crouchingjedi Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Some things I noticed in person that may or may have not been caught on TV: Through much of the 1st half Jimmy was making me really nervous because he seemed to be locking on to one receiver. I was not surprised about the 1st interception in the second half because you could tell the UNC defenders were starting to get his rhythm. Despite the TOs, what Jimmy was doing was pretty remarkable. Although Kenan Stadium is not usually a very intimidating environment, the crowd was racous in the 2nd half and very loud. He didn't look any different than he did at home. He looked in control and I just can't say enough about him. There was one play right in front of me on about the 20 yard line where CLausen had to scramble to his right then to his left and he fired a bullet to Kamara who did an awesome job to come back to the ball and get it. It was just an awesome play and it was so cool to see it right in front of you (we were about 20 rows up). Duval was much improved and I thought had a great game. Golden's long catch was magician like. Carolina fans around me thought it was going to be picked and couldn't believe he came down with it. James Aldridge played great and I would like to see him more. Hughes was spending a lot of time on the bike. Is he injured? It was obvious in the 4th that the second to the last drive ( I don't remember how much time was left but it was at least 8 minutes). We were playing that it would be the last drive for us because we ate some serious clock. It was unfortunate we didn't convert and I never thought we would have had another chance. It would be interesting to think what if we would not have taken our time on that drive what would have happened. The D was not impressive. Our D line compared to UNCs D line is so undersized. On the flip side I don't know how many times Jimmy was sacked but I think our OL played well. In the end I do think we were the better team. 475 yds of offense, 10/16 on third downs, 24 first downs. Yes I think are offense is back. Tough to see the TOs but hopefully our guys will learn from it and get better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish21 Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 I definately think Clausen was locking on to 1 WR. On the pick where there was miscommunication between him and Floyd, Tate was wide open across the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishman Part Deaux Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 I definately think Clausen was locking on to 1 WR. On the pick where there was miscommunication between him and Floyd, Tate was wide open across the middle. you could see charlie was not too happy with Clausen after that one. Clausen wants to throw the fade no matter the position on the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchingjedi Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share Posted October 12, 2008 I definately think Clausen was locking on to 1 WR. On the pick where there was miscommunication between him and Floyd, Tate was wide open across the middle. I didn't see that but I don't doubt it. Our receivers were definitely finding seems all day. Which is another positive--remember last year when our receivers could never get open? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ChuckDiesel Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 I saw it clear as day on one of the picks from section 108 row II. Clause throws a fade at the exact moment Floyd turns around for a comeback route. I am not sure if Tate was open over the middle but it was miscommunication between Clausen and Floyd no doubt about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackIrish42 Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 you could see charlie was not too happy with Clausen after that one. Clausen wants to throw the fade no matter the position on the field. well, CW was mad about it no doubt, but in the replay i saw the fade was the RIGHT READ there. floyd had beat his guy off the ball quite easily and the safety was not going to be able to get over in time. i stand by this. i think JC made the right read... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potownhero Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 It was obvious in the 4th that the second to the last drive ( I don't remember how much time was left but it was at least 8 minutes). We were playing that it would be the last drive for us because we ate some serious clock. It was unfortunate we didn't convert and I never thought we would have had another chance. It would be interesting to think what if we would not have taken our time on that drive what would have happened. I thought the same exact thing. Why were we playing like we had the lead? This is a perfect example of what I blame on the coaches. Running on first downs? With no urgency? The kids were (effectively) put in a do or die situation with (almost) no back up plan if the drive stalled. That's why we had to go for it on 4th down; the room for error was taken away. That's what I mean about being put in a situation to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchingjedi Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share Posted October 12, 2008 I thought the same exact thing. Why were we playing like we had the lead? This is a perfect example of what I blame on the coaches. Running on first downs? With no urgency? The kids were (effectively) put in a do or die situation with (almost) no back up plan if the drive stalled. That's why we had to go for it on 4th down; the room for error was taken away. That's what I mean about being put in a situation to win. Yeah it's a tough call, but I was thinking with the amount of time left and our offense's ability to move the ball on their D, that we had an opportunity to score, give the ball back, hopefully hold them on D and get another opportunity to score. It's a Monday morning quarterback analysis, but I think with a young team as you put it the room for error was taken away. Diesel-we were not far from you as we were in 104 row V. It was great to be so close to the field but I imagine you had a better view of the plays developing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrain78255 Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 crouching jedi! How are you doing brother? Thanks for the insight from the stadium perspective...over here in Ohio I was flipping out because for some reason both ABC and ESPN were on the Ohio State game for the first half hour. Came this close to having to order the whole ESPN Gameplan season before they switched it.... Agree about Clausen locking in to one receiver...he's shown tremendous improvement but still needs to go through his progressions better... Tate...what an unbelievable catch! He's had a number of those this year....this guy's going to go down as a legend at ND. Defense...wow there was one point in the second half where we could do absolutely nothing right....can't stop the run and we're laying off H. Nicks 15 yards every time. That catch on 3rd and 18 was a killer. Tough game to let slip through our fingers, but at least there is hope and promise this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domeanddomer Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I thought the same exact thing. Why were we playing like we had the lead? This is a perfect example of what I blame on the coaches. Running on first downs? With no urgency? The kids were (effectively) put in a do or die situation with (almost) no back up plan if the drive stalled. That's why we had to go for it on 4th down; the room for error was taken away. That's what I mean about being put in a situation to win. Personally, I thought the strategy was that we were pretty confident we could move the ball on them and not confident AT ALL in our D's ability to stop UNC so we were trying to munch the clock. I don't think that's a bad game plan actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackIrish42 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Personally, I thought the strategy was that we were pretty confident we could move the ball on them and not confident AT ALL in our D's ability to stop UNC so we were trying to munch the clock. I don't think that's a bad game plan actually. agree wholeheartedly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirodomer Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I would personally like to take credit for Golden Tate being in uniform for the Irish. I know, I know. It sounds pompous and arrogant. But.....if you go back in the 2006 recruiting chronicles. You will find many a post on the Golden one and that we needed him. Also, I would like to report that I HAD the inside on Jimmy before he announced and on Marc Tyler! Tyler has been playing great for us....don't you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Chris Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Personally, I thought the strategy was that we were pretty confident we could move the ball on them and not confident AT ALL in our D's ability to stop UNC so we were trying to munch the clock. I don't think that's a bad game plan actually. No confidence in the D at all, namely in McNeil. #8 was playing so far off the line, it was ridiculous. I think we're gonna have to do something to get Raeshon's confidence back up because he was getting torched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Chris Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Funny to say but Lambert was definitely our best corner yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Fi ND du Lac Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Even good ol’ Lue will tell you that running on first down is almost always right. The problem is that it wasn’t very effective like when Lue was around. Charlie is a very bright man and I’m confident that the run problems will be solved next year and he will continue to do the right thing a run the ball on 1st down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Fi ND du Lac Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Funny to say but Lambert was definitely our best corner yesterday. uughhh.. that made my stomach turn. But you are right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDIrishFan Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I thought Lambert was one of the only players on defense who showed up. Where have our front 7 been all year? We need help and we need it soon. It seems like the only time you here there name called is when they do something wrong...coughcoughCrumcoughcough... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blarney_stank Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I would personally like to take credit for Golden Tate being in uniform for the Irish. I know, I know. It sounds pompous and arrogant. But.....if you go back in the 2006 recruiting chronicles. You will find many a post on the Golden one and that we needed him. Also, I would like to report that I HAD the inside on Jimmy before he announced and on Marc Tyler! Tyler has been playing great for us....don't you think? Chiro, I can't believe you didn't pull the thread from the bowels of the board. I do remember your insight on him though. Good call bro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blarney_stank Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 No confidence in the D at all, namely in McNeil. #8 was playing so far off the line, it was ridiculous. I think we're gonna have to do something to get Raeshon's confidence back up because he was getting torched. Sorry Chris but I don't agree with the thinking here at all. Our D certainly isn't dominant but they have done enough in every game including this one to allow ND to win. Hell, they only gave up 22 points for the entire game after you remove the pick 6. If NC didn't have so many opportunities in the 2nd half they probably would have given up even less. That said, I still don't believe it was a good performance. I have enough confience in our D to believe they will keep us in the game, not win a game for us but keep us in them. As far as McNeil is concerned, are you basing this off of this game or his body of work? I think McNeil has played pretty well, in fact, very well up to this point. It is also hard to know if he was getting torched or if it had more to do with the coverages that were being called? A perfect example of this was the 3rd and 18 where I have heard people say Blanton blew the coverage. It was the same one where he made the strip that, in my opinion, should have been a NC turnover. From what I have heard from a few sources, ND was in cover 3 on that play and that wasn't even Blanton's respnosibility. We need to be careful in singling out players on a single game performance without understanding the details a bit more. Just my two cents and everyone know what that is worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDIrishFan Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Sorry Chris but I don't agree with the thinking here at all. Our D certainly isn't dominant but they have done enough in every game including this one to allow ND to win. Hell, they only gave up 22 points for the entire game after you remove the pick 6. If NC didn't have so many opportunities in the 2nd half they probably would have given up even less. That said, I still don't believe it was a good performance. I have enough confience in our D to believe they will keep us in the game, not win a game for us but keep us in them. I might have to disagree Stank, and it's only b/c it's a matter of how you look at it. What I mean by that is, you say our defense has "done enough" for us to win, but only if you are expecting a solid offensive game every game for us. Essentially, in order for us to win, we have to score more than 20+ points a game. Which, isn't that big of a deal, but there are defenses that we wouldn't be able to do that against and as a result, we lose. We certainly don't have a good enough defense to win the game for us, only keep us within reach hoping the offense shows up, and I think we should want better than that. There are defenses like OSU and PSU that rarely give up enough points to put their offense at a disadvantage or are ever in a "shootout". I mean, correct me if I'm wrong but I think OSU beat Purdue 16-3 without scoring an offensive touchdown. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I hope to one day have a defense that can dominate opposing offenses rather than a defense that may or may not give up enough points to keep our offense in it. A defense that only if the other team plays out of their mind will score more than 20 points on us. Also, show me a "good" defense that their two leading tacklers are their free and strong safeties???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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