They talked about that on the broadcast yesterday right after his big run. Perhaps he aggravated it or they were just worried about him reinjuring himself
And nbc better scrap this fucking camera experiment, what a complete fail. Never again, what the hell is this, amateur hour? Nobody saw that coming? They certainly saw some footage of what it would look like before doing this game, and they still went ahead with it? The incompetence is unbelievable for a major network
Said it was his quad after the run. Plus Kelly doesn’t want to give away the 2 QB system he will unleash next week at georgia.
Agree with the thought that this team in particular should improve throughout the year, assuming Book doesn’t regress to nothing. 11-1 is still within the realm of possibility, even with the mixed results we’ve seen up to this point. I think the ideal outcome for this team is NY6 bowl, potentially getting a decent matchup, and peaking at the right time/getting a win. Is it gonna play out that way? Of course not.
One thing that this team is teaching me is that if Nd wants to get to the promise land it can not have off years in recruiting, ever. Rb is hurting Nd, lb position is hurting nd. Next year db will be a big issue. This can’t happen anymore if this program wants to compete with the top 5 And so far the db recruiting looks like shit again.
It is incredible, not sure what is wrong here. On first look it would be the oline but it is probably deeper. They know exactly what Nd is going to do on third and short
My thought is that you'll get more chances to get him on the field, but Clark gets some snaps because how many more 50 point wins will there be? Jurk will get more shots.
It's amazing snf isn't using the new and improved sideline sky cam like ND games. I thought this was the preferred camera angle from nbc now bc it provides such an improved viewer experience??
come on guys, we all know that BK/Chip/Lea hashed this plan out months ago to beat UGA get UGA overconfident and lax on offense and defense by making Book look like crap and allowing LOU and NM to run wild on us...things are falling right into place
The only positive news is that Georgia runs a conventional pro style offense, which can be easier on LBs than dealing with mobile QBs.
We talked about a meetup for those in Arhens I'm more afraid of the OL moving straight forward at these undersized LBs.
If you can't go better than 6-20 against New Mexico and Louisville, you're gonna have a bad day against Georgia.
How far can we take the "our deficiencies are due to limited game plan/saving looks for UGA?" Where it stops primarily is the short yardage plays. Now, I don't doubt we are saving our best plays, but we should be able to block for a yard once in a while otherwise. Add to that with the injuries there just isn't enough talent at the skill positions right now. I'd feel a lot better about this game with Austin or Young.
Louisville had one defensive starter over 250 lbs yet repeatedly stuffed ND on 3rd and short. New Mexico is New Mexico. The is no answer you can give for that.
so my thought about the whole third and short thing. Is our OL too tall for that. Mainly thinking about the interior guys but they are all of the athletic 6-5+ kind. This helps them with range and lateral movement but when its just about being powerful the D can get lower. Just a thought
yeah we're not getting stuffed on 3rd and 1 because we're afraid to put too much on tape for UGA. we're getting stuffed on 3rd and 1 because our OL can't get that push/play design is bad/rbs are bad at finding the holes/something else that isn't related to not putting stuff on tape. i am positive they've held stuff back the first couple weeks. but like you said, we're not talented enough to go down there and win this game. if it were later in the year, i may feel better, but not week 3 against the 2nd or 3rd best team in the country
so if we would just be about 50th nationally on 3rd down in the first 2 games id feel so much better. I did see book improve a good bit (although he is not where he needs to be). I do see areas to attack in this UGA team and I think the DL could hold their own against that UGA OL. But you are going to need to have a great day on 3rd down as you cant rely on going deep and long against this uga team.
i hope this camera angle was a 1 time thing because it felt like a handheld camera from a jetsuit, it was awful
Based on the comments from NBC it doesn't sound like they intend to go back to a normal camera any time soon.
where'd you see that? im disappointed my strongly worded email to the NBC contact us page did not have it's desired effect
tale of the tape offense Spoiler IAN BOOK’S ‘SLOW START’ To say Ian Book started slowly just because he had some incompletions under pressure while throwing to receivers who were covered is a partial analysis of the way Notre Dame’s starting quarterback opened against New Mexico in what eventually became a 66-14 victory. Book’s first incompletion to Chase Claypool was a poor reaction to the ball in the air by Claypool. Then he got sacked when New Mexico’s best player – linebacker Alex Hart – ran a delayed blitz and dumped Book for a seven-yard loss. He hung in there to wait for Claypool to break open, and then had to flush when Hart broke for the backfield. Doug Flutie, who for all of the criticism directed at him, can see things that others can’t. He said the routes were covered. When right tackle Robert Hainsey was “turnstiled” by New Mexico rush end Jacobi Hearn, Book had to scramble for eight yards, which was well short of the first down. Book did little wrong in the drive. He took a sack amidst an out-cry that he has to hang in there longer, but the whole offense failed. In the third series, he play-action faked and rolled to his right. He had defensive end Trent Sellers immediately in his grill and threw it away. If Claypool broke off his underneath route and went deep, there was no way Book could have delivered him the football with Sellers bearing down on him. What would any quarterback have done in that situation? The exact same thing. My favorite Ian Book play was a 3rd-and-6 in the third series from the Irish eight. He dropped back to pass, went through his progressions, stepped up and to his left to get some breathing room, made a move as if he were going to run, but kept his head up enough to see Lawrence Keys III flashing across his field of vision for a 15-yard gain. A beautiful play. Book threw incomplete on a sharp, shallow out-cut in which Claypool stuck one hand up for the football, although it came in a little hot. But it had to. On the long incomplete out pattern to Chris Finke, Finke couldn’t gain separation from safety Jerrick Reed and the ball skipped off his outstretched hand. Perhaps someone else was open, but Finke was not. “That’s a tough throw,” Flutie said. His deep ball to Lawrence Keys on the first play of the second quarter was thrown perfectly. It hit Keys’ hands but he couldn’t come up with it with cornerback Donte Martin draped all over Keys. Keys jumped early and was contacted early as well. On a 3rd-and-10 in a 14-0 game, Finke couldn’t get open against safety Jerrick Reed again. So was it Book who started slowly or the people around him? We blamed Book for some of his inaccuracy against Louisville. What about the slow start by the people around him in the New Mexico game? The jump throw attempt to Tony Jones Jr. was a bit of a bizarre reaction. But Book then made a great rolling throw to Claypool for 17 yards, and then back to Claypool for a 37-yard score with no topside help from the New Mexico defense as Claypool was defended one-on-one. Midway through the third quarter, with a defender bearing down on Book, he lofted a touch pass to Tommy Tremble for a 29-yard gain. Book play-action faked and took a big hit, but showed a very deft touch. Book exited the game after the completion to Tremble and second touchdown toss to Javon McKinley. Yes, the shovel passes to Avery Davis and Finke were an easy 113 yards for Book. But he threw for another 247 yards for a total of 360 with five touchdowns and zero interceptions for the second straight game. That gives Book six touchdown passes and no interceptions, 553 yards passing (276.5 per game), and 29-of-47 for a 61.7 completion percentage. He’s carried 23 times for 127 yards. He’s been sacked four times. PHIL JURKOVEC/BRENDON CLARK One sportswriter set the over-under line at five plays before Phil Jurkovec threw deep. Clearly his best and most natural route to throw, Jurkovec lofted the deep ball to Braden Lenzy on a post route. Lenzy gained inside position on cornerback Michael LoVett III. This was right in Jurkovec’s wheelhouse, which is why offensive coordinator Chip Long dialed it up on his first snap. It’s good to see Jurkovec looking like, well, Phil Jurkovec. Not only did he deliver a perfect deep ball to Lenzy, but also he ran for 23 yards to the New Mexico one to set up the seventh of eight offensive touchdowns scored by the Irish. Flutie mentioned the bruise on Jurkovec’s left quad, which may have had something to do with the limited number of reps he had, particularly after that 23-yard run to the one-yard line. It was a strong albeit brief showing by Jurkovec. The jitters, which seemed to permeate everything he did in a game and even on the practice field, have been abated. Now Jurkovec can just be Jurkovec and let his natural instincts take over. Why Brendon Clark instead of sticking with Jurkovec? Probably Jurkovec’s left thigh bruise, but also because there likely isn’t much space that separates the two of them on the depth chart. We don’t see the day-to-day practice routine, but Clark has impressed Notre Dame with his toughness and his savvy. He practiced with a broken finger without saying anything to the coaching staff. He is a decisive decision-maker. Clark notched his first touchdown pass with Lenzy’s help. It was trips left. Lenzy had to jump up for the grab, broke the tackle attempt and accelerated. Clark also had four carries for 24 yards, including a 14-yarder. It was good to see the coaching staff allow Jurkovec and Clark to run the offense despite the score differential, even if they combined for just three throws. There should be a greater comfort zone for both the next time they play, provided of course it’s not in an emergency situation as it would be this weekend at Georgia. RUNNING BACKS It was a very pedestrian day for Notre Dame’s three healthy running backs and the addition of Avery Davis, although his performance technically came in the passing game. Davis didn’t have a rushing attempt. Tony Jones Jr., Kyren Williams and C’Bo Flemister combined for 17 carries for 41 yards. Notre Dame’s quarterbacks carried 15 times for 87 yards. Receivers Braden Lenzy and Lawrence Keys III each carried once for a total of 21 yards. The running backs, including walk-on Mick Assaf, carried 20 times for 49 yards. Tony Jones Jr.: I had a couple people in the media express disappointment that Tony Jones Jr. carried just six times. I don’t see what Jones carrying any more than that in a 52-point victory over New Mexico would have accomplished. His long run was nine yards. His other five carries accounted for 12 yards. Beyond taking unnecessary hits, he wasn’t going to positively impact the running game. None of the running backs, except for Williams’ 14-yard run, was going anywhere against New Mexico. Kyren Williams: While I would agree that it would be great to see more of Williams because he is a gamer, a receiving threat and one of the few available options at running back right now, I still don’t see the burst that you would expect from a 5-foot-9, 205-pounder. He’ll play physical football and offer a strong effort. He showed nice bounce outside after breaking a tackle and then led with an effective stiff arm. But the lack of a real burst remains a limiting factor. C’Bo Flemister: It was some pretty rough sledding for Flemister with seven carries for a net minus-two. Give him credit for his determination to get into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown run. The room wasn’t there, but Flemister created it by lowering the pads and powering his way into the end zone. Avery Davis: His “touchdown reception” of 59 yards was made possible by a) the explosive nature by which Davis motioned and accelerated after the catch and b) some pretty easy pickings of open space with Chase Claypool and Chris Finke leading the charge. In reality, however, there wasn’t much Davis had to do once he turned the corner. It was immediately clear once he turned the corner that all he had to do was steer his way back against the grain and pursue daylight. It would have been nice to see Davis carry the football in the more conventional way to see how well he could diagnose his running room, but perhaps that was saved for Georgia. It’s just nice to know the Irish have some burst at the running back position while Jafar Armstrong recuperates. What an outpouring of emotion from the offensive line and then everyone along the Irish sideline for Avery Davis. That speaks volumes. Earlier in the week, I wondered if Davis would be changing numbers since wide receiver Kevin Austin was No. 4 on offense. Yet another sign that we will not see Kevin Austin this season. WIDE RECEIVERS Javon McKinley: It appears we can now put to rest the notion that McKinley was just a beneficiary of Kevin Austin’s suspension. The red-shirt junior is legit – at least he has been against Louisville and New Mexico – with his first career catch coming in the opener when he decisively took the football upfield for an 11-yard gain. The 65-yard catch-and-run touchdown by McKinley against New Mexico immediately brought this to mind: “That’s why he was a four-star prospect.” He broke three legit tackle opportunities and ran around two others. McKinley broke free with a powerful stiff arm and frankly, despite numerous tackle opportunities, McKinley was never close to being brought to the ground. It’s pretty incredible the confidence with which McKinley is playing for a guy who did not see the light of day his first three years in the program. Now, not only do you have a viable option moving forward in 2019, but a bigger receiver with a fifth year of eligibility on the table. What an incredible story for a young man who made, by most accounts, an uncharacteristic decision off the field that landed him in trouble. Kelly explained why McKinley was cut slack for his ugly incident with the campus police. “Advocacy from across campus,” Kelly said. “He had a really clean record with us. I don’t want to say (it was) an aberration, but it was something that had never happened before, which earned him the opportunity to get a second chance.” On his second touchdown reception, McKinley back-shouldered New Mexico cornerback Michael LoVett III and thrust out two powerful hands to grip the ball away from the coverage. If you didn’t know better, you’d think via McKinley’s body language that he came into the season with about 50 or 60 career catches. Braden Lenzy: Pretty big-time step-up performance by Lenzy, even if it was against New Mexico. It’s not the opponent, but how the athlete responds. Are you tentative or are you going for it? Lenzy went for it on the post route. Phil Jurkovec made it easy for him on the perfectly-placed deep ball, but Lenzy calmly yet aggressively hauled it in for the 52-yard gain. Lenzy has learned how to catch the football at full speed. Lenzy also drew a holding penalty against New Mexico in the end zone late in the third quarter. It’s still going to be difficult to get Lenzy on the field. He’s an X, and right now, there’s Chris Finke and Chase Claypool filling in when Javon McKinley is on the field at W. But Lenzy obviously showed the speed, intensity and focus to warrant further opportunities. His jumping grab of a quick-out pass, a broken tackle and then instincts for daylight allowed him to score his first career touchdown from 22 yards out. I like this kid’s rise in savvy since his freshman season when a lack of strength was a limiting factor. Chase Claypool: Well on his way to a 1,000-yard season – he has 190 yards through two games – Claypool continues to be a large and imposing presence on the field. After misplaying a couple of passes early, Claypool took a short pass and powered his way for a 20-yard gain that could have been stopped after five yards. He was just too strong and determined to go down. Claypool teamed with Book for back-to-back grabs late in the first half to give the Irish a 35-0 lead. It started with a 17-yarder and culminated with a 37-yard touchdown as the Irish caught the Lobos in man-coverage with no safety help over the top. It didn’t take much to spring Chris Finke on the 54-yard shovel pass, but there was Claypool, leading the way with a squared-up, on-the-run lead block. He easily knocked New Mexico safety Johnny Hernandez on his backside. Chris Finke: The X position is problematic for Finke, who moved there when Michael Young went down with a broken collarbone. But Lawrence Keys III had to be accommodated at the Z. You move the veteran player to the new position, not the pup. The X position offers a tough matchup for Finke against cornerbacks, which is why you’ll still see him lined up in the slot. And yet Finke really struggled gaining separation on New Mexico strong safety Jerrick Reed, too, which is uncharacteristic of Finke, who is so good in short space. Finke caught just one pass for two yards against Louisville and one pass for three yards against New Mexico beyond the shovel pass. If that means getting the football in Finke’s hands with shovel passes and jet sweeps, so be it. Lawrence Keys III: Keys caught just two passes for 20 yards with a long of 15, but he also had a carry for seven yards and attacked every opportunity he had with the football, including his decisive 45-yard kick return to open the game. Play hard and attack every opportunity like that and big plays will happen for Keys. He continues to show tremendous concentration catching the football. TIGHT ENDS A tremendous stalk block by Tommy Tremble on Ian Book’s late first quarter seven-yard read-option run. Tremble struggled blocking against Louisville, but the kid is a gamer. Love the confidence with which he plays the game. Interesting to see how much Tremble played against New Mexico. They put him in a ton of blocking situations, almost as if to give him as much as he can to get caught up in that area of his game because they love what he brings as a pass-catching tight end. Every one of Tremble’s four catches on the season have been impressive. He had the touchdown against Louisville with two other grabs for first downs. Against New Mexico midway through the third quarter, Tremble lined up in the right slot and came through the middle as if he were going to block. He took the route upfield and Book soft-touched the pass for a 29-yard gain with Tremble making a beautiful reaching grab. Everything he does catching the football, he does it with athletic movement. Tremble has shown great hands at this point of his active career. OFFENSIVE LINE Jarrett Patterson needs to play with more physicality. It’s great to position yourself and get angles, but there are other times and other plays in which you have to put a body on a body. Short-yardage situations cannot be a finesse move. As impressive as Patterson has been since the spring, you knew there had to be some growing pains. The real growing pains could come in Georgia. Would a healthy Trevor Ruhland at center make more sense right now than Patterson? I intend to ask Brian Kelly about the viability of Ruhland getting some snaps at center. He played right guard with the No. 2 unit against New Mexico Really like the mobility right guard Tommy Kraemer is showing, but you can’t just run out without vision and awareness as to where the tackle angle is coming from. That’s why Tony Jones Jr. was dumped for a four-yard loss late in the first quarter. Really like what Notre Dame has done with their guard-tackle tandems the last two games. Against Louisville, we saw right tackle Robert Hainsey and right guard Kraemer working in tandem on the run from right to left. Against New Mexico, we saw more of left tackle Liam Eichenberg and left guard Aaron Banks pulling from left to right. These guys are athletic enough with size to create some creases…provided the running backs can hit them quickly enough. And yet the overall power blocking of Notre Dame’s offensive line left a lot to be desired. In the first half alone, there were six stuffs, including three starting with a 1st-and-goal from the Lobos three. Kelly will counter with “hats in the box,” but on the aforementioned struggle to get into the end zone from the three, the left side of the line collapsed on Flemister’s one-yard run on first down. Tremble couldn’t hold his block on second down, which was another one-yard gain by Flemister. On third down, it appeared Patterson got low and carved out some space, but Ian Book couldn’t squeeze it in. On fourth down, Book went behind Patterson/Kraemer, but it was tight end Brock Wright’s bear-hug/push of Book that got him into the end zone. SPECIAL TEAMS You ask three main things from a kick returner: 1) Make a good decision on returning it or not, 2) hit the hole with authority, and 3) protect the football. Lawrence Keys showed all three on his 45-yard kickoff return to open the game. Among those involved on the blocks to spring Keys were Kyren Williams, Shayne Simon, Jordan Genmark Heath and Jack Lamb. If NBC gave us a better camera angle to see who was doing what, we would know more. Jonathan Doerer is kicking the football like he’s the only guy in the stadium getting some practice reps on his own. You hope he can maintain that demeanor under more stressful conditions. Anyone know where he could go to work on increasing the stress level? About 735 miles due south. Doerer’s 36-yard field goal was awfully close, but the correct call was made. The great news is that he blasted the football. It would have been no good if the distance were any further, but at least he showed plenty of leg and struck the football aggressively. AROUND THE GRIDIRON (OFFENSE) Any decision by a broadcasting company that chooses camera angles in football that are further from the action has really lost its way. NBC is trying to please themselves more than their viewers. Congratulations. You’re so clever…Either I got used to the camera angle or they dialed it in closer to the action. Fans want to see who’s doing what for their team. Sportswriters that cover that team need to see the individual components of the play. But NBC is so clever…With his opening statement of the day, Chris Simms said Notre Dame’s offensive line is as good as any in college football. Now, we have the bias of having seen game two, but no one should have been saying before the season – let alone after one game against Louisville – that Notre Dame’s offensive line is as good as any in college football. Simms declared that Notre Dame’s offensive line can play SEC, Georgia-type football. We’re going to find out. They repeatedly came back to Simms and he said, on at least three occasions, how well coached Notre Dame’s offensive line was. Is that true or was Simms trying to convince us that is true? How would Simms know how well-coached Notre Dame’s offensive line is? It sounded like a pitch to make Jeff Quinn look/sound good, which means we don’t know if what Simms is saying is true or just words…On the other hand, totally agree with Simms’ positive talk about Chase Claypool… 4COMMENTS How about New Mexico acting head coach/offensive line coach Saga Tuitele coaching his first game as the commander in chief in Notre Dame Stadium. Talk about something to tell your grandkids…Pretty wild to think that this was just Ian Book’s third start in Notre Dame Stadium. The other two were Stanford and Pittsburgh last year. He missed the Florida State game with an injury…When you say Notre Dame is in another short-yardage situation, it really is short yardage (gained)…What a lame decision by the officials to give New Mexico a timeout after having 12 defenders aligned. This is where they have to allow the booth to overrule that…Big time hit by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah on Q’ Drennan on a kickoff return. They reviewed it for a targeting penalty, but Wu brought the sledgehammer and drilled him with his shoulder…If Ian Book is much more athletic than people realize – which many people say, including Doug Flutie during the New Mexico game – why don’t we just realize it already? Then we don’t have to say that anymore…How did Brock Wright lose all that weight living with Robert Hainsey and hanging out with the offensive linemen? No small feat…How out of touch are you with the reality of what’s happening for New Mexico captain/defensive end Trent Sellers to taunt Phil Jurkovec after an incompletion in the red zone with Notre Dame leading, 52-7? That’s one where acting head coach Saga Tuitele should point to the scoreboard as Sellers ran to the sideline and say, ‘You do realize we’re getting our ass kicked, right?’… Mick Assaf with plenty of fodder for Mick’s Mickstape. Broke a tackle on an eight-yard run…I didn’t know No. 81, tight end, John Lager, a grad student from Golden Valley, Minn. existed until reviewing the game Sunday. He made the stat sheet with an illegal block…Flutie on what he learned about Notre Dame vs. New Mexico: “They need to find power football. Today we assumed that Notre Dame would work on the passing game and run the ball when they had to and when they had to early on, they got stuffed. It wasn’t like, ‘When we want to run the ball, we’re going to run the ball down your throat.’ It didn’t happen, and I know you hold back on certain schemes. But Notre Dame does have a great offensive line. They’re going to have to be able to run power football. Will they be doing all the pulling like they like to do with their o-line against fast defensive players and the quick defensive ends? The last time they played (Georgia), the defensive ends gave Notre Dame’s offensive tackles a really hard time. So the speed of the game is going to click up and they better be ready.”…Again, the Notre Dame-has-a-great-offensive-line mantra has yet to be backed up by reality. So why are professional broadcasters saying it?
defense Spoiler DEFENSIVE LINE So where’s the pass rush from the vaunted Notre Dame defensive ends? It’s yet to fully bloom, but keep in mind that New Mexico – 66-14 losers to the Irish Saturday -- was not going to allow its quarterbacks to take five- and seven-step drops. The ball was coming out quickly. You have to account for the opposition making adjustments to Notre Dame’s strengths that any pass rush has difficulty controlling. That being said, we can accurately say that through two games, backup defensive ends Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji have been more impactful than starting ends Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem. Hayes and Ogundeji each had four tackles against New Mexico. Hayes had two tackles for loss. They’ve just shown up around the football much more than Okwara and Kareem. Kareem had one tackle and one quarterback hurry. Okwara had zero tackles and one quarterback hurry. Both likely would tell you they haven’t played their best football, but it undoubtedly will come. Also keep in mind that opposing offensive fronts can adjust their pass protections to give more attention to Okwara and Kareem without Jerry Tillery creating complete havoc on the inside. On the interception return for a touchdown by Kyle Hamilton, Hayes handled the zone blitz to perfection. He dropped back into pass coverage, gauged the passing lane, and timed getting a mitt on Sheriron Jones’ throw, which redirected into the hands of Hamilton breaking on the football. Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa: Really liking the progress being made by MTA at defensive tackle. He is becoming a handful when he uses his length and quickness to penetrate gaps. Then when he penetrates the gap, he’s arriving in a very physical frame of mind. That three-technique tandem with Jayson Ademilola is impressive. The nose tackles, however, have much further to go. Ogundeji turned in a classic pass rush to force an incompletion. Coming off the snap, he struck right tackle Teton Saltes, which sent Saltes stumbling a bit. Ogundeji was stymied a bit, but kept bringing his feet. Ogundeji then seized the opportunity to run around Saltes. Another in a growing list of impressive plays by the red-shirt junior. Ogundeji will occasionally lose contain, including the eight-yard run by wide receiver Jay Griffin IV. It’s a byproduct of his aggressiveness. Khalid Kareem: Great job by Doug Flutie explaining a textbook “press out” by Kareem. By extending his arms and locking out the offensive lineman, Kareem created separation from the block and allowed for a grab and throw to shed the block while moving his feet toward the ultimate target – the running back. Just because he hasn’t piled up numbers does not mean Kareem is not offering productivity. Jayson Ademilola: Great recognition by Ademilola when New Mexico tried to pull off the ol’ the-quarterback-is-looking-toward-the-sideline-for-a-call trap. The first one caught the Irish by surprise; Ademilola and Buck linebacker Asmar Bilal snuffed out the second one beautifully. LINEBACKERS Asmar Bilal: Absolutely, positively the best game played by Bilal in a Notre Dame uniform. Bilal led all tacklers with eight stops. He also led all defenders in the game with seven solo tackles while tying three others, including Daelin Hayes, with two tackles for loss. An example of Bilal’s strong play was when he kept his outside shoulder free, which allowed him to penetrate and stop Javohn Jones for a four-yard loss. He scraped and found the run fit to dump Sheriron Jones for a four-yard loss. Bilal showed more discipline in playing his role and serving as one of 11 when the situation dictated. Here’s the thing with Bilal. When he doesn’t have someone in his grill, he has the size and athleticism to make plays. But this game generally isn’t played like that at Buck linebacker. You have to sift through the rubble, scrape off blockers, anticipate where the play is going, and then make the stop. It’s great that Bilal had a breakthrough performance ahead of the Georgia game. But the circumstances that presented themselves against New Mexico will not be duplicated at Georgia. Drew White: Another solid effort from the red-shirt sophomore Mike linebacker. It’s clear that White’s lack of stature will allow him to be leveraged at times. He also doesn’t have very long arms, which makes it more difficult to wrap up a ball carrier. The real challenge comes this weekend, but White continued to show his instincts and nose for the football with four stops, including a tackle for loss. On the list of pros and cons with the Irish, White has established himself as an asset. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah: Wu found himself out in space more than he was against Louisville, and with a man assigned to setting the wide edge, Owusu-Koramoah showed some growing pains in terms of running himself out of plays, setting himself up to be blocked, and shallow tackling angles. Aggressive by nature, Owusu-Koramoah has to fight the temptation to just run around and try to make plays, which is probably what he could do in high school. Right before the 47-yard touchdown run by New Mexico’s Bryson Carroll, Wu abandoned containment and allowed Sheriron Jones the alley for a 17-yard gain. It was absolutely a terrible interference penalty against Owusu-Koramoah on a pass that a) was overthrown and b) Owusu-Koramoah didn’t make any contact until after the ball sailed over the head of Marcus Williams. What an ugly 47-yard touchdown allowed by Notre Dame right before halftime. Moments earlier, Brian Kelly had expressed displeasure on an 11-yard run that kick-started the five-play, 75-yard drive. Drew White was blocked, Owusu-Koramoah was blocked into a bad angle, and Bryson Carroll burst through the gap for the lengthy touchdown. Jack Lamb: The kid has a real sense for the football. He’s gotten caught up in the rubble a few times, but he’s alert, light on his feet and generally around the football. He made a nice physical tackle on speedy Bryson Carroll, but he also got caught in the muck on the 37-yard touchdown run by Bobby Cole midway through the fourth quarter. Lamb tends to drift into traffic as opposed to using his eye discipline to position himself to make a play. It’s almost like he feels he needs to justify his presence on the field and runs into bodies as opposed to continuing to diagnose and scraping off to make a play. Bo Bauer: Irish fans should be pulling for a kid like Bauer because you know he’s going to bring the lumber. Now it’s a matter of recognition, run fits and the lateral mobility necessary to play on a more regular basis. He drilled Kentrail Moran in the fourth quarter for one of the top hits of the day. DEFENSIVE BACKS Kyle Hamilton: Imagine you’re a quarterback and you see this loping athlete with length really cutting off your pathway to your tight end, Marcus Williams, who is an upper echelon player in the Mountain West. You hurry the throw, Daelin Hayes tips it, and Hamilton is following the play to make the tackle. Lo and behold, the ball bounces right to Hamilton. Coincidence? Coincidence doesn’t apply when it happens so frequently. Even the interception was spectacular in the sense that the ball first hit Hamilton in the facemask. Yet he still managed to calmly pull it in and burst toward the pylon for the first touchdown. Hamilton also is showing very good diagnostic skills. It was a total read-and-reaction to make an open-field tackle on a direct snap to running back Daevon Vigilant. The play gained four yards on 3rd-and-2, but it showed his length and closing speed. Remember, Hamilton is still a freshman, and regardless how long you’ve played, you can get turned around in coverage. Vigilant did that to Hamilton, but the throw was behind Vigilant and incomplete. Jake Fromm, on the other hand, will complete that pass for Georgia. Hamilton’s man-coverage skills for a safety are cornerback-like. Troy Pride Jr.: He was credited with no tackles and one pass broken up. But I thought Pride suffocated New Mexico’s wideouts most of the afternoon. Jalen Elliott: We do not appreciate how good Jalen Elliott is. He makes plays by positioning in addition to making plays on the ball. A pass is overthrown or redirected because Elliott has positioned himself so well within the coverage. That’s how Elliott plays effective football when it appears he’s having a relatively quiet game. He got a gift interception on a misread coverage and then almost turned around in time on a wheel route for another pick. Shaun Crawford: His second-quarter interception was created by inside leverage on New Mexico wideout Elijah Lilly and the pressure on the quarterback from both edges. It was a textbook interception by Crawford who chased and turned in the proper direction to get his head around and make the play. What an advantage Crawford gives a defense as a safety because he possesses cornerback speed. Alohi Gilman: In addition to the many things Gilman does on the back end as a pass and run defender, he also is a great weapon as a blitzer. He disguises it well, times it well, and almost always impacts the play positively when they call his number. That’s a gift that has been honed. A lot of guys that blitz don’t make it home; Gilman almost always impacts the play for the Irish defense when they turn him loose on the quarterback. We’ve seen big safeties that break on the ball and put the hammer down. It’s interesting with Gilman, who is not big and does not look like a punishing guy. But when he diagnoses a play and hits it, he is pound-for-pound one of Notre Dame’s most physical players. Disappointing to see TaRiq Bracy not make a play Tavaka Tuioti’s 41-yard pass to Aaron Molina. It was a back-shoulder throw, but Bracy should have been able to read the body of Molina, who was clearly going to reach back for the football. That’s where you have to chase but do so under control. Bracy put himself in catch-up mode because when he turned and ran, he tripped. A cornerback’s fundamentals have to be better than that. He’s better than that. Donte Vaughn: The kid just can’t make a play, including the inability to make a play on the third-string New Mexico wide receiver. SPECIAL TEAMS Through two games, I was wrong about Jay Bramblett. His hang time generally is great, his distance has been longer than anticipated, and his consistency has been very good. On 10 punts in two games, Notre Dame has allowed two yards on two returns. Proof that you sometimes miss the basic stuff in the press box. The “fake punt” by New Mexico wasn’t that at all, but rather, an aborted rugby style punt. I guess I suspected that at the time, but didn’t piece it together in my post-game analysis. Patrick Pelini with the huge hit on punter Tyson Dyer’s fourth-down run. Jonathan Jones forced Dyer to bypass the punt and run it, but Jones missed a huge opportunity to make a stop. Pelini proved once again why he should have been the 90th player evaluated this summer in Irish Illustrated’s Counting Down The Irish series. AROUND THE GRIDIRON (DEFENSE) I find it interesting that the bad feelings for Bob Davie from Notre Dame fans are so muted. (I’m sure there are many willing to disagree.) But that’s been my experience. He was 35-25 with two good seasons and three bad ones from 1997-2001. He followed Lou Holtz in the job and left some bad blood between him and his old boss. He took on venerable offensive line coach Joe Moore, which ended up in the courtroom. And yet I don’t find the feelings toward Davie to be very harsh. Perhaps the fact he’s been gone 18 years plays into it. I just find it interesting because most unsuccessful head football coaches at Notre Dame are viewed quite negatively. Davie is accepted as a guy that didn’t pan out with limited venom. 7COMMENTS If you start calling interference penalties like the one against Troy Pride Jr. during New Mexico’s first series, football will become a four-hour game. It was hand-fighting and the ball was uncatchable. I can’t stand undeserving “bail out calls” where the recipient – whether offense or defense – is not worthy of the call…In his first notable action, freshman Howard Cross III ran right by a read-optioning Sheriron Jones for a seven-yard gain. He kept fighting, however, and made a tackle in the fourth quarter…I like the physicality with which the New Mexico running backs carried the football. They make you be physical to bring them down…Interesting to see how Jack Lamb was used in passing/dime situations. Whereas he was aligned wide of the defensive ends against Louisville, he tended to be on the inside of the defensive ends against New Mexico, usually in a two-point stance. That gives him the opportunity to come inside-out in pursuit, which allows him to use his length bouncing outside. He’ll still come off the edge as well. He’ll be more impactful with each additional rep…It’s interesting to hear Shaun Crawford say that when you have a head coach who will listen to any of his players if they want to talk to him, it says volumes. It’s a turnaround to be sure for Brian Kelly… Freshman defensive end Isaiah Foskey made the tackle on his first snap. Don’t expect him to play beyond four games, but this is a guy they really like…Not good seeing Jayson Ademilola pointing to his left shoulder early in the fourth quarter and asking for a substitute so he could get off the field…Johnny Lujack, 94, the oldest living Heisman Trophy winner (1947) talking about his great granddaughter crying and crying and crying when she was accepted to Notre Dame. My family and I can relate, and I’m sure many others can as well…If they picked up the interference flag on Donte Vaughn because the ball wasn’t catchable, why didn’t they do the same thing on the early interference call on Troy Pride Jr.?
They put this out before the game, telling people to stop overreacting and have some patience. In other words, they knew people would hate it and they did it anyway.
Also this may have had something to do with having vodka for breakfast on Saturday but I only really noticed the camera angle a handful of times (on the long passes/runs). I’ve always thought the NBC camera angle was a little off.
In a college dynasty league and I am tearing down my roster to just underclassmen to maximize my keepers. Who is the WR that folks think will step up next year? I'm thinking Lenzy.