That's right I said it, establish the PASS, not run, against Boston College.

 

why?

 

Boston College has a good defense, being ranked 21 nationally in total defense. The scary part of that is that they are 3rd in the nation in RUN DEFENSE. Wait a minute, why are they ranked 21st in the nation when they have such a run defense? You guessed it right they have a poor passing defense: 115th in the NATION!! (119 schools in Division 1-A)

 

Now I know there' much more to this stat than just plain numbers, but what it could mean is that they are so horrible in passing defense that no one even tries to run against them....anyone see an opposite similarity?

 

In case anyone needs it right up to their face, we are ranked 14th in the nation against the pass because everyone knows we can't stop the run so they don't even try to pass it on us. Now that figure went down from 7th in the nation, because for some reason, UCLA couldn't establish the run very wel against us and actually threw some balls, but still kinda odd at 14th.

 

So am I right or is it the opposite considering BC's stat? Is it that their run defense is just THAT GOOD, that teams HAVE TO air it out?

I haven't seen much of them this year except for their scores. Not sure how good Army or Bowling Green are, but they did beat GT and we know that GT likes to run the ball.

 

We'll definitely have to put up points on the board, because Matt Ryan has been putting up 300-400 yards per game in the air and BC can score. I think they will be able to put up a lot of points on us. My guess is Charlie tries the game plan similar to SC two years ago to keep the ball on the ground and away from Ryan.

The problem with that game plan...Charlie doesn't have the offense he did back in 2005. in 2005, you expected the team to execute the game plan, and actually move the ball. Not sure if going 3 and out will eat up much clock time...haha

charlie will come up with a game plan that will show you something, don't let the stats fool you . BC is a good team but they haven't played the caliber of teams that the Irish have played. i look for #2 . go Irish .

If our O-line can hold the BC d-linemen from getting to the QB, we should have about 3-4 seconds to get the ball out. I just know some BC names, refuse to follow them much but Dunbar is a senior safety i think and he sounds really good from what my friends say.

 

Matt Ryan is their key, and if our DB's and D-line can stop him, we have a good shot at winning this game. Easier said then done though

charlie will come up with a game plan that will show you something, don't let the stats fool you . BC is a good team but they haven't played the caliber of teams that the Irish have played. i look for #2 . go Irish .

 

obv no one's played the caliber of teams we played...but BC beat up on GT 24-10 and we got spanked by GT. And BC had a few easy games back to back, and we had a few tough ones in a row, so we'll see. hopefully the Irish faithful will create some noise and we'll make it tough for Ryan to get going.

Another thing that could possibly pad BC's rush defense stat is usually BC jumps out to a lead. As a result, teams have to start passing the ball more and abandon the run trying to catch up. Which could also lead to their low defensive pass ranking.

 

Ironically, that has also contributed to ND's low rushing numbers (as well as the huge number of sacks we've given up). So, in conclusion: I don't think our rush offense is as bad as our stats and I don't think BC's rush defense is as good nor is their pass defense as bad as the stats show.

We need more play action passing, and how about starting in the shotgun when we're 3rd and long???

I can see it now " Jimmy Clausen throws for 33 of 40(lol) for 387 yards and 4 TDs. Golden Tate had 9 of those catches.

Game 1 --- Wake Forest threw for 366 yds and rushed 24 x's for 2 yards

 

FINAL SCORE was 38-28 and WF jumped out to a 14-0 lead and was tied @ halftime

 

Game 2 --- NC State threw for 351 yds and rushed 24 x's for 56 yds

 

FINAL SCORE was 37-17 and NC St. led 10-7 and trailed 17-10 at the half

 

Game 3 --- GT threw for 204 yds and rushed 28 x's for 63 yds

 

FINAL SCORE was 24-10 and BC led 14-0 at the half & 21-0 after three

 

Game 4 --- D-1AA UMASS threw for 208 yds and rushed 30 x's for 69 yds

 

FINAL SCORE was 24-14 and BC led 21-0 at the half (24-14 after three)

 

Game 5 --- Army threw for 215 yds and rushed 29 x's for 44 yds

 

FINAL SCORE was 37-17 and BC led 16-10 midway w/5 mins in the 3rd

 

Game 6 --- Bowling Green threw for 401 yds and rushed 23 x's for 64 yds

 

FINAL SCORE was 55-24 and BC led 14-10 w/7 mins in the half, and 38-10 at the half after two INTs were returned for TDs.

 

They have a very opportunistic defense.

This was just to show that they were jumping out on every team and that every team ran the ball at least 23 times, so they're run defense is for real. If we can stay away from TURNOVERS AND PENALTIES...we have shot. If not, then we're done. The ONLY reason we beat UCLA was b/c we caused 7 turnovers and had ZERO of our own.

nice Ziggy

we need to beat backup college...i want bragging rights here! haha just kick their 's and we'll be fine....if we injur matt ryan who'll come in? billy flutie? boy thatd be fun to see happen...practice hitting drils on dougs kid (no offense to doug, but i really dont like one of his sons who beat Wellesley last year in the Wellesley Natick game)

Being a Massachusetts ND fan, I will tell you that this BC team is not like year's past -- they won't be the underdog coming in, and they don't play conservative, ball-control offense like the year's with Coughlin and O'Brien.

 

They throw the ball over the field and they are a very well-coached defensive team. This is not going to be an easy game.

i thought the OL did a better job protecting JC but the main probblem against UCLA was that our WRs were not getting open. ND won't be able to run against BC and the dink and dunk passing game will not work that well either. it's time for our WRs to step up or ND will not have a chance in this game.

...How great would it be to turn the tables on these BC butt-fuchs and ruin their national title hopes like they did to us in '93 and '02? I think Ziggy hit it right on the head...we need to play error-free ball on offense and force some TO's. I like our chances a bit more for this game than I would have 3 weeks ago because:

 

1. We finally showed that we can pass-protect

2. We have a quickly-improving secondary

3. We have a defense that now believes in themselves

4. We have a defense that is now conditioned to be on the field the whole time. For two games in a row now, our D played very well in the second half.

5. Price finally became Price again, we didn't have massive field position issues like before.

 

Granted, we still have our problems moving the ball on offense, but if Army can pass for over 200 yards....then you're telling me we have a chance!