It appears my reverse-jinx worked. Notre Dame came out like gangbusters to open a tough road game but then went into a big funk until halftime with only a 1-point lead over Virginia Tech. With a let down in plain sight, the Fighting Irish stepped on the gas in the 3rd quarter on their way to a dominant 22-point win and a 6-0 start to the 2018 season.
Let’s recap the win over the Hokies.
Stat Package
| STAT | ND | VT |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 45 | 23 |
| Yards | 438 | 441 |
| Passing | 271 | 309 |
| Rushing | 167 | 132 |
| 1st Downs | 19 | 25 |
| 3rd/4th Conversions | 10/19 | 11/22 |
| Yards Per Play | 6.5 | 5.1 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 2 |
PASSING OFFENSE
Ian Book’s arm is…too strong? The Irish spent a decent chunk of the first half attempting to beat a weakened Virginia Tech secondary down field and despite plenty of guys running free Book over-shot nearly every pass. I think we could chalk it up to the quarterback having an off day (certainly the benefit of the doubt) because 8 of Book’s 10 incompletions were thrown 20+ yards down field.
The good news was that Book was 24 of 26 (insert fire emojis here) from inside 20 yards and that’s elite. The only 2 blemishes were his interception and a slightly high third down throw that slipped through Miles Boykin’s hands.
At halftime this kind of felt like the Ian Book Regression™ game and yet he comes away with another impressive game in the box score and in reality. He had some especially important 3rd down throws to keep drives alive and as previously mentioned was nearly perfect in the short-passing game.
The offensive line I thought protected quite well given Virginia Tech’s ability. Only 2 pressures allowed plus 1 of the 2 sacks was the intentional grounding penalty on Book in which he probably could’ve kept the ball and ran around the defender. That was a weird moment of panic from the Irish quarterback.
A couple weeks ago Boykin was hardly targeted and most of the media were led to believe Book had more of a connection with other receivers, or at least, the more horizontal passing game suited Boykin far less. Well, following another fantastic performance (8 catches, 117 yards, 2 TD) Boykin is on pace for a 1,000 yard receiving season.
RUSHING OFFENSE
The gameplan called for Notre Dame to exploit Virginia Tech’s secondary and even though Book missed several passes downfield that was compounded by an abandonment of the run game for most of the first half. At the break this looked like it could be one of those games in which the offense relied too much on passing and got itself all out of sorts.
Thankfully, the second half was much better. Granted, this really was not a good rushing performance from the Irish on the whole. Solid on the road? Perhaps, it’s just there wasn’t enough quality runs for the offense to hang their hat on for 4 quarters.
Irish Running Success
Williams – 8 of 17 (47.0%)
Wimbush – 0 of 3 (0.0%)
Davis – 1 of 1 (100.0%)
Flemister – 0 of 1 (0.0%)
Jones – 0 of 2 (0.0%)
Book – 1 of 4 (25.0%)
TOTAL – 10 of 28 (35.7%)
Obviously, Dexter’s 97-yard touchdown was a momentous turn of events. His traditional numbers (17 carries, 178 yards, 3 TD) reflect how crucial longer runs can be in big games. Dexter had runs of 97, 31, 13, and 13 for 86.5% of his yardage. On his other 13 carries, Williams totaled just 24 yards.
In conjunction with the lack of running, the backs only carried the ball 21 times. With injuries I bet the coaches are happy they got away with preserving some health at the position. Tony Jones tried to cut back behind the line of scrimmage after being surrounded and was never put back in the game while nursing a bum ankle. I’d imagine he won’t play much next weekend, either.
Interestingly, Book’s feet never really had much of an affect on the game. I counted one designed run and I don’t believe Book kept the ball once on a zone read all game.
PASSING DEFENSE
I noticed the lack of a nickel package for large swaths of this game and for me that’s a huge worry because Virginia Tech had not proven themselves to be very good running the ball and adding another defensive back in coverage probably would’ve slowed down the Tech passing game.
As is stood, Ryan Willis threw 52 passes! They clearly targeted Troy Pride (he must’ve given up double-digit catches on his man, I’d bet) and took advantage of three Notre Dame linebackers struggling to drop back and flood the middle and intermediate parts of the field. The Hokies largely attacked the perimeter with decent success and relied on Willis to keep driving the team down field.
Ultimately, it didn’t work out as Va Tech got too one-dimensional but I was impressed with Willis’ ability. I know many were frustrated with some of the soft coverage and ‘free’ underneath stuff but it continues to be a working solution for the defense. Keeping a quarterback at 5.9 yards per attempt without an accompanying run game is going to win the Irish a lot of football games.
RUSHING DEFENSE
There were some leaks. Give credit to the defense though, they’ve spent this entire year gradually fixing those leaks and slowly suffocating opponent’s run games as the snaps pile up.
The Hokies had 9 carries total 121 yards with a long of 41 yards leading the way. Six of their 9 longest runs came in the first half for a total of 83 yards while they did basically nothing of note on the ground in the final 2 quarters.
Outside of the 9 carries mentioned above, Virginia Tech ran the ball 24 times for 11 yards. Yes, you read that correctly.
Hokies Rushing Success
Peoples – 2 of 7 (28.5%)
McClease – 3 of 6 (50.0%)
Willis – 4 of 9 (44.4%)
Holston – 0 of 3 (0.0%)
Grimsley – 1 of 1 (100.0%)
Savoy – 0 of 1 (0.0%)
Kumah – 0 of 1 (0.0%)
Wheatley – 0 of 1 (0.0%)
TOTAL – 10 of 29 (34.4%)
Notre Dame was able to ‘get away’ with a poor rushing success because the Irish defense made Virginia Tech’s success even worse and the Hokies didn’t have the same long runs as Dexter Williams.
I know there will be other things to point to in this game which led to the win but yet again I have to applaud Notre Dame’s run defense because it continues to be the rock upon which the entire team has lived this year.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Outside of a botched snap and punt it felt like Notre Dame won the special teams battle, almost by default. Once again, the returns games from both sides provided little help. We should congratulate kicker Justin Yoon for moving into first place on Notre Dame’s all-time scoring list following his 1 field goal and 6-PAT performance.
Virginia Tech’s start to the second half highlighted to me how they let things get away on special teams. On 4 consecutive series beginning with the 3rd quarter they punted from Notre Dame’s 42-yard line, missed a field goal, punted from Notre Dame’s 44-yard line, and missed another field goal.
At the end of this sequence, the Irish went from a 1-point lead to a 38-16 lead.
TURNING POINT
There were so many things in the second half to choose from in this game. I’m sure many would select Dexter’s 97-yard touchdown. However, upon a re-watch something to stuck out to me that I thought meant a lot for Notre Dame.
Virginia Tech had just missed the first of their two field goals mentioned above and the Irish led by 8 points thanks to that long Dexter touchdown. Three plays after the missed field goal the Irish were faced with a 3rd & 1 from their own 39-yard line. The Hokies came down with 8 in the box and looked like they will overwhelm Notre Dame’s 6 blockers.
Virginia Tech looks tricked as if they were expecting a pass and Dexter was this close to running for another long touchdown. The Irish would continue this drive with a touchdown, took control of the game hereafter, and I think this one run allowed the offense to breath a lot more in a way that wasn’t working in the first half.
3 STARS
1 RB Dexter Williams – The number one star in all of our hearts, too.
2 DE Khalid Kareem – Made the biggest play of the game with a forced fumble and also totaled 2.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks.
3 WR Miles Boykin – Rumbling, bumbling, stumbling his way to a huge year.
FINAL NOTES
During the game this counted as a ranked win on the road–and came with it some historical stats–yet the Hokies are no longer ranked after Saturday. Still, I would think they should win their next 4 games and have a good shot at a 8-3 (game cancelled due to the hurricane) final record. This is largely due to a pretty unimpressive schedule–this Hokies team is probably okay and not much more.
I can’t believe how deep the Irish went into the defensive depth chart in this game, and didn’t pay the price. The amount of super young defenders with minimal experience being throw into this game really shows how well the coaches have prepared them to play. The complete 180 from the BVG era just 2 years to now has been amazing.
I was impressed with Avery Davis’ lone carry of the game for 5 yards, and it was a tough 5 yards. I was surprised he never got another opportunity.
Was this the first game without a really bad drop from a pass catcher?
Something to think about for the future and the offense taking an extra step or two is developing a fourth wide receiver. With the ascendancy of Boykin we’re seeing a No. 1 wideout emerging with Finke and Claypool providing decent work behind him. The fourth leading receiver in receptions is currently a tie between Kevin Austin and Michael Young with 3 catches, hopefully this changes.
The +1.4 yards per play differential does a good job of showing how the Irish were better despite being out-gained by 3 total yards and allowing Virginia Tech to accumulate 441 total yards, the most surrendered by Notre Dame this season.
Game one with Tranquill’s hand all wrapped up seemed to go pretty well, right?
Brian Kelly is usually overly optimistic about injuries. Today, he threw out the possibility that defensive end Daelin Hayes could miss 6 weeks if his symptoms from a ‘stinger’ don’t improve. In response, it looks like the defense will use true freshman Justin Ademilola sparingly and move over Ade Ogundeji and Jamir Jones from the strong-side to offer help on the weak-side.
With Brandon Wimbush getting the mop-up duty in this game we move one step closer to Phil Jurkovec taking a redshirt. Although, if things get out of hand this upcoming Saturday I would expect Jurkovec to get some playing time against his hometown college.
Next weekend won’t be a let down but do everything in your power to make sure Notre Dame doesn’t get caught in a look-ahead moment. No, I believe Pitt is in big trouble.
My pick for turning point would be the second quarter goal line stand. Book had just thrown the pick, and People’s had a huge run to get barely stopped before the end zone at the 1. Three straight stops and VT had to settle for a field goal instead of taking the lead. The potential big time momentum turned into the Irish maintaining a lead before Love got the scoop and score. Could’ve been a very different game had Tech actually held a lead at that point, especially with the rough second quarter the offense had.
It’s crazy how even big moments at the time can end up being overlooked over a 60 minute game. That stop (assist to the VT running back) was enormous.
Our inability to play nickel successfully worries me. Houston Griffith, though he may get better as he gets experience, is not a solution right NOW. We lost Shaun Crawford (again again) and it’s a big problem. I don’t think it kills us against anyone the next few weeks, but man it would be nice to have once we get to USC.
I feel like we hear quite a bit that we could use Love in the nickel spot and bring in Donte Vaughan and yet it seems like we never do that. Maybe we do and I just haven’t caught it? Seems like that would be a viable solution for the 20 snaps or so a game that we would really want to be in nickel.
Or I would like to see Nick Coleman a bit more in the nickel. I’m not an expert but I just thought that he did OK in the snaps that he has gotten. I didn’t notice him getting beaten badly (have noticed Griffith getting beaten several times) and while maybe Griffith has a higher ceiling it seems like Crawford could offer better coverage than we are currently getting and would be a decent tackler too with his safety experience.
From weeks past, Pete Sampson had data that Coleman at nickel was yielding a similar rate of targets/completions/yards/first downs conceded as Griffith. I believe Griffith’s numbers were slightly worse, but they were fairly comparable if memory serves (and neither were very good).
I think you’re right the answer could be shift Love in and play Vaughn instead of Griffith/Coleman. However, I’m no secondary coach but I don’t think they like to move guys in and out a lot. Corners seem finicky like that and for best results they usually stay on the same side of the field, let alone bouncing between covering slot and then back outside multiple times per game depending on if it’s a base defense or nickel. So it might be a case of just leaving Love well enough alone to do his thing and hoping the other guys don’t fail.
IMO, if any secondary changes to look at, it seems Elliot misses a lot of open field tackles and isn’t really the best in coverage either. I don’t know if they have anyone necessarily better, so that may be why he stays in but oy. Slot corner is definitely a weaker point but that non-Gilman safety spot to me is the real weakness.
Either Pride’s speed, he almost seems like the ideal slot guy. Except for the whole “give 10 yards of cushion every play” issue.
Good to know. I haven’t seen that data but it makes sense. I don’t think Coleman is amazing but it seems like he is rarely on the field so I thought he might be worth a try. But, if is isn’t really any better than Griffith at this point then it is probably worth getting Griffith experience for USC coming up.
Troy Pride’s coverage is really curious to me. We’ve been told over and over he’s one of the fastest guys on the team. Theoretically this should mean he’s gonna be at least above average in recovering if he gets beat. And yet, he’s constantly giving enormous cushions for easy short completions. It’s strange.
Bilal looks like a LB out there. He can’t keep getting put on quick slot guys. That nickel package needs to get some run ASAP.
It’s funny to think that what we saw from Book in the first half was a “bad” passing performance from him, after what constituted a “good” performance from Wimbush. Great job not getting flustered after getting into a bit of a rut.
Dex for Heisman.
I’ve noticed that with Love and big cushions too. Maybe it’s coaching or strategy?
On the surface, to me, a strategic decision makes sense. The defense is generally content to concede underneath stuff, and they just don’t want to get beat deep and give up big play touchdowns. Maybe (for good reason) they don’t really trust safety play either so they don’t want their corners getting beat over the top under any conditions for fear there isn’t reliable coverage behind them.
And it’s been effective, they’ve bent but not broken several times in giving up yards and drives but cracking down in the red zone and forcing field goal attempts after getting sacks or forcing incompletions.
Yeah it’s possible I don’t notice it as much with Love because he’s just so good breaking on the ball.
A plus for the Book comment.
I’ll be the first to admit I was dead wrong on Boykin. At 247, people were claiming 1000 yard season I was confident he wouldn’t exceed 800 yards. Happy to be wrong.
An underrated story line this year and where Kelly is gaining huge advantage on opponents is 4th down aggression. He’s been super aggressive on 4th down, even in FG range leading to huge TD drives against Michigan, Vandy, Stanford and now va tech while harbaugh feunte and Shaw have all punted on 4th and short in ND territory (and Nd subsequently scored anyways) compounded by Feunte Inexplicably attempting a 52 yard FG down 15 in the 4th
I’m an economist, and I approve this message!
Not an economist but also agree. Seems smart to be aggressive and it’s manageable conversions that he’s going for at reasonable spots on the field and it’s working. Very pleased with his decision making there and it’s tangibly helping the cause.
Amen on the 4th down aggression. That’s a big hobby horse of somebody here. Cant remember who..I would just like the coaching staff to treat it like two down territory when they’re at the opponents 40. Just try to get some positive yardage on 3rd down.
You may be thinking of me? I got in a lengthy debate on here last year with someone about it. The advanced stats analysis is pretty clear on going for it a whole lot more than the average coach does. I too have noticed BK being more aggressive with going for it, and its been great to see! (I would be happy if he became even more aggressive even.)
BK read this article at fall camp
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/upshot/4th-down-when-to-go-for-it-and-why.html
And the Cowboys last night punted on 4th and 1 at the Texans 42 in OT. Naturally they didn’t get the ball back and lost. It’s so brutal to watch. They should have fired Garrett after the game
They should have fired Garrett LONG before last night
I’m still hopeful because the division absolutely sucks and is up for grabs…someone just has to get hot and seize it. Even at 8-8 we could win the NFCe and Garrett might still get fired. Best of both worlds
Probably you Scarp! With the way our D has been playing quality-wise as well as style-wise, it just doesn’t make sense to punt it from the freaking opposing 40. Our D has been very good at preventing big plays and preventing TD’s in the red zone. So if you’re already going to concede yardage between the 40’s, who cares. Play the odds and go for it. If you punt it into the end zone, you’ve really just made yourself a turd sandwich. Like I said earlier, though, strategically I feel like we could be a little more conservative on 3rd down in that situation just to get some positive momentum and possibly surprise the D, especially with how good Book has been converting on the money downs.
Agree generally, but there was one bad aberration from this game: we were on the 40 for the play that ended up being the bad snap on the punt. A potential learning opportunity there.
But you are absolutely right on point point: kicking ANY field goal down 15 in the 4th quarter is a bad idea, much less a 52-yarder. That was, by far, the worst coaching decision in the game. When ND called timeout everyone around us was like “well, he’ll figure it out now that he has the time to think on it.” Nope.
Speaking of which, how was the game atmosphere?
I didn’t like the decision to try the 50 yarder in the third quarter vs. Stanford, either though it wound up not nattering because DL caved in the skull of Stanfords offense.
Listening to ESPN’s Sunday “Campus Conversation” podcast, and it’s downright comical, because they clearly have no idea what to think about Dex. They’re making such a big deal about “ND is down to it’s third string running back, and he went for 178 and had a 97 yard TD run!” I get that you’re national and so not all that clued in to specific team stuff maybe, but you’d think that if you’re noticing a guy who seemingly came out of nowhere, maybe you’d at least ask why he hadn’t played 4 games? Sure, ND is being coy by not calling it a suspension, but there’s enough out there that anyone who did any looking would know what happened.
Yeah the national guys are always so comically uninformed. Earlier this year I heard Dennis Dodd call Chris finke Notre Dame’s best receiver. Presumably because he caught a touchdown against Michigan? I have no idea why and I don’t think he was just trying to give a hot take. Its sounded like his honest-to-God serious opinion. No knock on think, but our best receiver?
Dodd is the same guy who tweeted last night how other Power 5 teams might feel about ND making the playoff with only a 12 game schedule.
He didn’t, apparently, know that we’re on 3 straight years of one of the playoff field playing 12 games.
They really shouldn’t count wins over FCS teams … just losses.
So much this. When one of your games is against Tomato Can Valley Polytechnic, I don’t really care about that “13th data point.”
Just take your 3 free additional live practices and call it a day.
Solution? Win all your effing games.
It’s a two-sided coin. I don’t think we can complain if we lose a game and a 12-1 conference champ makes it in over us at 11-1 (depending on circumstance, of course). But to me that also means that if we’re 12-0, a 12-1 conference champ needs to look in the mirror before they start complaining about us making it in. Handle your business and you wouldn’t have to worry, bucko.
Eric, first class analysis, really well done.
To build on your Book/deep pass comments, I felt that the coaches were forcing the issue of whether Book can throw deep by abandoning the “west Coast” offense for awhile (I mean the short/intermediate passing game) in favor of deep throws. He wasn’t just off, he was wildly off, usually by 10 yards or so, except for one that was underthrown to, I think, Boykin, who had to slow down, and the defender was between him and the ball and knocked it away. So yeah, Book has the arm, but throwing deep accurately apparently isn’t in his skill-set at this time.
Meanwhile the VaTech offense was really moving the ball in the first half by using the quick short/intermediate passing game we usually use with Book, but mostly abandoned after the first drive for the rest of the first half. Thankfully, VaTech moved it but couldn’t punch in TD’s.
One thing that irritated me was on that Fink long reception when he was all alone with just a safety to beat after the catch, he got cute and almost came to a halt with the safety at least 5 yards off him, trying to juke him, instead of just blowing past him. I thought he should have scored on that.
The Williams thing is interesting–run, run, run him even if for no or short gain, then he busts one, run him some more til he busts another, rinse and repeat. I didn’t think the line blocked that well for him, as he was hit almost immediately quite a few times.
I was so nervous about this game, thinking much along the lines Eric was thinking in his prediction, that when I saw how off Book was on the passes the coaches were calling, I switched to watching something else while I recorded the game. I was too anxious and feared the worst and couldn’t watch it live until I knew we were safely ahead in the second half. What a wuss, eh?
Lastly, I was surprised at how inarticulate Book was after the game in that on field interview–lots of “like”, “you know” and kind of mindless repetition. I assume he was overamped at the time. He seemed way more amped than usual on the sidelines as well in the game, and that seemed to correlate with his way over the top deep balls. Maybe too much adrenaline? Didn’t show that on his usual short/intermediate throws though.
Or maybe he’s just a college kid who has spent the past 2 years as a backup QB out of the spotlight?
Yeah I wouldn’t read too much into this. I think Book has displayed a normal developmental curve for a young QB. Makes sense to be amped for your first start against a ranked team on the road; might also explain overthrowing the deep ball as much as he did.
I’m a huge Book fan. We’d be having an entirely different season without him playing.
But seriously, someone bright enough to be a Notre Dame student should be able to string together a few clear, grammatically correct sentences.
Better that than Wimbush constantly talking about himself at pressers. If you listen carefully Book is the total opposite, always the team first.
I agree, he’s a better leader in my opinion.
Ok next time you’re interviewed on live TV in front of millions of people, can you give us a heads up?
Making an assumption about me ignorant of any knowledge of me, Mikey, though that’s beside the point.
I would expect a Notre Dame athlete with more than a year of university training to be able to coherently answer the simple question, “ How did it feel to get the win tonight?” Even on tv.
Especially the Notre Dame quarterback, who other than the head coach is the face of the team.
I think there might be some kids on your lawn, sir.
To me it sounded a bit like Book was trying to remember his “media talking points.” I think it’s a good idea for coaches to help a kid out in what to say (and not say!) when the media starts firing questions at him, but trying to keep those in mind with the emotions of a game and actually answer the question with a camera and blinding spotlight in one’s face can leave anyone not practiced in it stumbling over one’s words.
As long as he’s staying eligible by making grades, I’m not going to rush to judge any kid’s intelligence. ND’s class standards are high (and we actually enforce them), so I think we can make a baseline assumption that any kid on the roster is decently smart. I’ve given my share of briefings and public speaking in multiple languages, but could certainly see a few “uh, uhms” if I’d just finished a completely different activity and had to answer questions on the spot. He’ll get more used to it.
I wasn’t making a judgement that he lacks intelligence, just that he was very inarticulate in that spot. The question wasn’t on a completely different activity, but on the game he’d just played.
He’s a good guy, and the ability to be much better at this can be easily coached, which the staff should definitely do.
I watched the whole interview and, to quote the landlady from Kingpin, “Oh stop it you, it wasn’t that bad.”
I haven’t had the honor of meeting that lady, but aye aye sir😉
Oh well try to google the clip. It’s a pretty funny sequence.
Oh wow there she is. Was not expecting a gif of that particular footage.
I agree. Mike McGlinchey was interviewed on the Freakonomics podcast the other week and was so boring. They both seem well-trained in the art of saying nothing.
BK did start in politics after all…
I agree. Certain parts of the ND fan and media world were embroiled in a firestorm earlier in the season when Kelly said we didn’t have an offensive script to start the game and Wimbush called his most-practiced-plays-of-the-week a “script”. A practical lesson in phrasing your talking points correctly for the team because a certain kind of person is out there waiting to jump on your head over and over while wearing cleats at the slightest provocation.
Makes sense.
Kelly made an interesting comment last night after the game about Book’s inability to hit on the long passes. He said that they were “too flat” and the Book needed to float the ball more (or something like that – it was late and I had had a “few” beers.) I suspect that is something that can be corrected with more practice.
I agree he’s not the most articulate. Just sort of comes off as a standard jock answering questions. His pressers have a certain Nuke Laloosh quality.
So thinking big picture. We really want to be the second or third seed so we can play one non-bama playoff game. That way of course we can either beat a good OSU/Clemson team (or at worst lose a close one) so that even if we then got crushed by Bama (is anyone really going to give them a game?), we still show we belong by having won in the earlier game. Much better scenario than 2012 where you get crushed and then people wonder legitimately whether you belong.
If we go 12-0 there is virtually no way we are seeded 4th. If we go 11-1 it’s unlikely we make it. I think we’ll be fine there.
Completely agree, if real chaos hits maybe we’re #4 at 11-1, but 12-0 definitely has us in the top 3 barring a never-going-to-happen-everyone-in-the-top-4-is-undefeated finish.
Agree as well. Even with 3 other undefeated conference champs, ND will likely get in as a 2 or a 3.
Why do you think that? Let’s say Bama, tOSU, Clemson are in undefeated.
SOS. ND would be above clemson in that scenario. Clemson will have beaten MAYBE (depending on who makes the ACC CG) two ranked teams and not even highly ranked teams. Right now their best win is Texas A&M at #22. It’s looking like theyll go up agains the Canes in the ACC Champ which currently would match them up with #16, but a loss to Clem would likely drop them down to #18 or so. Therefore, Clem has wins over #22 and 16, ND has wins over #13 and 24. But we’ve also passed the eye test better than Clem, IMO. Committee would realize Ball St and Vandy were under a completely different team and would recognize the Book effect.
I’m not sure the “at worst” scenario is losing a close game to tOSU/Clemson. They both have more than enough firepower to put a lot of points up on us, and scary defenses. I think we belong at #5 and more than hold our own with anyone below us, but I also think there’s Bama, then a cluster of UGA-Clemson-tOSU, and then the rest with us leading the pack. We could definitely compete, and maybe beat, an UGA-Clemson-tOSU, in a close game, but I could also see them pulling away from us.
Then again, 3 weeks ago I was saying we’d be crushed by TCU or Oklahoma State if we played them, and we’ve gotten way better and they’ve looked way worse, so things change.
Not for nothing but bill Connelly seems to think it could be a top 5 grouping not top 4 plus everyone else
https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/10/6/17946988/notre-dame-football-schedule-2018-virginia-tech-results
Sure, but reading that, it’s a schedule-based argument, in that we should win out. Though he does say that we’re a different team under Book, and that the reason we’re not higher (or at least grouped definitively with the top 4) is that our stats under Wimbush still count in S&P+ and hold us back a bit. Basically, he’s saying that since S&P+ says no one remaining on our schedule should beat us, we’ve got to be moved into that group. I would like to see what S&P+ would say about a matchup with any of those top 4 teams. Maybe one of you with the Tweeters can send an #askPAPN message for me–what does S&P+ project for an ND-Bama/tOSU/Clemson/UGA matchup? I think there’s still some separation there, probably.
Yeah the original tweet/lede was a bit misleading, he definitely made it seem like a book led Irish was top4/5 but the SP ranking has gone up 12 spots in the 3 weeks and the offense SP keeps jumping with book at the helm so I sorta want to believe it as a top 5 ranking. I’ll try and ask him about a h2h matchup with the true top 4
Yep. I’m absolutely on board with the “Book makes a difference” thread, and I think that’s what puts us at the front of the “rest” line for the time being.
I don’t even want to think about us on the field with Bama. I’ve never seen a stronger CFB team offensively. Other world QB, 3-4 great running backs, fleet of outstanding receivers, and a big, strong Oline. Nightmare for defenses.
Their D is a bit suspect, but I don’t know if that’s just in comparison to their Offense.
I like our offense compared to the OSU offense. Their qb gets gaudy stats, but Penn State really rattled him with pressure and he’s not as mobile as Book. If he’s left alone in the pocket, he’s accurate, but I think our pass rush would get him off his game.
Not directly related, but Mandel wrote something today that made my eyes perk up a bit..
“To beat Alabama, you’re going to need both a dominant pass rush that can disrupt Tua Tagovailoa and an elite quarterback who can exploit the Tide’s mortal (by their standards) defense.”
Hmm….
By no means am I starting the we want Bama chant, but it sure would be exciting to be 12-0 and find out.
I’d hold off on the “Book is ELITE” talk just yet, but even if we played Bama in a semifinal and lost [A lot] to [not much], that’s only what everyone expects. I’d be momentarily sad but it wouldn’t put any damper on the success of the season.
Yeah, half of all the first round playoff games have been absolute thumpings. The stink wears off the next year.
What would suck for us is that Bama did it to us AGAIN. That second time thing would cause it to linger a bit more, but oh well. We would still have a solid month of ‘crootin’ where we are in the playoff, and our last Bama butt whoopin season resulted in our best class ever.
And presumably we don’t have any imaginary dead girlfriends this year.
I think the whole reason we brought in Justin Brent was to turn that image around.
Greened
Hah, sad but funny.
Yeah, he’s not really there yet. More just a function of being excited about scoring an average of 46 points per game with him at the helm. If that keeps up, you’ve obviously got a shot at beating anyone.
I had a similar thought. I have no idea whether it can be sustained against any defense, but Book’s efficiency on third down is such a great weapon. It makes me think of the moneyball argument (specifically the on base percentage being the most important stat in baseball).
If you can convert consistently, you are going to score a lot.
Horror shows are exciting. Just sayin
I’d rather find out at 13-0, but that’s just me.
Doh! Should have read further.
I’d rather be 13-0and find out!
Also, some of the comments are predictably laughable. “Join a conference because…reasons!”
This is pretty much what I think too, but with fingers and toes crossed.
Not sure if anyone has chimed in from attending the game yet, so maybe I’ll be the first to say it: Enter Sandman is f’ing awesome. The pregame atmosphere with the skydivers (with fireworks! Shooting out of the skydivers!), Johnny Cash, and then Enter Sandman was by itself worth the drive and price of admission. Not sure ND could ever create something like that, but it’s probably worth trying.
With that said, their use of music/the scoreboard throughout the game was pretty awful and made me appreciate how tastefully done ND’s presentation is. They were cranking music every play on defense it seemed like; almost a trying-too-hard situation. Also, 2 hours before kickoff, VaTech’s campus was dead. It was super weird.
In terms of game notes, it seems like folks who have already commented hit the main points I would say. Dex is just different looking than everyone else out there – insane acceleration. Offensive line looked fine, though Ruhland is noticeably small for a guard. Backup d-ends did a lot better in the second half than we expected at halftime.
I think the team is pretty dang good. Probably top-10 level, and we deserve to be #5 given the way rankings are done. If Book can start hitting on those deep balls, and assuming the injuries start to level off, I think the team is a legit threat to go undefeated.
I was really wondering about this. On TV, honestly, it just looked kinda…tame? Woah, your team walks across campus and then some old dudes come on the video board and tell you “thanks for playing our song, we got you a lunchbox to show our gratitude.” The way Fowler was talking about it like a spiritual experience, I figured it had to be different being there.
The 247 sports national podcast bros were talking about this and pointing out that VT has beaten a grand total of one ranked team at home (Maryland) since 2008.
I think Charlie Weis once mentioned that emotional gimmicks last about 10 minutes. I tend to agree with this argument.
The game was over 3 hours long. Any entrance, no matter how cool, is going to wear off, especially when you give up a TD on the opening drive.
Yep, once ND marches down the field and scores the bloom is off the rose.
…However, if that was the drive that VT forced a punt and it was a low snap, would have been a different story.
(Related- it’s funny to me that Kelly screams at Polian like 2-3x per game on the sideline. Shannon snaps it low, immediately Kelly is mf’ing Polian as if he told him to do it or something. It’s like everyone else is playing so well he’s got no one else to take the stress/anger out on these days except the poor special teams coach. Just something funny I’ve noticed as this season has gone on)
They noted on the broadcast that it was the first bad snap by Shannon in his ND career. I wondered why Kelly was yelling at Polian too.
I don’t think he was yelling about the snap. I suspect he was pissed that the punter didn’t know what to do in that situation. That could be a coaching failure. Who knows.
“Plus when Brian Kelly is yelling “What the F—was that?!?” at Polian 2-3 times a game it looks like two drunk brothers arguing at an Elks Lodge.”
–https://notredameourblogger.com/2018/10/08/ndnation-virginia-tech-postmortem/
Honestly I was saving that treat for later today and hadn’t even read it when I posted here. It’s very scary to see yourself have a take that matches anything that comes out of there.
I actually read that and agreed. Two pasty, chubby Irish guys with red cheeks yelling at each other, I mean yeah it does kind of look like that. Hey blind squirrels and broken clocks and all that.
I think Polian is the whipping boy. Very strange
The Metallica appearance was kind of lame. I don’t even think the VT fans were excited about that. They look really old.
Metallica also lent their support in the 2016 Stanley Cup final to the San Jose Sharks (including a pretty cool rendition of a guitar version on the National Anthem before one of the games). The Sharks lost that game and ultimately the series. So maybe they should stick to music.
Then again, I’m sure the checks cashed all the same to them.
I kind of only half-glanced at the intro Saturday. I had just gotten back from a 4OT game and was still processing that …. but watching the clips from it, do Va Tech’s flag bearers always run across the field to the other teams sideline? That seems like a really bad idea. Just opening yourself up to some poor cheerleader getting clocked for being in the way when the visiting team comes storming out. Just seemed odd to me
Thanks for the summary about the stadium experience. They say all that jumping up and down at the entrance rocks a seismograph. Truly? I find that hard to believe. Doesn’t even sound safe, actually.
Re Book hitting the deep balls, that would be great, but I hope Long doesn’t keep pushing that unless Book is killing them in practice. We haven’t needed them and have beaten three teams with his incredible accuracy on the short/intermediate passes. He was 8 for 8 passing on the opening drive, then they kept calling deep balls and got behind the chains most of the rest of the first half.
LSU and Auburn made an earthquake in 88.
For yet another of the “forgotten turning point” themes…What if the VT freshman tackle doesn’t go a few yards downfield to be ineligible (or the refs get caught up in the commotion and it slips by)….That’s something us ND people didn’t even mention in discussing this game, but I’m guessing if you’re a Tech fan that missed opportunity has to burn at you. That could have been a major turning point in score and momentum.
For anyone who may have seen the Twitter rumor spreading like crazy about Book being suspended… A couple of reliable sources told us there’s nothing to it, that someone got caught up in a game of telephone and it blew up once it hit the interwebs. Genuine Ferris-passing-out-at-Baskin-Robbins stuff.
We fully expect Book to start against Pitt.
thank God.
It’s amazing how quickly something like this spreads. I’m betting it was started by a scUM fan.
Shocking nobody, it was started by a Barstool stooge.