Sept 9 | Georgia

[Buster Bluth]

Problem is Chubb doesn't have the rest of that Bama team with him and Tranquill is far better than Spond. Best RB on the field Saturday will be Josh Adams.

Dude Spond was pretty good.

 

[Crazy Balki]

I think it's less than a toss up personally. The only thought that keeps popping in my head is:

Replace Lacy with Chubb, and Spond with Tranquill.

Replace Fluker, Warmack, Jones, Steen and Kouandjio too...and McCarron...and Cooper.

 

[Bugzly21]

Shots fired (and clearly many shots taken before filming):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f7e3cI1wQRI

That was worse than the one guy from Miami

 

[dwshade]

Dude Spond was pretty good.

And where did I say Spond wasn't a good player? You made that up in your mind. But there is no question Tranquill is a better player who has the attention of NFL scouts.

 

[Irishize]

I think it's less than a toss up personally. The only thought that keeps popping in my head is:

Replace Lacy with Chubb, and Spond with Tranquill.

This^

I predict Fromm plays out of his mind & he's the talk of CFB the following day. Jacob Eason is about to get Wally Pipp'd.

 

[Irishize]

Dude Spond was pretty good.

I agree. He was being counted on the following year but never played another game after retiring due to injury.

 

[Irishize]

And where did I say Spond wasn't a good player? You made that up in your mind. But there is no question Tranquill is a better player who has the attention of NFL scouts.

Arguing between the talent of players like Spond & Tranquil tells one all they need to know about how bad our D is.

 

[dwshade]

Arguing between the talent of players like Spond & Tranquil tells one all they need to know about how bad our D is.

Seeing your last three posts tells me you're either an idiot or a troll. Maybe both like the guy in the Georgia video.

 

[irishog77]

Seeing your last three posts tells me you're either an idiot or a troll. Maybe both like the guy in the Georgia video.

Eh, he kind of has a point. Spond was great for ND in '12, but he was basically a disciplined player that fit that scheme. Teams weren't game planning around him or anything like that. NFL scouts weren't really looking at him either. He wasn't great at anything, didn't fill the stat sheet, nor posses great athleticism or measurables.
DT does posses an NFL body and has some quick twitch measurables that we have been aware of since his high school days. But so far in his time at ND, he's been hurt and demonstrated a not so stellar ability to cover nor blitz (what he was used for his first 3 seasons at ND). DT has (hopefully) found a home at Rover, but so far at ND has been nothing to write home about.

I loved Spond in '12 and think DT could have a great, impactful year this year, but Spond and the DT we've seen for 3 years aren't special players, by any means.

 

[Shamrock Theories]

And where did I say Spond wasn't a good player? You made that up in your mind. But there is no question Tranquill is a better player who has the attention of NFL scouts.

Uhhhhhhhhhhh What? It's absolutely a question.

Drue is a tough as nails player, works harder than anyone, and is great in run support.

He's also looked average to bad in coverage during his career.

 

[Buster Bluth]

I didn't mean to start a Danny Spond remembrance conversation haha

But he was no slouch. I don't give a hoot about NFL prospects. If you're coaching a defense you want a guy who is going to take care of his responsibility consistently. And in 2012 Danny Spond was a fantastic DOG linebacker who graded out very well for consistently being in position and keeping everything in front of him.

 

[dwshade]

Eh, he kind of has a point. Spond was great for ND in '12, but he was basically a disciplined player that fit that scheme. Teams weren't game planning around him or anything like that. NFL scouts weren't really looking at him either. He wasn't great at anything, didn't fill the stat sheet, nor posses great athleticism or measurables.
DT does posses an NFL body and has some quick twitch measurables that we have been aware of since his high school days. But so far in his time at ND, he's been hurt and demonstrated a not so stellar ability to cover nor blitz (what he was used for his first 3 seasons at ND). DT has (hopefully) found a home at Rover, but so far at ND has been nothing to write home about.

I loved Spond in '12 and think DT could have a great, impactful year this year, but Spond and the DT we've seen for 3 years aren't special players, by any means.

Tranquill is the better player who was totally misused by the idiot DC BVG. Why would you ask a 6-3, 225 box safety to try and cover quick receivers downfield? That's not his talent. He's now in a role where he will shine and be a very good player because Elko is properly using his skill set.. Also wish people would stop putting words in my mouth. Never said Tranquill was a "special" player. I reserve that word for Tuitt, Day, Jaylon.

 

[dwshade]

I didn't mean to start a Danny Spond remembrance conversation haha

But he was no slouch. I don't give a hoot about NFL prospects. If you're coaching a defense you want a guy who is going to take care of his responsibility consistently. And in 2012 Danny Spond was a fantastic DOG linebacker who graded out very well for consistently being in position and keeping everything in front of him.

Who coached Spond? Bob Diaco. Who coached Tranquill? BVG. Enough said.

 

[irishtrain]

I agree, if only because every few years we always do this to ourselves and predict an opponent will swarm the stadium seemingly increasing the total each time. Battered fan syndrome from Nebraska 2000.

We'll see pics posted on Twitter 90 minutes before kickoff when there's little Irish fans in the building but the southeast corner and some other spots are dominated by Georgia red. Then we'll inflate the final total of Georgia fans by 60%.

There will be a lot but 30,000 is a huge number to hit.

Just to play devil's advocate though...

*Our fans, given our history, largely suck at cheering.
*The ticket prices are absurd.
*More Georgia fans makes the atmosphere better, IMO.
*Can't be too mad for UGA fans thinking this is a bucket list trip.
*It'll be nice to stick it a bunch of Georgia fans if we win.

I can tell you right now after living down here among these people they plan on dominating the game on and off the field-tighten your chins straps as a fan and keep your ^%&$ tickets. I 'd be sick to see a field of red in the Irish home yard as I watch on TV-if I had a ticket you could bet your $#@ no Ga fan could buy it. Keep your ^%$$# tickets. I've heard Notre lame and when are you going to have a good team again for years and would like nothing better than to see my Irish win this game. This is a game where the more emotional team wins---buckle your chin straps both on and off the field.

 

[dwshade]

Arguing between the talent of players like Spond & Tranquil tells one all they need to know about how bad our D is.

How bad are D is? Against Temple three sacks, numerous hurries, 11 tackles for loss, and held running game to 2.7 average. That's bad? Hilarious.

 

[NorthDakota]

Who coached Spond? Bob Diaco.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Tranquill is the better player who was totally misused by the idiot DC BVG. Why would you ask a 6-3, 225 box safety to try and cover quick receivers downfield? That's not his talent. He's now in a role where he will shine and be a very good player because Elko is properly using his skill set.. Also wish people would stop putting words in my mouth. Never said Tranquill was a "special" player. I reserve that word for Tuitt, Day, Jaylon.

I wouldn't say Tranquill was "misused", because Tranquill had to play safety out of necessity. We literally had NOBODY else back there....but I suppose we can blame BVG for having nobody else back there.

 

[snoopdog]

Well if bvg put the required focus on recruiting, he would have had a productive starting safety

 

[NorthDakota]

Crazy that a college coach who is limited in how much time he can spend with kids wouldn't go buck wild in recruiting the best

 

[ThePiombino]

How bad are D is? Against Temple three sacks, numerous hurries, 11 tackles for loss, and held running game to 2.7 average. That's bad? Hilarious.

Against the vaunted Temple offense no less. Amazing!

Oh, also - our*

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[BGIF]

How bad are D is? Against Temple three sacks, numerous hurries, 11 tackles for loss, and held running game to 2.7 average. That's bad? Hilarious.

Arguing between the talent of players like Spond & Tranquil tells one all they need to know about how bad our D is.

Temple isn't a Top 25 team but they aren't the Div 1aa fodder teams most of the ranked teams played this week, the teams that Power 5 conferences build there stats and rankings on in the early weeks of the season.

dwshade provided substance Irishize while your comeback was a BS deflection to avoid substance.

This was Game I in a new defensive scheme, with a new DC, several new assistants, and mostly the same talent of last year YET that mix group posted better numbers than BVG's setup did. BVU had 17 TFLs in 4 games last year. Elko's guy got 11 in his FIRST game.

I'm not comparing the '17 D to a Barry Alvarez ND D but Alvarez did have Vinny Cerrato, a FULL-Time, surperb, recruiting coordinator feeding him NCAA All-American talent. Mike Elko has to work with BVG's material.


ND's 11 TFLs ranks ND 7th among team playing 1-A opponents. When you consider that PSU scored 14 against AKRON and Auburn had one more than ND against Ga Southern, ND is realistically 5th. ND's 11 TFLs were made by 11 different players. Fans raved about Hayes but 8 guys had the same number as he did and 2, Coney and the much maligned Trumbetti had more.

ND's 3 sacks ranks ND 18th among teams playing 1-A opponents.

ND's 85 rushing yds allowed is 26th among teams playing 1-A opponents.

ND's 2.30 rushing yds/play is 13th

ND's 245 yds passing yds allowed is 51st among teams playing 1-A opponents but playing between the 20's doesn't count, does it?

ND's 54.3% complete rate allowed ranks ND 27th among teams playing 1-A opponents.

ND's 2 TDs allowed ranks ND 41st among teams playing 1-A opponents. HAD ND allowed 1 less TD pass they'd be ranked 21st.

ND's 29.4%, 5 for 17, allowed 3rd down conversion rate was 23rd among teams playing 1-A opponents.

ND's 50%, 1-2, allowed 4th down conversion rate was #1 among teams playing 1-A opponents.

ND's 3 passes defended was 64th among teams playing 1-A opponents. HAD ND defended one more pass they would have jumped to 46th, two more and they would be 34th.

CFStats , where the ranking above came from, doesn't report QBHs, QuarterBack Hurries, but UND does. ND had 4 in the first Elko game. Last season first game under BVG ND had 1. ND had 12 had year in BVG's 4 games with zero being recorded in the Duke loss that ended BVG's career with ND.


Actually watching the game I didn't see anywhere the volume of missed tackles, or bad angles on tackles, or players frequently out of position that I saw with past BVG defenses.

But then I wasn't drinking while watching the game nor watching or posting with a pre-disposition. I saw a marked improvement but a long ways to go to compare to the Alvarez days.

It was Game One of the Elko era. I have to agree with dwshade, Irishize. You're either trolling or clueless. Put some substance into your posts instead of glittering generalities and deflections.

 

[IrishFanJMercy]

Does anyone know why Boykin, Sanders, or Javon Mckinley didn't see any action at all on Saturday even Finke?

I woulda thought Finke and sanders would have gotten a few looks

 

[Irish#1]

Does anyone know why Boykin, Sanders, or Javon Mckinley didn't see any action at all on Saturday even Finke?

I woulda thought Finke and sanders would have gotten a few looks

Finke was the punt returner.

 

[china423]

Anyone have an extra ticket for Saturday? PM me

 

[Irish#1]

Right. Georgia has a defense that is for sure top 25, possibly top 10. You can call them a "Tier 2" defense below the likes of Bama. I'd say best case scenario for ND is to be a "Tier 3" defense... and right now, they're probably "Tier 4." Georgia has a sizable advantage on that side of the ball, but like you said the thing people should be focused on is the matchups.

The strength of Georgia's defense is a veteran, physical, and cohesive front 7. You're not going to push them around. This is very bad for us considering what we want to do is run the ball for chunk plays. You don't beat their kind of defense without a vertical passing game, and our WRs besides EQ are below average and we showcased very little vertical passing game last week.

Conversely, the weakness of the ND defense is safety play and depth/physicality on the DL. What Georgia wants to do is run the ball. Do we really think Nick Coleman is going to get the job done against Nick Cubb in run support? Or that Bonner is going to be impactful? Our best DL player is Daelin Hayes and he's better suited for getting after the passer than run stuffing... and Tranquill is undersized for a 3rd LB.

So you add it all up and it appears that Georgia -- on top of having a better defense -- matches up better with ND. The Achilles' heel of Georgia is that their offense sucked last year with bad QB play... we have to hope that continues. We can beat them if they're one dimensional, but we're going to struggle if they can move it through the air.

I think ND will need at least 4 TDs to win this game. Coming into the season... before seeing their play in the middle portion of the game against App State... I thought Georgia would probably struggle to get multiple TDs. Now I think it's going to be hard to hold them under 30.

Was thinking about this last night. It will be our strength (O) against their strength (D) and our weakness (D) against their weakness (O). I think the strengths cancel each other out. This will be won by the team whose weakness plays the best.

 

[IrishFanJMercy]

Finke looks on offense not put returning. And I don't think he is the option going forward at punt returner did he even run any punts? I saw fair catch almost every time when he coulda got extra yardage.

 

[BGIF]

Does anyone know why Boykin, Sanders, or Javon Mckinley didn't see any action at all on Saturday even Finke?

I woulda thought Finke and sanders would have gotten a few looks

Finke was the punt returner.

Sander returned both Kickoff, one for 30 yds the other for 18 yds.

Boykin and McKinley weren't listed among the 58 players ND used in the game. ND only attempted 30 passes with 44 runs and were heavy with multiple TE sets. Might have simply been a matter of numbers. Position coaches tell the OC who's ready to play. OC picks the personnel for his scheme. ND also had the ball for 7 minutes less than Temple.

 

[Blaise]

Sander returned both Kickoff, one for 30 yds the other for 18 yds.

Boykin and McKinley weren't listed among the 58 players ND used in the game. ND only attempted 30 passes with 44 runs and were heavy with multiple TE sets. Might have simply been a matter of numbers. Position coaches tell the OC who's ready to play. OC picks the personnel for his scheme. ND also had the ball for 7 minutes less than Temple.

This.. If we are running more two TD sets, it means less WR's on the fields and some of our skill guys aren't going to play.. Its the price we pay for getting the power football we want

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

"I want multiple TE sets"

"Why can't we get more production from WR"

Why can't I have a beer at work? *eye rolls*

 

[BGIF]

Finke looks on offense not put returning. And I don't think he is the option going forward at punt returner did he even run any punts? I saw fair catch almost every time when he coulda got extra yardage.

Finke returned one punt for zero yds. He fielded 5 with a fair catch without laying any on the ground. Remember Sanders fielding punts?

The six punts were fielded at the

ND 14, FC after a 29 yd Temple punt. ND punted from the 26 on a 5 play possession. Newsome's punt wasd 54 yds winning the field possession game.

ND 41, FC after a 44 yd Temple punt. ND scored a TD in 7 plays

ND 24, FC after 46 yd punt on the 2nd play of 2nd Q. ND TD in 8 plays for 28 point lead.
ND 11, FC after 32 yd punt, 1:11 before the half, ND ran 9 plays for 62 yds before hitting the upright on a FG attempt.

ND 36, Downed after 32 yd punt. ND ran 9 plays for only 34 yds and missed a FG wide.
ND 21 ND ran 4 plays for 18 yds when Temple intercepted a pass 4 yds downfield for a 43 yd return.

Temple did not attempt a punt in the last 21:30 minutes of the game.


Where you see concern about the Fink as a returner, I see ND winning field advantage over Temple. Newsome averaged 52 yds for 104 yds. Temple returned the first for 0 yds and the second for 2 ydsl ND had great coverage resulting in a net 50 yd/punt field advantage

Temple averaged 37.7 yds per punt with 2 inside the 20. Both were smart judgement calls by Fink. On one he was standing inside the 10 on a 31 yd pooch punt. Tirico commented that the ball took a strange hop and Tirico conjectured that Fink feared the put going out of bounds around the 5 yd line so he fielded it at the 11 and he was tackled. Inside the 10 you let the punt go. Fink fielding it saved a rookie QB from starting a drive with his back to his goal line.

Fink was selected to field punts because of muffs from faster runners. It's not exciting but it's part of the Field Position game which makes for smart coaching until the next Joey Getherall with glue like hands, sub 4.4 speed, and a fearless heart is found. If Joey had blocking like ND is starting to show, he would have taken more to the house.