Today's Game Impressions

[BlackIrish42 0]

So, here's what I saw without any re-watching:

 

Despite what Hawaii claims, we were Alabama offensively today. McCarron threw the ball 23 times today and Tommy threw it 23 times today. We ran the ball 35 times and Ala ran it 38 times.

 

Anyway, Tommy was pretty good but the inconsistent accuracy is still a concern. We left a lot of points on the turf.

 

Our weapons are varied and many. Impressed obviously by Daniels. Looks like a #1 WR. Brown was a REVELATION! Where did he get those hands?? He showed no hands or toughness last year; he showed both today. Jones impressed me a great deal. He has shown a burst to go with the toughness he showed last year.

 

The RB's were all good including GAIII. Don't know why people are down on him. Cam ran well on his first 4 carries but should have not gotten many more carries after that. Amir has a lot of potential. Love his feet.

 

The frosh RB's were impressive even in garbage time. They have to see the field more by game 5 or 6

 

The line was fantastic in the passing game but merely ok in the run game. Stanley looked good. Z. Martin was pretty great. The TE's seemed like they blocked better than last year. Niklas' catch and run was impressive. Love to see him hit in the seam like that.

 

Ya know, I thought earlier this week how we all might be under-estimating the loss of T'eo. Man, was that true!! Our LB's were not good. Despite the ability of Carlo to fill on certain run plays, I would start Grace next to Fox next week. He is the more complete LB. I was impressed by Grace today. We need to get much better as a run defense.

 

Tuitt started slow but despite what some of you think, he was dominant for 75% of the game. Shembo played well and good in coverage too. Jaylon is too slight. He missed at 3 tackles due to his light frame. Man, was I disappointed in Shumate today. Poor position all day. Russell is our best man-to-man CB. Luke impressed too. We actually put a lot of pressure on the QB today but he threw it away or ran effectively. Btw, that phantom pass interference call on Bennett was the worst call I have seen in a long tine, insomuch as it wasn't even CLOSE!

 

The special teams were kind of a a mess. Jones blew too punts, letting one bounce when he coulda caught it then caught one inside the 10 he should've let go. The FG kicking was poor. The pooch punting was poor. The kickoffs were pretty good as were te PAT's.

 

Pretty good coaching. Vanilla play calling on both sides except when Diaco blitzed in the red zone, which was very effective.

 

Good win. Our depth of talent is finally back to Holtzian levels. I am just worried about our leadership. Manti was such a great leader. I'm not talking that cliched bullshite kind of leadership. That dude made his teammates better. I see no one on this team who can do that now. Maybe Tommy?

 

Btw, sometimes reading posts on here following a game makes me wonder if I have watched the same game! Sheesh! Haha!

 

Oh and to be fair to the D (which needs film on an opponent more than an O does, IMO) they had ZERO film on Temple's offense. I think that's why you saw the D pay so much better in the 2nd half. At one point in the 3rd qtr O'Reilly was 1-9. The D did improve. Let's not get nuts here...

Edited September 1, 2013 by BlackIrish42

[nd1989 216]

Nice recap Black. In terms of depth, I would have liked to see more of Andrew. His one pass was between two open receivers. I'm concerned if Tommy goes out there's nothing. But I was impressed with Tommy today. Very efficient. Always room to improve on. It looked like he wasn't aligned with his receivers a few times, and he's been working on throwing to the outside shoulder (which he missed a few times also). But overall pretty good.

 

Also agree on LBs. Wow -- loss of Manti really took us back a step. I would go with Grace also over Carlo. And we also need to grasp the center of the field. I thought the ILBs were getting it last year -- the concept of zone -- but maybe they've lost it.

[OKCIrish99 3]

Great post. Liked what I saw, but thought I'd see a bit more honestly. Rees made some great initial throws but failed to put the dagger in. He still missed some open guys long. Where is the pass rush??? Probably the biggest disappointment overall today. The Temple Qb played well though. Kelly played everyone today. No more show and tell though next week. The best play. The Michigan game should show everything regarding our program for all things considered. Go Irish!!

[zemaniak 105]

Pretty sure Alabama ran more (real) screens today

[chirodomer 47]

The one thing that really stood out on defense was the recovery speed of Cole Luke. That kid is fast.

[Domer Dude 0]

Solid games guys. Got the cobwebs out. Gotta turn it up next week.

 

Tausch - Tell your girlfriend that is why they say not to do THAT the night before the game.

[Domer Dude 0]

The one thing that really stood out on defense was the recovery speed of Cole Luke. That kid is fast.

 

Nix looked fast and aggressive.

 

DB's are gonna play havic at the edges.

[davislove 0]

Nix looked fast and aggressive.

 

DB's are gonna play havic at the edges.

 

I thought nix looked slow and concluded that's why CBK don't recruit more nix type linemen.

[ckp160 10]

QB: Looked pretty good. Rees looks like he's a little stronger, and he actually showed a little movement out there. He did miss on some throws, but he also made some nice throws.

 

RB: Not impressed by GAIII at all. I think he's hit his ceiling and it's not that high. I thought Carlisle looked good, but I cringe every time he runs up the middle. Cam is Cam.... he'll get you some yards. I REALLY think we need to turn it up for Bryant and Folston. Hard to get a feel for where they're at, but I was really impressed with their running. It could be a case of Kelly just easing them in there. Might get a bunch next week.

 

WR/TE: GREAT!!!

 

O-line: Looked pretty solid.

 

DL: Not overly impressed. I do think Diaco didn't show a whole lot. Seems like when he did (blitzes in the red zone) they looked like a pretty good unit. Nix better get used to double teams. Tuitt looked okay. I'm going to lump Ishaq in here, but he missed some plays. However, he was a lot more active.

 

ILB: Completely unimpressed. In fact my master caution light is on steady and I have major tones in my headset. Calabrese looked TERRIBLE. Fox looked like he was confused. This unit it a liability right now, but again how much did Diaco really show?

 

OLB: I think once Jaylon Smith figures out the college game he's going to be damn good. These guys played okay. Nothing stood out really.

 

DB: Worried about our safeties. Shumate looked like he was struggling with coverage. If #5 (Fitzpatrick?) on Temple could catch, the game would have been a little more interesting.

 

Special Teams: What. The. Eff.

 

All in all I was a little disappointed. Probably because I was expecting a major blowout and it seemed like Temple just hung around. Just once I'd like Notre Dame to really open one up.

[irishwavend 706]

Carlo and Fox couldn't play one position together last year, so what makes any of us think they could play two positions? They both suck. I would take my lumps with a more athletic freshman. At least we'd build for the future...

 

Tommy's lack of accuracy is inexcusable at this point.

 

The rest of the team is amazing. We just need someone behind center and someone in the middle of the field on defense. If I'm Michigan, I playaction and hit the TE up the middle all day long along with cross patterns. The middle of our D is going to kill us.

 

Oh yeah, and Ishaq must be a moron, because he's a beast, otherwise. Anyway, those are my critiques. Well, that and GAIII reminds me too much of Ryan Grant... It's miserable watching him in the backfield.

[Rocketsan 877]

Carlo and Fox couldn't play one position together last year, so what makes any of us think they could play two positions? They both suck.

 

 

Yet people on here are so high on them because together they matched Manti's tackles last year

[NDhoosier 1,336]

Really worried about ST, that is really all I can say about that unit. The one good thing about ST I can say is that TJ Jones is more willing and capable of returning punts.

 

Rees played great today, threw high on a couple hook routes, but overall very good. I think DD got hurt and messed up that long throw that Rees missed to him, but still not sure if DD could have gotten it.

 

I like the RB situation, still not sure why people are dismissing GAIII so much, I thought he ran pretty well, he did get popped once, but I think he will learn real quick that he doesnt want that to happen often. I like having a stable of talented backs and I think even Cam McDaniel is reliable, he reads the holes better than anyone I think. I like the future of Bryant and Folston, I just hope they both stay.

 

I love the WR corps and I think DD will become a stud, heck TJ Jones, might even do the same.

 

TEs, I am torn because I liked what I saw, but I saw very little. Obviously, Niklas had the one big play, but outside of that, TEs were only targeted once more. Both Niklas and Koyack blocked well, but I would have liked to see more of them. I am assuming that Kelly just didnt feel the need to use them all that much this game.

 

OL did well, there were a couple runs up the middle where they did not get any push, but no team, not even Bama will get a push on every play. Very solid pass protection though, Rees looked like Tom Brady back there because he all day to throw with a perfect pocket or wall in front of him.

 

DL - You know, from what I saw, I thought they did pretty well rushing the passer, but failed to clog the holes in the run game. I know they only got one sack, but it was obvious that Temple's game plan was to throw quick passes before the pass rush could even reach the QB and the Temple QB did pretty well reading the blitzes and making the right reads. It is hard to sack a QB that only has the ball for 2 secs. However, the rush defense was a different story and I think (hope) it is just due to rust.

 

LB - Jaylon Smith was a little of a disappointment, but in his defense, it was his FIRST game at the college level and everyone (especially me) was expecting so much from him that there was no way he could live up to the hype. However, the talent is there and he will only improve. Shembo is solid. The ILBs are hard to grade in my opinion. I felt like they missed a lot of stuff early in the game, but they all had pretty high tackle numbers. To be honest, I am stumped on what I think about the ILBs.

 

Corners - really like our corners, but you can tell Cole Luke is a freshman, when he is in, I can see teams taking advantage of him. Hopefully he learns quick, he seems to have the talent.

 

Safeties - Definitely need to see more, they were not really asked to do a lot this game, but Shumate took a bad angle. Collinsworth put some pressure on the QB once, and Farley was in coverage a couple times. I think Farley could have had better coverage on a few plays, but that is being nitpicky.

 

Offensive Grade: B+. They did what they were asked to do, then called off the dogs. No turnovers, solid OLine to protect Rees and plenty of playmakers on the field. I trust our WR corps. I trust Brown to be reliable while DD and Jones are on the verge of being game changers.

 

Defensive Grade: B-. My expectations are higher for them, so I grade them harsher. However, after half-time, they held together pretty well, which means they adapted to the opponent. Questions still linger at ILB and the Safety position, but I think both can be solid throughout the season. It may not have been pretty, but they only gave up 6 points, and much like last year, they may be a bend but dont break defense.

Edited September 1, 2013 by NDhoosier

[chirodomer 47]

Cole Luke may be our fastest DB in the last 20 years

[Rocketsan 877]

LB - Jaylon Smith was a little of a disappointment, but in his defense, it was his FIRST game at the college level

 

Welcome to the big time, son:

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/4293/i1c0.jpg

[Fifth Horseman 0]

I came away feeling nervous about Michigan haha.

[NDhoosier 1,336]

ugh, that image is just mean rocketsan. However, I still expect him to shrug it off and have a good year. He will become the playmaker for this defense in the future, how soon is the question.

[WeaverIrish 28]

Grace needs to play. More than either Fox or Carlo.

[OklahomaIrish 0]

So, here's what I saw without any re-watching:

 

Despite what Hawaii claims, we were Alabama offensively today. McCarron threw the ball 23 times today and Tommy threw it 23 times today. We ran the ball 35 times and Ala ran it 38 times.

 

Anyway, Tommy was pretty good but the inconsistent accuracy is still a concern. We left a lot of points on the turf.

 

Our weapons are varied and many. Impressed obviously by Daniels. Looks like a #1 WR. Brown was a REVELATION! Where did he get those hands?? He showed no hands or toughness last year; he showed both today. Jones impressed me a great deal. He has shown a burst to go with the toughness he showed last year.

 

The RB's were all good including GAIII. Don't know why people are down on him. Cam ran well on his first 4 carries but should have not gotten many more carries after that. Amir has a lot of potential. Love his feet.

 

The frosh RB's were impressive even in garbage time. They have to see the field more by game 5 or 6

 

The line was fantastic in the passing game but merely ok in the run game. Stanley looked good. Z. Martin was pretty great. The TE's seemed like they blocked better than last year. Niklas' catch and run was impressive. Love to see him hit in the seam like that.

 

Ya know, I thought earlier this week how we all might be under-estimating the loss of T'eo. Man, was that true!! Our LB's were not good. Despite the ability of Carlo to fill on certain run plays, I would start Grace next to Fox next week. He is the more complete LB. I was impressed by Grace today. We need to get much better as a run defense.

 

Tuitt started slow but despite what some of you think, he was dominant for 75% of the game. Shembo played well and good in coverage too. Jaylon is too slight. He missed at 3 tackles due to his light frame. Man, was I disappointed in Shumate today. Poor position all day. Russell is our best man-to-man CB. Luke impressed too. We actually put a lot of pressure on the QB today but he threw it away or ran effectively. Btw, that phantom pass interference call on Bennett was the worst call I have seen in a long tine, insomuch as it wasn't even CLOSE!

 

The special teams were kind of a a mess. Jones blew too punts, letting one bounce when he coulda caught it then caught one inside the 10 he should've let go. The FG kicking was poor. The pooch punting was poor. The kickoffs were pretty good as were te PAT's.

 

Pretty good coaching. Vanilla play calling on both sides except when Diaco blitzed in the red zone, which was very effective.

 

Good win. Our depth of talent is finally back to Holtzian levels. I am just worried about our leadership. Manti was such a great leader. I'm not talking that cliched bullshite kind of leadership. That dude made his teammates better. I see no one on this team who can do that now. Maybe Tommy?

 

Btw, sometimes reading posts on here following a game makes me wonder if I have watched the same game! Sheesh! Haha!

 

Oh and to be fair to the D (which needs film on an opponent more than an O does, IMO) they had ZERO film on Temple's offense. I think that's why you saw the D pay so much better in the 2nd half. At one point in the 3rd qtr O'Reilly was 1-9. The D did improve. Let's not get nuts here...

 

Dang, maybe we do agree more than I thought. I certainly agree on starting Grace, let's build for the future, Calabrese hasn't improved as much as I heard. Why not throw to Niklas more often. I thought Tommy would love that huge target with soft hands. He was open several times in that seam down the middle.

 

My honest opinion was that DeVaris was going to be the next Floyd. We had about 30 people at the house and I chose DeVaris as the mvp before the game. I think he is becoming unstoppable. But what about that groin injury? To me, that could really hurt us against Michigan. To me, Chris Brown is about up to where DeVaris was last year and the next guy in line to develop is Fuller. Longo makes these guys a lot bigger, stronger and more confident.

 

I think Stanley is going to be a good one at right tackle. What hurts the run game is the lack of a running quarterback. I still think it is ultra important to develop Malik. Mono can screw you up for the entire year. I can't believe all the bad luck we have at quarterback.

 

Cam looked good. He's obviously going to get playing time. The freshmen will get their chance. I liked both of them. Corey was open for a touchdown but there was either some miscommunication or it was just a horrible throw. All he had to do was throw it up there. Oh well, he will get his, I'd rather see it come against Michigan.

[Bubba of the Lake 0]

I came away feeling nervous about Michigan haha.

I'm with you, Bro!