First of all I wanted to give a shout out to GT quarterback Jordan Yates. I'm not sure I've ever seen a QB take as many big hits as he did over the entire game, but he kept getting back up and was ready for the next play. I thought he was a real competitor, and definitely someone who GT should be proud of and excited about.
On to the ND QB now. His stat line has been like a broken record of late. 15 - 20 for 285 yards and 2 TD's with no picks. I think that Jack and the staff are getting every ounce of his ability out of him.
It was a big output offensively yesterday with 514 yards on only 59 plays. Rees did very well mixing things up, and adjusted to GT's all out assault up at the LOS.
The O line did another nice job of protecting Coan and opening alleys for the RB's. More importantly, they are keeping the defense on their side of the ball. At the end of the game up front from left to right we saw Gibbons, Rocco, Zeke, Dirksen and Carroll. I did watch Quinn on a few plays and he's a big cat, and even though he wasn't asked to do too much, he did things well. Here's to hoping that he can earn a spot somewhere next year.
Like everyone else I watched Audric Estime, and thought, well that's pretty good. I'm digging a backfield of Tyree, Diggs and Estime next year.
Defensively, Bo Bauer has stepped up his game. Physically and attitude wise he's always had it, but had a problem with not showing up in the right place. Maybe this defensive philosophy, and some added experience has turned things around for him. I like his aggressiveness and swagger, and I believe he'll be back next year, and will work his way into the draft. Imagine him next to Marist next year, that's a mean rangy duo to be playing on the inside. No disrespect To JD Bertrand the teams leading tackler as he'll have no doubt something to say next year.
Howard Cross and Jordan Botelho were the only D linemen to appear in the top 10 tackles made with 4 apiece. Nice to see Botelho out there, and what more can you say about Howard Cross? He's not just a situational role player, he's turned out to be a good Power 5 DT. His 2 sacks yesterday led the way.
I felt Clarence Lewis played sound physical football. Hopefully he's shed that sophomore jinx, and will come with more consistency next year.
ND was called for 3 penalties yesterday. That's 3 too many, but I'll take it.
I need to calm down a little bit about this defense. I wasn't the biggest fan early on mainly because I was use to Diaco, Elko and Lea, and this present defense had just too many breakdowns for my liking. I've chirped about having contain issues and sending the LB's too often, especially where the play wasn't, and leaving no one to scrape and make the tackle on the cut back. However, it is what it is, and as players have become more accustomed to it, the better they've performed. Defensively, whenever you can go 6 points, 3 points and a shutout, you have to be doing something right no matter the opponent.
ND will move up a couple spots today, and it's down to one last game. Go out, play hard, win and let things in front of you sort out.
On to the ND QB now. His stat line has been like a broken record of late. 15 - 20 for 285 yards and 2 TD's with no picks. I think that Jack and the staff are getting every ounce of his ability out of him.
It was a big output offensively yesterday with 514 yards on only 59 plays. Rees did very well mixing things up, and adjusted to GT's all out assault up at the LOS.
The O line did another nice job of protecting Coan and opening alleys for the RB's. More importantly, they are keeping the defense on their side of the ball. At the end of the game up front from left to right we saw Gibbons, Rocco, Zeke, Dirksen and Carroll. I did watch Quinn on a few plays and he's a big cat, and even though he wasn't asked to do too much, he did things well. Here's to hoping that he can earn a spot somewhere next year.
Like everyone else I watched Audric Estime, and thought, well that's pretty good. I'm digging a backfield of Tyree, Diggs and Estime next year.
Defensively, Bo Bauer has stepped up his game. Physically and attitude wise he's always had it, but had a problem with not showing up in the right place. Maybe this defensive philosophy, and some added experience has turned things around for him. I like his aggressiveness and swagger, and I believe he'll be back next year, and will work his way into the draft. Imagine him next to Marist next year, that's a mean rangy duo to be playing on the inside. No disrespect To JD Bertrand the teams leading tackler as he'll have no doubt something to say next year.
Howard Cross and Jordan Botelho were the only D linemen to appear in the top 10 tackles made with 4 apiece. Nice to see Botelho out there, and what more can you say about Howard Cross? He's not just a situational role player, he's turned out to be a good Power 5 DT. His 2 sacks yesterday led the way.
I felt Clarence Lewis played sound physical football. Hopefully he's shed that sophomore jinx, and will come with more consistency next year.
ND was called for 3 penalties yesterday. That's 3 too many, but I'll take it.
I need to calm down a little bit about this defense. I wasn't the biggest fan early on mainly because I was use to Diaco, Elko and Lea, and this present defense had just too many breakdowns for my liking. I've chirped about having contain issues and sending the LB's too often, especially where the play wasn't, and leaving no one to scrape and make the tackle on the cut back. However, it is what it is, and as players have become more accustomed to it, the better they've performed. Defensively, whenever you can go 6 points, 3 points and a shutout, you have to be doing something right no matter the opponent.
ND will move up a couple spots today, and it's down to one last game. Go out, play hard, win and let things in front of you sort out.
