ND vs LSU Music City Bowl:

[purguy12]

Talk about a nice bowl to go to when we had a season like this. We get to play LSU. Its nice to play the SEC. The last couple times we got blown out and I see the same here. We are too young and too injured to keep up with them. I hope we see Malik as the starter to see what he can do when the score is 0-0. A win here with Malik and we got out new starter for next year.

Lets go Irish

Prediction: ND 17 LSU 38

I don't see this being close. I hope I am wrong because I want a win here. A win here would look nice with recruits.

 

[craigk217]

Haha ... sad as it sounds, I've already made it clear on the main board that LSU wins by 3 TDs.


Those beasts they have at RB (Fournette & Hilliard) are gonna have a field day against this decimated & inexperienced defense. I do not know if we'll get Day or anybody else back for this game - don't think it'll matter much. Just sux that we'll all have to hear about another SEC team giving us another proverbial beatdown ... that's what I hate the most!

 

[purguy12]

Haha ... sad as it sounds, I've already made it clear on the main board that LSU wins by 3 TDs.


Those beasts they have at RB (Fournette & Hilliard) are gonna have a field day against this decimated & inexperienced defense. I do not know if we'll get Day or anybody else back for this game - don't think it'll matter much. Just sux that we'll all have to hear about another SEC team giving us another proverbial beatdown ... that's what I hate the most!

Yes that is the bad part. I don't think we belong in this bowl but whatever. If Malik starts I will enjoy the game.

 

[Irish7478]

I don't think LSU is that good. They are 5-4 versus teams not named Sam Houston, La. Monroe, and New Mexico State. And in those 9 games they were out scored 181-190. Which doesn't mean that we can't figure out a way to lose to them, but indicates that they aren't a great team. Hopefully we can cut down on the turnovers, and some of our injured defensive players back.

 

[Lillyliverd]

I think BK has lost this team. I think we will see a rusty team that just doesn't give a shit anymore. Hope I am wrong and I am wrong about a lot of stuff, but the team that showed up at USC just didn't have any fight and if they can't get up for USC I don't see them getting up for LSU. I would give BK low marks for how he has prepared the Irish for bowl games. I think this game will get ugly early.

 

[Lillyliverd]

LSU is probably at least as good as Northwestern.

 

[bbirish73]

terrible matchup for Notre Dame. they need to play a team like Illinois if they want to even sniff a victory

 

[purguy12]

Its going to be tough to win this game. I don't think the players are done with Kelly I really think injuries took a toll. When healthy we were 6-0 and then lost to FSU who is in the playoffs in a close game that we won if refs didn't screw up.

I do think kelly needs to game plan better and put our players in better position to succeed.

 

[poewelch84]

Win this game, they won't win this game.

 

[purguy12]

Win this game, they won't win this game.

I don't think they win. A win would be Big.

 

[KnuteRoc]

Can't believe the Admin accepted this bowl. Here, have a free win on us... hope they got something reciprocal in writing.

 

[Irish7478]

LSU is probably at least as good as Northwestern.

It's close, they played one common opponent, Wisconsin. LSU beat Wisconsin by 4 points, and Northwestern beat Wisconsin by 6 points. I think we win.

 

[socaljim242]

Its going to be tough to win this game. I don't think the players are done with Kelly I really think injuries took a toll. When healthy we were 6-0 and then lost to FSU who is in the playoffs in a close game that we won if refs didn't screw up.

I do think kelly needs to game plan better and put our players in better position to succeed.

You played these teams in your first six. Only Stanford had a pulse out of all of them and none were road games.

Rice - 7-5
Michigan- 5-7
Purdue - 3-9
Syracuse- 3-9
Stanford- 7-5
North Carolina- 6-6

I saw all the USC vrs ND games during the Weis years. They got beat bad a few times but I never felt they quit. This ND squad layed down after the first Quarter this year. LSU is going to run and test the will of the ND defense (at least thats what a smart coach would do). If you guys hold your own for the first half that might give your guys a boost. BK needs this game even more than your players I think.

 

[Lillyliverd]

It's close, they played one common opponent, Wisconsin. LSU beat Wisconsin by 4 points, and Northwestern beat Wisconsin by 6 points. I think we win.

Sagarin has LSU at 11, while Northwestern is at 65.

If things don't change, and the same teams shows up for the bowl game that showed up for USC, ND will be embarrassed.

 

[jjc2009]

It's close, they played one common opponent, Wisconsin. LSU beat Wisconsin by 4 points, and Northwestern beat Wisconsin by 6 points. I think we win.

This is a meaningless comparison. Transitive property really doesn't translate in college football, yet people do it all the time. The real reason this is a mis-match is that our defense, especially at DT and MLB, are decimated. LSU is going to run all over us and there won't be much we can do to stop it. I think we'll get Day back, but he may not be 100%, but no Jarron Jones and no reliable backup at DT will be problematic. And if Kelly gets down even one score, he'll revert back to air raid and LSU has enough atheletic talent on defense to disrupt the offensive game plan. We cannot reciprocate imposing our will on the OL.

About the only thing we can hope for is an off day for LSU, and hope that our guys do a lot of growing up in the next couple of weeks.

Honestly, nobody's gonna give a shit that we played a quality SEC team if said SEC team embarasses us. That will just be one more nail in the institutional coffin of this program. The negative impact on recruiting in the south will be further solidified. Note the number of commits from the big time guys coming out of the banquet. 0. Finishing 0-4 down the stretch and losing 5 of 6 sends a pretty clear message, especially in year 5 of a program.

 

[purguy12]

You played these teams in your first six. Only Stanford had a pulse out of all of them and none were road games.

Rice - 7-5
Michigan- 5-7
Purdue - 3-9
Syracuse- 3-9
Stanford- 7-5
North Carolina- 6-6

I saw all the USC vrs ND games during the Weis years. They got beat bad a few times but I never felt they quit. This ND squad layed down after the first Quarter this year. LSU is going to run and test the will of the ND defense (at least thats what a smart coach would do). If you guys hold your own for the first half that might give your guys a boost. BK needs this game even more than your players I think.

U are forgetting that was the last time we were healthy. after starting 6-0 we then lost a lot of starters. FSU game was the start of injuries and we still (won that game damn refs). After that game it all fell apart.

 

[socaljim242]

U are forgetting that was the last time we were healthy. after starting 6-0 we then lost a lot of starters. FSU game was the start of injuries and we still (won that game damn refs). After that game it all fell apart.

Your season ended up this way because your QB gave other teams multiple opportunities. How often is it said the team that wins the turn over battle will win? The soft early schedule masked your issues the harder later schedule where your road games were exposed them. You guys knew your offence was going to have to carry your team. I don't know if poor coaching decisions or injuries or development was the issue probably a combo of all three. You played a USC team with three true freshmen on the O line a true freshman WR a true freshman CB, sophomore starters all over the place and 45 scholarship players suited up. That's just one starter and one sub for every position. That my friend is playing short handed.you guys keep trying to hangyour hat on pplaying FSU tough but so did pretty much every team on their schedule. Your defense couldn'tstop Winston in the second half.

 

[poewelch84]

Your season ended up this way because your QB gave other teams multiple opportunities. How often is it said the team that wins the turn over battle will win? The soft early schedule masked your issues the harder later schedule where your road games were exposed them. You guys knew your offence was going to have to carry your team. I don't know if poor coaching decisions or injuries or development was the issue probably a combo of all three. You played a USC team with three true freshmen on the O line a true freshman WR a true freshman CB, sophomore starters all over the place and 45 scholarship players suited up. That's just one starter and one sub for every position. That my friend is playing short handed.you guys keep trying to hangyour hat on pplaying FSU tough but so did pretty much every team on their schedule. Your defense couldn'tstop Winston in the second half.

Socal by the time they played USC they had a bunch of true freshman starting on the defense that hadn't started much during the season so injuries did play a huge part in the game, maybe not the overall outcome but at the end of the day your teams freshman had been playing a lot more than the guys lined up for Notre Dame.

 

[purguy12]

Socal by the time they played USC they had a bunch of true freshman starting on the defense that hadn't started much during the season so injuries did play a huge part in the game, maybe not the overall outcome but at the end of the day your teams freshman had been playing a lot more than the guys lined up for Notre Dame.

100% agree. When you have what 15 Frosh playing for you that isn't a good thing.

 

[socaljim242]

Socal by the time they played USC they had a bunch of true freshman starting on the defense that hadn't started much during the season so injuries did play a huge part in the game, maybe not the overall outcome but at the end of the day your teams freshman had been playing a lot more than the guys lined up for Notre Dame.

So isn't depth part of what makes a team good? And a good team with no depth isn't that good a team for the entire season. You had a walk on running your defense. Doesn't that mean somewhere down the line your coaches either didnt recruit enough players for that unit or they missed on their picks or they didnt coach up what they had? Everyone has injuries and some get more than others. You cant say if every one was healthy then we'd be good because no one is totally healthy. I imagine Northwestern wasn't totally healthy when they played the Irish and I am pretty sure none of their players are supposed to be as good as your players. You had a not so great D line when you started and a not so good secondary ( you gotta admit if austin collingsworth is one of your best you're not that good there). Once injuries happened the drop of to the second guys was huge. You were a middle of the road team this year , obviously not as bad as the team that played USC but no were near top ten no matter that you won your first six games. You had one decent opponent and it was at home. Louisville played FSU tough , Oklahoma State played them tough, NC state played them tough, Miami played them tough, BC played them tough , Florida played them tough. But in all those games they came back and won just like they did with the Irish. . None of those teams turned out any good. The good thing is your young guys got playing time which should help you next couple of years.