Sep 5 | Texas

[Irish YJ]

I think it's going to depend on field position to open the first series. If we start out around the 40 or better I can see BK trying to get a quick strike. If its the 30 or inside, I think you'll see some conservative plays until we get better position.

First TD, CJ Sanders 95 yard return

 

[dublinirish]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/CoachBrianKelly">@CoachBrianKelly</a> remember in game of throne a storm came & hodor was all hodor hodor bc he was scared well youre hodor and we're the storm</p>— Chuck F'n Strong (@ChuckFnStrong) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChuckFnStrong/status/639414851652087808">September 3, 2015</a></blockquote>
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[BGIF]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/CoachBrianKelly">@CoachBrianKelly</a> remember in game of throne a storm came & hodor was all hodor hodor bc he was scared well youre hodor and we're the storm</p>— Chuck F'n Strong (@ChuckFnStrong) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChuckFnStrong/status/639414851652087808">September 3, 2015</a></blockquote>
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More like a sun shower!

 

[wizards8507]

I want play action for a TD first play

Not me. I want 14 plays, 10 runs and 4 passes. Six first downs and 8:00 of clock.

 

[PANDFAN]

Donnie Corley unofficial......ambry Thomas and Jaylen Kelly-Powell for an unofficial visits

 

[NDdomer2]

Not me. I want 14 plays, 10 runs and 4 passes. Six first downs and 8:00 of clock.

See that's perfect drive #2 after a 3 and out by the D.

 

[Irish#1]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/CoachBrianKelly">@CoachBrianKelly</a> remember in game of throne a storm came & hodor was all hodor hodor bc he was scared well youre hodor and we're the storm</p>— Chuck F'n Strong (@ChuckFnStrong) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChuckFnStrong/status/639414851652087808">September 3, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Would be funny to see a BK Tweet saying he doesn't watch that pretend stuff and that this is going to get real, real fast.

 

[dublinirish]

https://notredame.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1798596

KeiVarae Russell Eager For Return To Glory
Lou Somogyi
BlueandGold.com Editor

Talk about it in Rockne's Roundtable
Senior cornerback KeiVarae Russell is not one to wear his emotions merely on his sleeve. Rather, it's on every limb of his body and in every fiber of his being. So when even Russell admits he will need to dial it down a notch emotionally for Saturday night's opener against Texas, it speaks volumes.

After sitting out the 2014 season because of findings from an academic probe that exiled him from the Notre Dame campus, the always loquacious Russell has returned with a purpose and vengeance. For more than a year, the three dates he has looked forward to the most, and even used as his hash tags on social media, were his re-admittance to Notre Dame this past June, the start of football practice on Aug. 7, and the Sept. 5 opener versus the Longhorns.

"The adrenaline is going to be a rush, probably more than it's ever been," said Russell, who started all 26 games in 2012 and 2013 as a freshman and sophomore. "I've been playing this game since I was nine years old, but I'm pretty sure this moment, the adrenaline, it might shock me a little bit.


Senior cornerback KeiVarae Russell has never hid his emotions about his passion for excellence.

"I'll probably have to relax myself and not get myself bigger than the game. I think that's what I'm going to have to do when I go back to the tunnel before we really run out around 7:40. I'll probably have to tell myself to relax a little bit, enjoy the game, you've been doing this for a while … "

Russell is tied with senior left tackle Ronnie Stanley and junior linebacker Jaylon Smith for the most career starts on the team with 26 apiece. His objective is to join the two projected first-round NFL picks in that category as well. Russell and Stanley also are Exhibit A of how Notre Dame could have named at least five more captains in addition to the record-tying five it already has now (along with the 1995 and 2007 teams).

Upon Russell's suspension in August 2014, Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick told him that he actually had been selected as one of the captains for that season, a sign of how much he was respected by his peers and the staff. This season, Russell doesn't need the "C" on his jersey to maintain or validate a commanding role. His leadership is manifested foremost by not holding against grudges and eliminating all rear-view mirrors in his life.

"Of course there is always bitterness — but it's more so bitterness about myself because I put myself in a situation to be sat out for an entire year," Russell said. "It was tough for me to sit back and watch them succeed, but it was also tough to sit back and watch them fail. You want to be a part of both, actually. It's crazy to say that but if you're a true teammate you really believe that."

In August of 2012, Russell's emergence from a running back/slot prospect to a Freshman All-American corner on Notre Dame's 12-1 team was one of the top individual stories of the season. Thus, he has no doubts that his game will be at a much higher level three seasons later.

"As a true freshman you didn't know what to expect … especially in Ireland," recalled Russell of the season opener that year versus Navy. "I really didn't know what I was doing. They just threw me in there and I had to figure it out. With 26 games under my belt … let the game come to you. Now it's just go out and unleash it."

One concern with Russell is he might be almost too eager about his return, which can lead to a temptation to do too much and result in losing team focus while getting burned.

"Not at all," replied Russell. "The way [Brian] VanGorder's defense is set up, the big plays will come. You just have to make sure your eye progressions are right, make sure your technique is flawless … especially with a player of my caliber.

"I'm not worried about trying to make a big play. You guys know me. I'm confident in my ability, I'm confident I can dominate anybody I go against. They have to go through me to make a big play. If they attempt that big play, they better hope I'm not on that side because there's a chance I might make that big play happen."

When head coach Brian Kelly made the comment a few days into training camp that Russell had maybe a little more rust than he might have anticipated, the supremely confident senior said it's all relative to expectations and his ability. It's like a football program reaching a point where a 10-2 regular season is considered a disappointing campaign.

"When you try to be the best, you have to critique every little thing," Russell said. "When I first came, I was a good corner already. I'm already good enough to go out there and start for any team — but I wasn't the best … We're not trying to be just a good corner; we're trying to be the best in the land. I was a good corner my sophomore and freshman year. I'm trying to be a great corner. Anything that's not great, we'll consider rust."

 

[Irishman77]

I just hope our defense takes the field first. Last thing I want is a delay of game and a 3 and out to deflate the atmosphere.

I want to see the defense fly around to settle the team and get the coaches into a rhythm.

Once we settle in we dominate. 31-13!

My biggest fear is the same as always...Kelly tries to do to much and abandons the running game.

 

[Irishcop]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/CoachBrianKelly">@CoachBrianKelly</a> remember in game of throne a storm came & hodor was all hodor hodor bc he was scared well youre hodor and we're the storm</p>— Chuck F'n Strong (@ChuckFnStrong) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChuckFnStrong/status/639414851652087808">September 3, 2015</a></blockquote>
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This is a pretty funny tweet however I truly believe that ND gives Texas the Michigan treatment. *37-0. Go Irish!!!!!!

 

[RDU Irish]

I just hope our defense takes the field first. Last thing I want is a delay of game and a 3 and out to deflate the atmosphere.

I want to see the defense fly around to settle the team and get the coaches into a rhythm.

Once we settle in we dominate. 31-13!

My biggest fear is the same as always...Kelly tries to do to much and abandons the running game.

I said it elsewhere but I agree - Kelly needs to defer for a change given Texas' budding disaster at O-Line and incredibly young team. Play off the emotion and atmosphere and then let Malik come in and cram a TD drive down their throat.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

Texas has a good defense and Malik has a lot to prove in the passing game. I could see this looking like a ND vs Stanford game or ND vs Mich St where they put 8 in the box and make Malik beat em in the air.

 

[RDU Irish]

Are you talking about the 2012 game where we fumbled three times and Golson ran 15 times). The one where Stepfan Taylor rushed for 102 yards on 28 carries behind the monster Stanford O-line? If you are comparing the defenses, it is only fair to admit that Stanford offense was light years better than what Texas is bringing in Saturday. Our defense doesn't have to be as good as 2012 to keep these guys in single digits.

Forcing a three and out on the opening drive probably means we take over at the 30 or 40. Good way to start out a field position battle if that is how you see it playing out. Malik can chuck it deep, you think none of those pay off all day?

Besides, I think we have a lot more weapons at our disposal in the passing game than we did in that game.

 

[dublinirish]

Why Notre Dame football's Ronnie Stanley returned; Walkthrough - College Football - SI.com

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

I'm so hyped right now and it's Thursday morning, why is time linear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????

Folston looks like he knows a secret in his interview. He looks so confident, it's scary. I'm guessing he hits the century in this first game.

 

[koonja]

I like Folston's voice. Sounds like a straight gangster. Actually sounds like rapper Gorilla Zoe.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Ian Boyd just published an article titled "Inside the Gameplan: Notre Dame":

Everyone has their stress points, and they vary from team to team depending on scheme, personnel, and context. When it comes to game planning against a team like Notre Dame, understanding their stress points and having a strategy to attack them is everything.

In their formulation of maneuver warfare and “blitzkrieg” tactics, the Germans emphasized the concept of the “schwerpunkt” which translates literally as “hard point” and more accurately as the focal or decisive point.

The Germans wanted to concentrate numbers at the schwerpunkt, win at that decisive place, and thus roll up the opponent regardless of what was happening elsewhere. For years Stoops’ Oklahoma teams always understood where the schwerpunkt was for crushing and rolling up the Texas offense. “If we just blitz the nickel here against the zone read and bracket this guy on 3rd down…”

You can focus on talent accumulation and having a team that simply knows how to execute the system but that will only take you so far if the game plan doesn’t attack or defend the schwerpunkt, especially against a team with comparable or better talent.

Self-scouting: Where are the opponents looking to concentrate?

Texas has very obvious points that enemies will look to focus on in order to shred and collapse the entire Longhorn effort. On offense it’s the likely inability to avoid penetration when opposing teams bring pressure. As Charlie noted in his presser,

“Here I am as a defensive coach, if I see two freshmen linemen, I’m going to blitz you every snap and see if​they can block you.”

When you also add the consideration that Texas’ QBs are Tyrone Swoopes, who didn’t throw tons of picks but had terrible ball security and took a lot of sacks when pressured last year, and Jerrod Heard, to whom working in the pocket and making progressions is still a new concept, you have a recipe for disaster.

You might wonder why UT’s staff would determine that the best way to protect these guys is with an OL laden with true freshmen but the reality is that Texas was going to struggle in pass protection in 2015 whether Charlie played freshmen or not.

The only chance Texas has is if they can run the ball, punish the blitz in that way, and keep opposing pass-rushers from teeing off. That’s why Vahe is starting and Perkins is out at right tackle.

On defense, Texas has a very similar weak spot. We talked early in fall camp about Texas playing more 4-3 base personnel against the Irish in order to keep senior Jinkens on the field but in light of further developments from camp it now looks as though this would be a weaker lineup for the Longhorn defense.

With that lineup, Texas has Hughes potentially lined up across from a tackle or tight end where he can be easily targeted and his lack of size and strength at the point of attack can hurt him, you have the veteran Jinkens on the edge, and you have two freshmen trying to maintain interior gaps in Malik and Freeman. Understanding blocking schemes and run fits is one of the tougher jobs on defense and linebackers don’t have just all day to figure it out and get their hats in the right places. You’ll often see a slower kid who knows what he’s doing play faster than an athlete at linebacker simply because reaction time is so essential.

Notre Dame wants to run the football, and Texas’ best option for countering its run game is not to line up and out-execute them with base personnel.

The best base defense for Texas in 2015 is generally going to be this one:

Nickel personnel, 3-3 pre-snap alignment, and Jinkens on the field in place of Freeman. Don’t get too caught up in the blitz paths of this particular diagram but note the match-up assignments of Texas’ players.

The DL are filling gaps between the tackles with the Tank (the nose) filling the a-gap and looking to command a double team. Ford or Ridgeway is stunting into a 3-tech alignment, and Shiro is looking to anchor the edge.

Hughes and Malik are versatile defenders but they’re both probably going to be at their best in 2015 when blitzing, as they are allowed to do here. In this instance they get to take either edge and keep the ball funneled inside.

On the inside you have Jinkens and Hall, two players that have lateral quickness and veteran experience in fighting through the wash, ready to clean up anything that gets through the first wave. The three best receivers are matched up by the corners and nickel, Haines is playing prevent on top of everything, and Jinkens and Hall take the running back and tight end if they run routes.

This is a much more sound look for Texas that gets better personnel on the field and in the best position to both attack opponents and to withstand counters. Because Strong and Bedford are big on disguise and versatility you’ll see Jinkens be used on the blitz, Hughes used in coverage, and Malik doing a manner of different things but the 5-man pressure, two men playing clean-up, and single high safety match-coverage structure is going to be Texas’ best base defense in 2015.

Finding the schwerpunkt on the Irish side

Notre Dame’s offense is absolutely loaded. They have a big, talented, and veteran OL, they have skill players of different shapes and sizes, multiple effective backs, and some solid ancillaries at TE to help them all out.

The one area that could cause their system to collapse is the ability of Malik Zaire to execute the passing game from the pocket.

That means that the Texas defense needs to follow a pretty standard path to rolling up the Notre Dame offense: Stop the run, force passing downs, and then target Zaire’s inability to win from the pocket.

The 5-2 structure provided above represents Texas’ best bet for stopping the Irish running game, the concern is what happens if Notre Dame comes out in double TE sets to encourage Texas to get base personnel on the field and then executes their QB run game all day long?

Texas needs to be ready to throttle these types of sets from the Irish and load up the box with as many defenders as it takes to force Zaire to have to throw the ball on early downs rather than being able to safely pound the ball on the ground. If Texas can’t handle double TE formations from Notre Dame, this game probably isn’t going to go very well.

If they can, and can regularly get Zaire in passing downs, then the strategy can get interesting. QBs that lack comfort throwing from the pocket and like to move around are pretty vulnerable to clever defenses.

Sometimes they can be destroyed with gut pressure that flushes them out to wide contain players, but Texas has another potential strategy for handling them.

Texas tried this strategy with Jake Waters and it didn’t work too well, but it did yield results against Trevone Boykin. Basically, Vance dropped three deep pass defenders, four underneath zone defenders armed with knowledge of how to take away the opponent’s favorite routes, and then a spy on the QB.

If Zaire wants to try and step up and escape the pocket, he’s going to be tracked by a more athletic foe, which he is surely unused to…and the predator will be eager to collect his first trophy. If you’ll remember back in 2009, Colt McCoy was undone when he went up against Ndamukong Suh and discovered that he couldn’t roll out of the pocket fast enough to evade the “house of spears.”

This is often a tremendous shock that totally panics and ruins a mobile QB, when he finds that every time he uses his legs things get worse and muddier rather than better and clearer. Jefferson can do that to Zaire by sitting in a shallow zone, spying his eyes, and then tracking him down every time he tries to use his legs to find passing or running lanes.

For the Texas offense, the schwerpunkt could be found in one of two places, going up the middle against a DL that has lost its star nose tackle or working in space against a cast of safeties and nickels that haven’t proven the ability to cover and tackle speed in space.

Since the Irish are likely to both shore up their interior DL and look to pressure and destroy the Texas offense with 5-man pressures (just as Texas will likely do on running downs against them), that leaves the best place for UT to concentrate on punishing Notre Dame in space.

If Traylor has brought any of his better jailbreak screens from Gilmer, now is the time to use them to get the ball in the hands of Foreman or Daje. There is little reason for Texas to try and get the tight ends on the field to help to block Notre Dame’s blitz package either. They (the TEs) are not that great at it, there are too many weak spots in the Texas protections to shore up, and that won’t hammer the Irish schwerpunkt regardless.

The key will be getting speed on the field, giving Swoopes tons of easy reads to get the ball out quick, and forcing the Irish to choose between spreading out to handle Texas’ speed on the perimeter or focusing their firepower in the middle of the field where Texas is vulnerable. If the Irish spread wide to avoid getting ripped by Foreman, Daje, or MJ, then Texas can hammer the ball in the middle with Gray.

With a clean game from the Texas offense, and some unexpected savvy from the Longhorn D in matching up against bigger formations and a challenging run game, Texas could win the decisive battles in this game that will result in victory on the scoreboard.

Fail to concentrate at the right points and Notre Dame’s superior talent and experience will teach the underclassmen and Texas staff a hard lesson to start out this season.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Ian Boyd just published an article titled "Inside the Gameplan: Notre Dame":

Great article, thanks for posting. I'm so amped up right now, I'm just excited to watch a bunch of 3rd rate teams square off this evening.

 

[Luckylucci]

I really think that Strong is going to throw a lot at Malik and I'm very curious to see how he handles it. My sense is that they'll put some wrinkles in there that shake him a bit and then calms down to shred them. With that said I think I'm more worried about Texas's D than a lot of fans are.

 

[Wild Bill]

Ian Boyd just published an article titled "Inside the Gameplan: Notre Dame":

That means that the Texas defense needs to follow a pretty standard path to rolling up the Notre Dame offense: Stop the run, force passing downs, and then target Zaire’s inability to win from the pocket.

The 5-2 structure provided above represents Texas’ best bet for stopping the Irish running game, the concern is what happens if Notre Dame comes out in double TE sets to encourage Texas to get base personnel on the field and then executes their QB run game all day long?

Texas needs to be ready to throttle these types of sets from the Irish and load up the box with as many defenders as it takes to force Zaire to have to throw the ball on early downs rather than being able to safely pound the ball on the ground. If Texas can’t handle double TE formations from Notre Dame, this game probably isn’t going to go very well.

If they can, and can regularly get Zaire in passing downs, then the strategy can get interesting. QBs that lack comfort throwing from the pocket and like to move around are pretty vulnerable to clever defenses.

They're going to load the box, no doubt. I would give them a heavy dose of misdirection in the first half. They're playing with a true frosh at Mike and another young backer at Will. They're going to be amped up, they're going to cheat and look in the backfield and they'll be easily deceived. Their one or two missteps give our O-line a split second longer to get to the second level so we can run the ball effectively even with eight in the box. They'll hit on a few blitzes b/c the plays take longer to develop but they won't do it consistently. The offensive line is just too big, too strong, too good.

IMO, misdirection in the passing game would work well too. Give me play action with Malik booting out to either run or hit easy targets running crossing routes. Their LBers are really talented but they're too young to diagnose and cover if we execute. Their heads will be spinning.

If we have success early with the run, Strong will be all over the entire defense to provide run support. Then we can let our RB playing QB strike over the top to Fuller.



...I'm pumped. Pass the fucking kool aid.

 

[Cali_domer]

I really think that Strong is going to throw a lot at Malik and I'm very curious to see how he handles it. My sense is that they'll put some wrinkles in there that shake him a bit and then calms down to shred them. With that said I think I'm more worried about Texas's D than a lot of fans are.

This game freaks me out because Texas has nothing to lose and has TALENT. We are hyped(Ranked high and picked by some to be a playoff team) again and that usually ends horribly for us.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Don't get freaked out, man!

 

[zelezo vlk]

This game freaks me out because Texas has nothing to lose and has TALENT. We are hyped(Ranked high and picked by some to be a playoff team) again and that usually ends horribly for us.

Malik sounds confident but not ignorant. I really believe that he's a gamer and wants to win against everyone. I'd be surprised if the team is unprepared.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[Whiskeyjack]

This game freaks me out because Texas has nothing to lose and has TALENT. We are hyped(Ranked high and picked by some to be a playoff team) again and that usually ends horribly for us.

If we don't handle Texas convincingly, we're in for a very long season. We've got plenty to be optimistic about in this match-up.

 

[GrangerIrish24]

I don't understand why people get worried about stuff like this. Kelly ,on paper, has built a top ten team. For whatever scheme they have, there is always a counter. Its football. You line up, you play. If we lose, it is because somewhere we didn't execute. They could possibly have a good defense, but we could possibly have a phenomenal offense.

 

[Cali_domer]

If we don't handle Texas convincingly, we're in for a very long season. We've got plenty to be optimistic about in this match-up.

How many times has this exact line been said the last 6 years with Kelly at the helm? Going back even farther with Weis. We should be _____ ,but something always happens.

 

[woolybug25]

How many times has this exact line been said the last 6 years with Kelly at helm? Going back even farther with Weis. We should be _____ ,but something always happens.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

If we don't handle Texas convincingly, we're in for a very long season. We've got plenty to be optimistic about in this match-up.

I'm going to argue that no game is a single indicator of whether or not we have a good team. Teams have difficulties all the time. tOSU stumbled out of the gate against VT then nearly lost to PSU in OT, then nearly lost to Minnesota before finding their stride.

I won't read too much into our performance Saturday night. Unless it's great, then I'll inexplicably claim we have X number of first rounders and we're going to stack the awards on the way to the playoffs.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

How many times has this exact line been said the last 6 years with Kelly at helm? Going back even farther with Weis. We should be _____ ,but something always happens.

I'm not guaranteeing a victory, or predicting a playoff run this year. My point is that your snake-bitten attitude (while not wholly unjustified) is no way for a fan to approach the new season. There are much scarier games on our schedule than Texas. If you can't even muster some optimism about this match-up, might as well pass on the whole season.

 

[GrangerIrish24]

I won't read too much into our performance Saturday night. Unless it's great, then I'll inexplicably claim we have X number of first rounders and we're going to stack the awards on the way to the playoffs.

Damn straight!