Sept 21 | Georgia

[stlnd01]

Exactly. This game trumps all those middling bowl wins over LSU. This is a top 5 opponent which ND hasn’t beaten since 2005. Add in the fact it’s an SEC powerhouse and it’s at their vaunted home stadium, it adds even more luster. BTW, Fromm has never lost at home.

BTW, Book has never lost on the road.

 

[ACamp1900]

Are you advising the hypothetical fan I invented as an example of a stereotype how to act like a man?

To be clear.... The last thing any of us IE refs how is how to act like a man,....

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Of all those, I’m least concerned w/ the DEs. They’ve faced two running QBs who, when they did pass; took 3 steps & chucked it. They never went thru a progression & ND knew they couldn’t pass efficiently so they dropped the DEs into coverage a lot.



Against Fromm, they’ll finally face a traditional drop back passer who will go through his progressions. The caveat is that they’re also going against the best OL in the nation. Okwara, Kareem & Hayes can make a lot of money Saturday night if they can get to the QB often against that OL.

I agree with this and I would add Ade to the list of DE’s who could cause havoc.

During today’s press conference a reporter brought up the lack of sacks from The de’s. Kelly stayed they are not at all worried. The staff has reviewed the tapes and the QB’s average amount of time holding the ball before throwing is less than 2 seconds. That’s crazy and makes it nearly impossible to sack a QB. You need the QB to hold onto the ball for 3 seconds to have a chance at a sack. Which Fromm will do as you mentioned. He is the prototypical pocket passer, who will go through his progression. Hopefully UGA is also very conceded about how good their OL is and not leave backs and TE’s to help blocking, in which the ND de’s will feast.


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[irishtrooper]

You weren’t. I think they just got more specific w/ the tiers. I’d throw tOSU, UGA & OU into that top tier as well moving Nd to tier 2.

My thoughts as well. Games like this could get us invited to the top tier. My view if you really need to put us in a third tier. Clemson is right now by itself in the top tier. Bama was housed and embarrassed by them last year. Add to that Bama was outplayed for nearly the entire GA game last year in the SEC championship game, they’re not in Clemson’s tier either

 

[Ndaccountant]

BTW, Book has never lost on the road.

Okay. But he only has beaten one team that has finished the year ranked and has never beaten a team that has finished the year in the top 15.

I believe that BK has only beaten one team that finished in the top 5, that was MSU in 2013. Of course, that win has been vacated.

 

[IrishLax]

I think the negativity overrunning the board comes from 3 mindsets, which are not necessarily exclusive:

1) Part fact. We are double digit underdogs. That usually goes poorly.

2) Part guarding hearts against hoping so you can't be hurt. "If I keep reminding myself we are going to lose, this will sting less."

3) Part wanting to gain some perverse enjoyment of the likely loss by being able to claim that at least you were correct in your assessment. The dark side of the ego and the id, but this definitely happens.

For me it's all #1. I give zero shits about moral victories or being "right." It's just my honest assessment that the most likely outcome is a bloodbath. I am hoping and praying that I'm wrong, and that the offense we've seen for two weeks was all a giant ploy to lure Georgia into a false sense of security. But I literally don't know how you win this game with that running scheme and production.

FWIW, if you took the exact same ND team and told me were just going to chuck it all over the field Mike Leach style I'd give us a puncher's chance. But that's not what we do. If ND is going to score 21+ it would be by taking a lot of risks in the air and everyone executing.

The other issue is that our ILB play has been as bad as expected. People keep talking about the "hold" on Drew White like that's an excuse. He gets completely swallowed up by the center and shows zero ability to shed the block and get to the hole well before he gets grabbed at all. That's a center for New Mexico. What happens when its Ben Cleveland?

I legitimately think ND can... and very well may... win every other game on the schedule. But I just think we're a full tier behind Georgia with weaknesses in all the wrong places.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

For me it's all #1. I give zero shits about moral victories or being "right." It's just my honest assessment that the most likely outcome is a bloodbath. I am hoping and praying that I'm wrong, and that the offense we've seen for two weeks was all a giant ploy to lure Georgia into a false sense of security. But I literally don't know how you win this game with that running scheme and production.

FWIW, if you took the exact same ND team and told me were just going to chuck it all over the field Mike Leach style I'd give us a puncher's chance. But that's not what we do. If ND is going to score 21+ it would be by taking a lot of risks in the air and everyone executing.

The other issue is that our ILB play has been as bad as expected. People keep talking about the "hold" on Drew White like that's an excuse. He gets completely swallowed up by the center and shows zero ability to shed the block and get to the hole well before he gets grabbed at all. That's a center for New Mexico. What happens when its Ben Cleveland?

I legitimately think ND can... and very well may... win every other game on the schedule. But I just think we're a full tier behind Georgia with weaknesses in all the wrong places.

I see you didn’t mention Bilal for poor ILB play. Bilal was much better this past week than the first week. During Kelly’s press conference today he made it a point to note that Bilal played very good against New Mexico. Saying he played more free, read his keys and made the correct read the majority of the time. Much improved over the first week where he was thinking to much and was acting slowly as a result. Kelly said that Bilal has a lot of good “traits”. The more experience he has at ILB with those “traits” he is going to be a damn good player.

As for White Kelly mentioned he is a work in progress. He hasn’t “arrived” yet as Kelly put it. The reason why he is at at ting is because he is the best communicator and has good instincts.

Eventually I think Bauer will take hold of the mike position. Kelly notes that Bo played very well at ILB and on special teams this past weekend. Kelly stated in the past that Bo was a wild man playing with reckless abandon, in which he was out of his gaps and not in the correct spot. This was not the case for the most part against New Mexico. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bauer got more reps at UGA than White. Saying that I think White will start due to understanding the position better and his ability to communicate.


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[NDMIA]

There was a position group ranking of units at UGA in their preseason.

#1 OL
#2 CB
#3 RB
#4 S
#5 OLB
#6 ILB
#7 DL
#8 QB
#9 TE
#10 WR

Losing their #1 WR Jeremiah Holloman was a huge blow for this UGA team. If there’s something ND could potentially exploit it is the WR and TE units if that’s even exploitable. Yes, even if ND stacks the box on every single play, UGA might still rack up 5 yards a carry, but it’s worth potentially trying to force Jake Fromm to beat ND through the air. Offensively ND will hopefully be able to establish a run game but I think that’ll be tough cause the run defense at UGA is stout. Hopefully they can dink and dunk a little to offset the early pressure and craziness and then get into a rhythm offensively. Also, injuries...

Probable - WR - Demetris Robertson - limited practice
Probable - WR - Tyler Simmons - practiced with team
Questionable - OL - Isaiah Wilson - practiced in a limited way today
Questionable - DB - Tyson Campbell - huge news cause he’s a starter for them
Questionable - DL - Tramel Walthour - only his first practice back after weeks out injured. Unlikely
Doubtful - DL - Julian Rochester - medically cleared but still conditioning
Doubtful - WR - Kearis Jackson - broken hand. Practicing with club for now. Likely out for weeks

Now there’s plenty of guys who wear walking boots right up until kickoff but hearing that Tyson Campbell is wearing a walking boot today and not practicing is significant in that they’d probably be losing their #1 All American level CB. He’s a stud so that’d be a big loss.

 

[Irish YJ]

There was a position group ranking of units at UGA in their preseason.

#1 OL
#2 CB
#3 RB
#4 S
#5 OLB
#6 ILB
#7 DL
#8 QB
#9 TE
#10 WR

Losing their #1 WR Jeremiah Holloman was a huge blow for this UGA team. If there’s something ND could potentially exploit it is the WR and TE units if that’s even exploitable. Yes, even if ND stacks the box on every single play, UGA might still rack up 5 yards a carry, but it’s worth potentially trying to force Jake Fromm to beat ND through the air. Offensively ND will hopefully be able to establish a run game but I think that’ll be tough cause the run defense at UGA is stout. Hopefully they can dink and dunk a little to offset the early pressure and craziness and then get into a rhythm offensively. Also, injuries...

Probable - WR - Demetris Robertson - limited practice
Probable - WR - Tyler Simmons - practiced with team
Questionable - OL - Isaiah Wilson - practiced in a limited way today
Questionable - DB - Tyson Campbell - huge news cause he’s a starter for them
Questionable - DL - Tramel Walthour - only his first practice back after weeks out injured. Unlikely
Doubtful - DL - Julian Rochester - medically cleared but still conditioning
Doubtful - WR - Kearis Jackson - broken hand. Practicing with club for now. Likely out for weeks

Now there’s plenty of guys who wear walking boots right up until kickoff but hearing that Tyson Campbell is wearing a walking boot today and not practicing is significant in that they’d probably be losing their #1 All American level CB. He’s a stud so that’d be a big loss.

I've been trying to raise funds to send a stripper with mono to Athens, but it's hard being a pimp in the dirty south.

 

[Ndaccountant]

I've been trying to raise funds to send a stripper with mono to Athens, but it's hard being a pimp in the dirty south.

I bet Hugh Freeze could help you.

 

[Irish YJ]

I bet Hugh Freeze could help you.

Hugh found Jesus at Liberty. At least for another year when another dirty club offers him moe money.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Has Fromm ever played anyone at home?

Seriously. The East is trash and they play Florida neutral site every year. I guess he has played Auburn?

Good question, here are there matchups since 2017 at home. (not including FCS and non-Power 5 OOC games):

2017:
vs. Mississippi State (9-4) W 31-3
vs. Missourah (7-6) W 53-28
vs. South Carolina (9-4) W 24-10
vs. Kentucky (7-6) W 42-13

2018:
vs. Tennessee (5-7) W 38-12
vs. Vanderbilt (6-7) W 41-13
vs. Auburn (8-5) W 27-10
vs. Georgia Tech (7-6) W 45-21

With Fromm at QB, Georgia hasn't had an close game between the hedges. That being said, their biggest win in those games was probably against Mississippi State, who was pretty good but outside of a surprising blowout win over LSU early in the year, didn't really play well against the best competition. They held tough against Bama at home, but were embarrassed by Auburn and of course Georgia, and also lost a head scratcher to Olay Miss.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this ND team is the toughest team to roll into Athens since Bama came to town in 2015.

 

[ThePiombino]

Dang, I thought this was hyperbole. I did not realize we were 120th ranked against the run. I knew we had issue but wow. Only worse P-5 team is Georgia Tech who gutted their staff and pretty much hit the reset button.

Ranked 68 overall. Not like our schedule has been hard. Woof

What do people expect? Over the last two years, we lost two elite backs to the draft and did nothing to restock the cupboards. Jury is out on Armstrong, but if he can't stay healthy does it even matter? I'm sorry, but none of our remaining backs are studs. TJJ is solid, but would he even get any burn at Clemson, Bama, or Georgia? Forget about the rest. They'd be lucky to make the practice squad at those schools.

EDIT: I'm an idiot and read that completely wrong. Talking about the wrong side of the ball. Still, my point stands. I'm less concerned with the run D than the run O. A lot of our run D issues stem themselves in the youth at the position. Once we can find a way to get Bilal off the field, we'll give another young buck chance to learn the system. We'll be fine by the end of the year, question is will it be enough this weekend? Hope so.

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[ThePiombino]

Question: Why is it not OK to want your team to win, but expect them to lose?

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[Irish#1]

During today’s press conference a reporter brought up the lack of sacks from The de’s. Kelly stayed they are not at all worried. The staff has reviewed the tapes and the QB’s average amount of time holding the ball before throwing is less than 2 seconds. That’s crazy and makes it nearly impossible to sack a QB.


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Don't let coaching analysis get in the way. Our DE's haven't sacked the QB and they were projected to have at least 20-25 after two games.

With all of the subpar LB talk, anyone pining for Joe Schmidt right now? lol

 

[Irishize]

There was a position group ranking of units at UGA in their preseason.

#1 OL
#2 CB
#3 RB
#4 S
#5 OLB
#6 ILB
#7 DL
#8 QB
#9 TE
#10 WR

Losing their #1 WR Jeremiah Holloman was a huge blow for this UGA team. If there’s something ND could potentially exploit it is the WR and TE units if that’s even exploitable. Yes, even if ND stacks the box on every single play, UGA might still rack up 5 yards a carry, but it’s worth potentially trying to force Jake Fromm to beat ND through the air. Offensively ND will hopefully be able to establish a run game but I think that’ll be tough cause the run defense at UGA is stout. Hopefully they can dink and dunk a little to offset the early pressure and craziness and then get into a rhythm offensively. Also, injuries...

Probable - WR - Demetris Robertson - limited practice
Probable - WR - Tyler Simmons - practiced with team
Questionable - OL - Isaiah Wilson - practiced in a limited way today
Questionable - DB - Tyson Campbell - huge news cause he’s a starter for them
Questionable - DL - Tramel Walthour - only his first practice back after weeks out injured. Unlikely
Doubtful - DL - Julian Rochester - medically cleared but still conditioning
Doubtful - WR - Kearis Jackson - broken hand. Practicing with club for now. Likely out for weeks

Now there’s plenty of guys who wear walking boots right up until kickoff but hearing that Tyson Campbell is wearing a walking boot today and not practicing is significant in that they’d probably be losing their #1 All American level CB. He’s a stud so that’d be a big loss.

UGA is going to get their yards make no mistake. It’s about when ND can make a stop. Kind of like an MLB pitcher scattering 9 hits while pitching a shutout. Force some turnovers & make some 3rd down stops. Swift will be running in the open...just contain him. Who cares if they go over 275 yds rushing as long as ND can win?

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

I'm happy I'll be out of the country during this game. I don't have to watch any of a potential blow out and if we somehow pull off the upset I can go back and watch a condensed version later.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

If ND somehow pulls the upset I don't see a team on our schedule that should even compete with us besides Michigan.

Not to look ahead and get too far down that rabbit hole with the biggest game of the year coming up, but if we DID get the win, I'm still very worried about next week. Apparently you haven't paid any attention to UVA under Bronco Mendenhall the past few years, but they are pretty darn good and the favorites to play Clemson for the ACC title. Plus the emotions after the biggest win for the program in seemingly decades screams let down 7 days later.

Question: Why is it not OK to want your team to win, but expect them to lose?

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It's not, this is where I'm at this week. Some are more realistic than others. Hard for me to ignore all the reasons why we are double digit dogs and simply point to ND's strengths as why we can win. Not saying we can't win, but it's not something I expect on Saturday.

Once we can find a way to get Bilal off the field, we'll give another young buck chance to learn the system. We'll be fine by the end of the year, question is will it be enough this weekend? Hope so.

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Finally, I really don't get the Bilal criticism at this stage, especially after the way he played this past Saturday, probably the best game I can recall him playing. Who else would we want to take a flier on before the biggest game of the season? Gimme a break.

 

[Wild Bill]

Has Fromm ever played anyone at home?

Seriously. The East is trash and they play Florida neutral site every year. I guess he has played Auburn?

He beat #17 Miss State at home in 2017 and #24 Auburn in 2018 (Auburn finished unranked, I believe).

Overall, you're right - Georgia's home schedule is underwhelming.

 

[NDdomer2]

Maybe just my opinion, but saying player x, y, or z played well against New Mexico does not equate to future success vs Georgia.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Maybe just my opinion, but saying player x, y, or z played well against New Mexico does not equate to future success vs Georgia.

That's fair but you also didn't offer an answer to my question. Who would you take a flier on before the biggest game of the year? He made several standout plays against inferior competition like a competent ILB is supposed to. Not saying he is an All-American, but he's likely the best we have at this point.

 

[rtrn2glory]

Question: Why is it not OK to want your team to win, but expect them to lose?

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This is me to the T.

I will be totally shocked if we win on Saturday. Spread being covered will be a mini win for us imo. sorry

 

[BobbyMac]

Question: Why is it not OK to want your team to win, but expect them to lose?

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64 out of 82 people polled on IE agree with you.

 

[Wild Bill]

I'm not optimistic ND wins this game but I'm not so sure they get the doors blown off them either.

If Georgia calls a good game, commits to the run, gets pressure on Book and wins the turnover battle, they could easily beat ND by three scores.

I'm just not confident Kirby and his staff call a good game. They have a tendency of shitting themselves and making bad decisions against quality opponents, i.e., shitting themselves against Texas and losing a winnable game againt bama with idiotic decision making/game planning. I could easily see them not commit to the run and make bad in game decisions.

I'm not so sure they put a ton of heat on Book. Their defense is talented but they are young and weren't great at getting after QBs last year.

ND has ballhawks on defense, Crawford, Alohi, Elliot, Hamilton, and some playmakers on the defensive line too. They can win the turnover battle.

ND lost by a point and had the ball with a chance to win at the end. That Georgia defense is better than the one ND will see on Saturday. That's largely irrelevant but it suggests ND can play with them.

My gut says Georgia by 10 or less but I wouldn't be shocked if Kirby calls a game that ND can steal, the defense makes a few plays and ND escapes with a one or two point win.

 

[ND88]

No one expected us to have the season we did last year, yet we did. Strange shit happens.

Odds are rightfully not in our favor for this game. We should lose and potentially by a lot.

It’s perfectly fine to have that perspective.

It’s also perfectly fine to have the perspective we can win because the game isn’t strictly odds or even because you don’t want to carry a negative perspective.

Strange shit happens.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

I'm just going to put this here:

Bulldogs safety J.R. Reed said Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book reminds him of Johnny Manziel.

 

[irish4ever]

Yep. **** happens all the time! And Muck Fichigan while we're at it!

 

[Wild Bill]

I'm just going to put this here:

Bulldogs safety J.R. Reed said Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book reminds him of Johnny Manziel.

Book has a drug problem?

It's always something with this fucking team.

 

[BobbyMac]

I'm just going to put this here:

Bulldogs safety J.R. Reed said Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book reminds him of Johnny Manziel.

Throw at JR Reed because he's under the influence.

 

[koonja]

Woke up, feeling a little woke.

Starting to smell Irishy around the house.

Starting to get a really good feeling about the Irish for Saturday.

Going to sleep on it one more time.