First of all, Cincinnati was who I thought they were. A good team, but very beatable.
I don't want to make this into a QB thread, but I feel that I have to mention it. I like to stick with a player, hell I did with Joe Schmidt until I had enough and it was time to pull the plug. At the end of the first half yesterday I was ready for a change, and it wasn't for Buchner, it was for Pyne. Maybe Coan would have worked last year with a better O line, but the offense this year needs someone that can move the pocket and is a threat to run the ball. Why not Buchner? Well, when he's inserted into the game it's like telling the defense, guess what? We're going to run the ball, and that's what we do. I feel that Pyne gives us someone that can throw it and run it, and the best chance to win. His stats weren't eye popping, but give the guy a chance to prepare as the starter and get starter's reps during the week. Let's play 1 QB.
The O line is what they are. Give them a chance to get better, and Pyne gives them that chance because of his mobility and his threat to run the ball that the defense has to respect. I get a kick out of people saying they lack good technique - are you really watching this during the game? On one play, Zeke got bull rushed by a D lineman and pushed into the backfield and it was all about coaching and technique. Let me ask you, did Aaron Banks receive different coaching at LG last year that was different from what Zeke is getting? Of course not. Banks was 325lbs, and a good player. I don't think Zeke is 300lbs dripping wet with his pads on.
I'm no genius, but by saying that ND needs to take advantage of the big plays that are right there, they need to take advantage of the big plays that are right there. The drop by Austin was critical, but you can't just blame it on 1 play. ND had 7 penalties, and they all came at bad times. The timing of the 3 turnovers were incredibly bad as well. You start at your own 25, drive the length of the field, convert a huge 4th down play to Mayer, and you come up empty. Buchners pick set Cincy up at the 25 yard line, and Tyree's fumble set them up with a very short field. Blame the staff all you want, but c'mon man, this falls on the players, and if ND plays a clean game they win.
Give credit to Freeman's defense. Good offenses are going to score, but the D was put into bad situations, and still came up with holding Cincy to 24 points and 2-11 on third downs.
What really bothers me? First on the hit parade would be Isaiah Foskey, and the way they use him. If you noticed, and this wasn't all the time, but they had Foskey inside and a LB lined up outside the OT on passing downs. They would run a twist with the 2 of them, and Foskey who couldn't get a good angle at the QB, and had no momentum was a non factor. I saw him at times in the middle of the defense lined up like a MLB and they sent him after the QB from there. Maybe I need this explained to me, but ND had a huge mismatch with him against their OT's but didn't capitalize on it. Foskey ended up with 1 sack and 1 hurry.
JD Bertrand is a good player, but he was left in single coverage against a receiver who is pretty good, and was coming off clean from the LOS, and Ridder made them pay for it. JD is an inside LB, let's find a better matchup.
The other thing that bothers me is the vanilla run game. I would love to see some guys pulling, and some mis-direction, but we get a heavy dose of the inside and outside zone plays.
We don't need to fire the entire staff, and we don't need to bench every player, and the recruits at the game aren't going to not consider ND because they lost.
ND needs to keep tweaking things - that's on the staff, but it needs to start doing things like taking advantage of the opportunities, and it needs to take care of the ball. This rests firmly on the players.
It's on to VT for a tough one, and then it's time to take a week off.
I don't want to make this into a QB thread, but I feel that I have to mention it. I like to stick with a player, hell I did with Joe Schmidt until I had enough and it was time to pull the plug. At the end of the first half yesterday I was ready for a change, and it wasn't for Buchner, it was for Pyne. Maybe Coan would have worked last year with a better O line, but the offense this year needs someone that can move the pocket and is a threat to run the ball. Why not Buchner? Well, when he's inserted into the game it's like telling the defense, guess what? We're going to run the ball, and that's what we do. I feel that Pyne gives us someone that can throw it and run it, and the best chance to win. His stats weren't eye popping, but give the guy a chance to prepare as the starter and get starter's reps during the week. Let's play 1 QB.
The O line is what they are. Give them a chance to get better, and Pyne gives them that chance because of his mobility and his threat to run the ball that the defense has to respect. I get a kick out of people saying they lack good technique - are you really watching this during the game? On one play, Zeke got bull rushed by a D lineman and pushed into the backfield and it was all about coaching and technique. Let me ask you, did Aaron Banks receive different coaching at LG last year that was different from what Zeke is getting? Of course not. Banks was 325lbs, and a good player. I don't think Zeke is 300lbs dripping wet with his pads on.
I'm no genius, but by saying that ND needs to take advantage of the big plays that are right there, they need to take advantage of the big plays that are right there. The drop by Austin was critical, but you can't just blame it on 1 play. ND had 7 penalties, and they all came at bad times. The timing of the 3 turnovers were incredibly bad as well. You start at your own 25, drive the length of the field, convert a huge 4th down play to Mayer, and you come up empty. Buchners pick set Cincy up at the 25 yard line, and Tyree's fumble set them up with a very short field. Blame the staff all you want, but c'mon man, this falls on the players, and if ND plays a clean game they win.
Give credit to Freeman's defense. Good offenses are going to score, but the D was put into bad situations, and still came up with holding Cincy to 24 points and 2-11 on third downs.
What really bothers me? First on the hit parade would be Isaiah Foskey, and the way they use him. If you noticed, and this wasn't all the time, but they had Foskey inside and a LB lined up outside the OT on passing downs. They would run a twist with the 2 of them, and Foskey who couldn't get a good angle at the QB, and had no momentum was a non factor. I saw him at times in the middle of the defense lined up like a MLB and they sent him after the QB from there. Maybe I need this explained to me, but ND had a huge mismatch with him against their OT's but didn't capitalize on it. Foskey ended up with 1 sack and 1 hurry.
JD Bertrand is a good player, but he was left in single coverage against a receiver who is pretty good, and was coming off clean from the LOS, and Ridder made them pay for it. JD is an inside LB, let's find a better matchup.
The other thing that bothers me is the vanilla run game. I would love to see some guys pulling, and some mis-direction, but we get a heavy dose of the inside and outside zone plays.
We don't need to fire the entire staff, and we don't need to bench every player, and the recruits at the game aren't going to not consider ND because they lost.
ND needs to keep tweaking things - that's on the staff, but it needs to start doing things like taking advantage of the opportunities, and it needs to take care of the ball. This rests firmly on the players.
It's on to VT for a tough one, and then it's time to take a week off.
