Will We Have To Do Something Different?

[WakeUpEchoes]

ESPNU College Football - ESPN

Fast forward to around 37:55. McShay breaking down the game. He seems to think that the offense cannot do, in the NCG, what it did to get us here. I think he brings up some good points, but I also think he exaggerates the O's style of play a bit. Just wanted to see what you guys think.

I thought it was really interesting his characterization of our offense as "just trying not to turn the ball over." I surely don't believe that is how we play. But his discussion of matchup problems and 'Bama's ability to stop the run has me more worried than I thought.

 

[DSully1995]

Meh, this is sports radio, for entertainment


Any of us have prolly as good a shot at predicting matchups

 

[irishff1014]

ESPNU College Football - ESPN

Fast forward to around 37:55. McShay breaking down the game. He seems to think that the offense cannot do, in the NCG, what it did to get us here. I think he brings up some good points, but I also think he exaggerates the O's style of play a bit. Just wanted to see what you guys think.

I thought it was really interesting his characterization of our offense as "just trying not to turn the ball over." I surely don't believe that is how we play. But his discussion of matchup problems and 'Bama's ability to stop the run has me more worried than I thought.

There has been games that's they way it looked. But then you look at the Oklahoma gam and the Miami game there was nothing slow about those offensive games. I understand what h is trying to say but with this much time to prepare we will probably see the offense line in some ways we haven't seen yet.

 

[DuffHouse12]

but I also think he exaggerates the O's style of play a bit. Just wanted to see what you guys think.

I thought it was really interesting his characterization of our offense as "just trying not to turn the ball over." I surely don't believe that is how we play.

McShay does not know more about football than BK. lets be serious.

 

[arrowryan]

The only thing McShay is good for is being a draft analysis. Other than that, he might as well just be a poster on irish envy

 

[tko]

The only thing McShay is good for is being a draft analysis. Other than that, he might as well just be a poster on irish envy

a mediocre one at that.

 

[koonja]

I think McShay is really good. If he's right about both offenses having to do MORE than what got them here, that bodes well for us. With Golson and our offense, we have a lot more room for creativity.

 

[chicago51]

On question of rather or not ND will have to do something different:

No ND will not do much different than they have done all year.

ND may likely use more of certain plays and certain alignments that they did not use as often this year. I don't see though going with something completely knew. I see a bit more passing than normal in terms of the run/pass ratio but it will be pass plays we have done at some point. Other than at the most couple (very very few) new plays.

 

[Bishop2b5]

ESPNU College Football - ESPN

Fast forward to around 37:55. McShay breaking down the game. He seems to think that the offense cannot do, in the NCG, what it did to get us here. I think he brings up some good points, but I also think he exaggerates the O's style of play a bit. Just wanted to see what you guys think.

I thought it was really interesting his characterization of our offense as "just trying not to turn the ball over." I surely don't believe that is how we play. But his discussion of matchup problems and 'Bama's ability to stop the run has me more worried than I thought.

There's a certain amount of truth to that for both teams. With this much time to prepare, you know the coaching staffs have watched endless amounts of film and know everything the other team's done on offense all season long: their plays, personnel, formations, tendencies, etc. I don't think you completely reinvent yourself, but you can't just show up and run exactly the same stuff either and not expect the other team to be prepared.

Look at last year's BCSNCG. LSU brought EXACTLY the same offensive plan to the game and we were so ready for it that we completely shut them down, and they had no Plan B. You go with what got you here, but you have to throw in some new wrinkles, add some different looks, and keep the other side from knowing exactly what's coming.

 

[DuffHouse12]

Notre Dame wins by executing their assignments. to a newby scrub like McShay, he thinks their focus is trying NOT to turn it over.

simply the Irish offense TRYING to move it down the field. when they can't, they kick it. its field position, execution, discipline and all of those amazing things. not some scrub factory of 5-wide formations of track stars looking for the big play.

he doesn't get it. which is why he's at ESPN being wrong about draft picks and not coaching anyone on how to play football.

 

[arrowryan]

a mediocre one at that.

I like him more than Kiper

 

[irishpat183]

ESPNU College Football - ESPN

Fast forward to around 37:55. McShay breaking down the game. He seems to think that the offense cannot do, in the NCG, what it did to get us here. I think he brings up some good points, but I also think he exaggerates the O's style of play a bit. Just wanted to see what you guys think.

I thought it was really interesting his characterization of our offense as "just trying not to turn the ball over." I surely don't believe that is how we play. But his discussion of matchup problems and 'Bama's ability to stop the run has me more worried than I thought.

I can agree with this in some of the games...but it's not a description of our entire season.

And Bama isn't as good as advertised on D. LSU, A&M had HUGE games offensively against them (and LSU has a horrible offense IMO). Sprinkle in some Western Carolina's and Woffords and you have skewed D numbers. When playing D-1 worthy teams, Bama is average defensively.

 

[koonja]

Notre Dame wins by executing their assignments. to a newby scrub like McShay, he thinks their focus is trying NOT to turn it over.

simply the Irish offense TRYING to move it down the field. when they can't, they kick it. its field position, execution, discipline and all of those amazing things. not some scrub factory of 5-wide formations of track stars looking for the big play.

he doesn't get it. which is why he's at ESPN being wrong about draft picks and not coaching anyone on how to play football.

You're a little hard on McShay. Personally, I'd rather have his job than that of D1 college football coach. His career path is a hell of a lot safer than a coach's.

 

[irishpat183]

But I do think that we're more versitile on offense...which gives us a bigger tool belt on game day.

We have better personal to make a playbook change than Bama. You and everybody else knows what Bama is gonna do. You just have to stop them. Changing their game isn't one of their strong suits.

 

[PANDFAN]

I like him more than Kiper

Kiper is an ND fan...where's the love??

 

[TDHeysus]

I like him more than Kiper

Kiper is an ND fan...where's the love??

this was my thought too....how can you not like the Hair-Domer?


I think the offense wont be so much 'different', I think the offense will have 'progressed' to a point where other plays, or other passes are ran. This last month was like a little mini-camp, I think alot of time was used to shore up what is already known, and to add a few more wrinkles for the offense. We may see some different looking plays, but I believe those plays will still be based in the offense that BK has been running all year. The offensive playbook is not fully implemented at this time, so my thought is that we will see more 'progression' as Golson becomes more efficient in the context of the offense.

 

[ThePiombino]

I think we will see something different, but that's more along the lines of the natural development of a red shirt frosh who is capable of much more now than than he was 6 weeks ago, let alone early September.

 

[TDHeysus]

Also, I saw a interview with BK and if I remember correctly, BK was working with Golson to know what plays Golson likes to run in certain situations, and what plays he feels comfortable in running (and audibles that can be run from those plays). I really think the biggest change in the offense could be the play of Golson. That can translate to the offense 'looking' different, but its still the same offense, just executed more efficiently.

 

[ulukinatme]

McDouchebag can suck it. "Notre Dame can't win by going with the girl it brought to the dance." Sure, cause it hasn't worked all season. Is Alabama good? Yeah, most definitely. Do we stand no chance by running the ball, playing field position, and relying on our defense? Combine that with the ability to extend plays the way EG has done? Nope, can't possibly work, certainly didn't work for A&M

 

[irishpat183]

I think we will see something different, but that's more along the lines of the natural development of a red shirt frosh who is capable of much more now than than he was 6 weeks ago, let alone early September.

Yes!

 

[DuffHouse12]

You're a little hard on McShay. Personally, I'd rather have his job than that of D1 college football coach. His career path is a hell of a lot safer than a coach's.

thats fine.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

Also, I saw a interview with BK and if I remember correctly, BK was working with Golson to know what plays Golson likes to run in certain situations, and what plays he feels comfortable in running (and audibles that can be run from those plays). I really think the biggest change in the offense could be the play of Golson. That can translate to the offense 'looking' different, but its still the same offense, just executed more efficiently.

I remember this. He said at first, the playbook was very small and they weren't as dynamic as they wanted to be. But now, he and Golson both have a better idea of what works and what can work, and where Golson is most comfortable.

I just think McShay really undestimates what our offense can do. More and more I think about the tougher opponents we played, the more I realize we weren't running on all cylinders. Either Golson was injured, out, or just playing like a redshirt freshmen. Flip that, and our offense was dynamic and successful.

Only place I call bullsh** on McShay is asking, "who did Golson get better against?" He obvoiusly forgot to mention OU. And I don't care what anyone says: Pitt is good. I think if we can spread the field, yet get vertical, we can move on this D easily.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I don't expect any wild-and-"creative" novel things from Coach. Kelly is at heart [just like Saban] a conservative. What Coach believes is that he has an offensive scheme which cannot be stopped assuming competent running of the plays by the offense and at least some equity in the amount of talent on the field. Quick "read-and-deliver" defeats even superior D-Line opponents.

We have plenty of talent on the field and only the most mentally-challenge non-thinker does not believe that. Coach certainly believes that we have the most talent he's ever had. All he worries about is our eleven-man competence. Everyone, from the guy you can count on every time [ZMart] to the guy that you bite your nails off worrying about [Niklas blocking the correct guy; GAIII fumbling], must function. That is why the conversation between Coach and Everett makes sense for a "one game season". If Everett is at the top of his game, Kelly's offense ["The Girl who came with him to the Dance"] will move downfield just fine.

What McShay and almost everyone else in media do not realize is that our chosen defensive strategy this season of "let them have the field between the twenties" regularly gives Kelly a very long field to negotiate. Any incompetence on almost any play will grind that sort of drive to a halt and Coach is left with a bunch of yards with no score. He does not get his "take our yardage gain, divide by eighty, and you'll get our number of touchdowns" measuring stick. We win, despite this handicap, because we have the greatest bunch of redzone maulers in the college game, and Kelly shrugs and acquiesces to the theory which wins.

 

[chicago51]

What about Alabama do they have to do something different?

What if they are not able to just line up run the ball at will?

What if Kelly takes advantage of matchup and we move the ball down the field on another one of these great SEC defenses?

Maybe Alabama is the one that needs to alter to beat Notre Dame.

As one who thinks Notre Dame is the better I don't think we need to change squat.

We just need play our defense. At times we may need to move a safety down at the last minute on presnap to stop the run. Yes Armari Cooper is good but this not even close to best passing attack we have faced this year.

On offense we need to look at the personel and numbers in/out of the box and take what they give us. Numbers say run we run, numbers say pass we pass.

 

[Mr. Larson]

The only thing McShay is good for is being a draft analysis. Other than that, he might as well just be a poster on irish envy

Anyone else offended by this?

 

[Old Man Mike]

I wasn't because I got a PM that he was referring to a guy named "Mr. Larson".

 

[Bishop2b5]

What about Alabama do they have to do something different?

What if they are not able to just line up run the ball at will?

What if Kelly takes advantage of matchup and we move the ball down the field on another one of these great SEC defenses?

Maybe Alabama is the one that needs to alter to beat Notre Dame.

As one who thinks Notre Dame is the better I don't think we need to change squat.

We just need play our defense. At times we may need to move a safety down at the last minute on presnap to stop the run. Yes Armari Cooper is good but this not even close to best passing attack we have faced this year.

On offense we need to look at the personel and numbers in/out of the box and take what they give us. Numbers say run we run, numbers say pass we pass.

Yes, we'll have to add wrinkles and give you a different look at times and change things too.

If we can't just run it at will, we'll have to adjust, pass more, go to Plan B, etc.

If you can take advantages of matchups and move the ball well, we'll have to make adjustments and try something different.

I think Bama will definitely have to alter things a bit to be effective. I don't think either team, given the amount of time each has had to analyze and gameplan, can just show up and do exactly the same things they've done all year and not expect the other team to be totally prepared for it. Again, see last year's BCSNCG for an example of what happens when even a very good, talented team makes that mistake.

You have a very good team. As a fan, you should believe your team is better. I feel the same about mine. Not changing squat to keep the other team guessing and off balance is like telling them what play you're going to run, though.

I don't expect either team to completely abandon who they are and how they got here, just to add wrinkles, new looks, and a couple of surprises to counter some of the preparation. As for our passing game, we're a run first team of course, but don't underestimate McCarron. He picked LSU apart in last year's NC game. He threw 26 td's vs only 3 int's this year and finished 1st in passing efficiency. He has a very strong, accurate arm and doesn't make many mistakes.

 

[Mr. Larson]

I wasn't because I got a PM that he was referring to a guy named "Mr. Larson".

In that case no big deal.

Hey, wait a minute...

 

[Irish#1]

The only thing McShay is good for is being a draft analysis. Other than that, he might as well just be a poster on irish envy

I resent that!

 

[Irish#1]

I really don't see much change in the offense. If we do, it will be more along the lines of a technical change like a pattern by one receiver to take advantage of Bama's D, or by going man blocking as opposed to zone in certain instances. I couldn see us going deep 2-3 times to keep the D back, but that's it.

When Dungy was with the Colts he was always asked about new wrinkles for the playoffs. His response was we won't be making any major chnages or adding new plays. We'll just keep doing what we do best.

This is a big game and Golson has always elevated his play in the big games. I expect him to do it again.