Virginia Post Game 2021

[DONTH8]

Good:

I thought the defense looked great. Attacked the QB, pressured receivers, no broken assignments--even on the trick plays. I thought that was an all around great game top to bottom. I thought that Watts and Henderson played particularly well considering their situations.

The offense looked slow, but somehow put up close to 500 yards, including 250 on the ground. I wouldnt have guessed that. Lenzy had a good game. Coan made the throws when he needed to. I though the moved in the pocket a bit better as well.

Bad:

Defensive line does a terrible job consistently at containing the QB. Either we need a backer spying, or the ends really gotta keep the guy from escaping outside. Its getting annoying.

Offensively, we just have terrible cohesion. One play doesnt seem to lead to others. Very little wrinkles to it all. No screens today either, which I thought was interesting. Also, I totally expected our OL to attack running the ball. But our run blocking looked sloppy.


Hit the over on the wins for the season. On our way to a 5th straight 10 win season. I liked seeing the young guys getting in. I really think that this team is growing. That is enough for me.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

Disappointed that Kelly ran the clock out at the half. The team seemed off the rest of the game.

Regardless, it was a great win and I'm proud of and impressed with this team's growth this season. The future is looking pretty bright with this amazing freshman class!

 

[pumpdog20]

This game felt like BK saw the first UVA drive and was like, nah we good.

 

[MacIrish75]

Recap: Maybe the most boring game in my recent memory.

Things were fine. It was fine. Diggs hurdled a man. 9-1.

 

[Junkhead]

I love Kyren and will miss him, but Diggs has similar vision and burst.

 

[GoldenAura]

Yeah wish BK didn't pack it up for halftime but otherwise no complaints here.

 

[Dizzyphil]

It is very odd that posters/IE members take for granted the defensive side of the ball as well as the offensive side....time possession and big plays apparently does not matter in this forum... UNC beat VA by 20pts... Wake beat VA by 20pts.... BYU beat VA by 17 and the Irish just beat VA by 25 and could have been 31+ if not for the fumble in the last 4 mins.... I really don't get the cry-babies in this forum. Irish were on the road against a team that had a bye, at home, in prime-time... oh, and on national TV to prove they could beat a Top 10 team and failed miserably - with or without their STAR qb.... which I don't think would have mattered. Christ man... enjoy the win and lets go to GT and beat them as well...

 

[NDPhilly]

We won by 25. I’d rather win 28-3 than 48-23. Offense could have had 7+ more if we wanted too.

 

[irishff1014]

Disappointed that Kelly ran the clock out at the half. The team seemed off the rest of the game.

Regardless, it was a great win and I'm proud of and impressed with this team's growth this season. The future is looking pretty bright with this amazing freshman class!

The whole offense seemed to have thrown the white flag up for this drive and so on

 

[IrishLax]

4/9 drives were successful. That's honestly not that great against a defense as bad as UVA. Thought the offense did some good things but the fumbled QB sneak (after Styles slipped instead of getting an easy first down), the fumble with Buchner, and the turnover on downs on the last real drive were all low points for me. Everything on offense looks like it's "difficult" unless one of our RBs or Mayer is posterizing some poor defender. For example, the interception where Coan tries to take a shot versus single coverage and Austin breaks off his route. Or the miss to Styles on that early deep ball.

ND is fortunate that UVA didn't have Armstrong and I thought they did a great job of making the backup QB uncomfortable. Thought Freeman called a great game, and I thought players really stepped up across the board. 7 sacks is amazing.

 

[Riddickulous]

Lot of guys on defense flashed tonight that we don't see as much. Off the top of my head: Bauer, Henderson, Watts, Mills all made some nice plays.

 

[Irishize]

It is very odd that posters/IE members take for granted the defensive side of the ball as well as the offensive side....time possession and big plays apparently does not matter in this forum... UNC beat VA by 20pts... Wake beat VA by 20pts.... BYU beat VA by 17 and the Irish just beat VA by 25 and could have been 31+ if not for the fumble in the last 4 mins.... I really don't get the cry-babies in this forum. Irish were on the road against a team that had a bye, at home, in prime-time... oh, and on national TV to prove they could beat a Top 10 team and failed miserably - with or without their STAR qb.... which I don't think would have mattered. Christ man... enjoy the win and lets go to GT and beat them as well...

You do realize that UVA was w/o one of the best QBs in the nation production-wise? Regardless, the defense did great and impressed.

The flip side of the coin is we heard all week how UVA has one of the worst defenses in FBS. That made sense b/c their performance/numbers backed up their ineptitude. Yet ND still struggled to dominate them so the frustration is understandable.

Also…if you’re going to peruse a Game Day thread…take the comments w/ a grain of salt. The folks posting are reacting in real time and sharing their thoughts/emotions. It’s a way to vent & celebrate during a game…doesn’t mean they hate their team.

 

[NDdomer2]

With an 11-1 finish looking highly probably I just laugh at all the hate I've seen on the board this season.

Kelly likely deserves a statue regardless if he ever wins a Natty. All time ND wins, 4 straight 10+ win season (never been done) 3 big time appearances (1 Natty 2 playoff). Unrelated to statue discussion, I also saw 23 straight ACC wins. Screw ur conf needed talk.

Kyren Sanders Williams- one of the more enjoyable players to watch on TV or that I've seen in person.

Hell of a first start at safety for Henderson.

Styles gives me some CJ Procise vibes, but I don't see any move to RB in his future. I'll call it now. We got the better Styles.

Poor Bertrand tackling in space lol

 

[Luckylucci]

The offense continues to be better than it was but it’s not really saying much. It just is what it is. It’s a trash can defense and this is the best we can do. I continue to be not impressed while simultaneously enjoying that its good enough. It’s weird, I know.

Defensively, it was a great performance. A lot of individual superlatives that speak to the environment that’s being fostered on that side of the ball. A ton of credit to all the coaches on defense and that starts with the head man himself, Freeman. With that said, I do think UVA coaches and Armstrong being out played a reasonable role in that. UVA jumped head first into gimmicky offense and we just dominated them physically upfront. When UVA took the ball out of Woffolk’s hands early, you mix in some penalties, and ND getting home with some timely pressures. It’s a recipe for disaster with a young QB on this stage. And it just snowballed from there.

I think the best thing that came of tonight was,
players that hadn’t been either playing well, a lot, or are young stepped up on a big stage.

 

[BeatSC]

It is very odd that posters/IE members take for granted the defensive side of the ball as well as the offensive side....time possession and big plays apparently does not matter in this forum... UNC beat VA by 20pts... Wake beat VA by 20pts.... BYU beat VA by 17 and the Irish just beat VA by 25 and could have been 31+ if not for the fumble in the last 4 mins.... I really don't get the cry-babies in this forum. Irish were on the road against a team that had a bye, at home, in prime-time... oh, and on national TV to prove they could beat a Top 10 team and failed miserably - with or without their STAR qb.... which I don't think would have mattered. Christ man... enjoy the win and lets go to GT and beat them as well...

Sorry but our D doesn’t hold their first string QB to 3 points. We literally left near to 28 points on the field. Other teams like Ok state are winning 63-17 against TCU better competition. Not even trying to continue to score at least 35-42 points is unacceptable imo when it’s there for the taking. That kind of domination builds confidence. I did like the drive with Buchner sans fumble but it showed the energy TB brings that is utterly missing when Coan is in. Anyone can drive this bus and very little beyond accurate short throws are asked from Coan. Buchner improves the Oline the running game and playmaking so why the F are we keeping the statue still in the game. He whiffed on several scoring opportunities in this game and Navy. People one here say we don’t get 11 wins without him. I say BS to that. We would have 12!

 

[BeatSC]

We won by 25. I’d rather win 28-3 than 48-23. Offense could have had 7+ more if we wanted too.

Offense could have and should have had another 21 points but Kelly wasn’t interested.

 

[Dale]

The “buts” when talking about Freeman are something. Weird phenomenon. Equivalent of Pitt game last year, yet I would doubt we got quite as many “buts” last year reviewing that performance.

 

[Dale]

Doesn’t matter who the QB was to still partially grade the secondary performance. A patchwork, somewhat maligned, lacking superior talent (wink), mostly converted backup secondary let a solid Virginia passing weapon group get ZERO separation. None all night. The catches they did have were 100% contested and honestly some decent balls. When they did allow catches they largely tackled instantly.

 

[NDdomer2]

Offense could have and should have had another 21 points but Kelly wasn’t interested.

And who cares. Kelly said himself they were never at risk. 28-3 is dominant, even if it's more Big 10 style than SEC.

Beat that ass, stayed healthy, our first road trip in a month, got a lot of experience to younger guys (something that is typically a complaint around here)

 

[Dale]

Sorry but our D doesn’t hold their first string QB to 3 points. We literally left near to 28 points on the field. Other teams like Ok state are winning 63-17 against TCU better competition. Not even trying to continue to score at least 35-42 points is unacceptable imo when it’s there for the taking. That kind of domination builds confidence. I did like the drive with Buchner sans fumble but it showed the energy TB brings that is utterly missing when Coan is in. Anyone can drive this bus and very little beyond accurate short throws are asked from Coan. Buchner improves the Oline the running game and playmaking so why the F are we keeping the statue still in the game. He whiffed on several scoring opportunities in this game and Navy. People one here say we don’t get 11 wins without him. I say BS to that. We would have 12!

and other teams like Baylor blow sandwich spots and lose to TCU letting them torch your D and now gonna have regret because could still be competing for a playoff spot. Consistency is not to be dismissed. Most of CFB lack it.

 

[Luckylucci]

The “buts” when talking about Freeman are something. Weird phenomenon. Equivalent of Pitt game last year, yet I would doubt we got quite as many “buts” last year reviewing that performance.

Yes, very weird. He’s one of the most productive offensive players in college football.

That Pitt QB is Kenny Pickett.

Kenny Pickett 2020: 61.1% comp pct., 2408 yards, 7.3 yds/att, 13 TD’s and 9 INT’s. (Played in 9 games). In Pickett’s last two games versus Clemson and GT. Pickett was below 57% comp pct and 6 yds/att in both games. He threw 3 TD’s to 5 INT’s combined.

Kenny Picket 2021: 67.5% comp pct., 3511 yards, 9.1 yds/att, 32 TD’s and 4 INT’s. (Through 10 games). Very different player.

Brenan Armstrong 2021: 64.3% comp pct., 3557 yards, 8.8 yds/att, 27 TD’s and 8 INT’s. (Through 9 games)

These do not operate in the same universe as each other. Yes, Kenny Pickett being out last year was substantially less of a factor than Armstrong being out or Pickett versus himself this year. It’s a terrible point. Truly terrible.

 

[GATTACA!]

Hate the way we're using Buchner. Is he supposed to be training to be our next starting QB? Or a backup "Taysom Hill" to our actual QB of the future? All the gadget running shit ain't it.

 

[Dale]

Yes, very weird. He’s one of the most productive offensive players in college football.

That Pitt QB is Kenny Pickett.

Kenny Pickett 2020: 61.1% comp pct., 2408 yards, 7.3 yds/att, 13 TD’s and 9 INT’s. (Played in 9 games). In Pickett’s last two games versus Clemson and GT. Pickett was below 57% comp pct and 6 yds/att. He threw 3 TD’s to 5 INT’s.

Kenny Picket 2021: 67.5% comp pct., 3511 yards, 9.1 yds/att, 32 TD’s and 4 INT’s. (Through 10 games). Very different player.

Brenan Armstrong 2021: 64.3% comp pct., 3557 yards, 8.8 yds/att, 27 TD’s and 8 INT’s. (Through 9 games)

These do not operate in the same universe as each other. Yes, Kenny Pickett being out last year was substantially less of a factor than Armstrong being out or Pickett versus himself this year. It’s a terrible point. Truly terrible.

Bud it was 3 points against against a backup QB. The fact that you think it has to go past that to ding any points of Freeman, our defensive coordinator, is weird. Should I deep dive that we were down our starting DE, staring MIKE and starting S all who are captains and the team had the flu? Florida and Florida State have used the flu as excuses for LOSSES this year. It’s a game against a backup QB! Why are we overthinking a kickass performance. Truly terrible point GTFO lol

 

[Irishnuke]

Kyren didn’t have a ton of yards but was amazing. He was able to dodge a lot of tackles in the backfield. A lesser RB would have had half his yards. The offense as a whole was sloppy. Yeah the game was never in doubt but running a QB sneak with Coan was a terrible call and his INT was pretty bad. Plus another red zone turnover from Buchner. You can say style points or margin of victory don’t matter to the playoff committee but I have a hard time believing that’s completely accurate. I think 42/49-3 looks a lot better. Oh well.

Defense played great. I know it was a freshman backup QB but that’s the hand they were dealt. Secondary player their best game. Honestly it felt like they had more than 7 sacks. I don’t doubt their starter would have made this a much closer game but I still think we would have won comfortably.

 

[IrishBoognish]

when was the last time a team scored a TD on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish?



I was having a debate about that subject with a friend.


Seems to me it was a long long long time ago.

A long time ago.


If TB was in for the whole game we would have hung 50 on Virginia. But we would have probably given up more points.

Whatever.

We shot the bb gun

They ate the applesauce.

 

[Luckylucci]

Bud it was 3 points against against a backup QB. The fact that you think it has to go past that to ding any points of Freeman, our defensive coordinator, is weird. Should I deep dive that we were down our starting DE, staring MIKE and starting S all who are captains and the team had the flu? Florida and Florida State have used the flu as excuses for LOSSES this year. It’s a game against a backup QB! Why are we overthinking a kickass performance. Truly terrible point GTFO lol

A significant portion of the lead up to the game and broadcast was dedicated to Armstrong’s availability or lack thereof but discussing it afterwards is weird?

I for one was looking forward to seeing Freeman against an elite player and offense. It’s not weird to recognize we clearly didn’t get to see that this evening and that it played a role in the outcome. And to then discuss how it affected the outcome, which I did. The gimmicky plays and penalties led to UVA getting behind the chains often. That made it a lot easier on the defense. Seems perfectly rational.

What’s weird is comparing this to some random QB that sat out a random game last year because this years he’s substantially better. While you were thinking of Kenny Pickett and looking for your next Irrelevant opportunity to bring him up. I was thinking about what was different in the game I was actually watching.

 

[Luckylucci]

Ok, this is great. After Rylie’s 2nd sack he jumped out and was pointing to the bench, seemingly trying find someone. Must’ve been Elston, lol.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/CoachMikeElston/status/1459759780969472000[/TWEET]

 

[Dale]

A significant portion of the lead up to the game and broadcast was dedicated to Armstrong’s availability or lack thereof but discussing it afterwards is weird?

I for one was looking forward to seeing Freeman against an elite player and offense. It’s not weird to recognize we clearly didn’t get to see that this evening and that it played a role in the outcome. And to then discuss how it affected the outcome, which I did. The gimmicky plays and penalties led to UVA getting behind the chains often. That made it a lot easier on the defense. Seems perfectly rational.

What’s weird is comparing this to some random QB that sat out a random game last year because this years he’s substantially better. While you were thinking of Kenny Pickett and looking for your next Irrelevant opportunity to bring him up. I was thinking about what was different in the game I was actually watching.

The next irrelevant opportunity to bring up Kenny Pickett? Do you hear yourself talk? Do I have a Kenny Pickett fetish I didn’t even know myself about? You’re always there to catch everything for me thank you so so much sir.

 

[IrishBoognish]

we should have had TB in for way longer. We should have hung 50 on them.

I love BK. I really do. But he has a weird thing about being "nice" to the opposing team when its obvious we can box their ears together and crush their spirit.

its weird.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Another thing to consider is recruiting. Players want to play for a high octane offense that scores lots of points. It's fun.