Postgame - #13 Notre Dame vs Navy (Win 42-3)

[NDhoosier 1,232]

Why the hate on Merriweather?

He should have had 1TD for decent amount of yards. Hartman knew he screwed up, the camera showed him admitting to it. The ONE bad play of Hartman all game has made people bash Tobias.

A drop on a screen pass is meh... it happens, but come on guys. What would you all be saying if Hartman threw a decent ball to Tobias who easily beat his defender and was wide open in the endzone? A totally different conversation I am sure.

[Baldy 1,251]

1 hour ago, Frankus said:

I thought Merriwether dropping that ball early was a disappointment, but he was wide open on that post pattern and Hartman threw it late and not in stride. I’m sure Hartman would love to have that back. 
 

Nevertheless, I think Merriwether has the skills to be a dangerous deep threat and will make an impact going forward. Because of Hartman’s ability to see the field, no one receiver is going to be featured, but I suspect Merriwether will get his share of catches.  

1 hour ago, NDhoosier said:

Why the hate on Merriweather?

He should have had 1TD for decent amount of yards. Hartman knew he screwed up, the camera showed him admitting to it. The ONE bad play of Hartman all game has made people bash Tobias.

A drop on a screen pass is meh... it happens, but come on guys. What would you all be saying if Hartman threw a decent ball to Tobias who easily beat his defender and was wide open in the endzone? A totally different conversation I am sure.

You are both right, so I do need to give Tobias a break. I guess I was just a bit more disappointed about the drop on the screen pass, because he looked up field before catching the ball due to the defenders coming at him, and also looked a bit scared.

Then he had the one deep ball that Hartman threw late, and while that wasn’t on him, I don’t think he was targeted again. Him not being targeted again is another reason I was disappointed, because I know he has the talent. I just want to see it on the field!

With Hartman’s talent, I’m sure we will.

[NDhoosier 1,232]

19 minutes ago, Baldy said:

You are both right, so I do need to give Tobias a break. I guess I was just a bit more disappointed about the drop on the screen pass, because he looked up field before catching the ball due to the defenders coming at him, and also looked a bit scared.

Then he had the one deep ball that Hartman threw late, and while that wasn’t on him, I don’t think he was targeted again. Him not being targeted again is another reason I was disappointed, because I know he has the talent. I just want to see it on the field!

With Hartman’s talent, I’m sure we will.

I understand, but I'll try to rebut that with two points:

1) A drop on a screen pass for that exact reason is very common at every level of football. Players get excited to have the football out in space and they look up ready to run like the wind. While I 100% agree that is all on Tobias, I look at it as he is was too excited, not scared.

2) The positive with this offense is that they have so many weapons, the ball is being spread around so MUCH, think about it, 10 different receivers and only 24 ATTEMPTS. He averaged pretty much what everyone else was averaging in terms of targets.

Look, I am only defending Tobias (on other boards as well) because I think the criticism of him is unfair. Has he proven anything to be our #1 WR that everyone was hyping him up to be? NO, absolutely not, but that does not mean he is a bust either, which is a lot of what I am seeing.
"Did he even play?"
"bench him"
etc

Is the kind of stuff I am seeing (not from you necessarily Baldy) and I just do not see the logic behind those statements.

[jessemoore97 1,291]

22 minutes ago, NDhoosier said:

I understand, but I'll try to rebut that with two points:

1) A drop on a screen pass for that exact reason is very common at every level of football. Players get excited to have the football out in space and they look up ready to run like the wind. While I 100% agree that is all on Tobias, I look at it as he is was too excited, not scared.

2) The positive with this offense is that they have so many weapons, the ball is being spread around so MUCH, think about it, 10 different receivers and only 24 ATTEMPTS. He averaged pretty much what everyone else was averaging in terms of targets.

Look, I am only defending Tobias (on other boards as well) because I think the criticism of him is unfair. Has he proven anything to be our #1 WR that everyone was hyping him up to be? NO, absolutely not, but that does not mean he is a bust either, which is a lot of what I am seeing.
"Did he even play?"
"bench him"
etc

Is the kind of stuff I am seeing (not from you necessarily Baldy) and I just do not see the logic behind those statements.

Mind you I didn't say bench him.  But with this young and talented group of WR he is going to have to get better or be passed by.  And IF we keep Williams in the '24 class, that's at least one more stud to compete with.

[irishrush 60]

I am trying not get down on him, as he only had 2 targets.  I would say though, I would expect a little more competitiveness on the underthrown deep ball.  He's 6'4".  Go get that thing and make a play.

[Joey D.... 32]

This team should be fun to watch this season. Hartman looks way different than ND qbs the last 15 years. Game looks easy for him. The level of talent in the backfield is incredible, the recieving group has great depth, and the line is nasty. Defense looked good to me too.

 

TSU may not cross the fifty yard line next week 

[Baldy 1,251]

1 hour ago, NDhoosier said:

I understand, but I'll try to rebut that with two points:

1) A drop on a screen pass for that exact reason is very common at every level of football. Players get excited to have the football out in space and they look up ready to run like the wind. While I 100% agree that is all on Tobias, I look at it as he is was too excited, not scared.

2) The positive with this offense is that they have so many weapons, the ball is being spread around so MUCH, think about it, 10 different receivers and only 24 ATTEMPTS. He averaged pretty much what everyone else was averaging in terms of targets.

Look, I am only defending Tobias (on other boards as well) because I think the criticism of him is unfair. Has he proven anything to be our #1 WR that everyone was hyping him up to be? NO, absolutely not, but that does not mean he is a bust either, which is a lot of what I am seeing.
"Did he even play?"
"bench him"
etc

Is the kind of stuff I am seeing (not from you necessarily Baldy) and I just do not see the logic behind those statements.

All great points, so we’ll said!

I’m also not one of those over exaggerating types that feels he should be benched based off of two targets! Again, I think I was more disappointed in his minimal usage, and when he was used, it didn’t work out, which with him starting, I felt it should have. Really, a poor choice of words in my original post.

I do believe he’ll get it going this season, so here’s to hoping he will soon. Maybe TSU will be a way for him to get more targets, and really start playing well?

[FaithInIrish Forever 4,720]

 

[D Fence 166]

The second ball to Merriweather was short and he got interfered with. I was disappointed with his early drop, but it was impressive how he blew by his guy on the 2nd.  That is something in the future where Hartman should throw it sooner.

As an aside, I have no idea why they waved that call off, as the ref initially threw a flag.

[Baldy 1,251]

2 hours ago, D Fence said:

The second ball to Merriweather was short and he got interfered with. I was disappointed with his early drop, but it was impressive how he blew by his guy on the 2nd.  That is something in the future where Hartman should throw it sooner.

As an aside, I have no idea why they waved that call off, as the ref initially threw a flag.

Yeah, he did get great separation, so that was great to see!

And I completely agree, in that he was definitely interfered with. When they picked up the flag, my wife and I both throughly maybe it wasn’t pass interference, until we saw the replay. Tobias got hit way early, and it completely disrupted his ability to catch the ball.

[Baldy 1,251]

I’m just going to say it, but that officiating crew was pretty bad. First case in point was picking up the flag for the interference on Tobias, when he was clearly interfered with. But what was worse was that fumble JD had, which was a clear recovery by him. They ruled there was no clear recovery, then as Jason was saying that exactly, they showed the replay where you could clearly see JD recover it and had possession. I guess the refs just felt bad for Navy, so they let them keep the ball. 🙄 

I know I might be making too much of a big deal about all of this, but if this happens to a really good team, it could change the whole game!

[ND_JACK 321]

I was happy with the overall offense line play. They left the entire starting line together for 52 plays. Coogan and Spindler played the whole time no rotation at guards I really liked that. I think it means a lot having a starting unit playing together. This game was just a building block for the OL.

[jbrown_9999 1,023]

Besides a convincing win and lots of snaps for different players, I was happy that (as far as I know) there were no injuries in the game for the Irish.

[jbrown_9999 1,023]

7 hours ago, Baldy said:

I’m just going to say it, but that officiating crew was pretty bad. First case in point was picking up the flag for the interference on Tobias, when he was clearly interfered with. But what was worse was that fumble JD had, which was a clear recovery by him. They ruled there was no clear recovery, then as Jason was saying that exactly, they showed the replay where you could clearly see JD recover it and had possession. I guess the refs just felt bad for Navy, so they let them keep the ball. 🙄 

I know I might be making too much of a big deal about all of this, but if this happens to a really good team, it could change the whole game!

Couple of thoughts:

1) It was the officials first game of the season as well

2) Should not come into play (but they are only human), the fact that Navy was getting dominated had to have at least a subconscious impact on the refs. 

[InLikeFlynn 261]

I agree with you guys, there is alot to be excited about.  The way I see it, if ND is a good team, then they dominate teams like Navy.  Yes it was a "cupcake" so to speak but over the last few seasons, they didn't dominate "cupcakes".  It was good to see the dominance on Saturday.

I was pleasantly surprised with the tackling by the corners!  Mickey had a real nice open field tackle.  These guys aren't just elite cover guys, they can lay the wood too.

Hartman's poise gives me all the confidence in the world.   Dude is a baller, period!  A big time QB makes all the difference in the world. 

Also, it was great to see WR's making an impact.  I love the way Hartman spread the ball around to them. 

Estimes one hander was a thing of beauty!  Can I get an Amen?

[jbrown_9999 1,023]

Besides no major injuries (which I had listed earlier), another thing that I was glad to see was that the Irish came across as a well organized team. New QB and new OC yet there really wasn't chaos in terms of getting plays called, audibles, etc. Nobody that I remember running onto or off the field at the last second because players weren't sure if they were supposed to be on the field or not.

 

[coltssb 1,044]

1 hour ago, jbrown_9999 said:

Besides no major injuries (which I had listed earlier), another thing that I was glad to see was that the Irish came across as a well organized team. New QB and new OC yet there really wasn't chaos in terms of getting plays called, audibles, etc. Nobody that I remember running onto or off the field at the last second because players weren't sure if they were supposed to be on the field or not.

 

Wait. You mean to tell me there wasn’t a false start at the beginning of the game?  I sure do miss those..

[jbrown_9999 1,023]

48 minutes ago, coltssb said:

Wait. You mean to tell me there wasn’t a false start at the beginning of the game?  I sure do miss those..

Or the need to call a time-out to avoid a delay of game penalty before the first play.

[tneun89 979]

5 hours ago, jbrown_9999 said:

Besides a convincing win and lots of snaps for different players, I was happy that (as far as I know) there were no injuries in the game for the Irish.

Unfortunately, it sounds like Rubio hurt his knee. Going to be out a "couple weeks," per Freeman. Hope he is back by OSU.

[irishwavend 577]

20 hours ago, Baldy said:

I’m just going to say it, but that officiating crew was pretty bad. First case in point was picking up the flag for the interference on Tobias, when he was clearly interfered with. But what was worse was that fumble JD had, which was a clear recovery by him. They ruled there was no clear recovery, then as Jason was saying that exactly, they showed the replay where you could clearly see JD recover it and had possession. I guess the refs just felt bad for Navy, so they let them keep the ball. 🙄 

I know I might be making too much of a big deal about all of this, but if this happens to a really good team, it could change the whole game!

I disagree on the fumble.  His feet were out of bounds and he didn’t have control…

Otherwise, I agree with the rest.