I know there’s a ton of recency bias in this statement, but Saturday’s win in Syracuse had to be one of the top-5 most satisfying in the Brey era. Alstein did a great recap here, but I wanted to take a second to walk you through a few critical plays that tipped the scales in Notre Dame’s favor Saturday.
Yes, I know I said, “point 8-7” versus, “8 point 7,” but what can I say, I’m still over them moon with this victory. Such a great team effort. Since this is our first time breaking down like this, I’m happy to take your feedback/suggestions in the comments.
GREAT stuff. Keep it up.
Loved the breakdown Joe. That first Cuse play was very frustrating because, as you pointed out, Harvey had some great help defense to make up for Marty’s sloppy footwork. Battle did a good job of getting a shot up, but that was a pretty darn lucky bounce on that floater. Rex’s contest on the 3 was also really nice, but you gotta tip your cap to Battle for draining that. I love that Brey was proactive in making that change for the final possession.
Such a satisfying win because despite not being able to buy a bucket, we truly felt like the better and harder working team throughout, which that Rex tip really encapsulated.
Enjoyed this!
This was so good. Brey has done that Man to 2-3 switch mid-possession a few times over the past few years on end of game situations, to great effect. I didn’t even catch it in this one. Another fantastic job by Mike Brey.
Love this stuff! These guys are easy to root for. Hoping that while we will get a lower seed into the Dance, that playing without Bonzie and Farrell will help our bench to develop so we can make a deep postseason run once again.
Awesome breakdown. My only suggestion is to do it again and again and again. Look forward to seeing the next one.
Love this, thanks Joe.
This was fantastic.
Love it. Upbeat Joe is more fun than fatalistic Joe. #TeamBrendan
I am shocked they won with this injury riddled group at Syracuse. I didn’t get to watch it live; watching with your insights made it all the more comprehensible. You make ESPN commentators look amateurish.
Well, that’s what happens when ESPN basically fires everyone who isn’t a hot take creator because they wildly overpaid for tv rights years ago.
I really appreciate the compliment and I share your surprise at our first win there in 10 years.
One thing worth noting – the ESPN guys are paid to keep the game moving and “entertain” within the context of the game. I went 8 minutes on 4 possessions, they don’t have that kind of time to show depth. I had a few hours after the game to put this together (and probably did 4-5 takes) versus them doing it on the spot. I don’t love a lot of the “talent” they have left, but I respect a lot of them. Guys like LaPhonso and Bilas are some of the best out there of working the right level of technical depth with entertainment and random info. I’m just doing my best to help some football fans better appreciate how great/fun this program has become.
Ugh, this depressingly reminds me of people complaining that Mike Mayock was “too technical” with his in game analysis. That’s how you wind up with stuff like Doug Flutie’s inane comments.
This is why I watch a LOT of games with the sound off.
Well done Joe. I loved how JWill called out the 2 Cuse guys loafing back on the deciding play. Would hate to be either in the film room this week.
Yeah. He had that same call right away. It was glaringly obvious. I caught Rex in the dead sprint on the first replay. Then I rewound and noticed the same thing he saw. They’re a young team, but that’s really bad.
I really enjoyed going through this breakdown with you, Joe. Please do more of them, as I had totally missed Brey’s change of D on that last possession. You also caught that Battle lost the ball on his own, and not because anyone poked it away from him.
And yes, I loved seeing Nolan give the fist-pump at the end. What fun!