1. Tommy Rees is the king of killing momentum. After both punt blocks, he worked as hard as he could to prevent his own offense from taking advantage of the momentum. You either get downhill after the sudden change and run them over, or you dial up a shot play and then settle if it doesn't work out. Instead, he got too cute. He was saved by a nice Pyne-to-Mayer connection after the first sudden change, but the team settled for a field goal after 3 uninspiring play calls after the second. I understand *why* Tommy is struggling to find a rhythm as a playcaller right now... but Freeman needs to tell him to figure it out and Do His F*cking Job anyway.
2. I almost threw my remote at my TV when I realized they had been given the perfect opportunity to audition Angeli, but instead opted for the TE sneak (which was cool! It's the new hotness in the NFL, which means it won't be effective after another week or two), and then brought Pyne back in. Even if Pyne isn't hurt, you've got a two-score lead on an opponent that you are clearly handling, so give the young guy a chance. If Pyne legitimately goes down, the team is screwed... WHY WOULD YOU NOT LET ANGELI SPIN IT FOR AT LEAST ONE DRIVE???
3. Bertrand had a nice game, but he's also got Joe Schmidt disease: Knows exactly where he needs to be, and gets there exactly two steps too late. Major props for his hustle to track down the RB on UNLV's early long run... that was all hustle, and is exactly why he's a captain. I get that. But they need to keep spelling him with Kollie if he isn't going to capitalize more often with his play recognition skills.
4. Brian Mason is him
5. Grupe and Sot for co-team MVP??
6. Love seeing Foskey make plays on special teams. Love even more that it seemed to get his pass rush boosted. He was noticeable in collapsing the pocket several times over the second half of the game. Hopefully it gets him jump started the rest of the year.
7. Estime with maybe the worst self-jinx of ALL TIME. Four weeks after telling the media that he has never fumbled as a football player, he's got three lost fumbles. Just unbelievable levels of weird shit you only see when rooting for ND.
8. Styles is having confidence issues, on top of being frustrated with the offense's struggles to involve anyone other than Mayer consistently. Chansi needs to earn his money in helping Styles through it.
9. Michael Mayer should win the Heisman. Everyone knows it's going to him, and he's still open both (1) off the line and then (2) after the first break in his route. He'd be on his way to a 20-TD season with competent QB play and OC playcalling. It sounds ridiculous, but I'll die on that hill. He should've had four TD's against UNLV alone based on physical mismatches, but instead were just running him on hitch or whip routes that the defense can sit down on.
10. Morrison and Mickey are both going to be very good. In two years, [ND DC] is going to be able to build his whole defense around knowing he's got two guys he can put on an island and not worry too much. In the first few games, it was Mickey being in perfect position and simply not having quite enough seasoning to know when to jump and/or rake through the WR's hands. That will come with reps. With Morrison, it's not having enough confidence to turn and find the ball even though he is right in the WR's hip pocket, perfectly positioned to make a play. That will also come with reps. They will both figure their shit out. Hopefully we find some safeties to put behind them.
