If you are inclined to look at 2017 Notre Dame football as Year One of a reboot – and certainly Brian Kelly has done nothing to indicate it isn’t – then consider the first checkpoint passed.
Notre Dame easily dispatched Temple 49-16 Saturday in a game that was not free of nits to pick; but oh, how nice it is to pick nits after a 33-point win over a pretty decent Group of 5 team, rather than ask big-picture questions like “Are we doomed?” after losing back-to-back home games to terrible Duke and Michigan State teams.
Let’s take a look at a few of the key discussion points. To save time, let’s go ahead and put our “yes, we know, it was Temple with a new coach and a new quarterback” caveat out of the way now so you know it applies to everything.
#RTDBK
If you’ve spent the past four seasons screaming “RUN THE DAMN BALL KELLY” at the TV, today was the day for you. ND ran for 422 yards! Four hundred twenty two! We had three 100-yard rushers! (Josh Adams 161, Dexter Williams 124 – on six carries! – and Brandon Wimbush 106.) Has that even ever happened before? A Twitter search turned up nothing.
ND ran it 44 times to passing 30 with Wimbush. It’s safe to say Chip Long wasn’t blowing smoke up our butts when he said he wanted to run the ball; even though I expect the Irish to pass much more often when they aren’t comfortably leading most of the way, today was a great example of ‘when it’s working, just keep doing it’.
It’s too bad Williams’ pass blocking keeps him from seeing more of the field; the dude runs like a pissed-off wildebeest. I don’t like him more than Adams because the latter is a more complete back, but damn he’s fun to watch. Would love to see his stints last a bit longer.
Wimbush
The talk about Brandon Wimbush for three years has boiled down, basically, to ‘raw, but potentially special’. We saw nothing to change either part of that evaluation today. The raw numbers were not that great; 17/30, 284 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT (a pretty bad one, and he got away with at least one more). But we saw what could make him special too; he continues to be great running the ball, and his TD throw to Nic Weishar was a classic example of an ubertalented guy making a reckless throw and just out-throwing blanket coverage. He also made a very good deep throw to Equanimeous St. Brown that had to be about 4% better to be caught (and maybe should’ve been anyway).
Probably my favorite part of his game today was that he never looked timid. The guy doesn’t have the bluster of the person who was in his shoes two years ago, but he’s every bit as confident.
Elko’s new defense
If you thought Brian VanGorder’s stink could get completely washed off the defense in one off-season, you were sorely mistaken. There were plenty of missed tackles, guys over-running the play, and the same offensive play repeatedly gashing us (let’s hope Georgia doesn’t like throwing bubble screens). But we also saw glimpses of what could be, even on a defense that’s definitely not as athletically gifted as the offense; ND got to the quarterback occasionally, even recording three sacks. They forced a turnover. Most of the time, guys either made the tackle or got help from some friends. Temple only ran for 85 yards and gained 310 overall.
ND’s defense never needed to be great to win most of its games; it just needed to be adequate. It was very much adequate Saturday.
Start strong, finish strong
There were a few ‘2016’ type moments there in the middle of the game where it seemed like ND was going to do that thing where it starts hot, then lets the other team back in the game by any means necessary. (The Wimbush pick in particular, and BTW, Justin Yoon, we really want to like you, so please stop missing field goals.) But the Irish shook them off and ended with a couple of big-time TD drives. Scoring TDs on 4 of the first 5 drives and 3 of the last 4 will probably win you most games.
So there you are. The season is back, and ND looks good (though we’ll quickly get an answer to how good when Georgia visits next week). What could be better than that?
(Photo credit: Indianapolis Star)
Positives: the Slack discussion board was great. And probably too complicated for most trolls to deal with.
Negatives: UGA woke up, not having much trouble now.
I did like how we finished–it didn’t seem like Temple had given up, we just wore them out. And we weren’t throwing to get there, just running them over. Maybe Bayliss is helping.
Sorry I had to drop off the chat board, to save bandwidth. Saw 95% of the game. Concerns:
1, right tackle and Brandon’s future health
2, Dexter not enough carries
3, Tony Jones fumble
4, Alize
To pick a nit, that was not a fumble. It was not a fumble at any speed. When the ball came out I said, that’s not a fumble. And every angle validated that view. So.
Was happy for Dexter. He will be a big piece of the offense this year. But those were late yards, so let’s not go crazy.
Agree that Alize was not really a factor. Not really worried yet. After all, each receiver has such a limited number of opportunities that it is hard to separate signal from noise in one game. Was pleased with beast-mode play from Smith and Wesson though. Did I type that? Silly spell check.
Agreed. When I saw it, I was disappointed in the LJ for ruling it a fumble because it was so clearly not out.
Lol…..yep joining the discussion today you definitely had to jump through a few hoops.
I am pretty happy about this. They ran the ball effectively. The win was convincing. They have plenty of tape on things to improve upon. Onto game #2!
Really nice win on paper, highlighted by the running stats. As commented on the Slack thread, the negatives (missed tackling, lack of killer instinct in the second quarter) sure loomed larger due to the hangover from last season.
I loved it! Not perfect’ but plenty of good to be encouraging, and plenty for the coaches to pick at. I loved the dedication to the run game. The defense, though very imperfect, showed some really good moments. I’ll take wins like this all day.
Notre Dame is finally playing big boy football and it’s about damn time. Nelson and McGlinchey just maul defenders. If they get their hands on you it’s a wrap. You are going where they want you to go and that destination usually ends with defenders on the ground. It’s a beautiful thing to see. Wimbush was phenomenal running the ball but he is definitely very raw throwing the football. He missed a couple of throws today that he needs to hit if we have any hope of beating Georgia. I thought the WR were decent and the TE were meh. I expected more from Alize. I thought Stepherson was missed today. It would be nice if we had his speed next week but that’s not going to happen and no one really knows why.
Watching the game live I thought that Temple rushed for more yards than they did. I was a little surprised when I checked the box score. Almost 40 carries and less than 90 yards gained is big time. You can see why Elko was so optimistic about this defensive line coming in. Daelin Hayes looks like he is going to be a game wrecker. Watching him play he is a little different than everyone else. Different in a really good way.
Overall I am very pleased at what I saw today. There were mistakes made that the coaches can use as they prepare for Georgia. The Bulldogs will be a great measuring stick next week. If we have any hope at winning double digits games we need to beat them. Games like Georgia at home are games Notre Dame must win. In the past we lost those kind of games. I pray that changes next week. A win versus Georgia would be epic for Notre Dame moving forward.
I’m writing Stepherson off for the season. They won’t explain what’s up, but he’s not even seeing real reps in practice. I was really surprise at how much Canteen and Cam played, and how little we saw of Boykin, Claypool, etc. I feel like we don’t have any receivers we can count on besides EQ, and while TE should be a major weapon, Mack was very underwhelming and isn’t going to be a jumbo receiver if that’s how he’s going to play. So while Wimbush might not be the best passer yet, we might not know how much of it is we have really sub-par receivers.
They won’t explain publicly what’s up, but “anonymous sources” have confirmed that he’s suspended for four games, which is what the penalty would be for a second failed marijuana test under current school policy. Feel free to connect the dots.
Hellooooo Daelin Hayes!
I think Holtz had three hundred yard rushers in a game in ’95 or ’96 – I want to say it was Kinder, Farmer, and someone else. Could be making that up though.
I thought the defense looked better later in the game; in fact I think we particularly improved on screens. I’m worried about fake screens, they burned us a couple of times on those and I’m sure it’ll stick out on tape for everyone else.
A big takeaway for me was the defense’s quick change work after Wimbush’s pick. That was an impressive stand and had me thinking they’ve taken a big step in the right direction.
Marc Edwards?
Very possible. Against Navy maybe? I’m going to have to look it up now because it’s going to eat at me.
Yes, that really struck me. Lou (and others) used to talk about the response to sudden change as a real measure for a defense’s heart, and that was encouraging.
Think you might have imagined that Holtz game. https://twitter.com/NDsidBertschy/status/904162450148347906
I think I saw another article say it happened before in the 50s. Hansen in the SBT.
i thought so too Brendan, but i just checked all the ’95 and ’96 games…lots of games with two guys at 100+ and several with the third at 80+, but not even the domination of Washington had three. i think that maybe there was a point where a third guy had 100 but then had a negative carry? Maybe that’s what we’re remembering.
Also, i realized midway through the 3rd that Tirico is so good he makes Flutie suck less.
I was at the game and have a few random comments. Most of it has to do with the new stadium experience.
Football-wise, agree that we fell into our old mode of taking our foot off the gas for most of the second and third quarters. And I agree with King Kenny that I thought Temple ran for more yards than the stats showed. It felt like we were missng plenty of tackles. Still, those last two touchdowns added a lot to my ( and I’m sure your) sense of well-being, especially since I noticed that Temple never threw in the towel (kudos to the Owls for playing tough all the way).
As for the Stadium experience, my friends and I thought the video board was an excellent addition to the stadium. Lots of replays were shown from multiple angles. When “ads” were shown, they showcased the University including a neat message from an ND professor about their recycling of the old stadium seats. The Officer Tim McCarthy message was read by Joe Theisman, and though he was a little wooden, it was ok by me since he’s one of us. Frequently, during TV timeouts, replays were shown of the best prior plays. Current players were frequently shown in pre-filmed slots, frequently exhorting the crowd. A cool touch was a post-game on the field interview with Brandon Wimbush, which made it worthwhile to hang around after the Alma Mater and the Fight Song. One of my friends remarked that he thought the way the board is used (showcasing the players rather than commercial ads) is a great recruiting tool.
The ribbon boards on the east and west sides of the Stadium are well-placed, bright and relatively easy to read. However, I thought the information displayed (out of town scores, game stats and other ND teams’ scores) wasn’t on-screen long enough to give me time to read it all I wish they would let each panel of info linger a little longer
Did those of you watching at home notice that there weren’t as many commercial interruptions by NBC? It sure made the game flow smoother, and I didn’t see the air let out of the crowd by incessant TV timeouts. That was wonderful!
All in all, it was a great time.
I am curious as to whether the crowd sounded louder on TV, given that the Stadium is more of an enclosed place now. I couldn’t tell.
Hey Cubsfan, tons of thanks for this post! Exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. I am wondering about one specific aspect (my hobby horse) namely how the board tied in with and even helped orchestrate crowd noise at key times — and in a more timely manner? To answer your question, fand I was listening for it hard, the crowd noise struck me as moderately improved, for an opener.
If anyone else was at the game and has thoughts (a couple of you were on the chat and were going to do that but I had to drop off) I would be super grateful. I’m flying in from Paris for the Georgia game to evaluate all of this as input for the folks who run the video board, and the more context I have from thi opener the better.
I was also at the game and will corroborate CubsFans’ video board thoughts. It was a fantastic addition and really made the TV timeouts go by more quickly. It certainly felt like there were fewer TV timeouts and I’m interested to hear from those watching at home if they felt the same. Also loved the message from the ND professor about the re-use of the old seating. Excellent way to showcase the university.
I thought, in general, the “pump up” ideas displayed on the video board were fairly unoriginal and unexciting, but they were tangibly more effective than the band is. The video board and band fought with each other on at least 3 occasions and can be cleaned up a bit, but it was the first game and to be expected.
The video board and ribbon boards were not at all a distraction. I actually feel that I would like more ribbon board real estate to leave out-of-town scores and info up longer.
In general, the noise level didn’t impress me. I think it’s largely due to the reduced attendance and playing Temple, coupled with the fact that the school bands now take up a significant number of seats. Georgia will be louder, but I’m not sure that the new ND Stadium is designed to really get rocking.
More Noise – I heard less Celtic Chant yesterday, and my recollection is that it was generally used during breaks in action, rather than when we needed noise. We’ll see if that holds up.
The stadium is gorgeous, the seating is much improved, the experience was possibly my best one yet at ND, and it was a great game. Can’t ask for more!
It wasn’t the quantity of commercials but the complete lack of variety. By the half I was ready to choke the Verizon guy. And Flutie was…Flutie, but against Tirico it was especially painful.
Watching at home, I didn’t notice any less commercials (other than the one time I had to get up and check a pizza, and needed a commercial break…no, THAT’s the one we stay on the broadcast after a score and through the kickoff….). So I’m glad it made it seem like less for fans, that bodes well for keeping them in the game.
Concur, KG; this could be a real plus.
I thought the band sounded quieter from section 131, but maybe that was due to trying to fight the board/improved sound system several times.
It looked like they had mikes throughout the band’s sections but didn’t hear any amplification of their sound.
Interesting. When the piped in music started, back in 2013, the band was out-miked. They fixed that, but I suspect 5here are adjustment issues with their new location.
Hey, Irish Bandit, many thanks. Very useful and insightful comments. THe video board effort wan in part designed to make the perceived TV timeout length seem shorter. Sorry for the delay, was gone all afternoon. Glad you enjoyed the game.
I was at the game and sat in the northwest corner. The extended seating side makes a HUGE difference. Force of habit, though….I did keep trying to look in the north-end zone for down and distance…will probably take a few years to work that out of my system.
The video board was fantastic. Won’t repeat a lot of the stuff that was said above, but I thought it was really cool the way they integrated it into the team coming onto the field. They went ‘live into the locker room’ for the pregame prayer, which I thought was pretty neat.
Was interesting to watch the stuff that’s designed for a greater home field advantage:
(a) Putting the Temple/visiting band up in the upper bowl. I’m guessing that this means a portion of the
allotment of the visiting team’s tickets now have to be used by the band. It may also just be me (and
where I was sitting) but I didn’t hear the Temple band play at all, even after they scored.
(b) Watching visiting teams navigate the new “visitor’s tunnel” was interesting. Since they can only go
through single file, there was a back-up getting off the field, which hopefully translates into less time to
get organized in the locker room after pregame warm ups and coming in after the first half.
Didn’t notice much more crowd noise, though the sound system on the video board is unbelievable. Will probably look really good during the night games against Georgia and SC.
I died watching Temple come out of that tunnel. I loved the idea before but seeing it in practice is a stroke of freaking genius. None of our rivals will ever get to come out and milk the hate or create a scene because it takes sooooooooooooooo loooooooooooooonnnnnnnnng for them to all get out there. Even if they wanted by the end, the first few guys have been out there for nearly a minute and the boos have died down. I give so many hand claps for whomever it was that planned that thing
Thanks very much. Again, most helpful, in trying to get arms around the new set up. I am still not sure they have hit the sweet sot on the “savvy” crowd noise, but next week should be a heck of a test.
From the TV viewing perspective, the stadium looks GREAT!!! The new additions and video board, hell even murtaugh commented that the uniforms looked more eye popping yesterday than normal. Just absolutely beautiful to watch from all angles. One thing I didnt like, and it was exacerbated when I was watching Bama/FSU at night, you absolutely cannot hear the band AT ALL on NBC anymore. I dont know if it’s because they moved them to the student section or what but I dont really like that change. If you watch ABC’s coverage, both bands can be heard continuously throughout the game and I really wish we could get more atmosphere in our home broadcasts. Tirico was fine, although he said a few dumb things during the game, and Flutie was ridiculous and annoying as ever. I’d rather hear the band.
I’ve always felt that ABC and especially CBS provide more college atmosphere in their broadcasts. It must have something to do with the way they mike the bands
I couldn’t hear the band very well at all from my seat (excerpt the drummers). That could have been because I was in the northeast corner, in the lower part of the bowl, and that means the band’s horns were aimed away from me. It also means they weren’t miked up very well. I could actually hear the Temple band slightly better even though they were on the other side of the Stadium from me
I agree with the other posters that showing the team’s pregame prayer was pretty neat.
As for the “more noise” segments on the video board, they were more effective than the band, and were actually kind of interesting. The motiff was frequently showing a facade of a building in an architectural style similar to ND’s buildings. However, it made the board look kind of “busy”, and I spent more time looking at the visual than responding to the message (I’m easily distracted, what can I say?). I did think the crowd responded to them more than it responded to the band.
Most interesting and informative, Cubsfan
“The Officer Tim McCarthy message was read by Joe Theisman, and though he was a little wooden, it was ok by me since he’s one of us”
Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. Drinking and driving don’t mix. I woooden courage you to drink responsibly, or you might find yourself in a logjam.
My biggest nit to pick, I dont like Wimbush seeking out and accepting so many hard hits. A couple of times, he COULD have slid but he chose instead to just brace for impact and took a big whallop. Dude, look at what happened to the UGA and FSU QBs and realize it’s more important that you remain healthy all year than getting that one extra yard after you’ve picked up the 1st. Getting that extra yard is fine when you’ve gotten 9 and need the 10th but when you get 11 and you’re just going for 12, dude slide. Save yourself.
Another one, but I don’t have more than a few lines to say about it: What the hell is going on with Justin Yoon? Dude, kick the damn ball straight already! Your sole job is to score points and you failed in both opportunities. Instead of us dropping a 50-burger and really sending a clear message to pollsters, we were stuck at 49 because of you.Get that cleaned up, dude. Maybe it’s time we start giving Newsome a few shots in practice?
Wimbush has to get a handle on where the first down markers are period. Maybe he’s hoping for yards after catch but, there were 2-3 throws on 3rd and 9ish where he threw to a well covered guy 4yds downfield. Picking knits maybe. It just seemed the plays had no shot at a first down.
Nah, that’s not picking nits, that’s a real issue. But it’s also part of a young QB learning the position. Sure, he’s a “junior” but as they beat us over the head with, he played next to nil so far his career, and he’s got 3 years of eligibility left. This is a good thing to work on moving forward. Get on it, Mr. QB Coach Rees
Yoon just barely missed a 44 yarder and a 47 yarder. Not exactly chip shots. Sure, he should have made at least 1 of 2, but now that I’ve had a night I’m not going to worry about it just yet. Also, he’s got that walk-on kicker behind him who is supposed to be pretty good, so if there is an issue, we’ve got options.
I agree, both were very long and also very close. Easily could have made em both and has proven to be an accurate kicker. Annoying and frustrating to get no points there, but overall it’s fine. Hopefully just get em next time…plus if the kicker ever has to miss, at least it came in a blowout win where it didn’t really matter
I agree I saw him take a few guys that made me nervous. At least he doesn’t hold the ball like a loaf of bread when he’s running like Golson did
He did have the ball secured. I asked myself “what’s so hard about that?”
This is a serious point. If he keeps taking the hits he took this game, there is no way he makes it through the season healthy. And they were unnecessary hits where he already got some yards and could easily have gotten down if he tried.
They moved the flag pole from the northeast corner of the field to the southeast corner. This anti-tradition stuff is getting out of control. :harrumph:
Had to watch on tape today (fall weddings are bad). Given some of the comments here made me anticipate that things would look worse than it ended up being.
Some happy thoughts:
– RTDBK appears to be the base offense. Hooray!
– Daelin Hayes appears to have made quite a leap. That’s fantastic. And a bad pun.
– Safety play wasn’t noticeably bad? Tirico even said the coaches were worried, but I thought was fine?
– EQ St. Brown is very good.
– Right up until he gets jacked up (see below), Wimbush is a very good runner. If nothing else, this will be fun to watch.
– We are legit playing five tight ends, plus Chase Claypool is basically half of a tight end. It’s so beautiful.
– I don’t think Tranquill made a ton of tackles, but he is very clearly in a better position for him than safety. He’s disruptive.
Some not good:
– Hinish played a good bit more in the first half than I would have anticipated. He looked like a true freshman mid-3-star. I suspect the UGA coaches will notice if I did.
– Relatedly, their interior offensive line was able to get a pretty good push most of the time they ran and it wasn’t the Tillery/Bonner combo.
– A number of folks have noted, but they’re not wrong: Wimbush isn’t going to make it through the season if he keeps taking hits like yesterday.
– Let’s all hope Yoon was just working out some issues. In a vacuum, missing from 44 and 47 is understandable, but, still, don’t want to miss the first two kicks of the year.
– What happened to Miles Boykin?
The awful:
– Doug Flutie.
I have major problems with Brian Kelly, but this part of the write-up on TOS made me laugh:
“How will Long’s play-calling differ from Kelly’s? There were still a few questionable passes and that awful goal line fade pass, but the avalanche of productive runs made it all good for Irish fans.”
@We should run all the time on the goal line and not use one of the safest and most effective pass plays to have any playcalling variety!@
Didn’t we score a TD on that goal line fade pass? TOS will never be happy if a pass is thrown.
Yes, but we could have tried to run it in. Harumph!!!
All in all a solid first game, perhaps better than solid.
After the game, I am more worried about the DL than the safeties. Other than the one blown coverage, they seemed solid. The fact that I barely noticed Watkins, meant the Temple offense was without one wideout the whole game.
GIve some credit to a good, but not great, Temple OL, but they were getting some yards up the middle. Of the front 7, I think D. Hayes had a great day, Coney as well. Jay Hayes was solid, and as much as I hate to admit it, Trumbetti is improved. I am not sure if Tranquill qualifies as front 7, but if he does, he was good, but not spectacular. The rest of them, not so much.
Wimbush will learn not to take a hit. He had 12 runs, he only got hit on 9. He dove on one, scored the TD and ran out of bounds once. He will learn.
I am worried about the WRs. We need more production from someone other than St. Brown. After hearing how good they all were all spring and how Wimbush had great rapport with them from the scout team, all we got were Smith for 3 for 10 and Canteen 1 for 8. The Claypool one was great, need more of that. Part of it was that Wimbush is new in game situations, we just need better. I strongly believe the WRs were a problem last year. Other than St. Brown, I don’t believe Kizer trusted them.
There was way more good than bad, when you accept it was Wimbush’s first snap in meaningful times during college.
We have 4/5 of a great OL, and most teams would kill for the problem we have at RT choosing between a 5* and a 4*. That said, I would rather the competition be because they were both so good rather than both flawed.
I am not a RTDBK guy. Once we had the big lead, I would have liked to see Wimbush go through some more passing reads for practice.
I agree with the comments below on Williams.
The RT position is a head scratcher. Why is Eichenberg the backup LT when he’s been so praised? With a year more experience than Hainsey I don’t see why he wouldn’t be out there if/when they see fit to bench Kraemer.
I get cohesion and grooming but Stanley and McGlinchey moved just fine from RT to LT when it was time. I find it troubling that they think (possibly for good reason) that a true frosh like Hainsey offers more for pass pro than Eichenberg at this point. Same applies to Kraemer but as we’ve seen- there’s good reason for that, Kraemer isn’t up to snuff to be a full time player, which also isn’t ideal.
Cutting Alize a break since it was his first game in 600+ days and that showed. No biggie. He has so much to offer, but he’s not always going to be a 100 yard a game guy. Maybe his expectations were too high and we all were too eager. He’s still a stud and it’s a long year. Not worried about him at all.
More Coney, less Martini please. Especially against Georgia.
If Josh Adams stays healthy he’s going to have one of he best seasons in school history. He’s amazing and the line is just dominant. Also I feel like Nelson got away with like 5 clear holds but I guess that’s part OL play and part All-American bias that you can’t call him every play..
I know he’s not a good pass blocker but I don’t care, the gameplan should be to aim for Dexter Williams getting minimum 10 touches a game. Especially with this line and this mentality.
Some items to clean up especially with Wimbush but all he needs is more experience. Has so many tools and all the talent, perfectly fine debut for him. Big test next week and he can be sharper so we’ll see how it goes.
I liked the energy and push the d-line had. Not perfect but they were digging. D. Hayes is a stud, if the rest can just eat blocks for Morgan, Coney and Tranquill to make tackles, that’ll do.
Love was very impressive all around. I think he is the answer for the safeties, but not sure if they trust Vaughn, Pride and Crawford to handle all the CB work. Seems like a good trade to make to me though.
I just got to watch the whole game (I was traveling yesterday). A couple more thoughts:
Some of the issues brought up by others are because of a very vanilla game plan on both sides of the ball.
Why run to the right side on 4th & short and down on the goal line? That’s absurd.
Tirico is a big upgrade.
They only have about 4 commercials they run on the NBCSports webcast of the games. Uggghhhhhhh!
Bring on UGA!
I think Long stayed away from the left side on purpose on those plays. He knows what he has on the left side, so he challenged the right side in a non-critical situation to see what they could do.
That’s my theory, anyway. Kind of think that on 3rd and goal in the fourth quarter against Georgia he’ll run left.
I could be wrong, but I think Temple really stacked the left side and it would have been tough even behind MM and Q. Plus, I think run blocking is decent on the right. It’s pass protection that’s the problem. Double Plus – what Brendan said.