First off, I am as disappointed as anyone on this forum about the game and I really wanted the positive momentum to go into the off-season. Over the course of the next few days, there will be 100 threads detailing all of the negatives that we observed or are thinking about. I was hoping we could make a thread about positives that we saw/thinking about from this game so when you are feeling down about ND football, you can find an oasis of good things:

1. The team came out ready to play. One of the biggest complaints we had of Kelly over the years (especially for big games) was that the team came out slow/soft/etc. Regardless of how the game ended, Notre Dame dominated the first half on both sides of the ball. I believe Freeman will have very few issues of getting the team ready for big games.

2. Chris Tyree was pretty damn good and is truly an All-Purpose Back. I know majority of this board was on the Diggs train, but I still think Tyree will be the main back next year. Tyree needs to have the ball in his hands.

3. Xavier Watts could be really good after getting an off-season at DB under his belt. He played pretty well and the one pass I remember him "allowing," was just a perfect throw and catch. He was all over the WR in great coverage (no flag was thrown either).

4. ND got a top 50 caliber safety commit today. The defensive class is looking AMAZING and Notre Dame currently has the #1 class in 2023 (I know it's early still).

5. Jack Coan played really well and may have increased his draft stock. I think the team asked him to do too much in the long run, but he had an amazing game. I hope he earns a draft pick somewhere. He played well against an elite defense on a big stage.

6. It is CMF's first game and he made some mistakes, but I think most people learn best by trial and error. I have confidence that he will learn from this game.

7. Blake Fisher is healthy and seemed to play pretty well. I am terrible at grading Olinemen, but his name wasn't really called today in a bad way and I don't remember him getting beat. However, him being healthy and able to compete at a high level is a good sign!

8. Lorenzo Styles is going to be a great WR, it seems he can do it all.

 

Hopefully this thread gets some traction, some of you may need to sleep first before thinking of any positives. Just thought I would try. A positive attitude can go a long way; psychology proves it. 🙂

PS: If Elder06 comes in here and posts his usual drivel, please just let it go (I wouldn't even quote him). Try to stay positive here, there will be 100s of other threads to voice frustrations over the course of the next 9 months.

Agree with everything stated. Freeman will be fine as he gains experience.

Just now, ndmike88 said:

Agree with everything stated. Freeman will be fine as he gains experience.

Yup need to take our lumps now to grow later

If I’m Freeman I would consider giving Watts a look at corner. He’s a much better athlete than Lewis. 

Peyton Bowen will be a great asset to replace Hamilton and makes a heck of an anchor for a young incoming defense. Future is bright. Right now is a drag 🙂 Good thread, this is the most disappointing post season I can remember in years.

positives: they played well the first 28 minutes of the game.  That's about it.

2 hours ago, drakan said:

positives: they played well the first 28 minutes of the game.  That's about it.

Did you see anything specific in those 28 minutes that you liked? Any players/plays/etc?

Quick start. Played hard. Creative play calling from TR. 

long list of shit to fix though. 9 wins next year will be a solid campaign. 
 

hopefully can get some quality football coaches around him. 

@JTennant quoting Elder06 in a thread about positivity is useless... just ignore him here.

Aside from a ball I think he could have caught - Styles was impressive. Colzie will get more opportunities, also. 

Mayer is an all-world TE but is still human, and had at least one drop, but he delivered when needed, time and time again.

Coan is going to be missed. Again, he's not perfect, but he put the team on his shoulders and led some impressive drives. Doing all that in a 1-dimensional offense is impressive, regardless of the outcome. I, too, hope he gets a look as a backup in the NFL. He had some errant throws, but who wouldn't with what, 68 attempts or whatever it was?

Foskey played really well in the first half, but seemed to be neutralized in the second half. 

This game was entertaining, if nothing else. And while this may sound like blashphemy, especially so soon after it, but can we all just remember - we are watching a game. We, as fans, have no control over the outcome or the execution. If what they say is true, no press is bad press - this game will be talked about for a long time. Some good, and a lot bad. But it shows where we need to get better on D (LB speed, Lewis I'm sad to say got picked on all game and ND seemed to do nothing to help that), but it also shows the youth this particular starting roster and the top of the coaching staff is flush with. 

The biggest disappointment is that people would rather say "I told you so" than keep any remnant of optimism or hope alive. No excuses, the 2nd half was abysmal. But if we truly think this one half of football will define ND for the next 10 years? That sounds pretty miserable, and I hope the jeering dies down a bit. 

Edited January 2, 20223 yr by toddrhodes

The team came out with fire in their gut and the play calling was good for both aides of the ball first half.

Tyree impressed me with his pass catching ability.  He need to be a focal point next season.  Having weapons like Mayer, Austin, Styles, and Tyree on the field at the same time makes us harder to defend.

Foskey on D did pretty well.  I hope he stays.

The check down TD to Tyree was a thing of beauty, and shows game prep for handling a tendency of an opponent and exploiting it big time.  Need much more of this.

I was impressed with Tommy.  The run game wasn’t going anywhere in the first half and he wasn’t stuck trying to force it.  You could see his creativity with the passing game and I have faith that the same will take place with the run game with time.  
 

I imagine that under the previous head coach, we would have had multiple 3 and outs in the first half where tommy wasn’t afraid to lean on the passing game vs trying to force a balance offense.  He called the game based on the skill set of the players and what the defense was giving him.

If we can make a great DC hire, the sky will be the limit imo.  I was on the fence with the Freeman promotion, but I look forward to watching him grow into the HC role.  Sure, there will be crappy days like today…but he doesn’t seem like the type of person that is willing to accept failure.  He’s going to improve with each game.

I was happy to see the team come out playing like they knew they were going to demolish OSU.  It looked like they were going to do it too.  They didn't come out flat, scared, or uninterested.  They came out like men on fire.  If anything this is the perfect recruiting tool to show kids, look, we were right there.  We're a few men short.  You're going to help put us over, and imagine the glory we're all going to experience when we accomplish it.

The one positive for me on Saturday is that I did not run out of booze. 

On 1/4/2022 at 3:18 PM, DamshaBua said:

The one positive for me on Saturday is that I did not run out of booze. 

Funny because I almost said something like this a couple of times in this thread.