I'm certainly not a roving reporter, but I thought I would share my impressions of the BG game instead of grabbing ahold of someone else's thread. And I wanted to do it before I read one and was influenced by one of the other threads. Here are the impressions I got:

 

1. Neither Clausen nor Crist were impressive. Neither seemed to be hitting on all cylinders as far as the passing game was concerned. Both of them misfired on a couple of throws and seemed to be having a difficult time finding the open receivers.

 

2. On the other hand, the defensive secondary seemed to be playing well: especially Blanton and Slaughter. Blanton returned an INT for a touchdown, and both he and Slaughter blanketed the Tate and Floyd. Blanton could be a star. Walls got a little bit of playing time, and his not being noticed is, for a corner, usually a good thing. We must also take into account the fact that Tate missed the second half, and that changing quarterbacks every series or every other series is not a way to build momentum.

 

3. Young Montana played well on the 2nd string O against the 2nd string D. A twenty-five yard pass to Ragone over the middle was really nice to see, with hopefully more of that coming in the future.

 

4. The D got to the QB, especially JC. Ethan Johnson, in particular, seemed to be generating some pressure. Ian W was hurt early in the second half (arm or shoulder) and never returned: his appeared to be the only serious injury and let's hope it's not too bad. Many of the long running plays came on draws and traps up the middle while a blitz was on. Overall, the OL was not impressive, but they were also missing Robinson, Dever, and Romine, to name three.

 

5. Allen looked good, but not spectacular. A few long runs, but nothing I would consider a legitimate break-away. Same with Jonas.

 

6. A lot of PT for the EE freshmen: Motta and Stockton. They got in on a couple of tackles too, especially Motta.

 

7. The linebackers seemed very active with a lot of blitzes, but none of them shown in particular.

 

8. Rudolph looked good. The secondary jarred one ball free when he was whacked by a safety. They gave McCarthy credit, but I thought it was H Smith. Fauria got a lot of PT too.

 

9. I saw Paskorz (sp) at least once, during a goal-line offensive play, and he seemed to hold his own throwing a decent block up the middle.

 

10. The scoring system for these games is definitely not fair to the D. They gave up 3 TDs in about twelve series and they got one back. They gave up a few medium plays, especially runs, but no huge ones. They kept Tate and Floyd in check. But the offense still scored almost twice as many points.

 

In summary, the lack of excitement grew until the defining moment when the offense took a knee for the last play. The Irish went long, their bread and butter in Hawaii, without any success. The OL is still suspect, especially in terms of pass protection. With all the blitzes, the D was interesting, to say the least. Some of the youngsters shown brightly. It was surprising and great to see Montana doing so well. As a scrimmage, the BG game still does not compare to a real game: we were missing some key players and even Tate was there for only a half. Only one disturbing injury. Bottom line: we will not know the real story until next September.

Here's the first published critique I could find (from Sporting News):

 

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=540036

 

In short, this guy likes the Offensive Line, and thinks they'll be an older, tougher, more experienced ground game juggernaut. Game experience and the rushing yardage during the BG game seem to be what he's basing it on. I'm saying we need to see what happens game day: against guys who don't mind hurting us, with coaches that might not be as blitz happy as we are, and without the red shirts. Fair to middling would be a big improvement: juggernaut would rival the comeback made by Lazarus.

Been wondering what the outside mediawould say. Nice find and post 2lakes.

I'm certainly not a roving reporter, but I thought I would share my impressions of the BG game instead of grabbing ahold of someone else's thread. And I wanted to do it before I read one and was influenced by one of the other threads. Here are the impressions I got:

 

1. Neither Clausen nor Crist were impressive. Neither seemed to be hitting on all cylinders as far as the passing game was concerned. Both of them misfired on a couple of throws and seemed to be having a difficult time finding the open receivers.

 

2. On the other hand, the defensive secondary seemed to be playing well: especially Blanton and Slaughter. Blanton returned an INT for a touchdown, and both he and Slaughter blanketed the Tate and Floyd. Blanton could be a star. Walls got a little bit of playing time, and his not being noticed is, for a corner, usually a good thing. We must also take into account the fact that Tate missed the second half, and that changing quarterbacks every series or every other series is not a way to build momentum.

 

3. Young Montana played well on the 2nd string O against the 2nd string D. A twenty-five yard pass to Ragone over the middle was really nice to see, with hopefully more of that coming in the future.

 

4. The D got to the QB, especially JC. Ethan Johnson, in particular, seemed to be generating some pressure. Ian W was hurt early in the second half (arm or shoulder) and never returned: his appeared to be the only serious injury and let's hope it's not too bad. Many of the long running plays came on draws and traps up the middle while a blitz was on. Overall, the OL was not impressive, but they were also missing Robinson, Dever, and Romine, to name three.

 

5. Allen looked good, but not spectacular. A few long runs, but nothing I would consider a legitimate break-away. Same with Jonas.

 

6. A lot of PT for the EE freshmen: Motta and Stockton. They got in on a couple of tackles too, especially Motta.

 

7. The linebackers seemed very active with a lot of blitzes, but none of them shown in particular.

 

8. Rudolph looked good. The secondary jarred one ball free when he was whacked by a safety. They gave McCarthy credit, but I thought it was H Smith. Fauria got a lot of PT too.

 

9. I saw Paskorz (sp) at least once, during a goal-line offensive play, and he seemed to hold his own throwing a decent block up the middle.

 

10. The scoring system for these games is definitely not fair to the D. They gave up 3 TDs in about twelve series and they got one back. They gave up a few medium plays, especially runs, but no huge ones. They kept Tate and Floyd in check. But the offense still scored almost twice as many points.

 

In summary, the lack of excitement grew until the defining moment when the offense took a knee for the last play. The Irish went long, their bread and butter in Hawaii, without any success. The OL is still suspect, especially in terms of pass protection. With all the blitzes, the D was interesting, to say the least. Some of the youngsters shown brightly. It was surprising and great to see Montana doing so well. As a scrimmage, the BG game still does not compare to a real game: we were missing some key players and even Tate was there for only a half. Only one disturbing injury. Bottom line: we will not know the real story until next September.

 

Montana ran the 3rd offense vs. the 3rd defense. They had walk-ons at DB.

 

CW said Ian's injury wasnt serious in the presser so that's good.

 

It was K-Mac b/c I remember him getting fired up afterwards b/c it was on 4th down, but the ball went right through Rudolph's hands before he got hit.

 

Great post though.

Montana ran the 3rd offense vs. the 3rd defense. They had walk-ons at DB.

 

CW said Ian's injury wasnt serious in the presser so that's good.

 

It was K-Mac b/c I remember him getting fired up afterwards b/c it was on 4th down, but the ball went right through Rudolph's hands before he got hit.

 

Great post though.

 

Thanks for the pounding (JK).

Probably hard to qualify it as any string -- it seemed like an amalgamation (sp?). Not sure, but I believe there were some starters out there (on O line); Rudolph might have even been in there for a play or two, I don't remember who was running the ball but if it was Jonas Gray, that's basically second string. Maybe the D was mostly third though. The root of the confusion lies in the fact that several "third" string Frosh and Sophs are rapidly rising through the ranks. Having walk-ons at the corners would certainly make a big diff.

Here's the first published critique I could find (from Sporting News):

 

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=540036

 

In short, this guy likes the Offensive Line, and thinks they'll be an older, tougher, more experienced ground game juggernaut. Game experience and the rushing yardage during the BG game seem to be what he's basing it on. I'm saying we need to see what happens game day: against guys who don't mind hurting us, with coaches that might not be as blitz happy as we are, and without the red shirts. Fair to middling would be a big improvement: juggernaut would rival the comeback made by Lazarus.

 

Bit of a puff piece.

did aldridge play????

I think he's hurt schell.

anyone remember how Brady Quinn did in the 2005 Blue and Gold game before the 2005 season?

anyone remember how Brady Quinn did in the 2005 Blue and Gold game before the 2005 season?

 

http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/042305aaa.html

after looking at the recap several times , i think that the Irish will be a little better than last year, I have predicted that the team would play in a bcs bowl, NOW i think they have much more work to do to reach that goal, but you have to remember that other coaches look at these games and take from them , so i think Charlie played this practice pretty well. we still got lots of work to do and to be fair we do have some very bright spots on both sides of the line , i would be happy with a 10 -2 and a chance to go to a bowl .

looks like JC, needs some more work , i thought he was off target several times , Crist was quicker, But the big surprise was Montana, he passed twice and was on target, in fact i would move him ahead of crist, and as coach says it's jc to lose , well look out here comes Joe's kid. wow i like it go Irish

I'm certainly not a roving reporter, but I thought I would share my impressions of the BG game instead of grabbing ahold of someone else's thread. And I wanted to do it before I read one and was influenced by one of the other threads. Here are the impressions I got:

 

1. Neither Clausen nor Crist were impressive. Neither seemed to be hitting on all cylinders as far as the passing game was concerned. Both of them misfired on a couple of throws and seemed to be having a difficult time finding the open receivers.

 

2. On the other hand, the defensive secondary seemed to be playing well: especially Blanton and Slaughter. Blanton returned an INT for a touchdown, and both he and Slaughter blanketed the Tate and Floyd. Blanton could be a star. Walls got a little bit of playing time, and his not being noticed is, for a corner, usually a good thing. We must also take into account the fact that Tate missed the second half, and that changing quarterbacks every series or every other series is not a way to build momentum.

 

3. Young Montana played well on the 2nd string O against the 2nd string D. A twenty-five yard pass to Ragone over the middle was really nice to see, with hopefully more of that coming in the future.

 

4. The D got to the QB, especially JC. Ethan Johnson, in particular, seemed to be generating some pressure. Ian W was hurt early in the second half (arm or shoulder) and never returned: his appeared to be the only serious injury and let's hope it's not too bad. Many of the long running plays came on draws and traps up the middle while a blitz was on. Overall, the OL was not impressive, but they were also missing Robinson, Dever, and Romine, to name three.

 

5. Allen looked good, but not spectacular. A few long runs, but nothing I would consider a legitimate break-away. Same with Jonas.

 

6. A lot of PT for the EE freshmen: Motta and Stockton. They got in on a couple of tackles too, especially Motta.

 

7. The linebackers seemed very active with a lot of blitzes, but none of them shown in particular.

 

8. Rudolph looked good. The secondary jarred one ball free when he was whacked by a safety. They gave McCarthy credit, but I thought it was H Smith. Fauria got a lot of PT too.

 

9. I saw Paskorz (sp) at least once, during a goal-line offensive play, and he seemed to hold his own throwing a decent block up the middle.

 

10. The scoring system for these games is definitely not fair to the D. They gave up 3 TDs in about twelve series and they got one back. They gave up a few medium plays, especially runs, but no huge ones. They kept Tate and Floyd in check. But the offense still scored almost twice as many points.

 

In summary, the lack of excitement grew until the defining moment when the offense took a knee for the last play. The Irish went long, their bread and butter in Hawaii, without any success. The OL is still suspect, especially in terms of pass protection. With all the blitzes, the D was interesting, to say the least. Some of the youngsters shown brightly. It was surprising and great to see Montana doing so well. As a scrimmage, the BG game still does not compare to a real game: we were missing some key players and even Tate was there for only a half. Only one disturbing injury. Bottom line: we will not know the real story until next September.

 

I agree with Allen. I think he's a good player and definateyl is going to have a big year but he's just missing something. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that can get the homerun when he gets to the second level. Reggie Brooks for instance would have broken away by just running past some of those tackles rather than running away from them.

I agree with Allen. I think he's a good player and definateyl is going to have a big year but he's just missing something. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that can get the homerun when he gets to the second level. Reggie Brooks for instance would have broken away by just running past some of those tackles rather than running away from them.

 

Agree and if you had listen to the comments coming from Reggie when they had him plugged and Justin on the side line..Reggie told the RB's to make there move and look for the Def players soft shoulder and go that way...

what constitutes a "soft shoulder"?

 

Thanks.

Does this sound familiar?

 

(About the QB)

 

"I've always been excited about him and his capabilities. It is still a learning process for him on the leadership part but I feel he is doing a tremendous job. He has all the tools."

 

Joe Montana regarding Brady Quinn in 2005.

 

Jimmy's going to do just fine!