ND vs Mich Game Day Thread:

[poewelch84]

He had 1 turnover that was truly his fault. The final INT was just unfortunate.

Blaming Tommy for the game is ridiculous.

He have 1 turnover and some of you are giving him more blame than the defense

Tommy shouldn't have made that throw, he had more downs to get a better look so yes you can blame him for throwing into traffic where crap like that can happen.

 

[poewelch84]

His Two INT's cost Notre Dame a TD, and gave Michigan great field position which resulted in a TD. Now with how the Defense played they may have given up that TD anyway.

 

[bksballer89]

His Two INT's cost Notre Dame a TD, and gave Michigan great field position which resulted in a TD. Now with how the Defense played they may have given up that TD anyway.

How was the 2nd INT his fault. It was a well thrown ball that should've been caught then it hit the defenders knee which led to the INT. When you have a half decent QB like Rees throwing the ball 50 times, you have to expect 1 or 2 Ints from him.

 

[bksballer89]

The defense looked like crap tonight. The only time they looked good is when we were down 14. Soon as the O made it a 1 possession game they looked awful. It would be nice to have some corners who can actually cover their man when they're put in 1 on 1 situations

 

[poewelch84]

He forced the ball, when he didn't need to which is why it was his fault, Kelly's reaction on the sidelines showed he felt the same. The corners did play like crap, the whole secondary didn't play great. The defense needs to play better for sure and were more the reason they lost than how Rees played overall but his turnovers always find a way of biting Notre Dame huge.

 

[craigk217]

I put this game on the crap defense who let Gardner do pretty much anything he wanted to and on the shabby play calling by abandoning the run in the 4th quarter (when it was actually being effective) and BK going pass-happy as usual. I dont put this loss on Rees ... the defense was just God-awful and, like I feared all week long, Gardner was going to have his way with us.

Yes, Tommy threw 2 INTs, but he was not the reason this game was lost. Our D could not contain a mobile, athletic QB and couldnt cover for crap tonite ... there's where the main fault lies.

 

[poewelch84]

Craig, Tommy's two INTs cost Notre Dame potentially 7 points and gave Michigan great field position that resulted in 7 points and they lost by 11, so they were huge turnovers. He wasn't the only reason the defense played a big part, they did score 30 points but Tommy's timing with his turnovers are a real killer.

 

[eric5577x]

I put this game on the crap defense who let Gardner do pretty much anything he wanted to and on the shabby play calling by abandoning the run in the 4th quarter (when it was actually being effective) and BK going pass-happy as usual. I dont put this loss on Rees ... the defense was just God-awful and, like I feared all week long, Gardner was going to have his way with us.

Yes, Tommy threw 2 INTs, but he was not the reason this game was lost. Our D could not contain a mobile, athletic QB and couldnt cover for crap tonite ... there's where the main fault lies.

Gardner killed us!! I blame this on Diaco..he should have had some one spying him once we could not stop him. He either ran for a 1st or scrambled and threw for the 1st..We should have someone spying on him!

 

[idseer]

gotta disagree with those saying this wasn't on tommy at all. at best i will say he wasn't the ONLY guilty party but he certainly turned what could have been at least a 4 point mich lead (and perhaps a tie) into a 14 point lead all by himself. that's vintage tommy right there. there wasn't anything that caused that play other than tommy playing like a 2nd string high school q-back. i have to admit he looked better than i thought he would till then but in the end he proved he's the same guy i've watched the past 3 years.

 

[poewelch84]

gotta disagree with those saying this wasn't on tommy at all. at best i will say he wasn't the ONLY guilty party but he certainly turned what could have been at least a 4 point mich lead (and perhaps a tie) into a 14 point lead all by himself. that's vintage tommy right there. there wasn't anything that caused that play other than tommy playing like a 2nd string high school q-back. i have to admit he looked better than i thought he would till then but in the end he proved he's the same guy i've watched the past 3 years.

This is exactly how I feel, Diaco deserves the most blame, then the secondary, then the rest of the defense for making Gardner look like the Heisman winner, Rees and then the pass happy play calling but they were at a point where they had to throw the ball because of the hole they were in.

 

[KnuteRoc]

Craig, Tommy's two INTs cost Notre Dame potentially 7 points and gave Michigan great field position that resulted in 7 points and they lost by 11, so they were huge turnovers. He wasn't the only reason the defense played a big part, they did score 30 points but Tommy's timing with his turnovers are a real killer.

The problem is this: who put Tommy in that position? Kelly did. Why did we have to pass every down to open the 4th only down 7? We had momentum and balance going on Offense. I saw three straight 1st downs on which we passed and got incompletions in one of those early 4th Qtr series, setting up 2nd and long when it's very arguable that we'd have been in a 2nd and 5 or so had we RAN the damn ball.

Rees threw 53 times and we ran it 19 times. Michigan passed 33 times and ran 39. That's on Kelly as far as I'm concerned, there was no reason not to run the ball and put the pressure on them to FORCE a second and long rather than putting ourselves in that position with incompletions on first downs. That 'choice' early on in the 4th put Tommy in that position later. Of course his INT didn't help things, but the point is that he may not have been in that position had Kelly kept better balance. The 2nd INT was moot, it was desperation time, even had he not thrown that pick and we'd scored, we still needed another defensive stop and a TD to win, whereas earlier in the 4th we were down 7 and passed our way right out of a series that could've tied the game and made it completely different down the stretch.

 

[themuzzer]

Let's not forget the free pick 6 Gardner threw up. (Somehow that was enititled or earned)


I'm sorry admin, just had too do it. I will head back to where I belong. Just stopped by to pay micro a visit.

 

[eric5577x]

We also have to remember that BK did not start calling the plays until late in the 3rd. We looked much better when he did.

 

[purguy12]

well on to the next game. This defense sucks

 

[poewelch84]

Let's not forget the free pick 6 Gardner threw up. (Somehow that was enititled or earned)


I'm sorry admin, just had too do it. I will head back to where I belong. Just stopped by to pay micro a visit.

It was about like the two turnovers Tommy had except Gardner had even more pressure i.e. Collinsworth about to sack him in the EndZone. Both were earned especially the way Tuitt laid out for the ball, that is earning it, but neither QB should have made those throws.

 

[purguy12]

Rees stinks I hate watching him play. Cant wait until he is gone. Overall i agree that the D stinks and B Kelly took back the Offense in the 4th and he did a bad job calling plays. Diaco better do something about this D.

 

[poewelch84]

The problem is this: who put Tommy in that position? Kelly did. Why did we have to pass every down to open the 4th only down 7? We had momentum and balance going on Offense. I saw three straight 1st downs on which we passed and got incompletions in one of those early 4th Qtr series, setting up 2nd and long when it's very arguable that we'd have been in a 2nd and 5 or so had we RAN the damn ball.

Rees threw 53 times and we ran it 19 times. Michigan passed 33 times and ran 39. That's on Kelly as far as I'm concerned, there was no reason not to run the ball and put the pressure on them to FORCE a second and long rather than putting ourselves in that position with incompletions on first downs. That 'choice' early on in the 4th put Tommy in that position later. Of course his INT didn't help things, but the point is that he may not have been in that position had Kelly kept better balance. The 2nd INT was moot, it was desperation time, even had he not thrown that pick and we'd scored, we still needed another defensive stop and a TD to win, whereas earlier in the 4th we were down 7 and passed our way right out of a series that could've tied the game and made it completely different down the stretch.

Kelly isn't to blame for Rees trying to force a ball a the end of the half, or him trying to force a ball in early down and distance to a well covered receiver, that is Tommy being the Tommy he's always been, maybe he'll cut down on those plays but given enough time in a game he always reverts back to the same old thing.

 

[purguy12]

Im still shocked at those to P calls. I just watched the game again(well 2nd half) and they were one of the worst calls I have seen in awhile. Damn the refs were calling a good game up till that point.

Tommy Turnover is back and our D stinks. I do agree with the pass happy offense. We dont have a QB like that. Rees isnt Clausen where you can throw the ball that many times.

Loss falls on: 1. Defense, 2. Rees 3. Diaco 4. Kelly

 

[poewelch84]

I agree with that order, although you probably could put Diaco in front of Rees if you wanted to, more like a 2A and 2B.

 

[craigk217]

This is exactly how I feel, Diaco deserves the most blame, then the secondary, then the rest of the defense for making Gardner look like the Heisman winner, Rees and then the pass happy play calling but they were at a point where they had to throw the ball because of the hole they were in.

Like when it was 34-30 and we were running the ball effectively? But noooo ... BK wants to put the game on Tommy's shoulder and let him chuck it when he coulda been handing the ball off to Carlisle or GAIII who were chewing up yards on the GROUND. That's where I have always questioned BK's play calling ... time and time again, he seems to "panic" and feels he needs to abandoned the run for some reason.

This team was avergaing 5.1 yards per rush (to Mich's 4.3 with a mobile QB) and BK only ran 19 running plays!!!! Yes ... only 19 freakin running plays. To me, that's just rotten play calling when you have to put the game on Tommy's shoulders by calling 53 passing plays or however it worked out ... 53 passing attempts? Really? Everytime ND got close, the D just let Michigan do whatever they wanted. When we needed a 3 and out, the D seemed to fail by letting Gardner get 1st downs, mainly with his arm, truthfully. Bottom line ... Carlisle/GAIII & Co should have gotten more opporutnities to run the ball and TRY to wear out Michigan's fresh defense that trotted onto the field everytime we got the ball back. Their D was fresh every series while ours' were gassed due to being out there nearly 10 more mins than Michigan's.

This was a game where the lack of KLM, Teo and Motta's leadership was sorely missed. I honestly wished Diaco would have dialed up a few more disguised blitzes to either confuse Gardner or just to plain get in his face some more. I definitely agree with putting a "spy" on him. They shoulda know that by the end of the first half ... we're gonna need to spy this dude alot more, if not constantly. Gardner and Gallon tore us a new one ... they pretty much did whatever they wanted to, whenever they wanted to.

As much as this loss absolutely sux and really stings, it doesn't surprise me. I was fearful all week long with this Gardner kid after watching the Mich/CMU game. I tell ya another team we better be marking on our calendar to try to stop is BYU. Man oh man, they have BEASTS in their running game that just chewed up Texas (yes, I watched that game and BYU is scary good on the ground).