We may never see a worse blowout. We may never see a more uninteresting blowout. If neither of those statements are true at least we may never see a weirder blowout for the Fighting Irish. After an uninspiring start that saw Boston College leading late in the 2nd quarter and Notre Dame clinging to a 1-point lead halfway through the 3rd quarter somehow (an explosive run game being the ‘how’ here) the Irish won by 29 points.
Half way to last year’s win total, baby! Let’s review Notre Dame’s 6th straight win over Boston College.
PASSING OFFENSE
Well, we’re getting the ugly out of the way first. Brandon Wimbush has now thrown 94 passes on the season and completed 48 of them. That’s a 51% clip and he’s rarely throwing the ball deep. This is a bad sign.
Against Boston College his passing was easily the worst performance of his career. Wimbush threw one very nice completion to tight end Durham Smythe in the second half but you’d be strained to find another impressive completion on the afternoon. Outside of that throw, Wimbush was 10 of 23 for 63 yards.
Wimbush 1st Half Struggles
Wimbush 2nd Half Struggles
Making matters worse the pass protection was more than solid. Boston College didn’t record a sack* and had just 3 quarterback hurries. More than ever before we saw a case of Wimbush being off with his decision making and accuracy. After the Temple game, it’s his first start. After the Georgia game, chalk it up to a mean defense. After this BC game we may be looking at some serious concerns.
*The vaunted Harold Landry finished the game as a non-factor with only 1 solo tackle. This Boston College defense is probably going to be a step or two below the recent two editions.
In Wimbush’s defense at least he’s close. His accuracy doesn’t look terrible it just looks “off” at the moment. This is more reason to believe it’s a confidence issue especially because of his accuracy looking better in practice.
As you may be aware by now, the Irish receivers finished the game with 11 yards on 3 catches. There were some people who thought, me among them, that St. Brown could put up a top 5 statistical season for an Irish receiver and after 3 catches for 19 yards over the last 2 games it’s probably not happening this year. Silver lining, maybe he comes back for 2018 and leads a more veteran group?
Perhaps a second silver lining is that Alize Mack has turned a corner with a 5-catch performance for 43 yards. He’s now the leading Notre Dame receiver on the season with 101 total yards.
RUSHING OFFENSE
***Loud fireworks***
Maybe things really are okay with the run game and the offense really needs to work on Wimbush and the passing game. The off-season told us everything!
Once again, Notre Dame’s explosive ability rules the day. How explosive, you ask? How about runs of 10, 11, 11, 11, 12, 14, 14, 15, 32, 36, 46, 64, 65, and 65 yards. That’s right, almost 61% of all successful runs went for at least 10 yards.
Even w/ the UGA game the Irish are t-4th nationally in 10+ yd runs and 1st nationally in 20+, 30+, 40+, 50+, and 60+ yard runs.
— 18 Stripes (@18stripes) September 17, 2017
The success rate (58.8%) is good but not great, but paired with long runs it’s pretty great. In addition, the ground game was there when it was needed, particularly on 3rd down where the Irish converted 7 times with a pair of failed attempts being 3rd & 17 and 3rd & 14 rushes from Adams and a late garbage time run by McIntosh.
| Player | 1st/2nd Yes | 1st/2nd No | 3rd/4th Yes | 3rd/4th No | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 61.1% |
| Wimbush | 7 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 47.6% |
| Jones | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
| Dexter | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 83.3% |
| McIntosh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 75.0% |
This was peak Josh Adams rumbling for a career-high 229 yards on just 18 carries. Holy cow 12.7 yards per carry!
Wimbush continues to be kind of poor when it comes to success rate–and ND is definitely running him way too much now up to 44 non-sack carries through 3 games–but when you obliterate the school-record for rushing yards by a quarterback (207 total on the afternoon) things are fine.
Adams’ instincts, feet, and balance are phenomenal.
Dexter Williams was finally let loose and looked damn fine, as well. It’s still a small sample size but he’s been successful on 11 out of his 12 carries this season for a total of 174 yards.
Tony Jones was clearly not involved as much in the gameplan this week and then suffered the indignity of having his ankle injured on a late carry. X-rays were negative following the game, though.
Notre Dame’s 515 rushing yards shatters the previous Kelly-high (UMass, 2015) by 58 yards and the 10.1 yards per carry sets an all-time record in school history.
PASSING DEFENSE
It was a distant second issue behind Wimbush’s passing but I thought the Irish pass defense was fairly pedestrian against a rather bad Boston College offense. The Eagles quarterback Anthony Brown was forced to throw the ball a lot late but he should not be completing 24 passes against this Irish defense. Yes, he threw 2 picks and only accounted for 215 yards through the air. Still, he never really looked bad which is concerning.
Additionally, against a weaker offensive line Notre Dame only mustered 1 sack and 3 quarterback hurries. This should’ve been a game fit to tee off on the Eagles passing game and it did not happen.
There also wasn’t much face time for anyone outside of Julian Okwara and Shaun Crawford. The former continues to look like the team’s most disruptive pass-rusher and finished with a tackle for loss, forced fumble, and quarterback hurry. The latter recorded a fumble recovery, two interceptions, and one pass break-up.
RUSHING DEFENSE
During the game this felt like there was a lot to work on, especially in combination with Boston College’s passing game. I mean, the Eagles did have 400 total yards with very little of it in garbage time over their last 4 series.
Upon further review things were okay here and I suspect there was a little bit of playing down to the opponent going on for the defense. Boston College only had 15 successful carries from 43 attempts and most of the time a 34.8% success rate is pretty great for a defense.
However, among those 15 successful carries we saw a touch too many longer runs and perhaps the worst part was that 10 of the runs resulted in 1st downs. The high for BC on the day was just 29 yards but they did put together 6 carries total that were 10+ yards. I thought the tackling needed to be a little better and if it was the defense was in place to really stifle the Eagles on the ground. It didn’t happen so a poor grade here is deserved.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Irish didn’t attempt a field goal against Boston College. Why? Because for the second time in 3 weeks the Notre Dame offense went 6 for 6 on touchdowns in the red zone. Through 3 games the Irish are tied for 12th nationally red zone touchdown percentage.
Newsome’s punting was pretty awesome, except on one rugby attempt that failed pretty spectacularly. Otherwise, the return game on both sides were largely irrelevant.
True freshman Jonathan Doerer got his first career “start” as the kickoff man and it was a rough day. Out of his 3 attempts two were short (one landed almost at the 20-yard line) and the other went out of bounds. I can’t believe I’m about to say this about a kicker but maybe it’s worth it to redshirt him and find someone else on campus who can kick the ball far if they’re adamant about resting Yoon’s leg.
TURNING POINT
The Scene: Notre Dame opens the second half with a pair of 3 & out drives sandwiched in between a punt of their own by Boston College. On Notre Dame’s said second punt (the rugby one from above) BC returns it 13 yards to their own 46-yard line for excellent field position.
The score is a tenuous 14-13 lead for the Irish.
Following a completion from Brown the Eagles were quickly in field goal territory but a few plays later found themselves in a 4th & 1 situation from the 30-yard line. Instead of a long-ish field goal and the possible 2-point lead BC decides to go for it and gets stuffed by Nyles Morgan and Te’von Coney. Both Daelin and Trumbetti aren’t even set but true freshman Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa absolutely blow this play up.
The Irish would go on to out-score BC 35-7 from this point.
3 STARS
- Josh Adams
- Shaun Crawford
- Brandon Wimbush
FINAL NOTES
Here’s what scared me the most about today. I don’t think the result moves the needle much in either direction for 2017 and I’m sure many of you agree. However, there are a couple troubling things with Wimbush worth considering. One, if his accuracy doesn’t improve quickly I’m a big believer that it’s unlikely to get substantially better over the long-term. Two, we may see an offense next year without McGlinchey, Nelson, Adams, St. Brown, and maybe even Mack. That could an insane amount of pressure on Wimbush to both improve and carry an even larger amount of the offense in the future.
Boston College’s football program has absolutely cratered. They found some magic in a bottle during the early to mid-2000’s but this will be 8th straight season where they’re somewhere between mediocre and terrible while it’s been 10 years since they’ve had a legitimately strong football team. They’ve hired 37-year old athletic director Martin Jarmond away from Ohio State and it’ll be interesting to see if he makes a move this off-season. Addazio’s contract runs for 3 more years at around $2.2 million per year which feels like way too much for the program to swallow.
In the yuck category, Boston College had 22 first downs, 3 more than Notre Dame. In the positive category, BC was only 4 for 17 on third down. It’s still early but Notre Dame has only allowed touchdowns on 5 out of 11 red zone trips in 2017.
Through 3 games, Nyles Morgan has 9 solo tackles, 24 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 quarterback hurries, and 1 forced fumble. Those numbers are okay but not quite up to expectations in the Elko defense. You could say the same thing about Daelin Hayes, too. Just 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 10 total tackles so far this year.
We can safely assume that the return of Kevin Stepherson after one more game is going to help the passing game. In the meantime, now that Dexter picked up some carries we can move on to the mystery surrounding C.J. Sanders. The spark plug was taken off punt returns this year which would be fine if it meant he was able to focus more on his receiving abilities. Instead, as far as I’m aware he hasn’t received a single snap on offense this year. Why are we running screens to Chase Claypool instead of Sanders? To be honest, some of the stuff with the running back rotation at least makes sense (Adams is genuinely great) but everything about the receivers stretching back to the spring has been so very strange.
I think Doerer blew his redshirt by playing yesterday, no? Unless he got “hurt” during the game, I think they’re SOL there.
Amazing that Wimbush is one of the 3 stars of the game when that was a passing performance that is somewhere between terrible and very, very bad. It really seems like the short-passing-game offense isn’t structured to his strong-armed strengths. Let’s go read option+4 verts!
Doerer had a knee issue yesterday 😉
It does need to be documented by a doctor, as I recall.
I’ll bring the doctor’s note. We gotta find a doctor.
Does anyone know how often quarterbacks suddenly become more accurate? I think we need to consult the Denard-Robinson era Michigan playbook and recruit a new QB, because the odds of Wimbush suddenly turning into an average passer seem low.
Depends on “suddenly.”
Brady Quinn went from pretty eh to good (for college) when Weis showed up. He’s the only Irish QB I can remember making a jump in accuracy that was really noticeable.
But, Wimbush is close to being there. At least he’s not skipping balls.
Okay, that’s encouraging. And I do think Stepherson coming back will help. But he’s not back for Michigan State. What’s your take on the assertion (made by someone else) that the routes aren’t helping him? I also feel like we haven’t had any 6-10 yard routes – it’s all super short or super long.
BK in the post game presser was very emphatic about now knowing where BW’s most promising areas were and helping him get there — I got a strong whiff of, pick the best (or, a better) combo for BW of routes, pass pro, choices, etc. — because, sous entendu, BW is craping the bed on some stuff they thought he could do.
I doubt the routes specifically are an issue. I think we’ve actually mixed route depths fine, but it’s a combo of four things:
– Wimbush doesn’t always see the open man.
– When he sees the open man, he doesn’t always hit him.
– When he hits him, that open man occasionally drops the ball (depending on who you ask we’re somewhere around 15 drops already, which is excruciatingly bad).
– Guys haven’t been doing a particularly good job of getting open.
Honestly I think ESB has mailed it in on occasion, which is really disappointing. I get that he might be frustrated by Wimbush missing him, but he needs to be better than that. And if he wants to be an elite receiver, he needs to beat double teams and press coverage. He can’t be disrupted by physicality.
Claypool isn’t there yet technically. Getting there, but his route running isn’t sharp enough yet. Finke is OK, but he’s not a guy you gameplan for. I thought Cam Smith was actually doing a pretty good job as WR2, but he rolled his ankle in practice and wasn’t available for this game. That hurt too.
The receiver mix has ranged from uninspiring to awkward so far. Lots of guys forced to do things that apparently aren’t among their strengths. I think getting Stepherson back will be huge, beyond even his own ability – I love a front line of ESB, Stepherson, and Smith. ESB and Stepherson are a great outside combo; you have to double one of them, and the other should go off when you do. As for Smith, I think he’s an OK WR2 and a really good WR3. He reminds me a lot of Chris Brown – not going to destroy a defense, but he’ll clean up if you pay too much attention to the bigger names.
I think you’re being too harsh on ESB. Dude is open so often. I counted at least 3 passes (maybe more) to him in the BC game where he was wide open and the ball was nowhere near catchable.
Well, yes. But… I’ve seen multiple mentions of him quitting on routes if he doesn’t get open right away, and I think O’Malley mentioned him tapping out several times against Georgia. He’s also had a couple of drops/misses on tough but catchable balls. I don’t think he’s fully engaged mentally. Again, I can certainly understand if he’s frustrated, but he can’t let that carry over into how he’s playing.
He had a very unfortunate drop on a late third down play, I think, on Saturday. Wimbush scrambled left and made a good-not-great throw on the run – ESB had to slide to get it, which isn’t that big a deal, and didn’t hang on. That’s the kind of catch he absolutely has to make, whether it officially counts as a drop or not. He’s had a few of those in the first few games.
EDIT: One thing I have to give him big credit for, btw, is that he has shown great effort blocking. Which makes the other stuff all the more puzzling, but I’m guessing right now it’s mostly frustration that he needs to get past.
My big concern would be if the constant double teams are getting to his head. He’s going to be doubled all year (unless the ground game keeps going for 500 yards), so he needs to get used to it. If he’s quitting on plays because a 2nd defender is there, that’s going to kill this offense against good defenses.
I definitely feel for him. It’s tough running routes and beating coverage and then having the ball thrown 10 feet over your head. I think part of his frustration right now too is that he’s not just seeing some double teams, he’s seeing constant double teams. Even Floyd and Fuller would get single coverage every once in a while. That’s why Stepherson’s return is so huge – either they can keep doubling St. Brown and let Stepherson free deep, or they can double Stepherson and St. Brown will finally have some breathing room.
One more game… One more game…
Has it been confirmed by anyone in the program/athletic department that Stepherson is back after next week? I know that’s been the internet (and reporter) assumption, but I’d feel much much much better if there was official confirmation somewhere that he’s coming back this season.
I don’t think there will ever be any official confirmation of anything, unless it comes from Stepherson himself. I don’t know this for sure, but I suspect the university is dead-set on preserving student privacy with stuff like this and is never going to say anything one way or the other.
That’s almost certainly why Kelly equivocated when asked about Stepherson’s status before the Temple game. Kelly can’t say what’s going on, so he says Stepherson is not playing, but he’s not suspended.
Darn kids these days with their expectations of personal privacy. When you sign up to play for free, I expect you to keep me fully entertained and fully in the loop of all goings on within the program.
Why are so we optimistic that Stepherson coming back will help? Or maybe more to the point, why are we so optimistic that in coming back he’ll actually be back? Didn’t we hear throughout summer camp that Stepherson was getting no reps? And the Kelly regime has pretty consistently failed to get talented but raw/not mentally there skill position guys into the mix. This is pretty well documented. Even guys like Dexter and CJ Sanders–whose takeittothehouseability is clear and who’ve been in the program for a while–can’t barely see the field. For a guy who hasn’t really gotten any practice reps in months like Stepherson, I’d be shocked if he started getting meaningful game reps before November if at all this season. And I know Stepherson has a bit of a history of productivity in this offense, but I just still do not see Kelly getting someone who’s gotten no reps involved mid season.
Better mechanics => better consistency => better likelihood of accuracy
Our old friend Jamie Uyeyama noted that Wimbush’s footwork and mechanics are all over the place right now, likely a result of being over-amped in the moment. Driskell said his “arm speed is too fast,” leading to an inconsistent release point and high throws. I don’t know exactly what he means by that, but I’m thinking it’s something like overthrowing in baseball – try to throw it 1,000,000 MPH, your upper body opens up to soon and everything sails.
Anyway, it’s apparently clear and correctable things that are problems. That doesn’t mean Wimbush will definitely correct them, or that it will be easy to correct them; I have no idea on either point. But both seem to feel they are pinpoint-able problems that can be corrected, at least. He was dropping 30-yard throws into wastebaskets in camp, so the ability is there. He just needs to settle down in the games and replicate it. Easier said than done, no doubt.
I think JU is spot on, the footwork is bad. Driskell likes to hear himself talk, IMO.
Also, just have to get this off my chest – can we please beat Stanford this year? I don’t want to be saying, “Well, it’s not like we have the depth and experience of San Diego State!” We should have beat them last year but Kelly crapped the bed. We should beat them this year, unless they wildly turn things around (which they have been known to do).
Of course, “should beat them” describes 90%+ of Kelly games, whereas the “did beat them” is much lower.
Didnt get to watch the game, so just basing this on highlights:
Josh Adams is a bleeping horse.
Agree. I can definitely see why Kelly continues to give him the vast majority of carries. I wont defend him not giving Dex a shot against GA, though. That’s sheer stupidity, but Adams is powerful and has incredible vision.
great balance too, especially for such a tall guy.
The team looked good, but for the third game in a row Wimbush’s lack of accuracy is very troubling. The announcers were trying to pin the blame on the receivers, but I find it hard to believe that all of them (Alize, Smythe, ESB, Finke, etc.) are the problem – it seems more parsimonious to attribute it to BW. Is Michigan State going to bring 9 defenders to the line of scrimmage to force BW to throw? That’s what I would do.
However, besides that, the run game was impressive, and the defense has done a pretty good job across the three games so far (Crawford might be the best in the secondary, even after two surgeries).
The passing game is very concerning. I feel like the play calling is not only not helping Wimbush but perhaps hurting his confidence. Griese noted on the broadcast how they ran a rollout to the left and he had to throw on he run across his body, bad hip positioning and the ball wasn’t delivered accurately. I believe they actually ran that play twice like that, a designed sprintout to the wide side of the field, which happened to be to the left.
Not sure why they wouldn’t start with some easier passes to get going the right way, but obviously they would if they could. And I didn’t study this but it sure feels like the routes this year are uninspiring. Not sure if that’s execution but I feel like a good gameplan/well-called game will work guys open or give the QB a little more. Doesn’t seem to be the case here.
The rush game is a force of nature though and red zone offense has improved drastically so credit where it’s due there. As much attention as the left side gets, it feels to me like Mustipher and Bars are opening up holes and blocking just as well as the All Americans.
Loved the defense hanging tough. Wasn’t pretty but since the offense had no rhythm and was struggling early, they asked more of their defense in this game than anticipated and they passed the test. Granted, they didn’t stop a terrific offense but they can’t control that. The stay splits from this year to last for yards and points and averages are very encouraging, and I think players and coaches alike have done a very admirable job so far given what they have to work with.
They were rolling away from Harold Landry, who always lines up outside the right tackle and is one of the best speed rushers in the country. I wasn’t in love with the play call, but I didn’t think it was that bad – rolling toward Landry is suicidal, and given the problems Hainsey had with Georgia’s speed rushers it made sense to not put him on an island all day.
I would also generally look at Brian Griese’s criticisms of anything about Notre Dame with a bit of a cynical eye. He’s a dedicated Notre Dame hater, just like his father, and I think relishes the opportunity to call games just so he can poke at us. Sure, he’s right sometimes, but the vast majority of times he’s just being a jerk.
As noted above, I think the routes are OK and guys have been coming open, not as often as they should be but they have. It’s been a lot harder than anticipated to get everyone on the same page, though. It’s a tough spot. I’m guessing their plan is to keep calling essentially the same stuff, with some minor tweaks, and trust that things will click as the guys keep chipping away at it.
Above, you noted that Wimbush’s mechanics are all over the place. In no world does it make sense to have a guy who is struggling with his mechanics roll out against his body. That’s mechanically the most difficult throw to make. (I obviously wouldn’t advocate rolling at Landry, but making Wimbush roll to his left when he couldn’t hit easy crossing routes seems like a horrible plan).
Like I said, I don’t love the call, but I get it. I’m OK with doing it once or twice (which is I think all they did) to give BC something to consider, at least. If it had been more than that, that would’ve been really stupid, for sure.
What was the RT situation yesterday?
I didn’t see any counts but it sure felt like every time I noticed it was Hainsey out there, and obviously the line was standing out for very good reasons yesterday. I did see that Hainsey played more snaps than Kraemer in the Georgia game too. Seems to be trending towards his job, IMO.
Thanks for the information.
Maybe it shouldn’t, but that does concern me a bit. A true freshman (not even an EE) came in and beat out both Kreamer and Eichenburg in 3 games? May not bode well for next year…
Yeah it’s an odd situation, especially with all the lavish offseason praise heaped upon Kraemer. Based off Kelly’s comments you would think he was on his way to being the next Martin/Staneley type. Hainsey to his credit has seemed mostly solid but it’s about unthinkable with this o-line depth and talent that a true freshman sees a lot of playing time.
Agree about next year too but I’m holding out hope it’s a positive. Maybe they can kick Kraemer into guard if necessary. And hopefully another year of strength, experience and Coach H will help Eich/Kraemer develop into starters. Let’s hope anyways
Half glass full, maybe Hainsey is really good and Kramer and Eich. are just taking a little more time.
All offseason Kelly said Kraemer was the better run blocker than Eichenberg/Hainsey but needed a lot of work in the passing game. Eichenberg was the reverse, he’s a much better pass blocker than Kraemer but isn’t as good in the run game. In fact, I think it says something about the intentions for the offense that they put the better run blocker in that spot first. Also, don’t forget that Hainsey was a top 100 recruit, and some analysts thought he had immediate contributor potential at tackle. I’m surprised that he overtook Kraemer for sure, but it’s not entirely out of left field.
I think they’re keeping Eichenberg at LT this year to groom him as much as possible to replace McGlinchey. Maybe Stanley and McGlinchey’s struggles flipping from right to left helped that mindset, if in fact it exists. Kraemer is probably best suited at guard, which is where I would expect him to land next year after Nelson moves on. I like a line of Eichenberg-Kraemer-Mustipher-Bars-Hainsey in 2018, with Lugg, Banks, etc. in the second string.
Tbh, this:
Eichenberg-Kraemer-Mustipher-Bars-Hainsey
Kind of scares me.
Why? You have essentially four returning starters there (I’m guessing Kraemer and Hainsey will be in a time share all season), with three staying put and one moving to his more natural position. It’s too soon to say anything authoritatively on Kraemer and Hainsey, but the early returns are decent for a couple of rookies and they have nine more games to make it more definitive. If they’re shaky at the end of the year, then I’ll be concerned.
Eichenberg as a newbie at LT is the only thing that concerns me right now just because we haven’t seen him play, but I’m sure we will before the year is out. If he looks hopelessly overmatched, than that might concern me too.
For a few reasons, the loss of McGlinchey and Nelson could potentially be massive. That’s less to do with the guy’s who will fill their shoes but one of the more easy 2018 “excuses” to envision today is the loss of these two guys. We’re almost guaranteed to take a step back up front, and maybe a decent sized one.
It is too early to say much about Kraemer and Hainsey. However, we do know they’ll both be relatively young no matter what and that typically skews toward more struggles. Also, I’m not sure Hainsey has been so good as to make the 50/50 split with Kraemer feel really great at the moment. It seems so far Kraemer has disappointed relative to expectations.
The Eichenberg situation is weird. He’s somehow not good enough to ever challenge for the right tackle spot in August–something just about everyone thought would happen with plenty thinking he’d win–and yet he’s going to waltz right into the left tackle job next year?
I actually think something like this might be more likely:
Hainsey–Banks–Mustipher–Bars–Kraemer
Either way, next year’s line is probably going to feature 3 fairly young guys and a couple vets who have been good but not great. You have to think the ceiling of that line is lowered quite a bit from this year.
Kraemer was the higher rated player and much closer to seeing the field last year. Eichenberg is more athletic but less aggressive. Since they were recruits Kraemer was considered the better run blocking prospect and Eichenberg the better pass blocking prospect. The staff went with the run blocker between the two of them, which isn’t that surprising given what we now know Long wants the offense to look like.
Hainsey was praised by everyone on the camp circuit for having really advanced technique, and he was an early enrollee. I’m a little surprised he’s playing this early but not stunned.
We’ll see, but I would be shocked if Kraemer doesn’t move inside in 2018. He’s a lot like Elmer – he’s at tackle because he has to be but he’s a better fit inside. That’s been expected since he was a recruit.
I also think Banks would have to make some big strides to start next year. He has tons of upside but he has a long way to go on conditioning and technique.
I agree with you completely on replacing Glinch and Nelson. It would be nuts to think that whoever fills the left side could match them in 2018. They’re NFL players. I just think there’s a large gap between “not elite” and “scary.” 3-4 returning OL is a pretty decent position to be in.
There is a large gap there but to me it’s still kind of scary.
3 out of 5 projected starters who we really don’t know all that much about to this point. So, today returning “4 starters” doesn’t mean much for me.
Another possible scenario: The 2018 line might be the first in quite a while without at least one star player up front. Someone has to make a sizable jump this year.
I agree that we don’t know much about them at this point, which is why I’m not scared yet. If they flop around for the next 9-10 games, then I’ll be very concerned. I share your uncertainty, FWIW, if not your fear (yet).
2018 will be an interesting year. The Kraemer-Mustipher-Bars interior, if it happens, I think will have the potential to be really good. I don’t think I’ve ever seen running plays with both guards pulling before, but we’ve done it with Q and Bars and I think Kraemer is athletic enough to do it too. Maybe we’ll rely more on interior runs, as crazy as that sounds.
Lots of question marks right now. It’ll be interesting to watch how many can be erased by November.
All things considered, I wouldn’t be too worried. With high turnover in college FB, bringing back 2 multi-year starters and 3 other guys with potentially 1 season of starts is pretty good.
They’ve all got the pedigree/potential.
We were all scared of Mustipher not too long ago and he’s grown into the position well.
I would note that Hainsey only really was beaten badly one time the whole game by Harold Landry, who could be a first round pick. That’s pretty good!
Per Kelly, they gave the right side a bunch of help, specifically by keeping a back or a stacked TE in to block to the inside so the RT only had to play the speed rush to the outside.
Still impressive that Landry was held in check all day, just noting that a good part of it was the game plan.
Adams played a great game. What is his 40 time? He had a wide lead on his long runs and got caught from behind at least twice.
i don’t remember what his 40 time was out of high school, but his knee injury definitely lowered his top speed. The great acceleration is still there though.
I felt that way as well. There were a couple plays I thought for sure he would break for a TD and he got caught. Although at least one of them he was chased down by a guy who was really really fast, so I didn’t feel as bad about it.
Yes, his acceleration in the hole is unreal.
The one play that Adams got chased down was just a bad angle (I think). I’m no expert, but it appeared that Adams was unaware of a defender giving chase on his right. He had open field to his left and if he had run an angle instead of straight, I thought he would have scored.
If someone with more expertise remembers that run and disagrees with me, ignore this comment hah.
I would guess something like a 4.6. For a guy who’s 6’2″ and 230+, I think the answer is “fast enough.”
I know everyone has already discussed Wimbush’s terrible, really bad, no good passing. But I was at the game, so I will give my two cents.
It looks worse in person than it does on TV (well I haven’t seen it on TV yet, but it can’t possibly look worse). These are some of the worst thrown balls I have ever seen. I had awesome seats and watched him all during warm-ups. He was terrible. He was so bad that I texted my cousin and told him not to bed on ND (whoops). He couldn’t throw a spiral (not sure he threw one all game), and he had trouble completing slants…in warm-ups… against nobody.
Even when he would complete passes, they weren’t located very well, often low or behind the receiver. Other than that one beautiful ball to Smythe (where did that come from???), I don’t recall him throwing a single pass I was impressed with, but he threw soooooo many absolutely terrible balls.
Again, outside that Smythe pass, did he complete a pass more than 10yds downfield?
To me Wimbush is your classic Carlisle Holiday, Dennard Robinson, etc, etc, etc, etc, player we have seen a million times in CFB. The dude can run, but he just can’t pass. A QB like that, with a less than phenomenal defense, leaves your team at a ceiling of probably 9 wins. Any team with a good D should be able to stop it, a la UGA.
I think we will lose at least a few games because our offense is so dependent on big runs. We didn’t seem to have too many sustained drives (since we can’t complete simple passes). Being dependent on big runs means you have to run the ball A LOT, even if you aren’t having much success. And we all know BK is not patient enough with the run game to do that.
In case these last two paragraphs haven’t made it clear, I do not have high hopes for this offense based on BW’s passing and BK’s play style. I think we will continue to easily put up 40 pts against overmatched teams, in blowouts, but as soon as we run into good D’s or close games, we will be in trouble.
I think we are all in agreement that BC’s QB is awful. And he had a number of no good, terrible, really bad throws, but he looked like a much much better passer yesterday than BW.
Wow, wasn’t planning to type that much. Things really escalated.
PS. we basically have 0 chance at the younger St. Brown now, right?
I agree that he has looked pretty bad in his first 3 starts, but I’m not ready to give up on him yet. We’ve heard about his arm talent for 3 years. I highly doubt that the beat writers were just making that up. Dennard Robinson was never considered to have prodigious arm talent, in practice or otherwise. As has been said before, I believe it is a confidence issue (maybe he has the yips). Generally, you don’t go from top QB recruit to barely being able to throw the ball.
Right, you can clearly see the kid has an arm and can/will throw downfield, it’s got to be some bad combination of lack of experience, less than ideal playcalls, shortage of WR options getting open and confidence. That can generally be addressed or will come naturally the more he plays.
This makes me feel a little better; Juicebox’ observations on Brandon’s pre-BC warmups had me a terrified as I have been since I watched Louis Nix have obvious hamstring concerns before the Alabama NC game.
I just hope this turns out better…
That’s the thing, I did not see that he had an arm and could throw down field. From in person, every pass looked wobly, not-crisp, and inaccurate. Just watching warm-ups Book looked like 10x the passer BW is. And nothing about BW’s performance changed for better or worse during the game. Book still looked like he threw a better ball, but was much less accurate in the game.
And to address Cardsfan’s last comment. We see lots of players every year go from top QB recruit to can’t throw the ball. If you go look through the top ranked QBs for the past 5 years, you will be like who? who? MOST don’t turn into good college QBs.
Juice, reading your comments and watching the last three games, has me wondering what some of the guys on the pay sites have been seeing in practice. What my own eyes have seen, has me thinking you may be more right than them.
Sure, totally makes sense that a dozen ND reporters who have watched the guy for the last two-plus years are all 100% wrong, while juicebox’s observations from the stands on one fall afternoon are 100% right.
“Not turning into good college QBs” is not the same as “had a fake cannon on Hudl videos.” Wimbush can chuck it. To pretend that he’s an athletic version of Tommy Rees is absurd. For example – and he’s made tons of these throws, from St. Peter’s Prep to ND practices:
https://res-1.cloudinary.com/rivals/image/upload/t_large/yde6jrjcmhfv68kcfokx
That’s a 25-yard flick into a tiny window. He has the ability to throw the ball. His mechanics are a mess on gameday right now.
To be crystal clear about this: I’m concerned too. I expected better from him out of the gate, and he has to clean up an awful lot in a pretty short time frame to get to where he needs to be. I’m not sure that’s going to happen. But let’s not get all revisionist on this and act like he’s physically unfit for the position. That’s not the problem.
Brendan, most interesting that you picked this throw, if you listen to BK’s presser; his words to the effect of, “That sideline route throw to Durham Smythe, wonderful throw, Brandon loves and adores that route, plus he was comfy in the pocket, we’ve got to find more ways to get him into those kinds of situations.”
Broad paraphrasing but you get the idea. I am darn sure BK is more concerned than all of us about this business, but at least he looks like he has an inkling of an approach to restoring that confidence to Brandon.
Here’s the exchange:
” Q. Have you seen some of that inaccuracy in practice or has that showed itself more in his first road start, in his first games?
BK: I think that there’s a little bit of growing with the offense. I think there’s a couple of catches out there that some of those guys need to make for him. I think there’s a little bit of inaccuracy there, you know, where he’s a little rushed at times, where he’s just got to settle into the game, and then he makes a beautiful throw to Durham Smythe in the third quarter on a corner route, and when he settled into the game, I thought he threw the ball much better.
Look, I feel like we can craft things. We should be smart enough as coaches to figure out what his strengths are at this point and where he’s going to develop moving forward.”
I think that’s a pretty good synopsis. It’s a mix of things, he needs to settle down, guys have to help him out a bit, and we need to tailor the game plan to what we’ve seen so far.
Yep, that’s the one. Thanks! I think he made another comment later about that being a favorite route of Brandon’s. No matter – I wonder if Tom Reese is the right guy for this particular bit of coaching, and one can question Chip Long’s creds as well. One of the concerns with so many new hires was that there was a probability (a) they would not all work out; (b) that there might not be synergy between all the new moving parts. We’ll find out, I guess, but I am also guessing BK may move more into that room…
If that is BW’s favorite route, maybe call it earlier in the game in some form or fashion to get him the groove? I mean if this kid can settle down, and start making throws, that would really open things up. I wonder if he’s so hyped up because he is just a wired type of person, or with this being his first real live play action he’s thinking to much. Every first year starting QB has their growing pains so hopefully these are just growing pains, and the receivers and game plan all start to come together.
Complete armchair psychology on my part, but to me it definitely looks like he’s overthinking. There were a number of times Saturday that he had a really nice pocket and plenty of time to throw, but he just scanned and scanned and scanned. I think he had the reverse problem against Georgia, he would lock onto his first read. Could be overcompensating.
Here’s the second quote, from yesterday’s noontime call-in:
“It [the pass to Smythe] came out of his hand beautifully,” Kelly said. “He was positioned great in the pocket … When he sees things and he’s confident and he knows them, he’s synced up and he syncs up our offense wonderfully. We’ve just got to get him to that, and when we do, I think we’ve got great balance.”
It’s kind of silly that comments get this skinny…
Given the other quote, that seems to be overthinking. Trying to figure out if what you see is actually what you see that you forget everything else (mechanics etc.)
Well said Brendan.
What’s with the tongue lashing? The guys on the pay sites are concerned and questioning their pre season comments too.
If you’re going to criticize someone’s comments, keep it real will you?
When I said “more right than them” that is not 100%. I didn’t compare him to Tommy Rees and didn’t say he was “physically unfit for the position”.
So far, what I’ve seen is not anything close to what I expected after hearing about BW all off season.
” I expected better from him out of the gate, and he has to clean up an awful lot in a pretty short time frame to get to where he needs to be. I’m not sure that’s going to happen.” That’s about how I feel too.
That was directed more at juicebox’s apparent assertion that Wimbush has a weak arm, and my belief that you’re putting too much weight on one guy’s thoughts from the stands on one Saturday versus everyone else’s thoughts over the last three years.
Honestly I’m probably lashing out a bit because I’m getting tired of the relentless bashing that Wimbush is getting. He has looked bad, no argument there, but holy crap, it was his third start. Let’s not talk about him being yet another highly-ranked bust just yet. Not saying that’s what you were saying, just that I’m a bit fed up with that vibe that’s permeating message boards everywhere right now.
Couldn’t agree more Brendan!
I stand by him not being able to throw the ball. I seen’t it.
I think it is a big deal for 3 reasons.
1. It is so different than expectations set by people watching him in practice. To the point it is hard to believe the chasm between the reports and game performance. Why? I want to know what is going on. I don’t by it’s only his third game, or big stage. The difference is much to big for that. And after UGA @ND a game at BC is not a big stage.
2. The passes haven’t just been inaccurate, the ones I was able to really focus on were all around ugly. He had trouble throwing spirals. I am honestly more concerned by his warm ups than game performance.
It also seems kind of crazy to me that there are so many people who seem totally unconcerned about his passing. I am not concerned with him as ND’s QB. I think he can be fine to quite good (maybe Braxton Millereque) with a gameplan suited to his skill set. He might turn into a great passer, but history suggests it won’t be this year.
I’m not totally unconcerned with his passing, and I’m not sure how many other people are either. I’m very concerned with his passing. I just don’t buy that he woke up one day with 30% less arm strength and forgot how to throw a spiral, even when he’s playing catch.
I think all the physical tools are there, just like they were when he was throwing 60 yards into a bucket at St. Peter’s. I’m concerned that he has developed a case of the yips, which as we’ve seen can become permanent in some cases. I’m very concerned about that. He’s unlikely to make any huge progression during the season but I’m hopeful that he’ll settle in at least, which should make him north of awful.
If he doesn’t, we’ll be hard pressed to beat teams like USC and Miami.
OK. That’s fair. That’s why I was throwing out possibilities like a new coach has messed with his mechanics.
I guess there’s no one silver bullet that can lead to the yips or cure them. But maybe if he shifts everything to his left pocket he will straighten himself out.
Also, as worried as I am about his passing. I am more worried that what he does bring to the offense in a really exciting and explosive runner won’t be fully utilized.
I got a good chuckle out of “if he shifts everything to his left pocket.” Well done.
Armchair psychology again, but I get the sense that he’s extremely anxious, which leads to overthinking things and aiming instead of just seeing and throwing. We always hear “when the game slows down for player X” – as cliched as it is, I think that’s exactly what Wimbush needs.
Will it slow down for him this year? I don’t know. Will it ever slow down for him? Man, I hope so.
Apology accepted.
I’m really frustrated with him too, but I think the silver lining is that it appears his throws all seem to have the same problem; they’re always too high. Maybe I’m misremembering that, but IIRC correctly that’s the problem. Deep balls go too deep, out routes end up OOB, swing passes sail over guys heads. Very rarely is he throwing the ball in the ground or behind receivers. It’s always high. So maybe that helps because there’s only one diagnosis…he’s not following through on his throws.
I think he throws quite a few behind his receivers.
In warm-ups, I actually only saw low and behind. During the game was a different story, but I think there were at least a couple sliding catch attempts. Much harder to judge if that is a poorly thrown ball or not when there is a rush and defenders possibly occupying different areas.
People keep saying that if you have arm strength then you have arm strength and that won’t change. I completely disagree. Mechanics have huge impacts on arm strength, and if his have gotten worse, or have changed and are inconsistent, there goes his arm strength.
He obviously has the ability/potential to have a great arm, so let me throw out a hypothetical situation.
BW starts off with a strong arm, maybe raw unrefined mechanics, maybe actually good mechanics for a young guy, but clearly a strong arm. He looks like a great QB in practice and throws a few nice passes in a game against UMass. The only thing keeping him off the field is a future 2nd round NFL draft pick ahead of him.
But then something happens… (here comes a strictly hypothetical situation)
A new, inexperienced QB coach comes in, and starts teaching him new mechanics. Maybe these mechanics are fine, but different enough that he isn’t comfortable with them yet, there goes his arms strength until he gets enough reps with them that they are consistently repeatable.
OR, possibly worse. This inexperience coach, is teaching him bad mechanics. Maybe because he himself had a weak arm, so he isn’t necessarily aware of what exactly to teach to properly unleash the potential cannon.
I am not down on him as a QB. He is obviously a great runner, and in college, that can be all you need to win 10 games. However, I don’t think BK’s offense is able to consistently optimize a QB whose strength lies much more in his legs than arm.
Aside from the results on gameday that looks pretty baseless on the QB coach’s possible (or not) influence on the mechanics, and it doesn’t make a ton of sense it would be too big. Also, besides his internship I believe Wimbush was throwing at a QB camp over the summer as well, as for most the big-time college QB’s their instruction isn’t limited to the staff. Given importance, Kelly and Long are involved a lot more with the QB than anywhere else too, so again, not sure how this can reasonably have the buck stop with the position coach.
I’d be more confident if the player can address and clean it up, which may come with more reps and experience, if his teammates can get open for him more and if the playcalling can be improved and modified to put him in better position to succeed.
That’s why it is a hypothetical. I have no idea if it is what’s happening at all. But as far as possible reasons he may have regressed (sure seems like he has regressed) it seems like a new QB coach, whether bad or just different, could be causing problems with mechanics. Rees is far from a proven QB coach.
Play calling and WRs getting open have had nothing to do with BW’s inability to throw a ball.
I’m not following the leaps in logic. How could a player with no game experience regress? He’s had nothing to regress from! He’s presumably very good in practice and not so good in games, hardly a new sensation for a brand new QB with no experience.
I don’t see Rees is the key, one way or the other; good or bad. He’s basically a glorified GA anyways, I’m putting Wimbush’s performance more on Long and Kelly.
I think a pretty well-supported position is that Wimbush does have the ability to throw the ball. It’s more apt to say his inability is to demonstrate that consistently in game action when the “rounds are live”.
He had 5 attempts his freshman year. They looked better than this year. I am also giving credit to the people who say he has looked great in spring practice. I have been gone for most of fall practice and the first two games, haven’t heard if he still looks good in practice.
It is possible to get worse at something even if you don’t have game experience. This is his third year in the program, he practices every day. He could have regressed irregahdless of whether he has played in games.
My leaps in logic are based on this.
Starting point: BW had a very small opportunity a few years ago, I remember him looking like he threw a pretty good ball. There are lots of reports that he looked great in spring ball. From the comments here, it sounds like probably fall practice too, but I didn’t read many fall practice reports.
Ending point: Brandon Wimbush can barely throw a football in a game at BC.
What I am doing is thinking of ways we could have gotten there. The reports from this comment section are that he has some wonky mechanics currently. One thing that should have a serious impact on mechanics is the QB coach. I am under the impression that Tom E. Rees is basically the acting QB coach.
Question to one of those more in the know. Isn’t Rees the de facto QB coach, even if a glorified GA? Why would Kelly or Long have more influence on his mechanics than Rees?
I am not outright blaming Rees. I am saying that it could be possible he is not a good coach and is hurting BW.
I am trying to think of reasons why his mechanics might be failing him right now. I am not buying being on the big stage, or having a pass rush in his face, because @BC is about as big a stage as the spring game or UMass @ND. And because he looked just as bad throwing against air pre-game.
If anyone could coach mechanics it should be Rees. He was nowhere near the natural athlete that any of the QBs we have had start a game in recent years have been. He got the most out his ability and that was largely based on his surprisingly good mechanics. Perhaps he can’t coach it, perhaps he is.
I think some of it is on the receivers. If people are dropping passes, you get tentative and there have been a lot of drops. I also don’t think they are getting consistent separation on their routes, and given his game inaccuracy, I think Wimbush is not comfortable throwing into tight windows. Plus, if it is only going to be dropped why bother. Just run.
I also think he has a tendency to rush and he has very little pocket presence, which may cause him to rush more. Think back to Kizer and Rees. Very different QBs athletically, both could move in the pocket that one or two steps to extend a play. Kizer could take off and run a long way. Rees could not. Wimbush runs right away when the pocket starts to get cramped.
I hope so. And I assume that’s why he was hired. But he is a brand new coach. He does not have a track record of being able to coach anything, let alone mechanics.
I would say the thing I personally think he was best at was probably game prep. Film study, knowing your opponent, general dedication to the game and team, that kind of stuff.
I have no problem with TFR being on the staff. I just want to point out a possibility.
Respectfully, 5 passes 2 years ago is a meaningless sample and one that memory has warped. He went 3/5 for 17 whole passing so it wasn’t like he should have had a perception of being THAT exceptionally accurate at throwing downfield, he never has and can’t regress based on what his in-game resume has. He wasn’t a composed true freshman with perfect mechanics who now suddenly is a mess like it seems is your point.
He was fine in the spring game too, where he wasn’t live to get hit but still threw the ball downfield confidently and with decent enough accuracy to show that reports from frequent practice observers praising his arm strength and throwing ability weren’t making things up. I suppose it’ll be an individual decision to favor that information or what you saw in a supposedly unimpressive warmup.
I don’t find it that mysterious why a young QB on his first road start struggles or plays below ability level. Part of the experience process.
I know which one I’d think makes more sense from my perspective and will continue to believe it’s a combination of a lack of experience, less than ideal playcalls not playing into his strengths, execution of less than stellar WR’s and confidence that is the major factors for poor mechanics.
I believe he had a great deep ball to EQ that was wiped out for something.
But the larger point is. This isn’t the third game of his freshman season. He is a JR, he has been on much bigger stages than 1-1 ND facing 1-1 BC @Alumni Stadium.
And his performance in the spring game is exactly my point. He was good, maybe not great, but good. He was good in practices during spring by all accounts.
At least the unimpressive warm-up I saw is actually similar to his game performance. So you continue believing things that aren’t backed up by game performance. And I will believe that our QB has had 2 bad games against at best mediocre defenses.
Yep, an inexperienced player is bound to have inconsistent games. I’m not sure what you’re saying I believe, I was just curious about how you seemingly thought he regressed and I still don’t get it so I suppose we will see. With more experience, better WRs (Stepherson), better plays and some confidence, hopefully Wimbush’s performance will improve over the season. I don’t see any evidence he was good and suddenly is bad, it’s more likely he’s just an inconsistent player prone to big swings in performance.
I’m not necessarily saying he regressed. I am saying 1 of 2 things must be true. 1. He regressed. 2. He has never been a good passer.
As it stands right now, he is not a good passer. It seems like 1 is more likely. This is based on all the reports on him, in particular from the spring, and our brief glimpses of him in the spring.
I guess looking back, what you believe is that Tom E. Rees is not responsible for Wimbush’s current state of passing ability and that you don’t believe he has regressed. I don’t disagree with you about Rees and I think he probably has, but to your point, no actual evidence.
I guess I don’t even really know how we ended up down this path. I think I may have gotten some of what you were saying crossed up with other things and interpreted it as you thinking Wimbush is both currently a great passer. When really all you said is you don’t blame Rees (I don’t either, was just throwing it out there).
I was also still at work after 12 hours, so wasn’t in the freshest of states. Now I am home and have eaten and feel much pleasanter.
Auto-rec for de-hangry-fying.
I feel like he tends to put “zip” on the ball when he should be putting “touch” on the ball and “touch” on the ball when he should be putting on “zip.” IOW, he’s pizza-ing when he should french fry.
Also, it seems like he’s literally /standing/ in the pocket. I don’t know a ton about throwing mechanics and quarterbacking, but I feel like that’s not how you do it.
+1 for the pizza/French fry analogy
I’m definitely having a “bad time” watching him throw
I mean no disrespect but I find your comment to be ridiculous. So after three starts, you are already concluding that he will never be a good passer? You are already putting him into that box? I understand being frustrated with his passing on Saturday but it’s becoming a little silly some of the comments being made about this kid. Because of how explosive of a runner he is his potential is through the roof once he fixes his throwing issues which he will.
Am I concerned about BW accuracy, yes, but I am certainly not going to freak out about it after only three starts. We have a dynamic playmaker at the QB position that we have not had in decades. Give the kid time to develop. Sure he has been here in the program for several seasons BUT as a third string QB who hardly ever gets any meaningful reps in practice or games.Maybe I am not worried about him like most because I kinda expected him to struggle throwing it to begin the season. His mechanics and foot work were atrocious yesterday. That can be fixed. If he is still having these same issues after the U$C game then it may be time to hit the panic button. Wimbush knows he needs to improve in that area of his game and he will.
“If he is still having these same issues after the U$C game then it may be time to hit the panic button.”
Three more games is going to make that big of a difference ? 4 weeks from now he’s going to be that much better of a QB ?
Of course 3 or 4 more games will matter. It’s not like this kid lacks the ability to make the throws he is missing. His issues are mostly mechanical and that can be addressed with coaching and more experience. I don’t think he will have another poor passing effort like he did v Boston College. This kid is going to be special. He just needs time.
For now, I’d be happy with average.
Heh.
Criticism after 3 games: “It’s absurd to freak out!”
Criticism after 6 games: “Time to panic!”
I’m past panic. I am already is resignation mode and hoping (but skeptical) that BK can design an offense around a dynamic rushing QB. And I’ve only seen one game. Man being an ND fan is wearing on me.
We should remember he was not much of a dynamic rusher against the only decent defense we’ve played. To be fair, part of that was because the Oline couldn’t handle Georgia. A good defense knowing that he’s (at least currently) a run only QB will make things very difficult for the offense, including Adams, who clearly is no slouch, but even he couldn’t overcome our line getting pushed around.
What I am rooting for at this point is a Braxton Miller type career. He started out as a pretty bad passer. Never even had 10 completions until the 11th game of his career. But he improved about 4 pts in comp % each year (well he jumped 35% from JR to RS SR years because he had a 100% completion %). He also appeared to improve over his freshman season and had some fairly strong passing performances at the end.
One big difference though, the play calling really helped. In his first 2 seasons he only attempted 20 passes 10 times. BW has already attempted 30 twice including 40 against UGA.
As far as rushing against UGA. I didn’t see the game, but even the best mobile QBs get bottled up a decent amount when facing good Ds.
Does anyone have any insight into how much time during practice is devoted to the pass game? If their focus is on RTDB, then it would make sense that pass blocking, routes, timing and mechanics all seem to be askew. I previous years it felt like they never practiced running.
The unblowout…get used to it.
I streamed the game on my phone while at a wedding. My wife and the groom weren’t too happy with me. C’est la vie.
I know you’re all freaking out about Wimbush but CAN WE PLEASE GIVE MTA SOME FREAKING LOVE!!! That play is absolutely MONSTROUS. He single handedly took out 3 blockers on that play. HEY ZUES!!
Absolutely, he made the play. That was phenomenal.
A concern I have that I’m reminded of while viewing the embedded highlight video… I heart Julian Love, but he’s had a rough start to the year. He had bad positioning on the TD he gave up to Temple and the first-half TD by BC, and while Godwin made an unbelievable catch for the score, well, that one was on him too.
I don’t think Vaughn has gotten any non-garbage time snaps. I’m curious to see if he gets on the field more, and also if Crawford starts to play less nickel and more base.
The passing game scares the $&it out of me. I feel great about the run game. I feel pretty good about the defense. Special teams doesn’t look out of this world, but it doesn’t look like a liability either.
I expect some disfunction on the team in some areas. Not this much disfunction as the passing game shows right now, but we have a new O-coordinator and a brand new QB, so there is explanation for it in my mind.
All in all, I still feel pretty good about this season. I agree MS will be a big factor in projecting this team’s record.
I hate the fact that we don’t put names on the back of jerseys. Makes it so annoying when you go to an early season game, especially if it’s before having seen any game on TV. Outside of the big names, I had no idea who anyone was.
I can’t wait until the players rights movement gets stronger and the NCAA mandate’s NOB to end this nonsense.
That would be a ridiculous mandate by the NCAA. Players have a lot of autonomy in the MLB, but the Yankees don’t have names on their jerseys.
Oh yeah?
Tradition destroyed!!
I don’t think it’s ridiculous at all if there are sports leagues already with mandates uniform rules.
One-off. Just like ND does in bowl games.
Except the nickname jerseys are just plain stupid.
I like that Gardner’s nickname jersey says Gardner. Not even the standard “-y” version of the name that tends to be baseball’s automatic nickname process, like Gardy or something.
FWIW they do call him Gardy lol.
Haha, that’s perfect. Nobody ever accused baseball players of being original.
BW gets awarded the game ball and fans want to rip him to shreds. Wimbush sets a Notre Dame record in the process and he gets no love from some fans. Smfh!
I wouldn’t go quite that far – I think there’s a lot of “that’s great, but…” sentiment out there. In a sense I think it’s something of a hangover from last year, when everything that could possibly go wrong, in and out of our control, went wrong. We’ve been conditioned to feel that there’s zero margin for error, so when a guy at the most important position on the field has shown below-average ability in half of his game people get really worried about what it’s going to cost us down the road. And what it might already have cost us – you could make a solid argument that four or five better thrown balls against Georgia would’ve flipped the outcome.
I get that feeling. I really do. Realistically, we’re going to have to beat one of USC and Stanford (and not step on our own you-know-whats against anyone else) to ensure that most people feel that we’re moving in the right direction. The 2016 Redux Fear isn’t going to go away until that happens. Hammering Temple, or BC, or even MSU or UNC won’t do it. That phenomenon minimizes the positives and magnifies the negatives, which again, I understand. Hell, even before 2016 my two-plus decades as an Irish fan conditioned me to wait for the other shoe to drop. And I’m a natural optimist.
As Thomas Paine once wrote about Notre Dame football, these are the times that try men’s souls. If we make it to 5-1, regroup over the bye, and knock off USC, you’re going to have to make some room on the bandwagon. Hang in there until then.
That Thomas Paine guy had an opinion about everything.😎
He might’ve had a more pleasant retirement if he could’ve learned to shut his mouth. Alas, ’twas not his way, and while he was the worse for it we are the better. Fun facts: Paine vehemently railed against slavery, argued in favor of universal suffrage (including non-land-owners, minorities, and women, beliefs that were near heretical in his time), and proposed a rudimentary version of Social Security.
He was two centuries ahead of his time. If he wasn’t such a hothead I’d say he should’ve been running things.