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Posted by Don Juan
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Sunday, 07 September 2008 |
What can you say after that? A slow start mixed in with drive-extending penalties, followed up by fumbled opportunities, became the perfect storm for Notre Dame Saturday.
After watching the game replay, it is clear that our defense is remarkably better. Perhaps a little pudgy towards the center, but you can’t have it all. I’m still scratching my head on James Aldridge. As far as Michael Floyd goes, he’s the real deal. I’m beginning to think that with the lack of playing time for key contributors, Charlie Weis might be holding something back with Michigan looming.
The offensive line did a better job pass protecting, yet seemed inept when it came to run blocking. Without a stiff running game, the Irish will find themselves hard pressed when it comes down to the play action pass. Blitz pickup seemed a lot better as the running backs helped keep Jimmy, on his feet for most of the game.
I still don’t agree with the first called drive. On third down and three, we go for the quick slant, which was thrown behind Grimes, which forced us to punt it back to the Aztecs. The first drive is always a crucial sequence. It can add confidence to a lesser team, or it can deflate all hope. Emotion is something Charlie keeps talking about, and I doubt he knowingly “approved” a quick slant on third and three, thinking it would fail.
“We’re going to pound it,” quipped Weis when asked how Notre Dame’s offense was going to approach the San Diego State game. So why not on third down? Were they rushing with an inside blitz? Did Clausen audible out and try to hit the hot route? I’m not sure on any of these questions but I do know this: Weis is a very intelligent person. To think he suddenly became a dumb ass would be foolish.
I guess I sleep soundly with the delusion that Weis kept some things to a minimum for future opponents sake. “Like whoa” is all I could think about after Notre Dame’s narrow victory over San Diego High. Whoa is our offensive line when run-blocking. Whoa is our play calling. Whoa is our field goal kicking. Whoa is how Duval Kamara played. Whoa kind of describes how I feel when seeing Michael Floyd on the sidelines. Whoa… but wait. We can all optimistically hang onto the theory of running a vanilla-type game, in order to out-fox Michigan for this weekend’s pivotal game. If it were to pan out badly for the Irish though, whoa might be this season.
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Posted by Don Juan
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Monday, 01 September 2008 |
One more week till kickoff and we all are more than ready to go, but is our beloved team the same? “We’ll be ready to go,” said an eager Jimmy Clausen. I hope that sentiment is true and we come out prepared. This week should be full contact in the beginning, and shells towards the end. I think that with a more physical approach, we should be able to put a more confident, prepared and hard-working team on the field. If we come out against San Diego State and lay a couple of early eggs, it might be indicative of our future, and later games. Bon Jovi can’t bail this team out with a poor start. No amount of music or fanciful- banners will be able to increase the productivity of our players.
Thank you for coming college football, no more “remembering Notre Dame’s national… nobody knows until kick… if I had a guess…blah, blah, blah”.
One thing we know for sure, if we play like we did last year, everyone on our schedule can beat us. It doesn’t matter if San Diego State has a freshman playing quarterback, or if Michigan’s running game was horrid, or if Michigan State’s defense looked penetrable, or if “U-Dub” lost another, and had an ill-adjusted Ty-coached second half, which cost them the game; all of this is moot when it comes down to actually performing on the field. I don’t care if it’s McNeese State, if he doesn’t block him, and he doesn’t throw the ball accurately, and he doesn’t run through the holes, then we won’t beat anybody.
Anyone who guarantees a completely different team this year, must have drank the Lou Holtz kool-aid. Remember this, we are the same team from last year. We have the same players, give and take the freshmen class and a few attritional who left for the NFL. We have most of our coaching staff back, minus one plus Tenuta. We’ll have the stadium full of old-timers, who can only stand for the national anthem. And last but not least, we’ll have those horrible TV announcers on NBC boring everybody to sleep with their meaningless color-attempt, which sounds more like a golf announcer adding his thoughts quietly during the back swing.
My point is this, college football is here, and whether we’re ready or not, we have to play. I hope we’re a completely different team from last year, and I think everybody feels the same as I. But I wouldn’t put my expectations too high, as it would be a horrible fall down if our season went to crap. I, like Switzerland, will remain neutral and just ride with reality wherever it may go… whatever; we’re going to go undefeated and win the national championship! I’ll go out on a limb and drink Lou’s kool-aid and then some! You all know where I stand.
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