*Notre Dame* - On Vacation

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by Thoros of Beer, Feb 3, 2016.

  1. Thoros of Beer

    Thoros of Beer Academy Award-Winning Actor, Tim Allen
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    I wish I could quantify the negative impact that Longo had on our program
     
  2. a1ND

    a1ND Bold & Spicy
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    tale of the tape offense

    BOOK’S SECOND-HALF SURGE
    The evolution of Ian Book, Notre Dame starting quarterback, went through phase four of the 2018 season. As has been customary, the red-shirt sophomore’s performance in the second half of Notre Dame’s 19-14 victory over Pittsburgh was scintillating.

    The previous week at Virginia Tech, after completing his first eight and then going 7-of-15 to finish the first half, Book connected on 10-of-12 with two touchdowns as the Irish outscored the Hokies 28-7 in the second half en route to a 45-23 victory.

    It was even more dramatic against Pittsburgh. A up-and-down first half in which Book prematurely abandoned the pocket and completed 13-of-18 for just 88 yards gave way to a 13-of-14 second-half performance for 158 yards and a pair of touchdown passes, including the dime he dropped on Miles Boykin with 5:43 left to give the Irish their first lead.


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    It was strange at times watching Book in the first half. He ran into a sack by defensive end Rashad Weaver, taking a 16-yard loss instead of stepping up into the pocket, albeit a crowded pocket. His overall awareness and presence – Book can command a football field – was lacking.

    The first of two interceptions was a difficult read as cornerback Jason Pinnock pealed off Miles Boykin and anticipated Book’s across-the-body throw to Tony Jones Jr. for his second interception of the season. The TV view of the interception didn’t do justice to the pressbox view where you could see Pinnock lurking in the weeds and emerging to make the pick.

    Book got away with that across-the-body, throw-back-to-his-right on the touchdown pass to Chase Claypool against Stanford. But unless you have an absolute cannon, you run a high risk, and Pinnock pounced on it.

    There was another overthrow to Alize Mack with Claypool also open on a deeper route while the two-point conversion throw to Boykin was wide open. It’s a pass everyone, Book included, expects him to hit. But otherwise Book was brilliant in the second half, including the best throw of the day outside of the game-winner to Boykin – the 26-yarder to Chris Finke who ran a double-move up-and-out for a perfectly-placed toss that was followed by the touchdown pass to Claypool four plays later.

    The thing overlooked when it comes to quarterbacks – digging beyond the statistics – is that Notre Dame’s offensive line did Book few favors. It’s easy to say he abandoned the pocket prematurely in the first half. But Book was under considerable duress most of the game. He did not have very many clean pockets from which to throw. He sometimes had to shorten his stride from the pocket, and those are difficult circumstances for any quarterback to make an accurate throw.

    Yes, he’s adept at throwing on the run. But what quarterback wouldn’t like to sit in the pocket and scan the field, particularly a quarterback who sees the passing tree unfold the way Book does. Book likely would have had an early-third-quarter touchdown pass to Boykin had right guard Tommy Kraemer not turned defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman loose to catch the arm of Book. Boykin had cornerback Dane Jackson beaten on the post.

    Book was 6-of-6 for 75 yards on the touchdown drive that pulled the Irish to within 14-12, and then 2-of-2 for 47 yards with a benefit-of-the-doubt pass interference penalty to start the game-winning march.

    It’s good that Book has faced adversity in recent weeks. As Pete Sampson correctly says, and I love this phrase, no quarterback’s progress is linear. There are the requisite twists and turns along the way that make a good quarterback like Book even better. Book is so driven that he takes each setback as a personal affront.

    That’s the sign of a confident quarterback who knows that if he experiences all of these blips, he will be better for it. His interview with Kathryn Tappen after the game once again showed an Ian Bookwho was disappointed in the way he played the game…after going 26-of-32 for 264 yards and two touchdown passes in the final 17 minutes.

    That’s the kind of guy you want leading your offense.

    HATS IN THE BOX: ND’S OFFENSIVE LINE
    During Brian Kelly’s Sunday teleconference with the media, the question of Notre Dame’s rushing attack was a topic of interest. After struggling to run the football against Virginia Tech – with 97- and 31-yard touchdown runs by Dexter Williams to ease the pain – the Irish managed just 80 yards on 38 carries for a 2.1-yard average against the Panthers.

    Subtracting Book’s three sacks accounting for 35 lost yards and the three kneel-downs to end the game, the Irish still managed just 119 yards on 32 carries for a 3.7-yard average. Dexter Williams had 13 carries for 31 yards (2.4). Book, minus the sacks, had 13 carries for 66 yards (5.0). Tony Jones Jr. ran hard for his 12 yards on four carries, including a really nice short-yardage pickup in which he had to carry people to convert the first down. Chris Finke had two carries for 10 yards.

    “Nobody in this building, including myself, is concerned about the lack of a running game,” said Kelly Sunday. “There are some players that we wish had executed better, but the way (the Panthers) were configured and the way they wanted to play this game, it was going to make it difficult to have a sustained running game.”

    Personally, I’d be a bit more worried than that, especially when you consider that Pittsburgh’s best defensive front-seven player, Quintin Wirginis, was sidelined with an injury.

    The drop-off has been significant since the mid-third-quarter injury to left guard Alex Bars in the Stanford game. Part of it is that Virginia Tech absolutely, positively loaded the box against the Irish. Pittsburgh didn’t load seven men into the box as frequently as the Hokies did, but the Panthers clearly were daring the Irish to throw to their wideouts against the press coverage of Dane Jackson (a good player who was beaten on a couple of critical plays) and Jason Pinnock, who had one of the two picks of Book.

    The Bars reference is not to say that his replacement, Trevor Ruhland, is at fault the last two games as the only change within the starting unit, although he’s not a big body and is not going to root out defensive tackles the way Bars was during the first four-and-a-half games.

    Tommy Kraemer continues to be inconsistent getting to the point of attack on anything that requires him to block outside of a phone booth. Right tackle Robert Hainsey struggled against Pittsburgh’s outside pressure. Sam Mustipher can only do so much from the center position, where holding the point of attack often times is considered a success. Left tackle Liam Eichenberg continues to show promise in a hit-and-miss sort of way.

    Fortunately, Chip Long is the offensive coordinator. Kelly said after the game that instead of running it 38 times, as the Irish did (35 minus the sacks), the Irish probably should have thrown it more than 32 times. He suggested something in the 45-to-50 range.

    That’s the Brian Kelly Irish fans grew to know and despise when 1) Kelly was still calling the plays or 2) Mike Denbrock was calling the plays. (Denbrock called plays from the mind of Kelly.)

    Long, of course, will follow the directives of his head coach. But he’s also his own man and his own play-caller. He wants to run the football. He knows how important it is to run the football, even at the expense of some zero, one- and two-yard runs. As Charlie Weis used to say – and it’s an adage I agree with – the number of carries often is as important if not more important than the number of yards rushing.

    That’s problematic with this offensive line because it’s just not that productive compared to last year’s unit that had Quenton Nelson, Mike McGlinchey and Bars, who wasn’t playing his best football last year, even as the group won the Joe Moore Award. Pass protection is a play-to-play concern for the Irish as well.

    If the Irish want to run the football more effectively as opponents load the box, perhaps they could employ more two-tight end and pound it between the tackles because this offensive line does not look like one – through seven games – that will be able to exert its will on teams like Florida State (No. 7 rush defense allowing 2.7 yards per carry), Northwestern (No. 59) and USC (No. 61). Pittsburgh came into the game allowing 4.8 yards per carry.

    Navy and Syracuse? Probably, but as the Irish move through the rest of the regular-season schedule, they’ll also have an eye on what it will take to win in the playoffs.

    That may require running the football – ineffectively -- even when the opposition stacks the odds against it.

    OFFENSIVE PERSONNEL
    • WR- Chris Finke: I’m not sure anyone completely anticipated the significant role the 5-foot-9½, 180-pound red-shirt junior would have on the 2018 Irish offense. He barely played last season in Long’s first year as offensive coordinator, and one suspected that Long simply wanted to go with the bigger bodies. Finke caught just six passes for 102 yards after coming on strong late in the 2016 season.

    With his six catches for 62 yards against Pittsburgh – including that pretty double-move route for 26 yards – Finke is tied for second on the team with Mack with 25 receptions for 305 yards (12.2) and that lone touchdown against Michigan in the season-opener. His 56-yarder against Virginia Tech was a huge play for the Irish in the first half.

    Finke is a threat. He finds seams in zones. He’s a handful one-on-one because he moves like a gnat. He’s a great target when the Irish are sending big wideouts Miles Boykin and Chase Claypooldownfield. He’s a jet sweep threat. Other than a couple of drops on some crossing routes – Book threw a real hot one that Finke couldn’t handle against Pittsburgh – he’s been very effective, and he’s the most sure-handed option returning punts with enough wiggle to give the Irish some added yardage.

    He’s on pace for a 50-plus-catch season with another year of eligibility.

    • LG- Aaron Banks: I’m intrigued by this offensive guard option. He saw action on Notre Dame’s first series of the second quarter in place of Trevor Ruhland. He returned to action in the first drive of the third quarter. For such a big man -- 6-foot-5¾, 319 pounds – he has surprisingly quick feet. He plays light on his feet. I like his change-of-direction ability. He seems to play with his weight underneath is pads. He doesn’t have much playing experience, which means he needs to catch up in terms of savvy and the necessary interior-offensive-line snaps.

    Personally, I’d like to see him at right guard in place of Kraemer on occasion to keep Kraemer fresher and to give Banks more experience. That may be asking too much of a red-shirt freshman to play both spots, but the Irish need to be creative. A struggling Navy – allowing 4.95 yards per carry -- might be a good time to do it.

    • WR- Miles Boykin: The Pittsburgh game was a tough assignment for Boykin with the Panthers’ employment of press coverage. Boykin couldn’t get on the field earlier in this career because of his inability to get off press coverage. But he stayed with the process and ended up coming up big for the Irish down the stretch.

    5COMMENTS
    He finished with just four catches after making 19 the previous two weeks combined. But those four grabs accounted for 84 yards, including the game-winning 35-yarder in which he ran by Dane Jackson -- even after being held -- and gathered in Book’s perfectly-thrown deep ball. He had to run through traffic for a 30-yard grab right before halftime. His 12-yard reception on 3rd-and-5 kept that drive alive.

    Boykin had to deal with a lot of redirected routes. He probably was open often enough to have doubled his catch total, but Book was under pressure and couldn’t stay with his reads. Boykin now has 32 catches for 512 yards, a 16.0-average per reception and four touchdowns to lead the Irish in all four categories.
     
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  3. a1ND

    a1ND Bold & Spicy
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    defense
    Pittsburgh-Notre Dame: Tale Of The Tape (Defense)
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    (Photo: Matt Cashore, 247Sports)
    ‘HOLDING ON’ FOR DEAR LIFE

    I am the last man on earth who would claim a bias by ACC officials against Notre Dame. I know officials from multiple conferences. I know how hard they work at being great at their craft. They can’t be biased or their head of officials would call them out. It could cost them their jobs. They have to answer to college football programs, whether in-conference or out. They don’t cheat for one team over another, although every human being has his biases.

    So what I’m about to say is not an accusation in any way, shape or form of bias by officials. I’m commenting strictly on how the officiating crew handled the Notre Dame-Pittsburgh -- completely on face value.

    I also acknowledge that there were at least two holding penalties against Notre Dame that weren’t called, although again, I’m not looking for those as much as I am transgressions perpetrated by the opponent on Notre Dame because I am writing about, first and foremost, Notre Dame. I didn’t think it should have been interference by Dane Jackson on Chase Claypool and I didn’t think a hit on Ian Book warranted a personal foul. I thought TaRiq Bracy should have been called for a late hit on quarterback Kenny Pickett along the sideline. The crew did a brutal job on both sides.

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    So with all of those disclaimers stated, I’ll proceed. Pittsburgh was called for two holding penalties. It could have and should have been at least eight and probably double-digits. Right tackle Alex Bookser alone had four-to-six holding penalties that weren’t called. His propensity for latching on to the back of a defensive player and throwing that defensive player to the ground is absolutely remarkable.

    Granted, Notre Dame’s pass rush is downright ferocious. The better the pass rush, the more holds will be made by opposing offenses. But it’s no wonder that Julian Okwara has just one-and-a-half sacks on the season to go with 14 quarterback hurries. It’s no wonder the Irish have just 16 sacks. The only way to prevent Notre Dame’s pass rush from completely wrecking an offense is to hold. And that, folks, is just what Pittsburgh did.

    Players I witnessed on film being not just held but egregiously held at least one time were Drue Tranquill, Jonathan Bonner, Ade Ogundeji, Jerry Tillery, Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem. Tillery, Okwara and Kareem were held multiple times. Okwara and Kareem combined for a minimum of four or five.

    I asked Brian Kelly about this Sunday. He did not volunteer this information and he certainly was not going to broach the subject on his own. I flat-out asked him what he says to his defensive linemen when they are held on such a regular basis. Here is the full story.

    Kelly was diplomatic, but Notre Dame sent in eight – eight! – plays to be reviewed this week by the ACC office. That’s twice as many as normal, according to Kelly. He didn’t say they were all holding penalties, but the vast majority obviously were.

    No one wants a flag-infested football game. But much like an overly-physical basketball game in which the officiating crew has to step in and set a precedent, this game absolutely required a statement by the officials.

    How much did these non-holding penalties influence the game? Well, considering Pittsburgh failed to score an offensive touchdown on its last eight possessions, it’s not like the Panthers put up 30 points and made it impossible for the Irish to overcome a deficit. I get that.

    But right is right and wrong is wrong, and Notre Dame’s field position likely would have been quite a bit better and its scoring opportunities much more frequent had the Panthers been placed in 2nd-and-20, 3rd-and-30 as often as their offensive tactics dictated.

    DEFENDING THE WILDCAT
    With the proliferation of today’s college football passing games, there are much more difficult attacks to defend than the Wildcat. In fact, the Wildcat is even less prevalent than it was a few years ago because it is the running game and most innovations lean toward something much more explosive, and thus, the passing game wins out.

    It’s not surprising that a Pat Narduzzi-coached football team would be one of those that includes the Wildcat. Narduzzi -- a great defensive coordinator – likes to take advantage of a bull of a running back like Qadree Ollison.

    He’s 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, but he plays (and probably is) much bigger than that. Ollison was the kid who subbed for an injured James Conner a few years ago and rushed for more than 200 yards in that game. He shares the running back position with a sleeker, quicker Darrin Hall (although he, too, is listed at 225 pounds), who also runs out of the Wildcat.

    The Wildcat was, years ago, a fascinating offensive invention. You take the quarterback out and add an extra blocker. You snap it directly to the big back, and with that extra man advantage, it’s very difficult to bottle up. It’s not a big-play philosophy per se, but it can keep the chains moving.

    It takes a special defense to contain the Wildcat and Notre Dame’s clearly qualifies as a special defense. Ollison carried 16 times for 50 yards, at least a half-dozen of which were out of Wildcat. The Irish took on a rushing attack averaging 200 yards per game and held it to 116 yards on 30 carries (3.9-yard average), and that’s with just one sack of quarterback Kenny Pickett.

    Hall gashed the Irish at times with nine carries for 62 yards (6.9), but Notre Dame was able to keep it in check while also limiting Pickett to just 126 yards passing, 6.6 yards per his 19 completions, and 4.5 yards per his 28 pass attempts.

    Pittsburgh ran the Wildcat behind a seven-man line. I saw once when it was an eight-man front with a tight end just off the left hip of the outside blocker. Pittsburgh’s Wildcat runs were:

    • eight yards;
    • a loss of three as Drue Tranquill sliced in;
    • a nine-yard touchdown run with that eight-man line and a play-action jet sweep fake;
    • a two-yard gain tackled by Te’von Coney with a six-man front and a fullback;
    • a gain of zero by Hall, tackled by Okwara;
    • a one-yard gain with an eight-man front.

    I may have missed a Wildcat or two, particularly with Hall, but the point is the Irish contained a rushing attack that loves to run the football while employing some usage of the Wildcat, which can be tricky to contain. Just another feather in the cap of Notre Dame’s great defensive front.

    THE KICK RETURN
    Credit to Pittsburgh for blocking Maurice Ffrench’s 99-yard kick return beautifully. It didn’t take long for the Panthers to construct the wall that did the Irish in. Here’s how it happened:

    Ffrench received Jonathan Doerer’s kickoff at the one-yard line, well inside his right hash. Alohi Gilman, Chase Claypool and Bo Bauer were centrally located about 30 yards upfield when Ffrench received the kick.

    Pittsburgh immediately created a four-man wall to Ffrench’s left. Jordan Genmark Heath, Jalen Elliottand Tariq Bracy were the next wave of defenders as Ffrench cut sharply to his left. Paul Moala, Asmar Bilal and Brandon Hutson were essentially out of the play starting on the other side of French’s cut.

    Nicco Fertitta, who also was aligned left, pealed off and chased with Gilman. But they were too far away with a bad angle. Doerer came next and he obviously isn’t quick enough to catch Ffrench. Fertitta and Gilman were even with Ffrench at the Irish 40, but Ffrench had a head of steam. Fertitta made a futile diving attempt and Gilman could never catch up.

    It all transpired so cleanly and simply. It didn’t require zigs and zags from Ffrench. He just hit it, it unfolded quickly, and before the Irish knew what hit them, they were in no position to make a play on the speedy Ffrench. Just a disastrous effort by the Irish.

    DEFENSIVE PERSONNEL
    • DE- Julian Okwara: Good God almighty! There is just no stopping Notre Dame’s junior defensive end. At 6-foot-4½, 241 pounds, he doesn’t look that big and is incredibly strong when you see him bending back a guy like Qadree Ollison on a running play. He was credited with seven quarterback hurries. When the Notre Dame coaching staff reviewed the film, they had him for eight. Okwara even showed some of his drop end skills when he popped into the flat as Drue Tranquill and Alohi Gilmanblitzed and slammed Darrin Hall to the ground for a three-yard loss.

    This guy is a wrecking ball, an unstoppable pass-rush force who has improved tremendously against the run. The Irish might have to convince him that he needs to add even more size before he’s ready for the NFL. The same with Khalid Kareem, who has 4½ sacks and seven quarterback hurries (officially).

    • CB- TaRiq Bracy: At 5-foot-10 1/8, 170 pounds (dripping wet, as they say), the freshman out of Milpitas, Calif. figured to be a red-shirt candidate as he gained strength. But the staff liked his cover skills. He first made a breakthrough as one of the outside guys (along with Nicco Fertitta) on the kick coverage unit. He’s handled that duty each of the first seven games.

    He came into the Pittsburgh game when Donte Vaughn couldn’t stop the Panther slants and then gave up on a play, which brought Bracy onto the field. He arrived with a bounce in his step and immediately made a tackle on his first play. Now when Bracy tackles – he had seven, including six solo – he has to hold on for dear life and sling the guy to the ground sometimes as opposed to tackling him. He just isn’t very strong right now. But he has a nose for the football.

    He probably should have been called for a late hit on Kenny Pickett in the fourth quarter as the Pittsburgh quarterback careened into the kicking net along the Panther sideline. But he came up big in Pittsburgh’s two last-ditch-effort drives when he made the hit on the Panther receiver on 2nd-and-24 as Houston Griffith got the pass breakup. Then Bracy defended Pittsburgh’s Tre Tipton on the Panthers’ final snap – a 4th-and-29.

    “The moment is not too big for him,” Kelly said. “He’s a pretty level-headed young man. He’s got some work to do. He recognized some things a little bit quicker. But I think there’s a big confidence when the ball goes down the field. We like his skillset.

    “Obviously, he’s a guy that’s got to physically continue to develop, but we like his demeanor in competitive situations. The moments don’t look too big for him.”

    • CB- Donte Vaughn: Vaughn couldn’t defend Pittsburgh’s slant. He missed a tackle on Qadree Ollison. More importantly – or worse, rather – his shoulders slumped with the play still going on and then gave up on the tackle when he couldn’t corral wide receiver Aaron Matthews. That was the last snap Vaughn took and rightfully so.

    • CB- Julian Love: We’ll remember the interference penalty on third down that didn’t have to be an interference because the ball was overthrown. And yet Love – even when the perception is that he didn’t play his best game – made the tackle on 2nd-and-10 from the Irish 30 trailing 14-6, and then broke up a pass running all the way across the field on 3rd-and-10. Alex Kessman then missed a 47-yard field goal. Greatness always rises to the top.

    AROUND THE GRIDIRON
    God bless the three-hour, five-minute college football game…After trailing for 2:13 through the first six games, the Irish were behind for 40:43 in this one and led for just the final 5:43. The most important 5:43…A lateral passing game to Alize Mack is not a maximization of his skills. Mack needs to be moving vertically, not horizontally. He is not elusive enough laterally to avoid going down on first contact. But he’s physical when he can get vertical. Get him vertical…John Shannon, high snap…Of Nicco Fertitta’s jump offside on a potential punt, Doug Flutie rightly says: “That’s a turnover.”…Of Pittsburgh’s four third-down conversions, three came in their opening drive – one by penalty, one by pass, one by rush – which was 17 plays, 88 yards, and 9:43 off the clock… Great block by Dexter Williams in pass pro on Ian Book’s 22-yard run…Tough offside penalty against Daelin Hayes with Pittsburgh left tackle Stefano Millin falling back out of his stance…As Mike Tirico said, Jerry Tillery is indeed having an All-America type season…

    2COMMENTS
    Tony Jones Jr. had limited opportunities, but he ran hard, beginning with a seven-yarder midway through the second quarter. He followed that with a 3rd-and-1 run for two yards after being hit two yards behind the line of scrimmage…Definitely an NFL-type personal foul call on Pittsburgh defensive end Dewayne Hendrix for roughing of Ian Book…New holder Nolan Henry handled his role well…Really nice catch by Kevin Austin for 13 yards on a bullet from Book…I always point out when I believe Brian Kelly has made a bad decision. It’s only fair I point out when I was wrong. He went for a 4th-and-1 before halftime and converted it. The drive stalled and they had to kick the field goal anyway, but the original decision worked…Avery Davis pass blocking on 3rd-and-goal from the Pittsburgh eight right before the end of the first half is the most ridiculous personnel decision an offense could make. Presumably, that’s what Kelly was saying to Autry Denson. It shouldn’t have to be said…NBC’s Chris Simms sneers through everything he says. It’s difficult for me to listen to/watch...In light of Sunday’s story on the penalty video clips Notre Dame turned into the ACC, Alize Mack held on a four-yard completion to Claypool early in the third quarter and it wasn’t called…

    Qadree Ollison was pretty talkative with Alohi Gilman on the Pittsburgh sideline. Among Notre Dame players, no one enjoys an active but subtle conversation with the opposition quite like Gilman…The play that made me turn to O’Malley and say, ‘This doesn’t look like it’s going to happen today” came midway through the third quarter when Pickett completed a third-down 16-yard shovel pass to the Irish 30 with Notre Dame trailing 14-6. The defense held and Kessman missed a 47-yard field goal…If Claypool slips that tackle on his slant for 21 yards, it’s a 71-yard touchdown…Looks like Tony Jones Jr. tweaked his left ankle again late in the third quarter…Didn’t know about Justin Yoon’s limp after his second kickoff. Even the kicker needs a bye week…Hinish full-face “eye black” fits him well…Tough play, but Jalen Elliott needs to come up with that interception on the second-to-last drive when he and Coney batted it around incomplete…Jeff George Jr. No. 96.…If I were a Pittsburgh Panther fan with Pat Narduzzi as the head coach, I would be, in a word, despondent…What was that 4th-and-1 call to ice the game? Nic Weishar was just off the end of the line, Brock Wright was at fullback, and Book rolled to his right. He had no option to throw to other than Wright…Interesting nudge of Book’s facemask from Kelly to get his attention after the failed 4th-and-1…Tranquill: “I kind of came to Notre Dame honestly on a leap of faith and the peace I felt in my heart.” Just like Tiger Woods, Tranquill said he embraces the grind. Going to miss that kid.
     
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  4. a1ND

    a1ND Bold & Spicy
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    it wasn't pretty but we won and are still undefeated and that's all that matters

    i think Bars injury is taking it's toll on the team

    that Dline is unreal in pass rush, seriously scary how much pressure they can put on the QB only rushing 3!!!

    i'm not too worried about the team - we know they can play well when they need to (Mich, Stanford, even VT in the second half) and Book will hopefully keep improving as he gains more experience

    we're going 12-0 and i'm feeling pretty darn good about it
     
  5. nexus

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  6. laxjoe

    laxjoe Well-Known Member
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    hahahah i'm rewatching Happy Endings right now and caught the corner of a newspaper one of the characters was reading during a scene. he was catching up on some cfb news of the times
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  7. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
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    Loved that show
     
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  8. Killy Me Please

    Killy Me Please I lift things up and put people down.
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    Member all those Dayne Christ jokes we made. Member. Cringe.
     
  9. Druce

    Druce Fuck football.
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  10. theregionsitter

    theregionsitter Well-Known Member
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  11. laxjoe

    laxjoe Well-Known Member
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    Love (first team) and tillery (second) made AP midseason all America teams
     
  12. Killy Me Please

    Killy Me Please I lift things up and put people down.
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  13. Killy Me Please

    Killy Me Please I lift things up and put people down.
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  14. laxjoe

    laxjoe Well-Known Member
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  15. theregionsitter

    theregionsitter Well-Known Member
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    Sounds like ND might've way more banged up prior to Pitt than we knew, seems like the whole OL has some sort of injury right now

    Bye week might've came at just the right time
     
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  16. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
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    just so annoying we play navy straight afterwards. Hope the DLine survives that game
     
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  17. beist

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    Eh I kind of think its good to play Navy coming off a bye. Allows for more time to install the option defense and helps minimize the chance of overlooking them.

    But really we should just not play Navy any more.
     
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  18. Patface

    Patface Touch & Go Like A Dantonio Heartbeat
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  19. IHHH

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    Love the « oh shit » at the end
     
  20. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    The most lobsided win we've had against them was 2012 when we played them week 1. I like the idea of facing them with fresh legs.
     
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  21. Beeds07

    Beeds07 Bitch, it's Saturday
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    The issue is how many DL will have their knees chopped during the game. This is one of the worst Navy teams in a few years.
     
  22. IHHH

    IHHH Well-Known Member
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    Really need to jump on them fast, can’t have the same slow start that Nd had the last two weeks. Put them down in a hurry and they are fucked. That way Nd can use their depht on the dline. Losing okwara, tillery or Kareem would be a terrible blow
     
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  23. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Agreed here, get a score and get a stop early. That's all you need and from there just treat possessions like holding serve. Do that and just work a rotation on the DL and limit their exposure.

    Let Gilman and Coney eat :nomnom:
     
  24. chase538

    chase538 Well-Known Member
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    Yea besides Gilman coming from Navy, this game really matchs well with his playing style.
     
  25. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
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    Its a first year coordinator though. Remember that year where the dive killed us all game. That could happen
     
  26. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
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    So in the last power hour they got into the whole process of offering doerer. That mustve been one of the more awfully excecuted recruiting decisions ever. Also, he sucks
     
  27. Killy Me Please

    Killy Me Please I lift things up and put people down.
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    Then killy should run the ball and keep them on defense. Lol at that happening
     
  28. theregionsitter

    theregionsitter Well-Known Member
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    Nah Navy wants you to run the ball and play possession football thats exactly how they win. You need to score quickly and in bunches against Navy and force them to throw and away from the dive game
     
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  29. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
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    stop em twice in the first 4 drives and you win. Stop em once and youre into a fight. Stop em none of the first times and its already the end of the third quarter and youre down double digits
     
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  30. NDfanPSUgrad

    NDfanPSUgrad Well-Known Member
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    What a shitty team to have a bye week in front. I know they could use some extra attention but it’s going to be tough not watching ND this weekend and then watching that shit Navy game.
     
  31. theregionsitter

    theregionsitter Well-Known Member
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    Don't care gonna be the end of Week 9 with an undefeated 8-0 ND that beat Michigan, Navy, and Stanford, how can you be mad at that?
     
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  32. NDfanPSUgrad

    NDfanPSUgrad Well-Known Member
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    Not mad at all. I meant to say I don’t look forward to bye weeks or playing Navy.
     
  33. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
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    ow i get that. But it might actually help the team unwind better. If you play (lets say) USC after the bye its really tough for the team to not just build up to USC for 2 weeks, which helps with that game but hurts beyond that point
     
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  34. NDfanPSUgrad

    NDfanPSUgrad Well-Known Member
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    It’s all about me.
     
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  35. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
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    can someone post the 247sports update on foskey plz a1ND
     
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  36. Thoros of Beer

    Thoros of Beer Academy Award-Winning Actor, Tim Allen
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    The waffling narratives in college football are so lazy

    In a largely talentless industry, college football is the mecca of bottom of the barrel journalists
     
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  37. theregionsitter

    theregionsitter Well-Known Member
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    I just read an article that said ND is losing to Syracuse, Michigan is winning out, and this will be the year that forces ND to join a conference. :yaoface:
     
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  38. Thoros of Beer

    Thoros of Beer Academy Award-Winning Actor, Tim Allen
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    We are more likely to leave the NCAA than join a conference
     
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  39. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
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    the talk about conferences really baffle me. They talk about finally joining a conference like CFB was always fully conferences and ND just opted out.

    I really get why people would say ND not joining a conference would be "selfish" as conferences like the B1G really help, primarily, the smaller schools and their budgets by leveraging the names of a few bigger schools. Its basically a workers union but then at scale. Its however the same people who condemn every form of a union in real life that think ND should join a conference the most.

    but whatever, its mainly just a thing to keep em busy
     
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  40. Thoros of Beer

    Thoros of Beer Academy Award-Winning Actor, Tim Allen
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    Conferences make college football less interesting
     
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  41. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
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    i wouldnt really agree if people scheduled decent OOC games, but sadly you are generally punished for doing so
     
  42. Beeds07

    Beeds07 Bitch, it's Saturday
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    They literally live by the idea of make your hot take first, then walk back hot take once it's wrong.
     
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  43. Beeds07

    Beeds07 Bitch, it's Saturday
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    There is no reason to schedule tough OOC games in a conference. You get zero credit for it by the time the selection committee starts meeting, and it only matters if you have a good loss, not the win...example Michigan.

    Alabama plays a garbage schedule every year and wins games by 50 because they are playing garbage teams, yet the narrative isn't that they don't play anybody, its how dominant they look.

    If ND joined the ACC, I would drop USC and Stanford and schedule San Diego St and San Jose St, which is a ridiculously stupid take, but makes sense the way the committee works.
     
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  44. theregionsitter

    theregionsitter Well-Known Member
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    This for sure, my wife is a OSU grad and pretty avid sportsfan. Earlier this year we were both looking at future schedules for OSU and ND, and she remarked how boring OSU's schedule is compared to ND.

    Could you imagine being a Buckeyes season ticket holder and dealing with that depressing slate of home games every year:

    MAC School
    Con USA or AAC School
    (once every 2 years a home game against a "Name Team"- if not then sub in another MAC/AAC/ or Academy school)
    Indiana
    Rutgers
    Maryland
    Some BIG West Team
    Some BIG West Team (or MSU/Penn State)
    Michigan (or MSU/Penn State)

    SIGN ME THE FUCK UP FOR THAT, take all of my money and let me make a $2,000 donation for the right to stand in the cold
     
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  45. Thoros of Beer

    Thoros of Beer Academy Award-Winning Actor, Tim Allen
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    We have trouble filling our stadium as it is, joining a conference would make it even harder
     
  46. NDfanPSUgrad

    NDfanPSUgrad Well-Known Member
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  47. SD_Irish

    SD_Irish El Mas Chingon
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    Oh lawdy.
     
  48. Thoros of Beer

    Thoros of Beer Academy Award-Winning Actor, Tim Allen
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    The only thing you need to know about coaching awards is that Brian VanGorder once won one.
     
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  49. IHHH

    IHHH Well-Known Member
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    Weis too, I think willing ham also
     
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