TURNOVERS!!!!!

[jason_h537]

I keep hearing excuses as to why we are a 1-2 team. Though the excuses may be valid (crist injury, officiating), that doesnt change the fact that we put ourselves in a position to let these things affect the game.

Purdue: Floyd fumble going in for 6 changes the entire momentum of the game. Instead of a blow out its a close victory over a lesser opponent.

Michigan: 3 Interceptions, 2 of which by backup quarterbacks that led to 14 easy points for UM> Michigan is not a better team and again turnovers allowed Michigan to swing momentum and forced us to play catch up

Michigan St: 2 Turnovers in the redzone in the 1st quarter. We could have taken control of the game from the very beginning and forced MSU to play catch up but the team coughed up the ball making it a situation where we were in a dog fight all night long

That doesnt include all the fumbles that either went out of bounds or recovered by us.

PROTECT THE DAMN BALL. WTF is going on. This wasnt on issue last year. Team needs to pull iys head out of its *** and play smarter than this

 

[bornready85]

Quick correction-Only 1 of the 3 picks vs Michigan(the 1st 1 by Rees)led to a UM touchdown.

 

[Kak7304]

Even if a turnover doesn't lead to points for the other team, it keeps our D out on the field and prevents them from resting up.

 

[Jerry]

Turnovers have killed this team. That's why I'm optimistic that this team will be tough to beat later in the year. Floyd should get this head out of his *** soon. And I feel that Crist will make less and less mistakes as the season progresses and he gets more experience.

 

[Bubba]

I say all the skill position guys should be required to carry a football with them wherever they go...100% of the time. In class, on a date, in the john...

 

[DaLastFarleyite]

No question TOs hurt in the UM and MSU games.

 

[jason_h537]

This team is a flawed team but if we protect the ball we would be 3-0 right now. We would still have lots of problems to fix but people wouldnt be jumpingoff the bandwagon.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Jason I'm glad you posted this! The reason why we are 1-2 and not 3-0 or 2-1 is because we are losing the turnover battle. That's why we lost to Michigan, because we lost the turnover battle 3 till nill.

 

[phork]

Turnovers can derail a seasons faster than you can imagine.

 

[irish4ever]

To me, Floyd has been the most disappointing regarding fumbles. He has 3 fumbles, which 2 were lost! Not sure what the hell is going on with him not able to hold onto the ball, but it's very concerning (considering he regarded as a "top notch" receiver). All excuses aside, if ND didn't turn the ball more than once each of these 3 games, they would be 3-0 right now.

 

[Jerry]

To me, Floyd has been the most disappointing regarding fumbles. He has 3 fumbles, which 2 were lost! Not sure what the hell is going on with him not able to hold onto the ball, but it's very concerning (considering he regarded as a "top notch" receiver). All excuses aside, if ND didn't turn the ball more than once each of these 3 games, they would be 3-0 right now.

I agree. I would have never thought Floyd would have problems like this. But I honestly think it is sort of a freak thing. It just happens that the ball was slapped out instantly against MSU and he was hit in stride against Purdue and lost the ball. I think Floyd will be alright.

 

[military_irish]

maybe i am looking too much into this but didn't BK say, after Wood fumbled against Purdue that if he kept doing that he wouldn't play very much.

but Floyd has fumbled 3 times, and no talk of loss of playing time.

i know Floyd should never be benched because he is that good of a talent as we all have seen from his first two years, but i don't think favorites should be played in this situation.

it would be easy just to not let him play the first series just to make a point he needs to have more focus.

but let me make it clear i still think Floyd is the best receiver on the team and hope he comes back next year, but like BK has said no one should have a sense of entitlement

 

[mrmiller8]

Turnovers, hmmm...generally a team that turns the ball over a lot is not very good and is most of the time lacking in the experience department. Floyd has no excuse....but Crist just started his third college game, I don't expect him to throw 35 touchdowns with 5 picks...its part of the game and its a learning process.

 

[jason_h537]

To me, Floyd has been the most disappointing regarding fumbles. He has 3 fumbles, which 2 were lost! Not sure what the hell is going on with him not able to hold onto the ball, but it's very concerning (considering he regarded as a "top notch" receiver). All excuses aside, if ND didn't turn the ball more than once each of these 3 games, they would be 3-0 right now.

Its not just Floyd. Allen has put the ball on the ground at least 3 times. Fortunatly we recovered each time but why does the team keep dropping the ball? I understand Jimmy was accurate and picks werent an issue last year but we didnt fumble this much before

 

[mgriff]

We are 105th in turnover differential. This is, arguably, the biggest problem on the team right now.

 

[Riddickulous]

This is uncharacteristic for a Kelly team. Cincinatti had 10 turnovers TOTAL all of last season, 3 of them coming against Pitt.

 

[IrishinSyria]

This is uncharacteristic for a Kelly team. Cincinatti had 10 turnovers TOTAL all of last season, 3 of them coming against Pitt.

I've always been kind of skeptical about how much a coach plays into fumbles/fumbles lost. I mean, any high school water boy can tell a player how to protect a ball. Hitting drills and yelling help a little, I guess, but beyond that there's just not that much you can do as a coach. Except bench Floyd and Wood and Allen and anybody else who puts the ball on the ground, but we can all agree that that's not really an option.

 

[irish1958]

I say all the skill position guys should be required to carry a football with them wherever they go...100% of the time. In class, on a date, in the john...

Johnny Lattner had to do this.

 

[jason_h537]

I've always been kind of skeptical about how much a coach plays into fumbles/fumbles lost. I mean, any high school water boy can tell a player how to protect a ball. Hitting drills and yelling help a little, I guess, but beyond that there's just not that much you can do as a coach. Except bench Floyd and Wood and Allen and anybody else who puts the ball on the ground, but we can all agree that that's not really an option.

The thing is this was not a poblem last year. Granted Jimmy didnt throw picks but the team didnt fumble either. We have many things we need to fix but the turnovers, at least in my eyes, have direct correlations to why we are losing

 

[IrishinSyria]

The thing is this was not a poblem last year. Granted Jimmy didnt throw picks but the team didnt fumble either. We have many things we need to fix but the turnovers, at least in my eyes, have direct correlations to why we are losing

Completely agree with you that the fumbles are killing us. I believe I took some grief after the Purdue game for pointing out that three footballs on the ground would not be possible against better teams.

My point is I have no idea what can be done. Take the fumble Floyd lost against MSU. He caught the ball, quickly moved it to his outside arm, and secured it. Guy's hand just happened to come in at the perfect place and time. Now, are there things Floyd could have done with the ball? Sure, he could have gotten the ball a little higher and a little tighter. But really, he had a split second before the guy got to him. What's a coach going to do about that? Yell? Make him carry the ball around campus ala "The Program."

Baseball, hockey, basketball: in these games we just accept that sometimes you get cold, the other team gets lucky, sh*t happens. In football though, the sample size is so small that some bad luck can kill you: it's like going to the casino with 10 bucks in your pocket. ND is 1 and 6 in its last 7 and, as far as I can tell, a lot of that has less to do with talent* and effort** than it does simple "I can't believe that just happened" bad luck.



*Obviously, luck would become less of a factor if we were much more skilled than our opponents.
**One of the biggest positives of this season, for me, is that the work ethic seems to be more consistent. Lord knows last year's team battled their asses off and never quit, but they also had a tendency to get complacent mid-game. I've seen less of that this year.

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

Turnovers can often decide who wins the football game, and we have lost not one but two very close football games. Turnovers were definently part of the problem. You don't see too many teams win close games when the they lost the turnover battle. We need to definently take better care of the ball. We have alot of football that lies ahead, and Stanford for one, is a football team that will take advantage of our mistakes if we can continue to make them. For us to even have a chance against Stanford, we cannot turn the ball over like we have the past few games.

 

[mgriff]

Turnovers can often decide who wins the football game, and we have lost not one but two very close football games. Turnovers were definently part of the problem. You don't see too many teams win close games when the they lost the turnover battle. We need to definently take better care of the ball. We have alot of football that lies ahead, and Stanford for one, is a football team that will take advantage of our mistakes if we can continue to make them. For us to even have a chance against Stanford, we cannot turn the ball over like we have the past few games.

Absolutely; people talk about the differences between us being 1-2 or 3-0, and at the top of my list, the thing that I believe had the most impact in making that happen, is turnovers.

 

[PANDFAN]

int's from the backups are not great, but they are expected....fumbles from your #1 receiver not once but 2x's in red zone! they are HUGE momentum swings for the other team and puts our defense again right out there...i am extremely happy with the play of this team vs. previous years...i think it is night and day to be honest on the defense of side and offense...luck is not what we need...it's the fundementals of securing the ball!!!!