Sept 21 | Georgia

[Luckylucci]

Far from an expert and won't be listening to that podcast but it sounds like he's also just explaining the differences in zone versus gap/man blocking schemes. Which, IMO, is the biggest problem. I think we need more variety with our running scheme.

 

[IrishLax]

That's definitely a hang-up in the narrative. Nobody should have expected Quinn to be as good as Harry, because that would be nearly impossible, but it's hard to believe that he's forgotten how to coach OL at (at least) an acceptable level.

Far from an expert and won't be listening to that podcast but it sounds like he's also just explaining the differences in zone versus gap/man blocking schemes. Which, IMO, is the biggest problem. I think we need more variety with our running scheme.

I truly think a big part of the issue is how they're asking them to block. Short yardage you should just be firing off the ball at the person in front of you. Instead, we're pulling guys and the opponent just shoots the gaps. It's not some mystery why every time we do that our ball carrier gets met two yards in the backfield.

We also need to go away from always running out of the shotgun. Bottom line - there are a lot of obvious scheme deficiencies so who the hell knows whose "fault" some of the problems are.

 

[Irishize]

I truly think a big part of the issue is how they're asking them to block. Short yardage you should just be firing off the ball at the person in front of you. Instead, we're pulling guys and the opponent just shoots the gaps. It's not some mystery why every time we do that our ball carrier gets met two yards in the backfield.

We also need to go away from always running out of the shotgun. Bottom line - there are a lot of obvious scheme deficiencies so who the hell knows whose "fault" some of the problems are.

I think running zone is fine IF they can adjust to short yardage and fire off the line like Lucky said. Is it fair to say Quinn has ready-made talent to make NFL linemen vs converting kids from other positions when he was at cmu? I’m not a coach but wasn’t the OL supposed to be a strength this season? Even if NM is slanting & stunting...it’s still NM. One way or the other, it’ll work itself out

 

[Irishize]

Far from an expert and won't be listening to that podcast but it sounds like he's also just explaining the differences in zone versus gap/man blocking schemes. Which, IMO, is the biggest problem. I think we need more variety with our running scheme.

He spoke highly of both tackles firing off the ball. The guards & center were simply catching blocks and being pushed back into the backfield or, at best; maintaining the LOS vs moving it forward.

 

[Irishize]

Makes you wonder how Joe Staley and Jason Kelce ever overcame Quinn. He should have left them at TE and FB so they could've been Pro Bowlers at their original position instead of becoming practice squad meat.

I’m gonna go way out on a limb and assume Quinn had better talent to work w/ at OL at Notre Dame vs what he had at a MAC school. So kudos to what he did for Staley & Kelce...I hope they are forever grateful but then why couldn’t he have similar success w/ 4-5 star OL who aren’t ‘projects’? Or are you saying all those OL are all busts?

 

[Sherm Sticky]

I truly think a big part of the issue is how they're asking them to block. Short yardage you should just be firing off the ball at the person in front of you. Instead, we're pulling guys and the opponent just shoots the gaps. It's not some mystery why every time we do that our ball carrier gets met two yards in the backfield.

We also need to go away from always running out of the shotgun. Bottom line - there are a lot of obvious scheme deficiencies so who the hell knows whose "fault" some of the problems are.

Read...It's not all on the OL:

Breaking Down Notre Dame’s Early Season Short Yardage Futility

https://www.uhnd.com/football/2019/09/16/breaking-notre-dames-early-season-short-yardage-futility/?fbclid=IwAR0VU9eni9lhSULRp3T-mq6M_W-2gGHOLnpuP8Gq8FeiJ8_ESDQ4kSPYaWk

 

[ND NYC]

Better see some GREEN in that stadium on Saturday!

 

[ulukinatme]

.

 

[BobbyMac]

I’m gonna go way out on a limb and assume Quinn had better talent to work w/ at OL at Notre Dame vs what he had at a MAC school. So kudos to what he did for Staley & Kelce...I hope they are forever grateful but then why couldn’t he have similar success w/ 4-5 star OL who aren’t ‘projects’? Or are you saying all those OL are all busts?

What I'm saying is, he can develop AND coach OL's. And he can recruit too. He's proved it all in the MAC & a pretty good Big East at the time.

I'm not ready to say he can't coach at ND because I believe the prob is more in how he's being asked to coach in the BK/Long offense. 80% of the time when HH was in SB, I thought the line under performed for the same reason. 2017 they finally put it all together. The play calling played to the strengths of the leftside and the mobility of Bars. Besides that, seen a lot of underwhelming production out of "one of the best OL coaches" who had a lot of talent that he, Warriner, Latina & Verducci combined to put on the roster. I'm not foolish enough to believe HH was the problem.

I believe if you put HH and all of the ND recruits of the 2010's on to Wisconsin, the Badgers would have been better than they were.

 

[Greenore]

Hosted a High School reunion for the lads (39th)... missed the New Mexico game but looked up the score... I was ecstatic!

Visited IE and saw all the pessimistic comments... I was concerned.

Watched the game yesterday afternoon and I was puzzled?

In my completely uneducated opinion, the lads played so much better than the Louisville game. We have some great depth and I was so happy to see Lenzy, McKinley and some of the "new" faces step up and make big plays.

Is Georgia great... darn right, but I think (hope) we are right there with them and if the team comes together we will surprise a lot of people.

For the past two years it seems like we play to the level of our competition... in the end, a little bit better. Bring on the Dawgs and let's see the very best of The Irish!

Cheers and Go Irish!!

 

[Irishize]

What I'm saying is, he can develop AND coach OL's. And he can recruit too. He's proved it all in the MAC & a pretty good Big East at the time.

I'm not ready to say he can't coach at ND because I believe the prob is more in how he's being asked to coach in the BK/Long offense. 80% of the time when HH was in SB, I thought the line under performed for the same reason. 2017 they finally put it all together. The play calling played to the strengths of the leftside and the mobility of Bars. Besides that, seen a lot of underwhelming production out of "one of the best OL coaches" who had a lot of talent that he, Warriner, Latina & Verducci combined to put on the roster. I'm not foolish enough to believe HH was the problem.

I believe if you put HH and all of the ND recruits of the 2010's on to Wisconsin, the Badgers would have been better than they were.

So do you think it all came together in 2017 b/c Long was brought into run his offense and thus the play-calling fit the personnel better?

 

[Cali_domer]

Hosted a High School reunion for the lads (39th)... missed the New Mexico game but looked up the score... I was ecstatic!

Visited IE and saw all the pessimistic comments... I was concerned.

Watched the game yesterday afternoon and I was puzzled?

In my completely uneducated opinion, the lads played so much better than the Louisville game. We have some great depth and I was so happy to see Lenzy, McKinley and some of the "new" faces step up and make big plays.

Is Georgia great... darn right, but I think (hope) we are right there with them and if the team comes together we will surprise a lot of people.

For the past two years it seems like we play to the level of our competition... in the end, a little bit better. Bring on the Dawgs and let's see the very best of The Irish!

Cheers and Go Irish!!

120th in run defense vs. 8th rated rush offense= impending doom

 

[ND88]

I'm really getting crushed by the "Seven Days of Irish" routine right now. This is the part of the week where I start to believe everything is going to go ND's way, regardless of context.

We are currently on 'TUESDAY' of the following chart:


SUNDAY: PESSIMISM
We can't stop the run, we can't run the ball, we can't throw the ball deep, we're gonna die and it's gonna hurt.


MONDAY: PERCEIVED REALISM
We're probably going to lose a respectable game to a team that is a bit more well-rounded than our own. They run well, and we are inexperienced on the interior of our front 7. It's a bad matchup.


TUESDAY: TENTATIVE OPTIMISM
You know what, if we just scrap the run game and commit to airing it out, we might just win this thing. Use shallow crossers and screens as an extension of the run game on first down, then target Claypool deep or Finke at the sticks to move the chains.


WEDNESDAY: ROSE-COLORED GLASSES
We're gonna win the game. I feel good. ND is tired of The Narrative, and BK scripts a play sheet with the best of them. We ready.


THURSDAY: DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR
Fvck UGA and fvck the SEC. Long has been toying with them via film. We're gonna see two-back triple options and RPO's all day. Okwara is gonna have four sacks when we get a two-score lead. NATIONAL STATEMENT TIME.


FRIDAY: UNCERTAINTY
I've gone over every scenario in my mind, and I have no idea what's going to happen.


SATURDAY: TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
Just nerves and fear and excitement and agony and thrill and love for football and psychological torment. AND we have to wait a full day for the biggest game of the season through the conflicting emotions. Football is wonderfully terrible, or terribly wonderful.

This was creative and frightening in its accuracy. Nicely done.

 

[ND88]

120th in run defense vs. 8th rated rush offense= impending doom

Yeah, but, have you seen a sunrise lately?

 

[ND88]

Is this a strictly by the Book kind of game or does Phil get some Lenzy snaps?

 

[Greenore]

120th in run defense vs. 8th rated rush offense= impending doom

Yes sir. The stats don't lie. Lots of Irish missed TFL in the first two games... particularly up the middle. I'm optimistic/hopeful they come up with their best... similar to the 2017 game. Jawja is a great team. I think we are way under-valued in this game.

Cheers and Go Irish!!

 

[IrishFaninTX]

Hosted a High School reunion for the lads (39th)... missed the New Mexico game but looked up the score... I was ecstatic!

Visited IE and saw all the pessimistic comments... I was concerned.

Watched the game yesterday afternoon and I was puzzled?

In my completely uneducated opinion, the lads played so much better than the Louisville game. We have some great depth and I was so happy to see Lenzy, McKinley and some of the "new" faces step up and make big plays.

Is Georgia great... darn right, but I think (hope) we are right there with them and if the team comes together we will surprise a lot of people.

For the past two years it seems like we play to the level of our competition... in the end, a little bit better. Bring on the Dawgs and let's see the very best of The Irish!

Cheers and Go Irish!!

The fact we couldn't run the ball effectively against NM is concerning. And they were able to run fairly well on us. That's and concerning part. I think Book played better than many on this board but he still didn't play like he did most games last season. I just hope we can keep it close.

 

[stlnd01]

I truly think a big part of the issue is how they're asking them to block. Short yardage you should just be firing off the ball at the person in front of you. Instead, we're pulling guys and the opponent just shoots the gaps. It's not some mystery why every time we do that our ball carrier gets met two yards in the backfield.

We also need to go away from always running out of the shotgun. Bottom line - there are a lot of obvious scheme deficiencies so who the hell knows whose "fault" some of the problems are.

If we never ever again ran that stupid shotgun draw on third and short, I'd be fine with it.

 

[BobbyMac]

So do you think it all came together in 2017 b/c Long was brought into run his offense and thus the play-calling fit the personnel better?

A lot was made of Long & HH's walks discussing the offensive philosophy so I believe that had to help. A lot of it had to do with two Top 10 picks holding down the left side and a big back and running QB that could hit that hole and/or do damage in chunks.

 

[Ndaccountant]

I truly think a big part of the issue is how they're asking them to block. Short yardage you should just be firing off the ball at the person in front of you. Instead, we're pulling guys and the opponent just shoots the gaps. It's not some mystery why every time we do that our ball carrier gets met two yards in the backfield.

We also need to go away from always running out of the shotgun. Bottom line - there are a lot of obvious scheme deficiencies so who the hell knows whose "fault" some of the problems are.

At the end of the day, its up to BK to fix problems. That is what a "CEO" is supposed to do. He evaluates what is working and what is not, directs his staff to make the necessary changes. Long's "system" may suck, and that is clearly on Long. But it's also Kelly's job to help make it less sucky.

What is most astounding is if BK has already done what he could with the scheme, there was no reason to retain Long heading into this year.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Relevant to the OL debate, here's Murtaugh arguing that our RBs are a big part of the problem.

And to be clear, I'm not interested in "blaming the OL". I think we've recruited the position as well as any program in the country over the last 5-6 years, so it's obviously not a talent deficit. Thus, when we get repeatedly stuffed in short-yardage situations against inferior competition, it must be a coaching problem (which includes schematic issues). Perhaps Long is literally sand-bagging Georgia here, and is ready to bring out a bunch of quick-hitting stuff with Book under center or in the pistol. But we are going to get embarrassed by the Dawgs if Long doesn't change something up.

 

[Irishize]

Read...It's not all on the OL:

Breaking Down Notre Dame’s Early Season Short Yardage Futility

https://www.uhnd.com/football/2019/09/16/breaking-notre-dames-early-season-short-yardage-futility/?fbclid=IwAR0VU9eni9lhSULRp3T-mq6M_W-2gGHOLnpuP8Gq8FeiJ8_ESDQ4kSPYaWk

Wright whiffed bad down by the goal line. Book also needs to work on his QB sneak.

 

[Circa]

Does everyone know more about our coaching than the coaches themselves? It's funny because everyone doesn't know the players we recruited like the coaches we have. These kids are different. 88' men talking to 19' kids worried about the style of their hair more than the Saturday that will make them famous.

 

[koonja]

If you guys want to shit your pants, read Jamie's breakdown at ISD.

https://irishsportsdaily.com/s/10437/scouting-report-georgia/1

 

[greyhammer90]

Watching the UGA Vanderbilt game, Robertson is going to be a problem.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Wright whiffed bad down by the goal line. Book also needs to work on his QB sneak.

I guess you and I are the only IE members who read that article, which actually provides visual proof the blame can’t be totally laid on the OL. Actually the OL did what they were supposed to do. It’s the QB, TE’s and RB’s that were the issue on those short yardage plays. But, everyone on IE wants to place blame on the OL without using their brains and digging into the play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Luckylucci]

I guess you and I are the only IE members who read that article, which actually provides visual proof the blame can’t be totally laid on the OL. Actually the OL did what they were supposed to do. It’s the QB, TE’s and RB’s that were the issue on those short yardage plays. But, everyone on IE wants to place blame on the OL without using their brains and digging into the play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There are several posts/posters in here saying it’s more than that. In fact, you quoted Lax’s post where he said as much. Not sure what you’ve been reading.

 

[SouthernIndianaNDFan]

Watching the UGA Vanderbilt game, Robertson is going to be a problem.

While Robertson is a legit concern, he's like the 7th player I'm most worried about on OFFENSE lol. Pickens and Blaylock are ridiculously good. Pickens looks like AJ Green, and it isn't just because of the UGA uniform, it's because they're both 5* monsters that are tall and uber athletic. Dude can go up and get it...and he's 18 yo. Those RBs are borderline unfair, their 4th best RB would be ND's best RB by a mile. Swift and Zamir are NFL starters, Cook will be a rotational guy, and Herrien may even mess around and get taken on Day 3. They're loaded, I'm just hoping that it isn't like Clemson last year, and that the key plays go NDs way. We can't afford to give them the momentum early in their house. BK and Co have to find a way to get on the board early and stay in the game. If we can go into halftime within striking distance, I really like our odds. GO IRISH.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Sept 21 | Georgia

There are several posts/posters in here saying it’s more than that. In fact, you quoted Lax’s post where he said as much. Not sure what you’ve been reading.

Eeeeee...I took what Lax wrote as it’s the scheme run by the OL, which would point the blame on the OL. If you read the article and look at the visuals it states a different story. Saying all that maybe I just misunderstood LAX’s statements and point in his post.

Lax mentioned that the OL shouldn’t be pulling in short yardage and should just fire off at the snap. I’m looking at the stills in the article by Greg and it doesn’t look like the OL are pulling and that they are indeed firing off straight ahead. But, maybe I’m totally not interpreting the pictures correctly.

Anyway my point was that it doesn’t seem like anyone on IE read the article by Greg. And are being lazy by just putting the blame on the obvious candidate which is the OL. Lax didn’t respond and no one else had a reaction or opinion or anything else regarding the article other than Irishive and myself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tussin]

And to be clear, I'm not interested in "blaming the OL". I think we've recruited the position as well as any program in the country over the last 5-6 years, so it's obviously not a talent deficit. Thus, when we get repeatedly stuffed in short-yardage situations against inferior competition, it must be a coaching problem (which includes schematic issues). Perhaps Long is literally sand-bagging Georgia here, and is ready to bring out a bunch of quick-hitting stuff with Book under center or in the pistol. But we are going to get embarrassed by the Dawgs if Long doesn't change something up.

Is this a thing? Do coaches actually get so meta that they are setting up opponents 3-4 games down the line? Can anyone think of clear-cut examples where ND did this in the past?

This feels like something that internet people talk about that doesn't actually happen in reality. Could be completely wrong though.