Not a lot is going right for Notre Dame this season, but clearly this program owns Army.
The Irish ran the ball at will against the Black Knights, averaging over six yards per carry. No one player ran for 100 yards, but Tarean Folston had a big game, with 13 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown, and DeShone Kizer and Josh Adams each went for 70-plus. Notre Dame ran the ball 43 times compared to 29 pass attempts (although a couple of QB runs were intended passes), the kind of split you’d like to see when ND has a talent advantage as large as the one they possess against Army. Having a big lead most of the game helps too.
CJ Sanders getting the huge kickoff for a touchdown to start the game was a nice way to take the edge off things. The game could easily have snowballed into something negative if it had started poorly, so it was really nice to see the Irish take the lead in a hurry. Things went well from there, as Kizer had all day to throw whenever he dropped back, and the Irish running game was on point.
The ND defense was pretty solid even considering the opponent. They held Army to 229 rushing yards and only allowed two completions for 13 yards. Twice they were backed up deep in their territory and came up big with stops. It’s just Army, granted, but it was a good bounce-back effort after last week.
ND is now 8-0 in Shamrock Series games, and even though a lot of that has to do with the opponents the Irish have faced in those games (hopefully when it returns in 2018, ND will start facing more interesting foes), it’s still a nice little selling point for the program. Apropos of nothing, I wonder if Under Armour will foist alternate uniforms on ND next year despite not having a Shamrock game. Perhaps some spiffy white ones for one of the road games. We shall see.
Did it seem to anyone else that Kizer missed a good deal of throws? Hard to complain too much in a 38-point win, but it seems like that has happened more and more. (The red-zone interception was really frustrating as well.) It seems like a first-round draft pick should hit more of those. It would be nice to have Kizer back next season if his draft stock is in fact falling, but I’d certainly like to see him become more accurate in the future.
Two games left for the Irish. They’ll be the two best teams they have played so far, notwithstanding Virginia Tech’s strange no-show today against Georgia Tech. If ND can win both, they’ll go bowling, which wouldn’t mean a whole lot but would at least end this bummer of a year on something of a high note. Let’s hope for the best!
Unless we lose the bowl game. #deborahpdowner
Selfishly, I’d take a bowl loss because it means 2 more wins. Especially since those wins would be my first ever ND home game – and senior day for a group that could use it – and obviously any win against SC is a good win.
I’d take a bowl loss because it means we got these kids 15 more practices. And, going to a bowl is better than not going to a bowl, program perception-wise (for those on the outside–recruits, media, etc.)
Is it weird that I am starting to think Wimbush has a decent enough chance of running a better offense than Kizer?
Granted, in 2017 there’s every reason to believe Kizer as a (going on) 3 year starter and a senior should be much, much better than a guy like Wimbush who has virtually no track record at the college level, comparably speaking. But all the talk is Wimbush has impeccable mechanics, solid foot-work and there’s no drop in arm strength, he seems like a guy who can be a star in his 3rd year in the system.
Kizer does a good job, maybe even a very good job and I’m probably sleeping on the results he’s actually delivered. But even his touchdowns today, you could pick apart the ball placement on 2 of the 3. And he would have had another 2 TD’s with a little better touch and air under his balls for wide open receivers who outran clearly over-matched Army defensive backs.
Might live to regret it, but I wouldn’t be sad if it’s Wimbush time next season for Notre Dame. I also get the feeling that elite QB prospects like Wimbush don’t sit for 3 years very often, though with his roots in the business school and eye on the big picture, he’s a unique kid.
Would be curious to see what the community thinks of how many of Kizer/Zaire/Wimbush are likely to return next season. Seems like only 1. And I guess there could be a couple of different combinations to get there for how it plays out as far as stay/go options.
I’m looking forward to the Wimbush era too…
Have there been any rumors about a Kizer injury at all this year? Seems like he’s really fallen off from the start of the year and especially last season. Maybe having Will Fuller papered over the accuracy issues in 2015.
Eric speculated on maybe a nagging injury, and I posted about having seen him work his arm a couple of times like one does when one is not feeling right.
Well if history is any indication, Wimbush will have a good first year and spend the rest of his career regressing.
@Nah, he’s been in the system long enough to get his regression out of the way in practice. He’s already advanced to mediocre!@
The biggest concern about Wimbush being the starter next year (which is exceedingly likely) is that our backup is either going to be Ian Book or Avery Davis. Like you, I’m not all that worried about Wimbush.
Nothing against Wimbush, but beware of the bias to over-rate the backup QB who has played very little.
Hell of a day in college football, with half the top 10 losing.
Good: Michigan lost to a meh Iowa team
Bad: Unless that game against UW was a aberration, USC is going to wreck us
The debates this week will be entertaining, and the committee has its work cut out for it. Bama’s pretty clear at the moment, but everything else just got thrown out the window. You can make a circular argument for just about any team in the 1-2 loss range over any other team in the 1-2 loss range. At this point, with no ND in the mix, I would love to see chaos: tOSU beat Michigan, sending Penn State to the B1G Championship game against Wisconsin; Wazzu upset UW and go to the Pac12 championship game, beat Utah or whomever, so you have a 2-loss Power 5 champ with one of those losses to an FCS school; whomever wins the Big12 is going to have at least 2 losses (I suppose WVU could win out, but not likely). We’re another ACC loss from Clemson (doubtful) from Louisville jumping them, but as it is you could make a case that Louisville is the better team (lost to Clemson by a nose at Clemson). We’re a Bama loss in the SEC title game to a pathetic SEC East from complete hysteria, and I love it.
USC will pound us. They aren’t the same team that lost by a jillion to Bama. Have to hand it to Helton, he got things under control.
Gotta love this fan base. I know ND has had a lousy year,but they do have talent. Pitt stepped up and beat Clemson on the road. Iowa after getting blown out last week came back and beat Michigan. But of course ND will get “pounded” by USC. If ND cant battle back and show some fight and compete against a good opponent even during a down season then there needs to be more changes then just at defensive cord.