Had to DVR the game and watch it late, but I've now seen it in full and watched a condensed version of it a 2nd time.
Here are some opinions I came away with.
First off, Syracuse is a horrible team. I'm willing to bet that there are top tier high schools in Texas and Florida that could put up 30 points on that team. Regardless, it's a win ND desperately needed for their confidence. Forget their resume at this point. This is a week-to-week venture and this week there is reason to smile for the team.
I'll start with the positives...
1. The defense was vanilla as hell. AND YES, THAT'S A POSITIVE. I've been on here ranting for 3 weeks about simplifying the defense so that college players, especially the number of freshman ND is playing on their backend can simply go out and play. The net positive of doing this will be realized over time. Yes ND gave up 33 points today, but with this offense, that's ok. Build on that each week, add very little extra to the scheme each week and watch the young guys get better-and-better. Slowly, 33 will become 30, then 27, etc, etc... As ND's offense grows, it should be capable of putting up damn near 40 points every week. You do the math...
2. ND played a ton of personnel. This is a really good thing. You can talk all you want about giving guys an opportunity to compete in practice, but if it doesn't carry over to them having an opportunity to play in games, their compete level drops pretty quickly, not too mention, you don't develop any depth. Did Asmar Bilal, Donte Vaughn, Jay Hayes, Daelin Hayes, etc, etc play great games today? No they did not. But now they're engaged because they know that if they practice hard, they're going to play. ND needs to get its best athletes on the field. It is the job of the coaches to make sure that the scheme is one that the best athletes are capable of executing.
3. Kizer showed better patience throwing underneath today. Deshone needs to keep getting better at this and understanding that Adams and Williams are often wide open on check downs when Notre Dame runs its vertical concepts. Kizer isn't perfect, but he's a damn good college quarterback. I'll talk about some improvements that he needs to make in my "negatives" section, but learning to be patient and throw underneath is his next serious evolution. If he could be even 75% of what Jimmy Clausen was relative to his patience and understanding when to take the easy checkdown, this offense would be almost unstoppable at times. It's not as if they're going to be 4-5 yards catches either. There are times when the RB is so wide open that they could the ball, turn, and crawl for 10 yards. Adams, in particular, is a weapon in the passing game. Each week, Kizer has to find a way to check down to him if the defense wants to turn and run with ND's vertical threats, and put a spy on Kizer to keep him the pocket.
4. The wide receivers continue to grow. What St. Brown is doing week-to-week is fairly obvious and continues to be impressive, but as a coach, I'm much happier with the group as a whole. It's the little things, like blocking, running other guys open breaking routes off where I see the most improvement. Syracuse has an abysmal secondary, but it was nice to see lots of guys play and Boykin, Holmes and Stepherson make big catches to compliment the starting trio. Speaking of EQ St. Brown, he reminds me of Michael Crabtree. an inch or two taller, but watching them out there run vertical routes in the spread, they're very similar college players.
5. ND made some field goals. That has to help Justin Yoon's confidence after a slow start. Great to see a couple balls go through the uprights today.
6. Dexter Williams is clearly one of the 3 or 4 best athletes on this team and I get that he probably isn't trusted in every situation yet, but his role needs to increase each week. He's that type of RB that may go for 0, 1, 0, 2, 60... Those guys are rare, and sometimes they make fans impatient, but you need to find him 6-10 touches a week, because on couple of those, he's going to make this team better.
Negatives
1. The right side of ND's offensive line is really average. I know that McGovern is battling through an ankle injury right now, so I'll be less harsh on him, but Alex Bars straight up struggles with speed rushers off the edge. It's always been my opinion that Bars is better suited to play guard, and this season has done nothing but solidify that feeling for me. ND may not have a better option at RT this year, but if I'm Hiestand in the spring, I'm letting Kraemer and Eichenberg battle it out for the RT job, sliding bars inside to RG and and making McGovern my 6th man... Now, all that could go out the window if the left side declares for the draft, but I'm working on the premise that they'll be back.
2. Why ND can't bring Tyler Luatua into the game inside the 5 yard line as an H-back, line up in pistol and run the ball down undersized defenses throats for touchdowns, is beyond me. Actually, it's not, because it's something you have to practice and, yes, toughness and attitude can be taught. Remember ND's game plan for LSU in the bowl game? They simply kicked the Tigers ass up and down the field. They did so by preparing tough, scheming tough and playing tough. There is no excuse why with an offensive line the size of ND's, an H-back like Luatua, and a quality inside runner like Tarean Folston, why ND needs to run Jet Sweep, Wrap and Outside Zone on the goaline... Especially on back-to-back plays. Against Syracuse it may not cost you... Against many of the teams on the schedule, it will. Wedge block the damn thing, have Luatua meet the first man in the hole, and tell Folston that if he wants to play, this is his role.
3. So the tight ends caught a couple of passes today... Yay... CJ Sanders, at 5'8, 175lbs is legitimately a better blocker than our 6'5, 240lb TE's. IMO, this is a coaching thing. I've made it pretty clear that I am not ND's TE coach and the development he gets out his players. Really hoping Kelly makes a change their in the off season, especially with Jeff Quinn sitting up in the box as an analyst. Notre Dame will presumably have one of the nation's most talented TE's back next year if his academics are in order and at the same time, are bringing in two of the 3 best TE's in America in the 2016 class... They need someone that can develop them into real dual-threats. It will help the ND run game out considerably.
4. ND's defensive line simply play too high. I know that at 6'5 and 6'7 it's hard for Jones and Tillery to get low, but man have I been displeased with that coaching hire and what he's getting out of his players. Now, I'm not saying that the players aren't to blame as well, because they need to win a damn leverage battle from time-to-time, but I can't imagine that they are so thoroughly let off the hook regarding their pad level... Then again, both Jones and Tillery had the makings of All American OL coming out of high school, defensive line has always been a position of extensive learning for both of them.
5. Killer instinct still among this group. No, I'm not delusional enough to think that this team would develop it over the course of one week, but Kelly's teams have not had it since Manti Te'o graduated and quit willing this team to wins. Players graduate. You cannot rely on them to instil that sense or urgency and pride on the team. That's a top down mentality, and BK's teams (for the most part) have been mentally fragile... This will be a work in progress throughout the season and TBD for next year.
Here are some opinions I came away with.
First off, Syracuse is a horrible team. I'm willing to bet that there are top tier high schools in Texas and Florida that could put up 30 points on that team. Regardless, it's a win ND desperately needed for their confidence. Forget their resume at this point. This is a week-to-week venture and this week there is reason to smile for the team.
I'll start with the positives...
1. The defense was vanilla as hell. AND YES, THAT'S A POSITIVE. I've been on here ranting for 3 weeks about simplifying the defense so that college players, especially the number of freshman ND is playing on their backend can simply go out and play. The net positive of doing this will be realized over time. Yes ND gave up 33 points today, but with this offense, that's ok. Build on that each week, add very little extra to the scheme each week and watch the young guys get better-and-better. Slowly, 33 will become 30, then 27, etc, etc... As ND's offense grows, it should be capable of putting up damn near 40 points every week. You do the math...
2. ND played a ton of personnel. This is a really good thing. You can talk all you want about giving guys an opportunity to compete in practice, but if it doesn't carry over to them having an opportunity to play in games, their compete level drops pretty quickly, not too mention, you don't develop any depth. Did Asmar Bilal, Donte Vaughn, Jay Hayes, Daelin Hayes, etc, etc play great games today? No they did not. But now they're engaged because they know that if they practice hard, they're going to play. ND needs to get its best athletes on the field. It is the job of the coaches to make sure that the scheme is one that the best athletes are capable of executing.
3. Kizer showed better patience throwing underneath today. Deshone needs to keep getting better at this and understanding that Adams and Williams are often wide open on check downs when Notre Dame runs its vertical concepts. Kizer isn't perfect, but he's a damn good college quarterback. I'll talk about some improvements that he needs to make in my "negatives" section, but learning to be patient and throw underneath is his next serious evolution. If he could be even 75% of what Jimmy Clausen was relative to his patience and understanding when to take the easy checkdown, this offense would be almost unstoppable at times. It's not as if they're going to be 4-5 yards catches either. There are times when the RB is so wide open that they could the ball, turn, and crawl for 10 yards. Adams, in particular, is a weapon in the passing game. Each week, Kizer has to find a way to check down to him if the defense wants to turn and run with ND's vertical threats, and put a spy on Kizer to keep him the pocket.
4. The wide receivers continue to grow. What St. Brown is doing week-to-week is fairly obvious and continues to be impressive, but as a coach, I'm much happier with the group as a whole. It's the little things, like blocking, running other guys open breaking routes off where I see the most improvement. Syracuse has an abysmal secondary, but it was nice to see lots of guys play and Boykin, Holmes and Stepherson make big catches to compliment the starting trio. Speaking of EQ St. Brown, he reminds me of Michael Crabtree. an inch or two taller, but watching them out there run vertical routes in the spread, they're very similar college players.
5. ND made some field goals. That has to help Justin Yoon's confidence after a slow start. Great to see a couple balls go through the uprights today.
6. Dexter Williams is clearly one of the 3 or 4 best athletes on this team and I get that he probably isn't trusted in every situation yet, but his role needs to increase each week. He's that type of RB that may go for 0, 1, 0, 2, 60... Those guys are rare, and sometimes they make fans impatient, but you need to find him 6-10 touches a week, because on couple of those, he's going to make this team better.
Negatives
1. The right side of ND's offensive line is really average. I know that McGovern is battling through an ankle injury right now, so I'll be less harsh on him, but Alex Bars straight up struggles with speed rushers off the edge. It's always been my opinion that Bars is better suited to play guard, and this season has done nothing but solidify that feeling for me. ND may not have a better option at RT this year, but if I'm Hiestand in the spring, I'm letting Kraemer and Eichenberg battle it out for the RT job, sliding bars inside to RG and and making McGovern my 6th man... Now, all that could go out the window if the left side declares for the draft, but I'm working on the premise that they'll be back.
2. Why ND can't bring Tyler Luatua into the game inside the 5 yard line as an H-back, line up in pistol and run the ball down undersized defenses throats for touchdowns, is beyond me. Actually, it's not, because it's something you have to practice and, yes, toughness and attitude can be taught. Remember ND's game plan for LSU in the bowl game? They simply kicked the Tigers ass up and down the field. They did so by preparing tough, scheming tough and playing tough. There is no excuse why with an offensive line the size of ND's, an H-back like Luatua, and a quality inside runner like Tarean Folston, why ND needs to run Jet Sweep, Wrap and Outside Zone on the goaline... Especially on back-to-back plays. Against Syracuse it may not cost you... Against many of the teams on the schedule, it will. Wedge block the damn thing, have Luatua meet the first man in the hole, and tell Folston that if he wants to play, this is his role.
3. So the tight ends caught a couple of passes today... Yay... CJ Sanders, at 5'8, 175lbs is legitimately a better blocker than our 6'5, 240lb TE's. IMO, this is a coaching thing. I've made it pretty clear that I am not ND's TE coach and the development he gets out his players. Really hoping Kelly makes a change their in the off season, especially with Jeff Quinn sitting up in the box as an analyst. Notre Dame will presumably have one of the nation's most talented TE's back next year if his academics are in order and at the same time, are bringing in two of the 3 best TE's in America in the 2016 class... They need someone that can develop them into real dual-threats. It will help the ND run game out considerably.
4. ND's defensive line simply play too high. I know that at 6'5 and 6'7 it's hard for Jones and Tillery to get low, but man have I been displeased with that coaching hire and what he's getting out of his players. Now, I'm not saying that the players aren't to blame as well, because they need to win a damn leverage battle from time-to-time, but I can't imagine that they are so thoroughly let off the hook regarding their pad level... Then again, both Jones and Tillery had the makings of All American OL coming out of high school, defensive line has always been a position of extensive learning for both of them.
5. Killer instinct still among this group. No, I'm not delusional enough to think that this team would develop it over the course of one week, but Kelly's teams have not had it since Manti Te'o graduated and quit willing this team to wins. Players graduate. You cannot rely on them to instil that sense or urgency and pride on the team. That's a top down mentality, and BK's teams (for the most part) have been mentally fragile... This will be a work in progress throughout the season and TBD for next year.
