1. With our beloved Irish on the bye this weekend, how much college football will you be watching Saturday and what games are you most looking forward to watching?
Well, I have to work that morning, and I have a date that evening, so I'm not sure how much, if any, football I'll be watching this weekend.
That said, I am most looking forward to the Texas-Missouri game. Mizzou is coming off of an extremely disappointing loss which appears to have derailed their national title and Heisman hopes. Texas is coming off a big win over the top team in the land in a huge rivalry game.
This game spells a classic trap game for Texas. Look for Mizzou to pull away in a shootout.
2. Not to look too far ahead… but in looking at the 2009 schedule, do you think the Irish will be set up for a title run if they continue to improve each week as they are doing now?
The Irish will be in the conversation next year, as the talent on this team continues to grow. Most players make their biggest leap from their sophomore to junior seasons, and with all of the talent in our sophomore class, this team looks poised to do special things next year.
The lack of senior leadership next year may cost us the national title, but we'll be right in the mix - sitting in the same place as a Missouri or Ohio State this year.
3. If you could take 1 recruit we missed on from each of the last 4 years (1 from each year), who would they be and how differently would this team look like right now if we had gotten that 1 player each year? (Note, the players should be players the Irish either led for at one time or were at least a finalist for).
I'm a bit of a recruitnik, so it didn't take me long to come up with this list.
2005 - Lawrence Wilson (OSU) - It's hard to argue with Frankie on this one. He was willing to commit to Willingham, and Weis couldn't hold on to him after Willingham's abrupt exit, stage left. This loss laid the seeds for the struggles we are continuing to have on the defensive line.
2006 - Gerald McCoy (Oklahoma) - Again, hard to argue with the second big whiffer on the D-line in the second straight year. McCoy is a beast and the lack of a playmaker on the D-line behind Trevor Laws is becoming more and more apparent.
2007 - Greg Little (North Carolina) - I would have liked to go with one of the Illini recruits that got away, either Martez Wilson (another D-lineman) or WR Arrelious Benn. But the one that really sticks in my craw is Greg Little. Maybe it's the timing of how it went down, or maybe it's my lingering hatred of Butch Davis from his days at Miami, or maybe it's the fact that we lost out to frickin' North Carolina, but I feel like Greg Little's athleticism and size would have been a great addition to this class.
2008 - Etienne Sabino (Ohio State) - The loss of Omar Hunter hurt, but the player I really wanted from this class was Etienne Sabino. He seemed like a solid Irish lean through much of the recruiting process, but ultimately I think wins and losses swayed him to tOSU.
4. If Notre Dame could only land 1 more recruit on each side the ball in this recruiting class, who would you like it to be? (Again, it should be someone we have a reasonable chance with).
Xavier Nixon - we need to continue to load up on the big uglies to build a foundation for the long-term success of the program. Although the word on the street is that we are not going to land him, I'd like to see us step up our recruiting efforts. We all know that nothing is set in stone until signing day.
Manti Te'o - although I like the young kids on the depth chart at linebacker right now, there is nothing like competition to motivate players. Te'o would be ready to play walking in the door, and would (once again) be a solid foundational player for the long term success of the program.
5. If you could take one of Notre Dame’s bowl losses since the 1994 Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M and turn it into a win, which one would it be? Why? And What if any impact do you think that win would have had on the Irish.
I have to go with the 2005/06 Fiesta Bowl. I was at the game, and we were in a position to be able to win that game late in the fourth quarter. In fact, I felt that the Irish were the more consistent football team out there on that day, and would have won if they could have held OSU's big play ability in check.
The win would have given that team the signature win it needed to propel them into the offseason, thinking about the one that got away against U$C. We had the offseason hype, and I think that the entire 2006 season is different if we win that game.
*****
So there you have it, my first foray into the Irish Blog Gathering.
I should have some time to blog this weekend, as the apartment is almost finished and I don't have any major plans like I have for the past 2 months. Maybe a little midterm report card is in order.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Keys to Victory: Wheels come off on Tobacco Road
Protect the football.
Despite dominating the game on offense, the Irish turned the ball over a whopping 5 times.
Despite that number, we still almost pulled out the victory.
Once again, I was right about the key to victory being our ability to protect the ball. Unfortunately, this young Irish squad wasn't able to protect the ball, and gave away what should have been a big road victory for the Irish.
Be patient.
For the most part, Clausen passed the test on this one, being patient with the ball and taking what the defense gave - to the tune of over 300 yards passing.
However, Jimmy's youth reared it's ugly head coming out of halftime, where Jimmy wanted to respond to the Tarheel's last minute field goal at the end of the first half. On the very first play from scrimmage, Jimmy tried to force in a throw into triple coverage, rather than throwing the ball away and living to play another down.
Result: 6 points going the other way.
It's often those mistahes that come back to haunt you, and in fact it was that score that ended up being the difference in the game, giving the Tarheels momentum and confidence to start the second half.
Win the field position battle.
Another loss in my keys to victory, the Irish gave up an average of 11 yards on field position this week, which is a full first down.
That is how, despite outgaining the opponent and largely holding their offense to field goals, they can be in the position to lose the game at the end.
*****
Despite the pain of the loss, this game was everything I expected it to be.
The loss was a growing pain for a young team, caused not by a lack of talent or because of matchup problems, but instead caused by our own freshman and sophomore mistakes.
Not to take too much from North Carolina's victory, but I don't think anyone out there thought that UNC was the better team on the field for 60 minutes.
They were opportunistic and caused some timely turnovers, which was the difference in the game. And I'm willing to give them full credit for that.
But the Irish moved the ball up and down the field at will, and this would have been a blowout by the Irish if they could have gotten out of their own way, going -5 in the turnover battle.
I can tell you that, of all of the Irish losses in the past decade, this one hurts the least. Nobody expected these Irish to go much better than 9-3 or 8-4, and that is exactly the pace they are on at the halfway point. This young team is fun to watch, and anyone on the sideline has to be sitting around in awe of the youth on this team.
Just imagine for a moment what this team will look like in two years (barring losses due to injury, leaving early for the draft, or getting passed on the depth chart):
QB Jimmy Clausen, Sr. (four year starter)
RB Armando Allen, Sr. (four year starter)
WR Golden Tate, Sr. (four year starter)
WR Michael Floyd, Jr. (three year starter)
WR Duval Kamara, Sr. (four year starter)
TE Kyle Rudolph, Jr. (three year starter)
NT Ian Williams, Sr. (four year starter)
DE Ethan Johnson, Jr. (three year starter)
LB Harrison Smith, Sr. (three year starter)
LB Brian Smith, Sr. (three year starter)
LB Kerry Neal, Sr. (three year starter)
CB Gary Gray, Sr. (three year starter)
CB Robert Blanton, Jr. (three year starter)
That's just sick.
Despite dominating the game on offense, the Irish turned the ball over a whopping 5 times.
Despite that number, we still almost pulled out the victory.
Once again, I was right about the key to victory being our ability to protect the ball. Unfortunately, this young Irish squad wasn't able to protect the ball, and gave away what should have been a big road victory for the Irish.
Be patient.
For the most part, Clausen passed the test on this one, being patient with the ball and taking what the defense gave - to the tune of over 300 yards passing.
However, Jimmy's youth reared it's ugly head coming out of halftime, where Jimmy wanted to respond to the Tarheel's last minute field goal at the end of the first half. On the very first play from scrimmage, Jimmy tried to force in a throw into triple coverage, rather than throwing the ball away and living to play another down.
Result: 6 points going the other way.
It's often those mistahes that come back to haunt you, and in fact it was that score that ended up being the difference in the game, giving the Tarheels momentum and confidence to start the second half.
Win the field position battle.
Another loss in my keys to victory, the Irish gave up an average of 11 yards on field position this week, which is a full first down.
That is how, despite outgaining the opponent and largely holding their offense to field goals, they can be in the position to lose the game at the end.
*****
Despite the pain of the loss, this game was everything I expected it to be.
The loss was a growing pain for a young team, caused not by a lack of talent or because of matchup problems, but instead caused by our own freshman and sophomore mistakes.
Not to take too much from North Carolina's victory, but I don't think anyone out there thought that UNC was the better team on the field for 60 minutes.
They were opportunistic and caused some timely turnovers, which was the difference in the game. And I'm willing to give them full credit for that.
But the Irish moved the ball up and down the field at will, and this would have been a blowout by the Irish if they could have gotten out of their own way, going -5 in the turnover battle.
I can tell you that, of all of the Irish losses in the past decade, this one hurts the least. Nobody expected these Irish to go much better than 9-3 or 8-4, and that is exactly the pace they are on at the halfway point. This young team is fun to watch, and anyone on the sideline has to be sitting around in awe of the youth on this team.
Just imagine for a moment what this team will look like in two years (barring losses due to injury, leaving early for the draft, or getting passed on the depth chart):
QB Jimmy Clausen, Sr. (four year starter)
RB Armando Allen, Sr. (four year starter)
WR Golden Tate, Sr. (four year starter)
WR Michael Floyd, Jr. (three year starter)
WR Duval Kamara, Sr. (four year starter)
TE Kyle Rudolph, Jr. (three year starter)
NT Ian Williams, Sr. (four year starter)
DE Ethan Johnson, Jr. (three year starter)
LB Harrison Smith, Sr. (three year starter)
LB Brian Smith, Sr. (three year starter)
LB Kerry Neal, Sr. (three year starter)
CB Gary Gray, Sr. (three year starter)
CB Robert Blanton, Jr. (three year starter)
That's just sick.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Keys to Victory: Winning on Tobacco Road
My personal responsibilities prevented me from blogging for the Stanford game, but I found a few spare minutes to break down the upcoming battle against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday afternoon.
Of all of the games on the schedule this year, this is the one that I think is the most intriguing matchup.
On the one hand, you've got a young team that is just learning how to win. After a disappointing year last year, this team is now sitting at 4-1 and on the cusp of the top 25 rankings. They've been injected with talent from a highly ranked freshman recruiting class. Also, they've been energized by the emergence of a speedy wide receiver named Tate, who has also shown some flashes in the return game as well as being a deep threat in the passing game. Their sophomore running back has shown some signs of explosiveness, but has been inconsistent. They've struggled to run the ball at times, but have made up for it with an opportunistic defense and a very good passing game. Their defense is spearheaded by a strong secondary, and an improving pass rush. They have some inconsistencies in the placekicking game, but have shown the ability to be explosive on offense, and consistent on defense.
And then there's the Irish.
That's right folks, the teams that will face off on the gridiron this week are mirror images of each other. Young, inexperienced, but loaded with talent and beginning to believe in themselves.
Should be a dogfight. Here are the keys to victory:
Protect the football.
North Carolina's offense has not been very consistent, and they were actually outgained last week by Connecticut.
However, UConn turned over the ball far too much, with three interceptions and three blocked punts.
Protect the ball, and we should be able to outscore the Tarheels.
Be patient.
The biggest difference between the Tarheels and the Irish are their defensive strategies. While the Irish like to blitz early and often, the Tarheels are more content to let their front four rush the passer and rely on a speedy and athletic secondary to shut down the pass.
Clausen needs to show that he can make good decisions, checking down frequently to his backs and tight ends. A couple of well placed scrambles, draws, and screens should help keep them off balance.
With enough patience, eventually the Tarheels will make a mistake, and then Jimmy can burn them deep. If he pushes too much,, too soon (especially if we get down early), that could spell trouble.
Win the field position battle.
In a game where patience and taking what the defense gives is key, we must play a sound field position game, taking advantage of our superb coverage units to contain Tate on kick and punt returns, and develop a more consistent return game of our own.
*****
Assuming the Irish play within themselves and don't make too many mistakes, we should be able to pull out a close win in this one. Start turning the ball over in our own territory or in the red zone like we did against MSU, and it could be a long day.
North Carolina is ranked for the first time since 2001, and all of the pressure is on them to live up to the ranking, especially since they are playing at home.
The Irish were never expected to be sitting at 4-1, and have nothing to lose.
I expect the Irish to come out loose and get off to a quick start before settling into an almost West-Coast style of dink-and-dunk offense.
Carolina will battle and make it close in the end.
Prediction:
Notre Dame 31
North Carolina 28
F/2OT
Of all of the games on the schedule this year, this is the one that I think is the most intriguing matchup.
On the one hand, you've got a young team that is just learning how to win. After a disappointing year last year, this team is now sitting at 4-1 and on the cusp of the top 25 rankings. They've been injected with talent from a highly ranked freshman recruiting class. Also, they've been energized by the emergence of a speedy wide receiver named Tate, who has also shown some flashes in the return game as well as being a deep threat in the passing game. Their sophomore running back has shown some signs of explosiveness, but has been inconsistent. They've struggled to run the ball at times, but have made up for it with an opportunistic defense and a very good passing game. Their defense is spearheaded by a strong secondary, and an improving pass rush. They have some inconsistencies in the placekicking game, but have shown the ability to be explosive on offense, and consistent on defense.
And then there's the Irish.
That's right folks, the teams that will face off on the gridiron this week are mirror images of each other. Young, inexperienced, but loaded with talent and beginning to believe in themselves.
Should be a dogfight. Here are the keys to victory:
Protect the football.
North Carolina's offense has not been very consistent, and they were actually outgained last week by Connecticut.
However, UConn turned over the ball far too much, with three interceptions and three blocked punts.
Protect the ball, and we should be able to outscore the Tarheels.
Be patient.
The biggest difference between the Tarheels and the Irish are their defensive strategies. While the Irish like to blitz early and often, the Tarheels are more content to let their front four rush the passer and rely on a speedy and athletic secondary to shut down the pass.
Clausen needs to show that he can make good decisions, checking down frequently to his backs and tight ends. A couple of well placed scrambles, draws, and screens should help keep them off balance.
With enough patience, eventually the Tarheels will make a mistake, and then Jimmy can burn them deep. If he pushes too much,, too soon (especially if we get down early), that could spell trouble.
Win the field position battle.
In a game where patience and taking what the defense gives is key, we must play a sound field position game, taking advantage of our superb coverage units to contain Tate on kick and punt returns, and develop a more consistent return game of our own.
*****
Assuming the Irish play within themselves and don't make too many mistakes, we should be able to pull out a close win in this one. Start turning the ball over in our own territory or in the red zone like we did against MSU, and it could be a long day.
North Carolina is ranked for the first time since 2001, and all of the pressure is on them to live up to the ranking, especially since they are playing at home.
The Irish were never expected to be sitting at 4-1, and have nothing to lose.
I expect the Irish to come out loose and get off to a quick start before settling into an almost West-Coast style of dink-and-dunk offense.
Carolina will battle and make it close in the end.
Prediction:
Notre Dame 31
North Carolina 28
F/2OT
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Breaking down the Keys to Victory: Purdue beatdown edition
Win the coverage battle on special teams.
We had the nation's best kick return team going against the nation's best kick coverage unit, and it wasn't even close. The opening kickoff got returned to the 15 by Purdue, and it didn't get much better for Purdue after that.
And lest you start touting that kick coverage is not that important, consider the fact that Notre Dame had only 3 kicks returned past the 20 yard line on Saturday, and two of those drives went for touchdowns. The other 4 kickoffs of the Irish were tackled inside the 20, and none of those drives resulted in points.
There was only one punt return by Purdue, which went a mere 9 yards.
On the flip side, Armando Allen showed some improvement in our returns, returning 4 kicks for over 100 yards, a 26.25 yard per return average. To contrast, the mighty Kory Sheets had 7 returns for only 97 yards, an average of only 13.8 yards per return.
Average starting field position: Notre Dame +8 yards
Find a tight end to utilize on offense.
Kyle Rudolph showed up in the game this week, catching 3 passes for 32 yards and 1 TD. More importantly, he finally showed some skills as a blocker, sealing off the outside for both of Armando Allen's big runs in the first drive of the 3rd quarter, including the 16 yard touchdown romp.
Dink-and-dunk our way to victory.
The Irish offense sputtered early, as the Irish tried to air it out on the first drive, with no success. Then the Irish settled down, and started to run the ball, but got bottled up at the line of scrimmage after some early success.
Then Jimmy started throwing some underneath routes, including slants and curls to Grimes and Floyd, which opened up running lanes for Armando Allen, resulting in our most successful drive of the first half, finishing with a missed field goal.
The next offensive drive, Jimmy aired it out a bit, effectively moving the ball down the field in big chunks down to the 10. A fade route to Golden finished the scoring.
When the offense really started clicking in the second half, the balanced and methodical attack mixing the run and the pass, the Irish attack had three straight scoring drives. The first featured a long pass, a screen, and three runs to move 80 yards.
The next drive epitomized the type of dink and dunk offense I anticipated. It started with an incomplete underneath route, which opened up a running lane for Armando on the nexy play. That was followed by a dump off to Armando underneath, followed by another run, then a short out route, then a run, then a WR screen, then a comeback route underneath, then another run, then a QB sneak. It was capped off by a play action pass that sucked in everyone, opening Rudolph in the back of the end zone. Using the underneath routes to set up the runs, and then using the play action to hurt them over the top.
This is, and should be, the identity of our offense.
All of those runs and underneath routes paid dividends on the final touchdown drive, when the Irish had full command of the Purdue defense, who was playing on their heels, with no idea what was to come next. They sent a cover zero blitz, and Jimmy made them pay with a long pass over the middle to Grimes.
Pressure SACK the QB.
This is the only key that the Irish didn't achieve on Saturday, and is something I would desperately like to see us improve on going forward. There was an effective pass rush, but it was not fast enough to get to Painter before he could get rid of the ball. It did force Purdue into a short yardage passing offense, but it also permitted Painter to throw for 359 yards and 2 touchdowns.
If we could have achieved this fourth key to victory, we would've won the game by 40.
All in all, I think the Irish passed the test with flying colors against Purdue, and should be gaining confidence as they head into this week's showdown with the might trees of Stanford.
We had the nation's best kick return team going against the nation's best kick coverage unit, and it wasn't even close. The opening kickoff got returned to the 15 by Purdue, and it didn't get much better for Purdue after that.
And lest you start touting that kick coverage is not that important, consider the fact that Notre Dame had only 3 kicks returned past the 20 yard line on Saturday, and two of those drives went for touchdowns. The other 4 kickoffs of the Irish were tackled inside the 20, and none of those drives resulted in points.
There was only one punt return by Purdue, which went a mere 9 yards.
On the flip side, Armando Allen showed some improvement in our returns, returning 4 kicks for over 100 yards, a 26.25 yard per return average. To contrast, the mighty Kory Sheets had 7 returns for only 97 yards, an average of only 13.8 yards per return.
Average starting field position: Notre Dame +8 yards
Find a tight end to utilize on offense.
Kyle Rudolph showed up in the game this week, catching 3 passes for 32 yards and 1 TD. More importantly, he finally showed some skills as a blocker, sealing off the outside for both of Armando Allen's big runs in the first drive of the 3rd quarter, including the 16 yard touchdown romp.
Dink-and-dunk our way to victory.
The Irish offense sputtered early, as the Irish tried to air it out on the first drive, with no success. Then the Irish settled down, and started to run the ball, but got bottled up at the line of scrimmage after some early success.
Then Jimmy started throwing some underneath routes, including slants and curls to Grimes and Floyd, which opened up running lanes for Armando Allen, resulting in our most successful drive of the first half, finishing with a missed field goal.
The next offensive drive, Jimmy aired it out a bit, effectively moving the ball down the field in big chunks down to the 10. A fade route to Golden finished the scoring.
When the offense really started clicking in the second half, the balanced and methodical attack mixing the run and the pass, the Irish attack had three straight scoring drives. The first featured a long pass, a screen, and three runs to move 80 yards.
The next drive epitomized the type of dink and dunk offense I anticipated. It started with an incomplete underneath route, which opened up a running lane for Armando on the nexy play. That was followed by a dump off to Armando underneath, followed by another run, then a short out route, then a run, then a WR screen, then a comeback route underneath, then another run, then a QB sneak. It was capped off by a play action pass that sucked in everyone, opening Rudolph in the back of the end zone. Using the underneath routes to set up the runs, and then using the play action to hurt them over the top.
This is, and should be, the identity of our offense.
All of those runs and underneath routes paid dividends on the final touchdown drive, when the Irish had full command of the Purdue defense, who was playing on their heels, with no idea what was to come next. They sent a cover zero blitz, and Jimmy made them pay with a long pass over the middle to Grimes.
This is the only key that the Irish didn't achieve on Saturday, and is something I would desperately like to see us improve on going forward. There was an effective pass rush, but it was not fast enough to get to Painter before he could get rid of the ball. It did force Purdue into a short yardage passing offense, but it also permitted Painter to throw for 359 yards and 2 touchdowns.
If we could have achieved this fourth key to victory, we would've won the game by 40.
All in all, I think the Irish passed the test with flying colors against Purdue, and should be gaining confidence as they head into this week's showdown with the might trees of Stanford.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Last minute Purdue Keys to Victory
The circus is coming to town!
Yep, it's that time of year for the baton twirlers, giant drums, and general goofiness that is Purdue football.
So, with only moments left before I start my weekend, I thought I'd share my keys to victory against the Boiler circus this weekend.
Keys are similar to MSU last week - contain Sheets and make Painter beat us. But a complete rehash would be boring, so I'm going to dig deeper.
Win the coverage battle on special teams.
Purdue has a pair of supremely talented kick returners, and we have the best gunner tandem in the country.
In a matchup of strength on strength, our ability to stop the Boilers for short returns in the kicking game will create a long field for the Boilers, which should bode well for us.
Failure here, and giving Purdue a short field, could make this a long day for the Irish.
Find a tight end to utilize on offense.
The Boilers have poor cover-linebackers, and every team they have faced this year has utilized the tight end to great effect against this defense.
However, the Irish are without Yeatman after his underage drinking arrest, and it looks like Luke Schmidt may not go due to some ongoing headaches which the training staff can't seem to figure out.
Kyle Rudolph has been hailed as a great receiving tight end, although he has been suspect in blocking (unsurprising for a true freshman). We need to utilize his speed in the passing game, and take advantage of the mismatches here.
Dink-and-dunk our way to victory.
The underneath routes should be available to the Irish receivers all day long, and Clausen needs to learn some patience in the passing game, throwing slants, screens, short outs, curls, and other underneath routes to soften the defense.
Once we have had some success in pulling the linebackers back from the line of scrimmage, we should be able to run the ball.
Then, once the safeties start cheating up against the run, there should be opportunities over the top to our deep threat, Golden Tate.
I'd particularly like to see us make some attempts to get the ball to Tate and Allen in space, where they can make something happen. A couple of jailbreak screens should do the trick.
I'll probably measure our success on this one with yards after catch.
Pressure SACK the QB.
We need to get some payoff from our attacking style of defense this week, and put Painter on his derriere this week. Play fundamental defense against Sheets, and keep him from gashing us, and focus our attention into getting to Painter once we get them into passing downs.
I want to see at least 3 sacks this game for us to rattle Painter and make the Boilers ineffective.
I want him hearing footsteps every time he touches the ball.
So there you have it, our keys to victory Saturday. I've been nothing short of prophetic thus far this season, so keep an eye on these four aspects of the game on Saturday - it will be the difference this week. Good or bad.
Yep, it's that time of year for the baton twirlers, giant drums, and general goofiness that is Purdue football.
So, with only moments left before I start my weekend, I thought I'd share my keys to victory against the Boiler circus this weekend.
Keys are similar to MSU last week - contain Sheets and make Painter beat us. But a complete rehash would be boring, so I'm going to dig deeper.
Win the coverage battle on special teams.
Purdue has a pair of supremely talented kick returners, and we have the best gunner tandem in the country.
In a matchup of strength on strength, our ability to stop the Boilers for short returns in the kicking game will create a long field for the Boilers, which should bode well for us.
Failure here, and giving Purdue a short field, could make this a long day for the Irish.
Find a tight end to utilize on offense.
The Boilers have poor cover-linebackers, and every team they have faced this year has utilized the tight end to great effect against this defense.
However, the Irish are without Yeatman after his underage drinking arrest, and it looks like Luke Schmidt may not go due to some ongoing headaches which the training staff can't seem to figure out.
Kyle Rudolph has been hailed as a great receiving tight end, although he has been suspect in blocking (unsurprising for a true freshman). We need to utilize his speed in the passing game, and take advantage of the mismatches here.
Dink-and-dunk our way to victory.
The underneath routes should be available to the Irish receivers all day long, and Clausen needs to learn some patience in the passing game, throwing slants, screens, short outs, curls, and other underneath routes to soften the defense.
Once we have had some success in pulling the linebackers back from the line of scrimmage, we should be able to run the ball.
Then, once the safeties start cheating up against the run, there should be opportunities over the top to our deep threat, Golden Tate.
I'd particularly like to see us make some attempts to get the ball to Tate and Allen in space, where they can make something happen. A couple of jailbreak screens should do the trick.
I'll probably measure our success on this one with yards after catch.
We need to get some payoff from our attacking style of defense this week, and put Painter on his derriere this week. Play fundamental defense against Sheets, and keep him from gashing us, and focus our attention into getting to Painter once we get them into passing downs.
I want to see at least 3 sacks this game for us to rattle Painter and make the Boilers ineffective.
I want him hearing footsteps every time he touches the ball.
So there you have it, our keys to victory Saturday. I've been nothing short of prophetic thus far this season, so keep an eye on these four aspects of the game on Saturday - it will be the difference this week. Good or bad.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Postgame Hangover...
I'm back in town from East Lansing, and while the fans were pretty nice, the venue sucked, the game sucked, and despite a fun post-game house party, an unfortunate incident with a tree left my face looking as bad as the Irish did on the field Saturday afternoon.
Ugh.
I was right about the keys to victory, at least.
Shut down the run.
Yes, the Spartans are a one-trick pony, but that one trick is pretty darn good.
Ringer rushed for an impressive 201 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries.
Establish the running game.
16 freaking yards. That's pathetic.
Win the field position battle.
Our average field position was the ND 29, and theirs was the MSU 32. Not a huge difference in field position, but it could have been worse. In fact, the only quarter where we won the field position battle was the 4th, which is also, coincidentally, the only time we managed to score.
This year's team is clearly better than last year's. And we have the pair of wins to prove it. But there are too many lingering problems to convince me that we'll have any kind of sustained success this year.
Until we, as a team, can effectively run the ball, we will struggle.
Ugh.
I was right about the keys to victory, at least.
Shut down the run.
Yes, the Spartans are a one-trick pony, but that one trick is pretty darn good.
Ringer rushed for an impressive 201 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries.
Establish the running game.
16 freaking yards. That's pathetic.
Win the field position battle.
Our average field position was the ND 29, and theirs was the MSU 32. Not a huge difference in field position, but it could have been worse. In fact, the only quarter where we won the field position battle was the 4th, which is also, coincidentally, the only time we managed to score.
This year's team is clearly better than last year's. And we have the pair of wins to prove it. But there are too many lingering problems to convince me that we'll have any kind of sustained success this year.
Until we, as a team, can effectively run the ball, we will struggle.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Michigan State Keys to Victory
As my new job has limited the amount of time I have to commit to blogging, I liked the way my Michigan keys to victory post went last week, so I'm going to make it a weekly installment here, replacing my perviously verbose and far-reaching posts of my student days.
So, here are my three keys to victory over the hated Spartans tomorrow, where I will be basking in the glory of yet another Irish win tomorrow early evening (Sec. 120, Row 17 Seat 13).
Shut down the run.
More so than probably any game this season, if I had to pick just one key to victory, this is it.
Michigan State this year, unlike years past, is a one-trick pony.
There is no Plaxico Burress, Devin Thomas, or Charles Rogers in the wide receiving corps. Hoyer is no Drew Stanton. And even the mighty Ringer no longer has Jehuu Caulcrick to soften up the defense.
Shut down Ringer, and down go the Spartans.
Establish the running game.
Although we are more than capable of beating the Spartans with an underperforming running game, beating them at their own game will do several things for us. (1) It will open up passing lanes for Clausen, creating the opportunity for the big plays off of play-action. (2) It will wear down the Spartan defense. (3)It will keep Ringer off of the field. (4) It will take the hostile crowd out of the game by slowing everything down.
Win the field position battle.
Arguably our best unit on the team is our special teams coverage units, and going against a running team like the Spartans, field position becomes critical. I don't expect the Spartans to cough up the ball like their Ann Arbor cousin/wife did last week, but if Bruton and Anello can work their magic and limit returns, and we can execute good enough on offense to win the field position battle, we will win this game on the backs of the explosive potential of our offense.
So there you have it, my three keys to victory. When I sober up on Monday, I'll be back to show you all how amazingly prescient and wise I am.
Until then, I'll be incommunicado, as I have to go into East Lansing, imbibe heavily, and help kick Spartie's pasty white little ass.
So, here are my three keys to victory over the hated Spartans tomorrow, where I will be basking in the glory of yet another Irish win tomorrow early evening (Sec. 120, Row 17 Seat 13).
Shut down the run.
More so than probably any game this season, if I had to pick just one key to victory, this is it.
Michigan State this year, unlike years past, is a one-trick pony.
There is no Plaxico Burress, Devin Thomas, or Charles Rogers in the wide receiving corps. Hoyer is no Drew Stanton. And even the mighty Ringer no longer has Jehuu Caulcrick to soften up the defense.
Shut down Ringer, and down go the Spartans.
Establish the running game.
Although we are more than capable of beating the Spartans with an underperforming running game, beating them at their own game will do several things for us. (1) It will open up passing lanes for Clausen, creating the opportunity for the big plays off of play-action. (2) It will wear down the Spartan defense. (3)It will keep Ringer off of the field. (4) It will take the hostile crowd out of the game by slowing everything down.
Win the field position battle.
Arguably our best unit on the team is our special teams coverage units, and going against a running team like the Spartans, field position becomes critical. I don't expect the Spartans to cough up the ball like their Ann Arbor cousin/wife did last week, but if Bruton and Anello can work their magic and limit returns, and we can execute good enough on offense to win the field position battle, we will win this game on the backs of the explosive potential of our offense.
So there you have it, my three keys to victory. When I sober up on Monday, I'll be back to show you all how amazingly prescient and wise I am.
Until then, I'll be incommunicado, as I have to go into East Lansing, imbibe heavily, and help kick Spartie's pasty white little ass.
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