Five quick things to think about Pre-Purdue.
1. Sheets! We have to stop the run. I am not a big fan of taking Ian Williams out and putting Brown in on against spread formations. I would not mind seeing him in there a couple times while facing the spread to see if we can not slow down the running attack. Not to take away from Sergio Brown, who has been a nice surprise so far this season.
2. Painter! We need to get some pressure, I want some sacks. I have heard all these stories about this blitz packages, but I am not seeing results. I think we need atleast four sacks to come away with a 'W'.
3. Brian Smith! I love this kid so far. He is playing like a man on a mission. He could be a game changer this week. Tackle Sheets! Sack Painter!
4. Tate-Floyd! These two studs might be our new starting wideouts. Both have showed play making abilities, and to be honest, thats what we need. I like how they both run routes (Tate is quite good) and how they both go get the ball. Lets give it to them.
5. Allen? I have seen all three running backs. I like them all. I think ('think') I like Allen the best. We need to figure out the running game, and I think Allen could be the answer. I think the fact that we are running the screen pass is awesome, but I do not think that Hughes is the one that should be catching it. Allen on a screen could be scary.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Two Ugly Games, Two Ugly Wins
At this trend, I'll take 13 ugly weeks of Notre Dame football, because it looks like ugly still translates to wins. It's amazing how quickly people forget that when you have more points in under your name on the scoreboard than your opponent, you actually get the credit for the win. I swear people don't register that in their thought process.
There are way to many critics out there wanting to say this and that about the amount of turnovers Michigan had (and according to sports writers, Notre Dame didn't earn any of these, Michigan gave them to us) and being out gained when it comes to yardage. I'm sorry, but the Irish had the ball with starting field position at the Michigan 14 yard line. So if I'm thinking correctly, 28 yards can equal to 14 points which then leads to a 14 - 0 lead, but then means that because they were outgained in yardage, they didn't do anything correctly. To hell with you!
I hope next week's game is ugly. I like ugly games and ugly wins. Well, I will just be honest with you, I like wins, ugly or not. WINS!
There are way to many critics out there wanting to say this and that about the amount of turnovers Michigan had (and according to sports writers, Notre Dame didn't earn any of these, Michigan gave them to us) and being out gained when it comes to yardage. I'm sorry, but the Irish had the ball with starting field position at the Michigan 14 yard line. So if I'm thinking correctly, 28 yards can equal to 14 points which then leads to a 14 - 0 lead, but then means that because they were outgained in yardage, they didn't do anything correctly. To hell with you!
I hope next week's game is ugly. I like ugly games and ugly wins. Well, I will just be honest with you, I like wins, ugly or not. WINS!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Some more views on SDSU
I know the game is 4 days old now, but I'm still at a loss of words as to why ND didn't have a bigger showing against SDSU last Saturday. I'll tell you what, after watching the replay on Universial HD channel, I've been able to see why they looked lack luster.
First and foremost, every run play seemed to be to the left side of the offensive line. I am a huge Olsen fan and Turk has come up big this fall but you would have thought for sure that we'd be running behind the biggins' that we have with Stewart and Young on the right side. By doing this, Chris Stewart struggled to get to the second tier (the linebackers) to accomplish his assignment. Multiple times the player he was suppose to block made the tackle that prevented huge gains by Irish tailbacks Allen and Hughes. You could actually see his frustration on one play when he punched the air and stomped his huge foot. If he doesn't get quicker to the second tier, the Michigan linebackers are going to tee-off on the running backs.
Second thing I noticed is how hard it was for the WRs to break free from the bump and press coverages. Michigans DBs are big and physical and ND needs to be able to break away clean and quick as the front 7 is definitely looking to get to the QB often.
Mental mistakes, mental mistakes, mental mistakes. I'll highlight a few that were huge. Crum personal foul call, Kamara missing the hot route slant that hit his helmet and bounced off to get intercepted, Clausen missing Tate in ther corner on a wide open touchdown miss, a botched coverage call for Brian Smith and Kyle McCarthy on the long pass play that set up SDSU's first TD (they both had no clue who to cover), Hughes' fumble inside the 5 yard line (that was definitely NOT a fumble because his knee was down) and finally the FG/PAT holder (Maust) needs either more practice or to move to another position because he was unable to correctly place the ball for kicker Walker on two different occasions. Oh, on Clausen's other interception, Kamara stopped looking at the ball while the ball was in the air and instead of running the route and going up strong for the ball, he strided into the endzone, with his head looking at the DB, and gave a fairy tale leap that was about 3 seconds too early. I don't blame that all on Kamara, but he gave a very piss-poor effort to catch the ball or knock it away.
Now some good things I noticed (this could be individual or whatnot) on Michael Floyd's TD play, Clausen saw the coverage before he even lined up and pointed over to Floyd's directions. Floyd then broke away from coverage and got about 3 yards seperation immediately on his way to the catch. Brian Smith is an animal and was ALL OVER the field. Sergio Brown is going to be a stud. Ethan Johnson was getting work as an interior DL. Notre Dame's special teams (other than the FG/PAT unit) was amazing and it's only a matter of time before we see a kick-off for a TD. SDSU is very lucky that their QB was young and inexperienced because he was pressured A LOT and just seemed to chuck the ball wherever without a purpose (ND wo.uld have had about 8 sacks if there were a more experienced QB that knows to just take the sack, but SDSU got really, really lucky).
If Notre Dame continues the good and corrects those mental mistakes, the game this weekend will be fun to watch because Michigan is not getting any better with their offense and Notre Dame is about 5 times better than the Miami, OH squad that the Wolverines had come through there. GO IRISH!
First and foremost, every run play seemed to be to the left side of the offensive line. I am a huge Olsen fan and Turk has come up big this fall but you would have thought for sure that we'd be running behind the biggins' that we have with Stewart and Young on the right side. By doing this, Chris Stewart struggled to get to the second tier (the linebackers) to accomplish his assignment. Multiple times the player he was suppose to block made the tackle that prevented huge gains by Irish tailbacks Allen and Hughes. You could actually see his frustration on one play when he punched the air and stomped his huge foot. If he doesn't get quicker to the second tier, the Michigan linebackers are going to tee-off on the running backs.
Second thing I noticed is how hard it was for the WRs to break free from the bump and press coverages. Michigans DBs are big and physical and ND needs to be able to break away clean and quick as the front 7 is definitely looking to get to the QB often.
Mental mistakes, mental mistakes, mental mistakes. I'll highlight a few that were huge. Crum personal foul call, Kamara missing the hot route slant that hit his helmet and bounced off to get intercepted, Clausen missing Tate in ther corner on a wide open touchdown miss, a botched coverage call for Brian Smith and Kyle McCarthy on the long pass play that set up SDSU's first TD (they both had no clue who to cover), Hughes' fumble inside the 5 yard line (that was definitely NOT a fumble because his knee was down) and finally the FG/PAT holder (Maust) needs either more practice or to move to another position because he was unable to correctly place the ball for kicker Walker on two different occasions. Oh, on Clausen's other interception, Kamara stopped looking at the ball while the ball was in the air and instead of running the route and going up strong for the ball, he strided into the endzone, with his head looking at the DB, and gave a fairy tale leap that was about 3 seconds too early. I don't blame that all on Kamara, but he gave a very piss-poor effort to catch the ball or knock it away.
Now some good things I noticed (this could be individual or whatnot) on Michael Floyd's TD play, Clausen saw the coverage before he even lined up and pointed over to Floyd's directions. Floyd then broke away from coverage and got about 3 yards seperation immediately on his way to the catch. Brian Smith is an animal and was ALL OVER the field. Sergio Brown is going to be a stud. Ethan Johnson was getting work as an interior DL. Notre Dame's special teams (other than the FG/PAT unit) was amazing and it's only a matter of time before we see a kick-off for a TD. SDSU is very lucky that their QB was young and inexperienced because he was pressured A LOT and just seemed to chuck the ball wherever without a purpose (ND wo.uld have had about 8 sacks if there were a more experienced QB that knows to just take the sack, but SDSU got really, really lucky).
If Notre Dame continues the good and corrects those mental mistakes, the game this weekend will be fun to watch because Michigan is not getting any better with their offense and Notre Dame is about 5 times better than the Miami, OH squad that the Wolverines had come through there. GO IRISH!
Vanilla Irish vs. SDSU
I told you not to expect much from Notre Dame vs. San Diego St., but even I didn't think it would take that long to get the lead.
ND ran the ball up the gut (didn't try those tosses and runs outside), they passed the ball to lots of receivers (no screens or play-actions), and they didn't give up a single sack the entire game.
Not to mention they ran the ball for over 100 yards and Clausen was able to build confindence in his o-line and his receivers.
I don't care how they looked against the Aztecs, they won the game. They ran the minimal amount of plays needed to get the job done. Take away one of those interceptions and both of those costly fumbles and this game is 35-10 with the same kind of ugly stats.
Oh, and a side note. When the game counted and Notre Dame needed to move the ball, they totalled 136 yards on 2 scoring drives and the final run-out the clock drive. That's over 500 yards of offense if mulitplied out by 4 quarters. I think Weis was holding something back, don't you?
ND ran the ball up the gut (didn't try those tosses and runs outside), they passed the ball to lots of receivers (no screens or play-actions), and they didn't give up a single sack the entire game.
Not to mention they ran the ball for over 100 yards and Clausen was able to build confindence in his o-line and his receivers.
I don't care how they looked against the Aztecs, they won the game. They ran the minimal amount of plays needed to get the job done. Take away one of those interceptions and both of those costly fumbles and this game is 35-10 with the same kind of ugly stats.
Oh, and a side note. When the game counted and Notre Dame needed to move the ball, they totalled 136 yards on 2 scoring drives and the final run-out the clock drive. That's over 500 yards of offense if mulitplied out by 4 quarters. I think Weis was holding something back, don't you?
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Don't read too much into Aztec game
As I was looking through scores and thinking about what kind of attack I can expect from the Irish in their opening game, I realized something; San Diego State lost to Cal Poly. What? Yeah, that's California's 87th best college football school, apparently just infront of San Diego State.
This is something to keep in mind as we watch the game this weekend. You can bet your children that Charlie Weiss and the Fighting Irish are going to do exactly what they need in order to win the game, without showing ANYTHING for the week 2 match-up with the groundhogs, I mean bush-weasels, I mean barn cats, I mean Wolverines.
I know that Weiss has stated many times that he wants to demonstrate a running football strategy, especially with the stable of backs at his dispense. But I fully expect to see, and I am crossing my fingers as I say this, about 250-300 yards of rushing from the Irish. I don't plan on seeing Clausen chuck the ball but a dozen (ok a baker's dozen because I like pastries) times on Saturday, with Sharpley getting almost a full quarter of mop up duty. They will work in some quick slants and some quality tight end work and I bet that 7 different receivers touch the ball.
I just don't want the entire Notre Dame world to put too much stock in the game plan this weekend as they play an obvious inferior team. Michigan will come into South Bend with an 0-2 record and looking for some kind of energy and Weiss will absolutely unleash the hounds.
Also look for a test for the secondary as the Aztecs will be down early and will have to start passing the ball to get themselves in a position to score points.
Overall, we will be able to see just how tough and physical this offensive line is, how crisp our tight ends play, how frisky our defensive line gets, how fast our linebacking core can get, and finally just how stingy our secondary can get.
GET EXCITED!!!
This is something to keep in mind as we watch the game this weekend. You can bet your children that Charlie Weiss and the Fighting Irish are going to do exactly what they need in order to win the game, without showing ANYTHING for the week 2 match-up with the groundhogs, I mean bush-weasels, I mean barn cats, I mean Wolverines.
I know that Weiss has stated many times that he wants to demonstrate a running football strategy, especially with the stable of backs at his dispense. But I fully expect to see, and I am crossing my fingers as I say this, about 250-300 yards of rushing from the Irish. I don't plan on seeing Clausen chuck the ball but a dozen (ok a baker's dozen because I like pastries) times on Saturday, with Sharpley getting almost a full quarter of mop up duty. They will work in some quick slants and some quality tight end work and I bet that 7 different receivers touch the ball.
I just don't want the entire Notre Dame world to put too much stock in the game plan this weekend as they play an obvious inferior team. Michigan will come into South Bend with an 0-2 record and looking for some kind of energy and Weiss will absolutely unleash the hounds.
Also look for a test for the secondary as the Aztecs will be down early and will have to start passing the ball to get themselves in a position to score points.
Overall, we will be able to see just how tough and physical this offensive line is, how crisp our tight ends play, how frisky our defensive line gets, how fast our linebacking core can get, and finally just how stingy our secondary can get.
GET EXCITED!!!
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