Getting mad at the shit QB you chose not being able to compete your countless four yard routes because he doesn’t have arm strength? Pass
Outside of the GOP, the NRA, and most Islamic terrorist groups, there is no one I’d be less likely to give money to than fucking barstool.
Smh. 3rd and 6 is a good blitz down. Either man blitz or a trap blitz. I wouldn't be sitting a soft zone.
I don't know if its a scheme thing or an execution thing, but Cal had so many creative blitzes yesterday where their LBs were coming wide open free with the Center overloaded. Including Mayer's game winning TD where Estime did just enough to chip the Mike or else that would have been a sack. All our blitzes seem to be hitting a gap in front of a guard where he can push the DT to the Center and the OT takes the end. On the 3rd and 6 double blitz, our LBs just fit right into their protection scheme. Other than the Henderson blitz that got right through for a sack, it seems like our blitzes just don't land
Wilcox is a really good defensive mind. Basically runs very similar to Dave Aranda scheme. I've seen some good ND blitz patterns and schemes the first 3 weeks. I've seen some executed poorly as well and don't look great. I wish ND would use Snead/Kollie some. We need some speed on D
Exactly. The LBs to date have been mediocre at best. No way adding some athleticism to the mix will make us any worse. Something has to give there.
the LB blitzes seem to be gap control, almost designed to give the DL 1 on 1's in the theory that the DL gets home We've seen these same backers blitz the last two years and its looked different. They just didnt forget how to blitz, its scheme That CB blitz that was a whiff in the first half was schemed up really well, that was just a gross play by our CB
Most of the DB blitzes have been well-constructed and for the most part have gotten home clean. Problems we’ve seen there are the timing (Ohio State safety blitz) or guys losing contain. But for the most part, they’ve gotten to the quarterback. Ramon Henderson, in particular, has laid some huge shots on QBs the last couple games. The LB blitzes are just unathletic dudes running into linemen - ours or theirs. Or it’s Marist Liufau running around like a chicken with his head cut off.
i went camping instead of watching the game and still haven't watched a single play and it feels like i have been released from a hex.
There were some signs of life. Saturday's team would have beaten Marshall and we'd be looking at a gritty but imperfect 2-1 team and feeling better in general. There were still a few undisciplined boneheaded moves, though. Hell, if Bertrand weren't an idiot, it's a two touchdown win.
I'll say this, as improbable as it seemed a week ago, if the OL plays like they did the second half, they can take the OSU gameplan on the road and beat UNC, whose front 7 won't be as stingy as the Buckeyes. Big "if," though, because they will have to sustain more drives than they did in Columbus. No false starts by seniors on third down would help, too.
Eh, recent BK teams would have gotten the ball at 6:30 left and somehow knelt on the 2 to run the clock out. We could kill games, we did not do that this week.
Also. Just wanted to let you boys know JLove has been awesome so far this season for the Giants. I told yous he was voted Captain. But he's just so solid. I'm really proud of him. He was shaky early on. But now he's a force.
This is my #1 concern. In my opinion, it's bigger than NIL. I think ND will be fine there, especially with a strong recruiting staff. But strong programs these days HAVE to be able to address holes and/or build depth with experienced guys. Especially considering there will be less opportunity to build from within because our own players will leave...just like everywhere else. We can't just refill with freshmen every year. No staff is good enough to continuously get a bunch of freshmen up to speed to plug holes.
So against UNC it would seem we're going to want to establish the run and keep the ball out of their offense's hands, right? Particularly given Pyne's limitations as a passer. A shootout is the last thing we want to try to get into.
Yep. The OSU gameplan only scoring more points on our end. It can work. UNC is explosive, but they aren't OSU. I'm not betting my house on it, but I see a path to it working.
ToT Spoiler “I said to the sideline after we gave up that (third-quarter) touchdown drive (to fall behind 17-14), ‘This isn’t going to be a repeat. This isn’t going to be a here we go again. We’re going to change the outcome of this game and it’s going to be by our offense going out there and doing what we have to do to execute. And then our defense, when we get the opportunity, we’re going to go out there and execute.’ “That was a big moment for us because I could see on some guys’ faces – even mine for a second – like, ‘Oh, shoot, here we go again.’ No, it’s not here we go again. We’re going to change the outcome by the way we execute and by how hard we play. It was great to see that.” -- Marcus Freeman • It’s difficult to imagine a worse first five series of a game than what Notre Dame turned in against Cal, and yet the Irish showed resilience by carving out a 24-17 victory over the visiting Golden Bears. First series: low throw to Lorenzo Styles on first snap. False start by wideout Braden Lenzy on a 3rd-and-1 run up the middle. No blitz recognition and sack on third down. Second series: Chris Tyree loss of two. Gain of six yards -- Pyne to Audric Estime -- on 3rd-and-8. Third series: Pyne chokes off a short pass to Michael Mayer. Fumbled shotgun snap that falls into the hands of Estime. False start by RT-Blake Fisher. Pyne airmails seam route to Mayer. Tommy Rees goes ballistic on Pyne. Fourth series: Pyne flushed out of the pocket and has to throw quickly – incomplete – to Mayer. A dropped pass by Styles on 3rd-and-5. Fifth series: Fumbled snap under center by Pyne. Cal recovers. Thirteen plays, eight yards total offense. Five poor throws/dropped passes, two false starts, a sack, two bobbled/fumbled snaps. • And yet the obviously flustered Drew Pyne completed 14 of his last 15 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns, helping lead Notre Dame to the first victory of the Marcus Freeman era. Credit to Tommy Rees for limiting the package for Pyne, which gave him an opportunity to have some success with the ground game serving as a stabilizing force. Ten of Pyne’s 17 completions on the day covered six yards or less. He showed accuracy in the screen game, which Ian Book struggled with and Tyler Buchner wasn’t asked to do because he’s struggled with it on the practice field. To Pyne’s credit, his six-yard touchdown pass to a split-left Michael Mayer was right on target as Cal LB-Oluwafemi Oladejo was in Pyne’s face after an effective but incomplete block by Audric Estime. • It’s kind of painful to watch Pyne as a runner. Not only is he small he’s not very fast or elusive. He is a reluctant runner, which could work to his advantage when he does decide to run for a few yards. Read-option football with Pyne is not effective because he has little burst when he keeps it. He runs like a quarterback from the 1960s. But Pyne settled down after those horrendous first five series. He was 10-of-11 in the second half. After a 3-of-8 start, he completed eight in a row, missed on a poor throw to Braden Lenzy that could have been intercepted and then finished the game with six straight completions. Rees/Freeman turned to pounding the rock and the offensive line came through against a good if not overly stout Cal defensive front. In fact, the offensive line didn’t just come through; it kicked the Golden Bears’ collective butt, just as Marshall’s offensive line did to Notre Dame’s defensive front the week before. • Notre Dame’s offense is going to be compromised against quality competition with Pyne’s limitations. But he’s the best and most prepared option they have for now. If an opportunity arises to get true freshman Steve Angeli into the game, the Irish will do so. But they’re not going to put in a completely inexperienced quarterback until Pyne a) loses the job or b) suffers an injury. One can say, “Angeli can’t be any worse!” Yes, he could, although there are high hopes for Angeli long-term. Pyne understands the entirety of the offense – if not possessing the physical tools to execute it all – and should come out of the gate at North Carolina this weekend a bit more settled than he was in his first start, particularly against a Tar Heel defense that is way more vulnerable than Cal’s. • The tricky part is coming up with ways to stretch the field vertically. This is going to be an inch-worm offense for the time being. Rees did a nice job of finding alternatives since Notre Dame’s wideouts – save for Lorenzo Styles – do not possess the abilities (Jayden Thomas) or consistency (Braden Lenzy) to do so. One alternative is to get the football into the hands of the Irish running backs in space. Rees did a tremendous job of this against Cal. Several two-back sets with Chris Tyree and Audric Estime produced huge results in the passing game. • In fact, Notre Dame’s two longest pass plays were the 36-yarder to Estime that set up a six-yard scoring toss to Michael Mayer and the 21-yard touchdown pass to Tyree that got the Irish on the board. The two-back sets allow for some creativity, including some of Notre Dame’s more positive running plays. The opposition has to be aware of Tyree’s speed when he motions. The opposition also can be fooled when Estime motions, as Cal was on Estime’s 36-yard reception. Estime motioned so as to draw eyes from Tyree, who swung out of the backfield to the right of the formation and continued his route upfield. This drew the attention of the Cal defense. Estime was one-on-one with Cal OLB-Myles Jernigan. ILBs-Jackson Sirmon and Oluwafemi Oladejo both reacted to Tyree on the opposite side of the field because they didn’t anticipate Estime as imminent danger in the passing game, at least not compared to Tyree. When Estime ran an angle route, he shook free of Jernigan and had an uncontested reception and run to the Cal six. • On the touchdown pass to Chris Tyree, Estime motioned and Tyree’s route drew Sirmon in coverage. Sirmon passed him off to the field. But the safety had to respect Pyne’s pump fake to the field. That left Tyree all alone for the 21-yard score. If you criticize Rees when the offense bogs down – which is fair because he has overseen a poor collection of skill-position talent – he deserves credit when he creates offense, which he did against the Bears. The running game and the two-back scheme defeated a good Cal defense. • Jarrett Patterson has played extremely well in his first two games back from his foot injury that prompted him to miss the Ohio State game. He is playing quick, strong and decisively. His awareness as to where the pressure points are coming from the defense shows his previous experience, even at his new position. In fact, I would argue – based upon games against Marshall and Cal – that Patterson’s skillset is accentuated more at guard than center. The shift from center to guard should prove to be beneficial to his professional career. He’s playing quality football and was at the forefront of Notre Dame’s revival against Cal. He played well against Marshall but couldn’t get enough help. Patterson and LT-Joe Alt were plowing people Saturday. Patterson and C-Zeke Correll teamed up to destroy the middle of Cal’s defensive line on Audric Estime’s one-yard plunge. RG-Josh Lugg played his best game of the season by far by getting good push against the left side of the Cal defensive line. When he’s making a push up field, he’s a huge barrier for the opposing defense. Lugg teamed with Correll to spring Estime for a 14-yard gain. RT-Blake Fisher was better than he was against Marshall, but the Irish attack certainly favored the C-LG-LT for a majority of the inside zone running plays. • If you’re still calling for the removal of C-Zeke Correll after the Cal game, you either didn’t watch it or you’ve made up your mind that Correll is a lost cause. Correll didn’t just play well after the line came out slowly in the first quarter; he played, at times, dominant football on Cal NG-Ricky Correia, the 6-foot-4, 335-pounder. When Notre Dame’s rushing attack began to launch following those five horrific series to open the game, Correll was at the forefront of the Notre Dame offensive line’s sandblasting of the Cal front. Correll and Alt combined to open up a hole for Tyree that netted 10 yards. It all seemed to finally kick in for Correll. Nice wide, spring-loaded base, light on his feet, feet churning and full utilization of his strength – lower and upper body. Correll didn’t just defeat Correia; he bulldozed him. Good for Correll. He badly needed a game like that against a quality opponent. Perhaps this game gets him locked in with his technique and confidence. • The significance of the Notre Dame offensive line’s performance against Cal cannot be underestimated. Yes, Cal’s defense in the Pac-12 football doesn’t have to be as physical as it does when it’s embroiled in a good old fashioned street fight with a physical Midwestern offensive line. But considering the indecisiveness of the Irish offensive line at Ohio State and against Marshall, this was a noteworthy performance that has to lift the spirits of the unit. • Maybe that 2-4-5 defense works well in the Pac-12, but when a quality offensive line puts things together – as Notre Dame’s did against Cal – the results can be detrimental to a Pac-12 team. The Golden Bears ran mostly three- and four-down against the Irish because they were facing a more physical bunch. The notion in watching Cal against UC Davis and UNLV was that the Irish should be able to run against that front alignment. It proved correct. • While the Notre Dame offensive line performance was a surprise, the Irish defensive front came into the Cal game with a distinct advantage versus the Golden Bears’ offensive front. Notre Dame won this battle thoroughly and decisively. It started with the interior of the Irish defensive line, particularly Jacob Lacey, Jayson Ademilola and Howard Cross III, who manhandled Cal’s unsettled and flailing offensive line. Both Lacey and Ademilola used the same move to record sacks. An upward thrust rip move, followed by a spin move in which they came out of their spin under control and pushing forward. Beautiful technique execution. Lacey’s two sacks accounted for 18 lost yards and Ademilola’s was another six. That’s 24 lost yards on three plays with QB-Jack Plummer losing a substantial 47 yards on six sacks. “Jayson Ademilola is relentless,” said NBC analyst Jason Garrett. He is correct. Cross has become like an egg-beater for the Irish in the middle of the defensive line. On a couple of occasions, he made great penetration, only for the football to be kicked outside of him. One of Cross’ most impressive plays was his tackle of QB-Jack Plummer on a 17-yard gain. Cross pursued for 20 yards before he made the diving tackle from behind. Very impressive for an interior defensive lineman. The Irish will lose Ademilola upon the conclusion of the 2022 season. But the senior Lacey has a COVID year coming to him and Cross has two years of eligibility remaining. Both should be back in ’23 to anchor a smallish but physical and intense interior defensive line. Now mix in Gabe Rubio, Aidan Keanaaina and perhaps some other youngsters and you have the makings of another quality interior line group. • DE-Isaiah Foskey was missing in action for most of the Ohio State game and for a large portion of the Marshall game. But he came up big when he needed to against Cal with a pair of sacks. His second one, which had an “ended it” feel to it, required one more series for the Irish defense. Foskey battled through what looked like left knee discomfort after a long chase of Plummer. He’s also dealing with a left shoulder issue that caused him to grimace as Notre Dame’s medical staff tended to him. But through three games, he has three sacks, which puts him ahead of pace to surpass Justin Tuck’s Notre Dame record for career sacks. Foskey needs six-and-a-half more to surpass Tuck’s 24½. • Notre Dame’s strong defensive play permeated to the back end of the defense, if not the linebacker corps which didn’t have a particularly effective game, even though the defensive line clearly won the battle up front. Notre Dame’s linebacker play strikes me that they make most of the plays they should but seldom exceed expectations. Except for the swing-and-miss blitz by CB-Clarence Lewis, that was one of his most effective games, both in pass coverage and in terms of his physicality. He didn’t post big run-stopping numbers, but he played good team defense against the run that allowed his teammates to have success. NB-TaRiq Bracy has become a dynamic, difference-making presence. CB-Cam Hart was nabbed for an easy interference call, but he contributed to holding WRs-Jeremiah Hunter, J. Michael Sturdivant and Mavin Anderson to 13 receptions on 25 targets. (To be sure, Notre Dame’s secondary benefitted from the pressure applied up front.) Loved the physicality of S-DJ Brown against Cal. He finished with a co-team-leading seven tackles. On one play, he fought off the block of TE-Keleki Latu and dumped RB-Jaydn Ott for a four-yard loss. I don’t ever remember seeing Houston Griffith make a similar play in four seasons and three games. Brown’s unnecessary roughness penalty that threw Ott to the ground really wasn’t roughing. Brown had his hands on the football, not Ott, when Ott when flying to the ground. S-Xavier Watts was on the field in crunch time. Freshman CB-Benjamin Morrison was beaten on a perfect throw to Jeremiah Hunter for the longest gain of the day by the Bears – 33 yards. But Morrison showed a bit of catch-up speed after Hunter got the jump on him. It took an absolute dime of a throw to defeat Morrison. He has the tools to be a great one. Not sure if people realized, but Morrison started ahead of Lewis and Lewis played a strong game. Lewis had a huge PBU on a second-down slant from the Irish 21 with Notre Dame leading, 24-17. Lewis also showed the ability to squeeze receivers along the sideline with his back side. S-Ramon Henderson was effective as a blitzer. He put a huge hit on Plummer on one and batted down a Plummer pass on another. He also made a great open-field tackle on a Plummer-to-Ott pass on Cal’s final drive of the game. Notre Dame’s secondary played a quality game against a group of talented young Cal receivers. • For the record, had TaRiq Bracy’s scoop-and-score counted, it would have been a 77-yarder…Jac Collinsworth has shown the good sense and insight to realize that as he takes this huge step in his career, less is more. He’s done a solid job…That was a pretty mild celebration by Cal WR-Jeremiah Hunter following his second quarter touchdown. But those are the college rules…I presume that Marcus Freeman was mad that the defense needed to call a timeout on 3rd-and-24 because it didn’t have the right personnel in the game. But shortly thereafter, we saw DC-Al Golden make a bee-line to defensive line coach Al Washington during a timeout. Looked like a defensive line personnel issue…Dario Longhetto’s 45-yard field goal attempt with 21 seconds left in the first quarter looked good all the way until it hit the left upright. Blake Grupe’s missed 45-yard attempt – which was nullified by an offside penalty against Cal – was fairly similar. Grupe’s 47-yarder to tie the game at 17-17 on the second play of the fourth quarter was center cut and extremely clutch… • I can’t blame Cal HC-Justin Wilcox for contesting the offside penalty that gave the Irish a first down after a missed field goal, which the Irish converted into a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 with 8:54 left in the second quarter. Wilcox probably was equally skeptical about an offensive interference penalty on Jeremiah Hunter in a tie game early in the third quarter. An ensuing punt and seven plays later, the Irish scored the game-winning touchdown. Credit to Wilcox for refusing to answer a question about the offside penalty at halftime. “I’m not going to talk about that,” Wilcox said…I think I can speak on behalf of the media in Notre Dame Stadium that would like to ban green jerseys with blue numbers, which are impossible to read from the ninth floor of the pressbox unless you watch the entire game through binoculars…You may not have realized it because the Notre Dame defense bottled up freshman RB-Jaydn Ott, but that kid is going to be real good if Cal ever puts out a Power 5-level offensive line…Irish special teams coach Brian Mason seems to offer at least a modicum of pressure every time the opposition punts. That didn’t pay dividends against Cal. Punter Jamieson Sheahan averaged 49.5 yards on his six punts. But over the course of the season, this will be a field-position benefit to the Irish… • Remember the wild-eyed early-game picture of RG-Spencer Lovell (No. 54)? He may look the part but he is not an accomplished football player…So that’s where Tyler Buchner was during the game…Freshman LB-Niuafe Tuihalamaka saw some action for the Irish against Cal. As frequently happens with young linebackers, the moment is big, their head is spinning, and instead of moving one’s feet to get to the football, he reached and his feet become sedentary. That’s what happened on RB-Jaydn Ott’s longest run of the day for 13 yards. Ott’s other 12 carries netted 20 yards…C-Zeke Correll didn’t even twitch toward Cal LB-Jackson Sirmon when Sirmon blitzed and zipped by Correll on third down of the opening series. That’s just bad offensive line awareness in a zone blocking scheme. Things got much better for Correll from there…Right on que, Marshall lost to Bowling Green in overtime Saturday…What on earth is that goofy little throwing motion that Drew Pyne makes while standing on the sideline in anticipation of coming onto the field? Don’t do that!… • I thought Cal’s offensive line held Notre Dame’s defensive line quite a bit. It probably would have been closer to 10 sacks as opposed to six if the ACC officiating crew didn’t disregard so many obvious holding penalties. Rylie Mills was held so badly on one play that I kind of screamed it out in the pressbox. (Not the first time I’ve done that and won’t be the last). Then I looked across the field and Marcus Freeman was giving the refs the holding sign. Freeman was close to it; we were nine floors up. (Note: Mills needs to use his strength better to get off blocks. No one should be strong enough to lock him out without some type of hammer move to get those hands off him.) The one real obvious holding call made was that of DE-Nana Osafo-Mensah…If Notre Dame insists on DE-Alex Ehrensberger playing at crunch time, he cannot lose outside contain…DC-Al Golden told the NBC crew about the importance of getting a pass rush without sending extra hats. Missioned accomplished, although Marist Liufau and Ramon Henderson were disruptive from the second and third levels respectively… • What in the world was Brandon Joseph thinking when he signaled for a fair catch, it bounced, and he scooped it up and tried to run with it from inside the five-yard line…What were you thinking when Cal started its final drive at its own seven-yard line? Yeah, me too...The announcers said WR-Tobias Merriweather was in the game, but he certainly wasn’t considered an option in the passing game…I was surprised at how inaccurate Cal QB-Jack Plummer was. He was pressured into a lot of bad throws, but he was more inaccurate than he’s been during his collegiate career… Jon Sot defies punting logic. He’s averaging 45.1 yards per punt. Check out his punting style. His kicking toe is pointing backwards after he’s released the football. (Check it out: Hit stop when he releases the football.) Ideally, you want your foot to meet football shortly after the release. His margin for error is vast. And yet he keeps rolling on… • NT-Chris Smith didn’t appear to play much with the dominating performances by the rest of the interior defensive linemen. But he did come up with a co-tackle with Jacob Lacey in the red zone…LB-Marist Liufau seems to play his best football when he’s rushing the passer. Perhaps a more consistent role in that capacity is in order. Yet Notre Dame’s inside linebackers aren’t playing well enough for Liufau make a full-time move to Rover…Don’t like the way LB-JD Bertrand has played so far this season. Against Cal, his run-read in a five-man rush was wrong and Plummer scrambled for 21 yards. Saw him bounce off another squared-up tackle attempt. Got lucky (not his fault) on a one-on-one outside matchup in pass coverage against Ott. And then there was the ego-driven unnecessary roughness penalty that occurred in the final Cal drive that erased Lewis’ game-ending interception… • I hadn’t remembered that Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden and Cal offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave coached together on Al Groh’s Virginia staff in the early 2000s…Notre Dame is now 0-4 on coin flips under Marcus Freeman…Full disclosure: Every time I watch Notre Dame’s What Would You Fight For segments at halftime, I get emotional. I love Notre Dame football; I respect the University of Notre Dame more…Interesting to hear Marcus Freeman say on the post-game interview: “This is going to be one of many to come.”…On the final play of the game, Notre Dame had seven defenders in the end zone with three eligible Cal receivers. The seven Irish defenders were: Jack Kiser, Ramon Henderson, Cam Hart, Clarence Lewis, TaRiq Bracy, DJ Brown and Brandon Joseph. The three Cal receivers were Jeremiah Hunter, Mavin Anderson and Monroe Young. Many blessings Notre Dame’s way that this play didn’t send the game into overtime…In my 41st year of covering Notre Dame football, I have never picked the exact score. 24-16 didn’t get it done.
I keep reminding myself of Manti visiting for Syracuse. I’d be very “meh” as a recruit after seeing that Marshall game, but definitely need to paint the picture of what is coming in the future years.
I actually think it will be fine. ND tends to be a step behind on things like this, but they tend to do it well in a manner that is still true to the culture, once they embrace it. I suspect they'll find a happy medium soon on transfers, and this staff will do a strong job of selective recruiting in that realm.
i think it will be you have to be on track to graduate working 5 instead of 4 years and they really push for dudes to come back and finish degrees. Probs my doubles the pool of guys they can target
Yeah, that would make sense. I also think the lack of options this past year was as much a coaching decision as lack of options. I think that's a huge learning opportunity. If nothing else, they can't be afraid of hurting feelings.
They were hired partially for continuity, now that it's clear bigger changes need to be made I fully expect them to make them, that includes the roster.
Saw a post on on3 asking if Swarbrick hired the wrong coordinator to be the head coach. I fucking love stupid message board posts