job for most of the game. If we only have the first INT, we're in a position to win the game.

 

[VadersbrOU]

I was there in 99 and the crowd and a young team without much depth loss their momentum in the 4th quarter . As ND took over.

I was there last year and Golson's feet , Manti and the ND fronts and safeties were the difference .

I think OU wins if they get pressure out of their new 3-4 alignment . The D ends are an upgrade and there are a lot of fast athletic newcomers in the secondary .
They will get after Tommy and maybe pick some poor throws.

Blake Bell has experienced deep O line with a stable of playmakers . He can see over the line and read coverages which should be a good match up if ND continues to keep those 2 safeties back . I think he will keep drives alive with his feet as Golson did.

ND wins if their fronts dominate again . Tommy has time to complete the deep ball . Last year Golson scared me , this year it's George Atkinson that scares me .

I think ND needs turnovers to slow OU down as I believe the Sooners have the speed edge . OU has to get off the field on 3rd downs . Which for ND -convert those 3rd downs as they did in Norman.

The team that executes the best in the Red Zone will win .

My prediction is 34-28 OU )( with a defense or special team TD)

Should be a great game!

Great Game ! ND is classy and I hope you guys win out . My wife refuses to talk about the game , and she is still 2-1 against me .

 

[irishtrinity]

Don't forget we had 3 timeouts when BK chose to take a knee. That was infuriating - especially since OK got the ball back to start the 2nd.

I know. I love BK, but god I wish I could call the plays. When your tryong everything to win you use all the time you have.

 

[ulukinatme]

Kap took to Twitter last night defending Rees, and takin' it to the fans raggin' on him as well as those that decided to leave the OU game early. Love that guy, and his leadership is missed this year.

 

[Big Oil Okie]

Just got home after a 20 hour drive, sitting over night, and then flying back home. I'm exhausted. Anyways, you guys were great on here before the game, wanted to give my thoughts.

Campus:
-Overall, it was beautiful, if I could design the idyllic college campus, it would be ND's
-It was bigger than I expected for a college of <15,000 total students. It's comparable to OU with more than twice that enrollment.
-Campus was busy Friday afternoon when we showed up, walked in the stadium tunnel and from there just wondered. There were people everywhere - I wondered if it was Dad's Day or Mom's Day, or something else.
-Lots of golf carts, everywhere.
-There was a nice sense of community, you know, the whole "God, Country, Notre Dame" saying is seen from an outsider. I remember walking around wishing OU had that close of an overall atmosphere.

Stadium:
-We sat in Row 4 (which we found out was actually the 2nd row) right behind the ND trumpets. Good for some plays, not so good for many.
-Very small seats. That first pick 6 I got so exhcited I jumped up (was already standing) and when I fell I landed on the bench in front of me and losing my balance nearly took out the girl in front of me. Certainly the couple beers I had before the game helped that, but seemed a little outdated.
-No Jumbotron?! I knew this going in, still kind of shocked me.
-But, I loved how when you're in the stadium, you can't see anything else (except TD Jesus)
-Fans generally great; may have ignored me more than anything, but no one really said anything bad ever.
-I was expecting a 5-6 on a 1-10 scale for the games' atmosphere. I now give it an 8+.
-The celtic music was awesome; not sure if I'd ever heard that before watching games.
-I was impressed with the OU fan turnout. I'd estimated 12-13k fans.

I went to the game with a ND buddy, among others. So my gain was his loss and that's put a damper on his mood.

Overall, I really enjoyed my visit. I left South Bend Sunday at 9am and just now got home, so I'm exhausted, but I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

There's more I'm missing, I'll try to post later.

 

[Kanye West]

Kap took to Twitter last night defending Rees, and takin' it to the fans raggin' on him as well as those that decided to leave the OU game early. Love that guy, and his leadership is missed this year.

I love Kap. But fans have the right to rag on Rees' performances, he has been garbage the last two games. You can criticize performances, and Rees was terribad.

 

[ulukinatme]

I love Kap. But fans have the right to rag on Rees' performances, he has been garbage the last two games. You can criticize performances, and Rees was terribad.

Uh, no, dude. This wasn't just some criticism. This was some serious **** coming from some Irish fans that make the fanbase look bad. Criticism is one thing, this isn't the way to treat a scholar athlete that's giving his all:

@pikkemys1 :Break both his legs pls @t_rees11

@t_rees11 you are literally the worst thing that has ever happened to Notre Dame
— David Ginand (@DavidGinand16)

Kyle Parker @PARKatron55 - @t_rees11 sits on the sideline and eats glue

Dougie Powers @dougie_powers - @t_rees11 you might be the worst qb in college history!#tommytryhard

@t_rees11 son do us a favor and walk away…just walk away…#awful — StepanOut (@StepanOut) September 28, 2013

turd Ferguson @rjhousley

@t_rees11 you are a poor excuse for An athlete and don't deserve to wear an ND Jersey.

Tony McGinley @mcguyrish - I mean @t_rees11 , you are just terrible today. You're a huge disappointment to The Irish program and the Irish fans. Put #12 in coach


There was a lot more than this, pretty brutal stuff throughout.

 

[GBdomer]

Can't believe we lost to this team.

 

[irishpat183]

....seriously.

How did we not beat this garbage team? Oh yeah...3 INTs by one of the "top 25 QBs in the nation"

 

[greyhammer90]

Mack Brown knows to run the ball.

 

[arrowryan]

because Tommy is the quarterback.

It would've been a similar outcome as 2012 if #5 was back there

 

[Bluto]

Mack Brown knows to run the ball.

...and play action and pump fakes. Yeesh.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

...and play action and pump fakes. Yeesh.

Still don't know why we don't see that more

 

[GBdomer]

Case McCoy is just as good as Rees. Texas athletically is the difference IMO. We might have better coaches but we don't have the athletes back there. We need to hit Texas harder and we seem to be doing that in 2015.

 

[arrowryan]

Case McCoy is just as good as Rees. Texas athletically is the difference IMO. We might have better coaches but we don't have the athletes back there. We need to hit Texas harder and we seem to be doing that in 2015.

I think it's Texas dominating the LOS more than anything. Notre Dame has just as many athletes as Texas IMO

 

[Ironman8]

I also think rivalry games are a different animal completely then when two unfamiliar or regular teams square off. Much more unpredictability in terms of outcome IMO.

How about a couple years ago when the 5-7 Texas team stomped the 10-2 Oklahoma team? Same thing as this. Weird things happen in rivalries - see us and our games with Michigan / USC.

 

[STLDomer]

Blake Bell ****in sucks

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

I also think rivalry games are a different animal completely then when two unfamiliar or regular teams square off. Much more unpredictability in terms of outcome IMO.

How about a couple years ago when the 5-7 Texas team stomped the 10-2 Oklahoma team? Same thing as this. Weird things happen in rivalries - see us and our games with Michigan / USC.

All of this could also be explained by three simple words: Big Game Bob

 

[GBdomer]

I think it's Texas dominating the LOS more than anything. Notre Dame has just as many athletes as Texas IMO

I disagree completely. Players? Sure but athletes no way, Texas is facking loaded with talent they just don't have a coach or a quarterback.

 

[Bluto]

Case McCoy is just as good as Rees. Texas athletically is the difference IMO. We might have better coaches but we don't have the athletes back there. We need to hit Texas harder and we seem to be doing that in 2015.

Disagree. We have athletes all over the place. Lack of execution and I hate to say it but bad game plans, play calling and personnel packages (Ishaq in coverage on 3rd and a million comes to mind) at times have a lot to do with how things have played out this season. Texas just looks really on point for a change.

 

[arrowryan]

I disagree completely. Players, sure athletes? No way

At what positions? I want to say it's a wash at quarterback but I haven't seen McCoy run.