Frankus

If you wanted to take every down spread QB's out of the mix, you should have said you haven't seen a college pro style QB as accurate in a long time. But then, you'd still have to deal with Matt Leinhart and Mark Sanchez and revert to the "they had better receivers to throw to and a better line" argument. BTW: Matt Barkely is hitting 65% of his passes as a true soph this year. As for Pike: We'll be able to win with a QB that only complete 61% of his passes if we get a guy like Mardy Gilyard. That guy was the equivalent of The Rocket for Cincinnati. He averaged 18 yards every time he touched the ball. Without a guy like him, you've got to have a spread guy who is more accurate. You also need a guy who can buy time when teams drop 8, and then make accurate throws on the run. I hope Dayne can get better. We'll see.

Here's the article

You must not watch much college football. Colt McCoy just graduated with a career completion perentage of 70%. Graham Harrel's career completion percentage was 68%. Sam Bradford's career completion percentage was 68%. Clausen's career completion percentage was 61%. Clausen was an accurate QB, but the spread makes it even easier to have very high completion percentages, even for QB's in their first year.

Besides his problems with accuracy, Crist has got to learn to feel pressure, buy time and make plays on the run after eluding pressure. He's got a long way to go. Check out Tony Pike eluding pressure, buying time and making plays. <! -- Google Video HTML Code -- > <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv7qqIFAh5Y?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv7qqIFAh5Y?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> <! -- End of Google Video HTML Code --> Check out Colt McCoy <! -- Google Video HTML Code -- > <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21Tda-n108s?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21Tda-n108s?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> <! -- End of Google Video HTML Code -->

I agree with this. Armando has been playing with will and purpose and was underutilized yesterday, particularly when we could have used him to ice the game.

How does this work? Dayne drops back and sees Rudolph running in space. There's a linebacker he has to loop over, because if he throws it straight the linebacker will intercept the ball. But he thinks that Rudolph is running faster than he actually is. He doesn't trust his eyes, he trusts some imaginary player that isn't actually on the field in his field of vision. So, he throws to that guy, not the guy he actually sees, as he loops the ball to time the pass. Absurd.... Proof that people will make up any reason to believe in what they hope for, not what is actually happening.

That play was right in front of me. There was nobody near Rudolph and there is absolutely no reason why Crist couldn't make that throw, other than he struggles with accuracy. This idea that Crist was actually throwing to the fast Rudolph, instead of the one that was actually running the route, is complete BS. He just overthrew a wide open receiver. I also don't think people understand how good Mike Floyd is. On those two missed throws in the first half, Floyd had his man beaten badly twice. He was so wide open the first time that Kelly thought there was no way in the world that Crist could miss him twice. So he called Floyd's number again. Once again, Floyd broke the cornerback's knees and Crist could not make the throw. It doesn't get much better than having Mike Floyd out there. Maybe Crist will get better, but Floyd is an elite receiver, and we are suffering for him being thrown to by a guy who simply can't take advantage of a huge mismatch, because he simply struggles with accuracy.

The spread is wholly reliant on an accurate QB. We don't have one, which is why we're ranked around # 82 in Scoring Offense. If that's effective, I'd hate to see what ineffective looks like.

I don't think there's any guarantee that Dayne will ever become a consistent QB. He reminds me of Rusty Lisch, a guy who looked great physically, but never could get over his limitations. I hope Dayne can overcome his.

We are a mid level Big Ten, lower level SEC team. Kelly's got a lot of work to do to get us to where we all want to be.

You are misstaing my argument, which is very simple and narrow. I never said Holtz never got upset. In fact I've referenced in this thread how Holtz threw his headset down after a receiver dropped a crucial pass during the 1992 Michigan game. He'd have Joe Moore scream at offensive linemen. He'd pull them out if they jumped off sides. He'd pull skill position players out of the game after fumbles and dropped passes. But he didn't scream at them to come to him on the sideline, and then scream at them for dropping a pass, throwing an int or fumbling. It isn't a matter of my hubris, it is a matter of fact.

I have never stated that Holtz was a grandfatherly type. My point from post one has been that he didn't scream at skill position players for mistakes during game day. Thanks for confirming that. I have stated repeatedly that he was different during game day than he was in practice. I think he had a strategic aim to appear calm during the game, and for the most part he kept it. He could separate his personality from practice and the games. That was the point I've made all along. Still, I think my point that he saw Beurlein and wasn't going to make him be Tony Rice is true. He wanted to win. So, he wasn't going to ask Beurlein to do something he couldn't do. And I think Holtz truly did self evaluation as well. He was an amazingly multi faceted personality. I know that Watters later on in his career became a malcontent, and was in his doghouse. So, it doesn't surprise me that he got isolated by both Holtz and his teammates. Was it the 2nd Colorado bowl game you're talking about? I have video of Watters from the 1988 Michigan game, his soph. season, where Ricky returned one punt for a TD, fumbled one and lost 20 yards on another. The one thing about it that is interesting is how many of the players stood around Watters trying to console him/get his focus back in the game. Holtz had a great way of raising everybody's expectation, and concurrently making them miserable when they failed to meet his expectation. Everybody was on their toes, but he was also careful about maintaining their confidence during game day. He had a great sense of when to tear them down, and when to build them up. I agree completely that his assistants were tough on players during game day, particularly Joe Moore. and I know he had a way of humiliating the coaches also. My friend covered Lou for the South Bend Tribune. He told me a story of watching a position drill and seeing Lou come roaring out of nowhere to correct a player. Once he made his point, he turned to the coach saying (I'm paraphrasing) "Of cours eI couldn't depend upon YOU to know anything about this". Everybody was on their toes. I also have commented on the Bakich situation, as I know Holtz would not tolerate personal fouls on game day.

You are making a basic mistake: This debate is not about me. It is about Lou Holtz's game day behavior. But I'll answer your situation with a Lou Holtz quote: "When you’re in a hole—stop digging. You have to look and say, what went wrong? Why didn’t it work out? What mistakes did I make? ... then go to that person that was misaligned because of your actions, apologize and make whatever corrections are necessary to get it done." Holtz was not a guy who put round holes in square pegs. And he was not fundamentally tied to any one scheme. He took a terrible 1985 team and turned it into a 1986 team that played three Top 10 teams and took each of them down to the wire, losing by a total of 8 points. He could have forced the scheme he ran at Minnesota on Beurlein, but he adapted to his personnel. He told Beurlein he would not throw more than 6 int's that season, but he didn't scream at him every time he threw one in a game.

How in the world did you draw the conclusion that he wasn't yelling at Pike for anything other than making a mistake?

Kelly has screamed more in his first 4 games at players for fumbling, int's and dropped passes than Holtz did during his entire career. And he'll be screaming 3 years down the road. It is his style as surely as it was Bobby Knight's. Go watch a Cincy game from last year. He screamed at Pike routinely, even though Pike was a veteran who did things right most of the time. And for the umpteenth time, I have no problem with this.

Instead of insulting me with a snide comment, why don't you prove me wrong with video of Lou Holtz screaming at a player for throwing an interception, fumbling or dropping a pass? I've watched nearly every home game live since my first one in 1965. So, you're not gonna get anywhere with "you must not have watched" stuff. Holtz and Kelly had different game day management styles. As did Ara and Holtz, and Ara, Holtz and Kelly. There is no reason to force Kelly's style as representing Holtz, which is what people are trying to do. He simply wasn't a guy who screamed after every mistake.

There is no fuss. It is simply a difference in styles, which is important. I have no problem with Kelly screaming at bad passes, fumbles, int's and dropped passes, It's his style. It was not however, Holtz's style to scream at players in those situations game day.

No, I haven't. My contention has always been that Holtz did not scream at players for int's, fumbles, dropped passes etc. You show me a clip from an exhibition game (which is entertainment) and expect that to represent Holtz as a Head Coach during game day at ND? I just watched the Miami 1989 game after Tony Rice threw a int for a TD. They interview Holtz and he calmy says "You have to shrug it off". They go 1st and goal and Rice throws the ball at Watters feet and Holtz gathers the offense and calmly says "It's alright". John Dockerty is telling the audience how calm the sideline is, despite the errors in that game and the deficit. I'll gather clips from games over the whole spectrum of Holtz's career at ND, calmly accepting these errors without screaming in the players face. I'll await everybody else's clips showing what a screamer at the players he was during game day in these situations.

Nope. Loading my ammunition. I'll wait to for his video showing Lou chewing out ND players for fumbles, int's, or interceptions. I'll put mine up, lots of situations, in about a week. You'll see Lou reacting calmly, like he always did. He never screamed at a player for those mistakes.

Sorry. Converting Video TS files to avi or wmv so that I can upload to Youtube is proving harder to do than I thought. Still working on it. I will show you time after time how a calm Lou Holtz reassures his offense after failing to execute. I'll show you the maddest I ever saw Lou about a players mistake, which resulted in no screaming at the player.

No, he hasn't. As has been repeated 5 times in this thread, Bakich committed a personal foul. Try again.

If I were a defensive recruit and I heard Herbstreit's comments, I would think "Immediate playing time". None of the other things that make ND compelling- great education, great facilities, great stadium, great national following, television contract etc- have changed. With continued development Kelly could end up taking this team to an 8-4 record and a decent bowl game. That ought to answer any concerns about our future. He just needs to make it happen. And if he goes 9-3, beats USC and then wins the bowl game, watch out. The bandwagon will be loading up.

Texas's running game was ranked #34 that year: Good, not great. It's true McCoy threw the ball less, he averaged 24 passes per game that year, but how much of that was because he was throwing it more efficiently? The more incompletions a QB throws, the more he has to throw it. Dayne has made many drives made less efficient purely by being inaccurate: Throws to the feet of WR's on out routes. Throws 3 yards behind receivers' designated catch points on out routes. High or uncatchable balls on bubble screens. Short rollout passes thrown at receivers' feet. Rockets instead of soft touch passes thrown to RB's on flair patterns. He is struggling both with accuracy and touch, which is making him inefficient. Your point though also raises another question: Why is Kelly throwing the ball so much with an inconsistent QB, particularly after saying that the running backs were the strength of the offense, and saying how much he thought he had a pretty good starting 5 offensive linemen?

Colt regressed, but in both his first two years he was far ahead of where Dayne is now in Passing Efficiency, which is the bellwether statistical category for Spread QB's. Hell, McCoy was ranked #8 nationally in Passing Efficiency, despite having the learning curve as a true frosh of reading defenses, site adjustments and being accurate on all the throws a spread QB has to make. Dayne is currently ranked #51, and is 21% less effective than McCoy was as a true frosh. The true culprit for Dayne is his inconsistency throwing a catchable ball, some on which are very easy, bread and butter spread throws. We'll see if Dayne can improve. If he can't, one of the frosh is waiting in the wings to challenge him next spring.

What coaching method, the one in practice or the one in games? Do you have clips from THE GAME where Holtz screamed at Wooden? Didn't think so. Again, show me one clip of Lou Holtz when he was at ND screaming at a player after an interception, fumble or dropped pass. You will not find one, because that's not the way Lou coached on game day.