Some quick thoughts

[guff]

because it is obscenely late but late is when I get home from work.

Gotta give Tenn credit for showing heart. They could have packed in at 21-3 but they kept in there and made it interesting for 3 1/2 quarters.

I thought Quinn played a mediocre game and his stat line reads 20-33 for 295 and 3 TDs no turnovers. Those stats are great by most standards but I think he could have played better. He was good not dominant.

Typical ND defensive performance. Make big plays - allow big plays. While I pray for a smothering defense, I know that won't happen. They aren't good enough to be giving up 15 yards on stupid penalties. If my memory is right they had 3 of them 1 facemask and two late hits. That has to stop.

And what's with Quinn mom dropping the Heisman bomb during the in game interview.

A 20 point win is pretty impressive anyway you get it.

 

[WeisGuy]

i'm still really upset that quinn won player of the game instead of tommy z...he was what kept the momentum going for the crowd and watchers at home.

 

[BGIF]

Once again how quick we forget. The expectation level exhibited on the boards after the game one would think ND had won 23 in a row. Rather than being 8 games from a 6-6 season.

Quinn had his 3rd best game of the year but nobody seems to realize that. His QB efficiency rating was 166. He only surpassed that twice this season, against BYU and PU, two pretty puny defenses. "He only hit 61% of his passes" I read somewhere and, "He didn't even get 300 yards". No only 296 with NO picks throwing the ball 33 times and averagin 9 yds/attempt (a number only exceeded in the BYU and PU games). He made some big plays and averaged 14.8 yds/completion (again, a number only exceeded in the BYU and PU games).

And he did it against one of the best defenses in the country. Not too shabby. He was sacked a couple of times when nobody picked up the blitz, he also dodged several sacks.

I would have voted Zibby MVP not because Quinn had a mediocre game, it was a very productive effort but because Zib had two scores, set up another and tied for the team high in tackles.

guff is one of the few ND posters giving the Vols any credit. To read many posts you'd think ND played North Texas or Applachian State today instead of one of the winningest programs in college football. Yes UT is struggling some but they knocked on one Top 10 team, lost by 3 points to a Top 5 team, and knotted the score with ND after most teams would have rolled over. Half a step was the difference between a couple more scores.

Weis and Minter both got bashed for play calling. ND was an 8 point favorite and won by 20 but "we shoulda hung 50 on them", "the corners play way too soft", "if it wasn't for those interceptions ..." Hello, aren't the DBs supposed to make INTs. Any notice in the 7th game ND's secondary surpassed the total of INTs for all of last season, and added to that total today. Well done, Minter.

Last Spring CW said, Special Teams would improve. Well done Charlie!

ND should move up to #6 in the Coaches Poll. Which one of you guys forecast that preseason? Most of you thought ND would be lucky to have only 2 losses after 4 games at the least.

Quinn's mom misspeaks and quickly corrects herself on national TV and says, "I mean National Championship" and it's internet fodder. Congrats mom, your kid and his team did well, and so did you!

ND played the "trap game" and beat Tennessee by a greater margin than anyone else this season. And scored more points on them than anyone else this season.

There still room for improvement and CW has already addressed that but ND's come along way in a short time. Phil Fulmer noted it after the game, "They've made a lot of improvement in a year as a football program".

 

[Batch]

BGIF Thank you!!!

I have had to stop coming here on gameday because of some of the idiotic posts that show up in the game threads. I did take a look at the Tennessee game thread...and wow!!

-Batch

 

[TexasDomer]

BGIF and Batch,

Well said!

 

[bigdon]

Once again how quick we forget. The expectation level exhibited on the boards after the game one would think ND had won 23 in a row. Rather than being 8 games from a 6-6 season.

Quinn had his 3rd best game of the year but nobody seems to realize that. His QB efficiency rating was 166. He only surpassed that twice this season, against BYU and PU, two pretty puny defenses. "He only hit 61% of his passes" I read somewhere and, "He didn't even get 300 yards". No only 296 with NO picks throwing the ball 33 times and averagin 9 yds/attempt (a number only exceeded in the BYU and PU games). He made some big plays and averaged 14.8 yds/completion (again, a number only exceeded in the BYU and PU games).

And he did it against one of the best defenses in the country. Not too shabby. He was sacked a couple of times when nobody picked up the blitz, he also dodged several sacks.

I would have voted Zibby MVP not because Quinn had a mediocre game, it was a very productive effort but because Zib had two scores, set up another and tied for the team high in tackles.

guff is one of the few ND posters giving the Vols any credit. To read many posts you'd think ND played North Texas or Applachian State today instead of one of the winningest programs in college football. Yes UT is struggling some but they knocked on one Top 10 team, lost by 3 points to a Top 5 team, and knotted the score with ND after most teams would have rolled over. Half a step was the difference between a couple more scores.

Weis and Minter both got bashed for play calling. ND was an 8 point favorite and won by 20 but "we shoulda hung 50 on them", "the corners play way too soft", "if it wasn't for those interceptions ..." Hello, aren't the DBs supposed to make INTs. Any notice in the 7th game ND's secondary surpassed the total of INTs for all of last season, and added to that total today. Well done, Minter.

Last Spring CW said, Special Teams would improve. Well done Charlie!

ND should move up to #6 in the Coaches Poll. Which one of you guys forecast that preseason? Most of you thought ND would be lucky to have only 2 losses after 4 games at the least.

Quinn's mom misspeaks and quickly corrects herself on national TV and says, "I mean National Championship" and it's internet fodder. Congrats mom, your kid and his team did well, and so did you!

ND played the "trap game" and beat Tennessee by a greater margin than anyone else this season. And scored more points on them than anyone else this season.

There still room for improvement and CW has already addressed that but ND's come along way in a short time. Phil Fulmer noted it after the game, "They've made a lot of improvement in a year as a football program".

A couple of quick thoughts to add to the quick thoughts.

The QB situation at Tenn is horrible. Clausen is leaving and if Fulmer has to put up with Ainge for 2 more years he will lose his job. The enemic offense that everybody talks about can be laid at the feet of the QB. The worst at Tenn in a decade.

It is obvious the ND is in need of an upgraded run offense. Walker is a nice back to have but he has no speed to get to the corner and is not a game breaker. Enter Aldridge. The ND offense is Quinn, Stovall, Fasano, and Sam. The running game is getting weaker with every game.

The ND pass defense gets better every game but we still lack the speed in the backfield and the pass rush is mediocre at best. Where is Abiamiri? Come on McCoy!

Zibby was the MVP but Quinn is getting all the attention, even after a so-so game. That's OK. He is the main ingredient now.

 

[KMac151993]

BGIF I would agree with you, but I feel that deep at heart this team should have a high expectation level because we all knew the talent was there and that this was not a 6-6 ball club last year, this team had that ability to go 10-1 this season. But I think you are right on all your points.

 

[jiggafini19]

Tennessee's offense and special teams lived up to their reputations: horrible. Arian Foster had a great first half, but was contained therein. Erick Ainge has some work to do to become a good quarterback. He had four passes I saw for sure where receivers were wide open and he overshot them. Two would have gone for scores.

This was the best defense ND has played all year and they proved it by what they did in the second and third quarters. But ND answered the bell on 3rd and 10 with Samardzija. To have the game tied and score 20 unanswered showed me a lot from this group.

Nonetheless, Tennessee is in disarray. The special teams set up ND's second score, they gave up a punt return for a TD and an interception for a TD. These things have been happening all year to these guys. And it turns out those 21 points were the difference in the game.

They fought hard, and sticking to one quarterback is a good idea, but this is not a good team. They might not be North Texas or Appalachian State, but they're not mid tier either.

 

[Stealingshrimp]

BGIF Thank you!!!

I have had to stop coming here on gameday because of some of the idiotic posts that show up in the game threads. I did take a look at the Tennessee game thread...and wow!!

-Batch

I don't see them as idiots, just people who have bought everything the media (which only seems to read stats) tells them. And hell... it's notre dame football EMOTIONS! =)

 

[jiggafini19]

Typical ND defensive performance. Make big plays - allow big plays. While I pray for a smothering defense, I know that won't happen. They aren't good enough to be giving up 15 yards on stupid penalties. If my memory is right they had 3 of them 1 facemask and two late hits. That has to stop. QUOTE]

I'm glad you bring this up, Guff.

There are still some questionable penalties being made by this squad. Penalties will happen, but careless and foolish ones will cost you. (Ask Iowa's Chad Greenway, Mr. Overrated) I questioned one of the late hits as being a "soft" call by the official, but the other clearly was. Our secondary likes to blast guys while they're out of bounds, but they let everyone's grandma run past them on routes. Interesting.

I credit Mike Richardson with a good game against Tennessee. And Wooden's INT came at a perfect time. It took the momentum away from Tennessee for the remainder of the game. They got some sacks in there, too. Run defense in the second half showed an excellent effort.

These next three games should really be their time to shine. I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the recruiting goes because you will see quite a few of these young men on defense next year.