i think we r taking away too much from this game

[bbirish73]

offense and defense were unaggressive all game. Looked to me the game plan was to play everyone and see what we got. 7 people caught a least 1 pass and 5 people ran the ball at least 2 times. 11 true freshmen played in the game. 2 kickers tried kicking field goals. This game was an audition for players and is why the game plan on both sides of the ball was keeping it simple. we would have seen something different if played a ranked opponent.


Only real concern I have special teams. I cant believe that in 4 years this hasn't been addresses. Hire a damn good special teams coach. Ron Zook is out of football and was a great special teams coach (just a shitty head coach). Just an idea. I'm sure there is plenty of other names out there.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

The lack of a quality kicker/punter is baffling to me. It's the one part of the game that terrifies. How do you not land a solid player at those positions? You're Notre Dame.

It was the first game of the year so I"m not too concerned with the things that went wrong and prefer to look at what we did right. I think we've improved at most finesse positions on offense, the line looked pretty solid. Secondary is a bit concerning but overall, I agree it's tough to take a whole lot away from this game.

 

[idseer]

offense and defense were unaggressive all game. Looked to me the game plan was to play everyone and see what we got. 7 people caught a least 1 pass and 5 people ran the ball at least 2 times. 11 true freshmen played in the game. 2 kickers tried kicking field goals. This game was an audition for players and is why the game plan on both sides of the ball was keeping it simple. we would have seen something different if played a ranked opponent. ...............

i really do hope you are correct and that we were on cruise. otherwise michigan will take advantage of all those things temple could not.

ok, so the dream continues one more week. then we find out what we're really made of.

 

[whywork2]

From past experience I think it's impossible to judge a team after one game against a weaker opponent. We played a lot of guys and a lot of freshman played. Every coach handles things differently. I have no doubt Michigan is a very talented team. I think we'll have a hard time in Ann Arbor. I see it being a dogfight. I choose to make my judgements after that game, since it's in my opinion our biggest game of the year looking at the schedule. Call me crazy but I have thought for a long time this tells us where we are really at. The way I view it is the Temple game meant nothing and the Michigan game means everything when it comes to having another stellar season. I still think the Irish can have a good season even if they lose but to me this one sets the tone. I had us with three losses going into the season. Time will tell. I like the Michigan QB, he has a lot of athleticism. The linebackers have to play a stellar game, it will be important getting pressure on Gardner and covering the backs out of the backfield. That's where my biggest concern is. Just one thing more, make a fricken kick.

 

[Lillyliverd]

BK has a history of not having the Irish very well prepared early in the season. Also, the Irish have been terribly flat at home for a majority of games since BK has been at the helm. Hopefully this Irish team will also play better on the road as last year's team played.

I have resigned myself to accept that BK just doesn't give a shit about special teams or he doesn't have a clue. The pathetic performance by the defense was my greatest concern. I hope the Irish were holding back, otherwise it may be a very disappointing season.

GO IRISH!

 

[jjc2009]

Maybe last season raised the bar on my expectations for this team but the mantra after Alabama last year was we needed to get tougher physically to compete with that level of opponent. With that expectation in mind those types of defenses are supposed to maul your opponent and destroy their will. Bend but don't break doesn't work at that level. And when we did bend but don't break last year we could count on the defensive front to make epic goal line stands against power running opponents. This year in the same situation TEMPLE pushed their way into the end zone. I can buy the offense letting off to not give Mich too many looks but the defense should have been more dominant than it was. Even though its hard to gauge after a week one game my instinct tells me the defense will regress where I think 8-4 is more likely than 9-3.

 

[Lillyliverd]

We will know a great deal more about the Irish after the Michigan game. The team I saw in the first game would struggle to win 6.

 

[purguy12]

Overall we won and that is all I care about. We blew them out with a simple game plan. Why show things for Mich just so you can put up 45 on Temple. Screw that. BK did the right thing.

 

[ChicagoIrish]

Overall we won and that is all I care about. We blew them out with a simple game plan. Why show things for Mich just so you can put up 45 on Temple. Screw that. BK did the right thing.

Thank God someone else feels the same way.

 

[craigk217]

Overall we won and that is all I care about. We blew them out with a simple game plan. Why show things for Mich just so you can put up 45 on Temple. Screw that. BK did the right thing.

Blew them out??? Who did we blow out .... 28-6 is a blow out??? LMAOOOO
Did ND cover the spread??? Why dont u google the term blow-out then come back here and explain.

 

[purguy12]

it was a blow out. 22 pts is a blow out. I don't know what you are talking about

Here is the definition of Blow out-"an easy victory in a sporting contest or an election"

28 to 6 was a easy win. Thanks for playing craig but you got served. LOL JK

 

[Lillyliverd]

Even if the score was a blow out, the fact is that ND gave up 25 first downs. Temple was ranked 121 out of 124 teams last year for total offense. The Owls averaged 322 ypg in 2012 and ND gave up 362 yards. Maybe Temple is good this year.

I'm sure we didn't want to show our playbook, but how do you explain lack of physical intensity at the line of scrimmage?

 

[purguy12]

I think Oline did great, Dline I agree didn't play well. I posted that I was a little shocked by how they played. I know if any one caught what Kelly said but he kind of hinted that the D and O didn't show a lot. He mention that he wanted to keep the ball in front of the defenders and not attack too much hence why they only rushed 3 a lot of the time.

Overall we can go back and forth but yards isn't everything. That is like saying Bama is overrated because they only put up 195 yards on offense. Some teams went out and just went crazy and some teams didn't show much.

I think this week will show us what kind of ND team we will have this year.

 

[Lillyliverd]

I am happy with the win but not so much with the defensive effort and special teams. I understand that BK was likely holding back the players with a conservative game plan. It looked like the defense was playing prevent and that would explain why Temple got the yards. It may be true that the defense was ordered to play conservative and that was why they looked flat.

I think bbirish may be right and I took too much from the game. I was expecting a fired up and dominating defense, but I saw a weak offense move the ball and get one 1st down after another against our D. It was frustrating, but the coaches know what is best and the most important thing was the win. The Michigan game will be the real deal and after that game we will have a better understanding of this team.
GO IRISH!

 

[purguy12]

I agree with you on your last post. This week is big.