Irishblooded
Well-known member
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- 3,625
Good game Ohio St. The score reflected what I expected, that ND would lose but would cover the spread. Ironically I got wrong almost everything else.
If you would have told me that ND was going to not only hold Ohio St to 7 in the whole first half, but also head to the half in the lead I would have called you a blind homer.
The ND defense, and especially the secondary which is what cost ND the Fiesta Bowl played lights out all night. Over the whole night they were only beat a couple of times. And hats off to Ohio St. For Stroud identifying when they were out of position or made a dumb choice and he took full advantage of it. But overall I thought the secondary did a great job playing up to the level of the Ohio St offense. I said all week that Ohio St was going to get their plays, they were going to make some yards. But the goal was to stop it from getting past you. And I thought the secondary especially did an amazing job of holding all night. If there was a part of the defense I was not all impressed with, it was the LB. They had the same problem they had last year, when they got there they didn't wrap up, and allowed the play to progress or failed to stop it, or they just ran towards movement regardless of that being where the ball was. Very frustrating. Knowing the talent at LB and seeing that on the field.
The offense where I expected to see some real growth from the bowl last year, really left me frustrated. The O line coach last year just squandered talent. ND has one of the highest ranked set of recruits at O Line in the country. And dude for dude I would put ND against anyone in the country across the line. And Freeman was so upset with him he canned him before the bowl and didn't even let him work with the line in bowl prep. And hired back what is supposed to be the ND O line whisperer, in Harry Heistand. And they looked lost. Kept getting beat on some pretty basic stunts and fires. Eichenberg got into the back field more than he should have. They just looked in every series like they were a corner away from turning the corner. And that really took a ton of the wind out of my sails. I expected a lot more from the level of talent on that line. And then when it came to play calling, I know the idea was to keep the ball out of Ohio St offense hands. But at the same time, you have to stretch the field. The Ohio St LB were to the point they were practically playing on the line of scrimmage knowing that ND wasn't going to throw, or at least they weren't going to take the deep throw. The only did a couple of times, and they were more successful than not. But the play calling overall was insanely lacking. There was I think 1 RPO all night, and that was that first play and it worked! There was not a single RB screen. The only target of a screen all night was to the TE. And again, it worked! Why not use it more? The Ohio St LB played out of their minds aggressively, why not use the tactic that works against that? I just don't get it. This was the night to let it hang out, since this is the game everyone is going to be watching and expecting to see something. And instead you went super conservative played right into the Ohio St defensive scheme and just hoped that you would get a lucky break somewhere.
And then the single worst part of the whole night was the position game. ND should have just changed their mailing address to the 10 yard line. I think their best starting position of the whole night was the 25. And you can't ask the ND offense to continually have 80 and 90 yard drives all night. It just doesn't work that way against good opponents.
I am sure ND is going to reel off a series of wins now, and I expect them to be 7-1 going into the Clemson game. But this was a chance to really show that ND has the dudes to play with the best teams in the country. And I think they wasted it.
If you would have told me that ND was going to not only hold Ohio St to 7 in the whole first half, but also head to the half in the lead I would have called you a blind homer.
The ND defense, and especially the secondary which is what cost ND the Fiesta Bowl played lights out all night. Over the whole night they were only beat a couple of times. And hats off to Ohio St. For Stroud identifying when they were out of position or made a dumb choice and he took full advantage of it. But overall I thought the secondary did a great job playing up to the level of the Ohio St offense. I said all week that Ohio St was going to get their plays, they were going to make some yards. But the goal was to stop it from getting past you. And I thought the secondary especially did an amazing job of holding all night. If there was a part of the defense I was not all impressed with, it was the LB. They had the same problem they had last year, when they got there they didn't wrap up, and allowed the play to progress or failed to stop it, or they just ran towards movement regardless of that being where the ball was. Very frustrating. Knowing the talent at LB and seeing that on the field.
The offense where I expected to see some real growth from the bowl last year, really left me frustrated. The O line coach last year just squandered talent. ND has one of the highest ranked set of recruits at O Line in the country. And dude for dude I would put ND against anyone in the country across the line. And Freeman was so upset with him he canned him before the bowl and didn't even let him work with the line in bowl prep. And hired back what is supposed to be the ND O line whisperer, in Harry Heistand. And they looked lost. Kept getting beat on some pretty basic stunts and fires. Eichenberg got into the back field more than he should have. They just looked in every series like they were a corner away from turning the corner. And that really took a ton of the wind out of my sails. I expected a lot more from the level of talent on that line. And then when it came to play calling, I know the idea was to keep the ball out of Ohio St offense hands. But at the same time, you have to stretch the field. The Ohio St LB were to the point they were practically playing on the line of scrimmage knowing that ND wasn't going to throw, or at least they weren't going to take the deep throw. The only did a couple of times, and they were more successful than not. But the play calling overall was insanely lacking. There was I think 1 RPO all night, and that was that first play and it worked! There was not a single RB screen. The only target of a screen all night was to the TE. And again, it worked! Why not use it more? The Ohio St LB played out of their minds aggressively, why not use the tactic that works against that? I just don't get it. This was the night to let it hang out, since this is the game everyone is going to be watching and expecting to see something. And instead you went super conservative played right into the Ohio St defensive scheme and just hoped that you would get a lucky break somewhere.
And then the single worst part of the whole night was the position game. ND should have just changed their mailing address to the 10 yard line. I think their best starting position of the whole night was the 25. And you can't ask the ND offense to continually have 80 and 90 yard drives all night. It just doesn't work that way against good opponents.
I am sure ND is going to reel off a series of wins now, and I expect them to be 7-1 going into the Clemson game. But this was a chance to really show that ND has the dudes to play with the best teams in the country. And I think they wasted it.
