savvyandsassier said:

Connor Weigman absolutely sucked. Obviously our defense had something do with that, a lot to do with it. But the idea that this plodding, thus-far underachieving, very likely to be yet another five star bust/disappointment QB was all set to shred ND apart and take his place in the pantheon of great QBs of the last thirty years, but our defense was such a towering colossus that we made him look like a shitty walk-on instead, is not accurate. It's in the same vein as the whole Anthonie Knapp is an OL of destiny thing that preceded the game.

Knapp got the nod by force of unfortunate circumstance, which happens sometimes and teams have to start a true frosh for lack of a preferred alternative and it is what it is, and it worked out tolerably enough and we got the win. And Connor Weigman just plain sucks, even though of course the defense was all over him, and shut him down, and he played like shit. Both with excellent individual play, and presumably good tactical scheming to throw him off his rhythm and whatnot. But he definitely did suck all on his own to the point where it was almost annoying, and insulting. As if to say, god damn dude, you suck. How many times are you going to miss your WRs that are being well defended, but not that well defended, and make some shitty lame throw that lands at their feet, or sails ten feet over their head?

But whatever, we got the win. And we'll be 11-0 heading into the big USC game, and maybe USC will still be nursing playoff possibilities of their own, as their defense looks much improved...

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Golson5 said:

He also played the least. And I wouldn't use PFF for ny grades. They are pretty bad at it

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HDK said:

For what it's worth, I thought Herbstreit and Fowler had lots of nice things to say about Notre Dame during the game. I also tend to think that our fans overreact and take any comment from an announcer that is not over-the-top Tony Robertsesque pro-ND as some kind of insult.

I also thought the officiating was fair. The fourth down spot looked bad to me, but they never showed the other side, which may have shown something we didn't see. Someone also posted that the refs gifted A&M with its TD but we committed two big penalties, hands to the face, which they did not show on replay, and a pretty obvious PI in the end zone, which they did.

Ultimately, I think the game came down to our QB playing a little better in difficult circumstances than their QB, who was playing in favorable circumstances. Leonard avoided disaster and seized enough opportunities presented to him to lead us to victory. Weigman, not so much.

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Drinking The Green Koolaid said:

You make an interesting point about Kelly's inability to motivate players. That has always been a weakness for him. His players seem to fear him, and I suppose they largely respect him, but I am not sure they would run through a wall for him. Watching Kelly go purple while he screamed at Dayne Crist is an image I cannot forget with Kelly. Correcting a player when he makes a mistake (even loudly) is one thing; berating them will make them tune right out. How many times did I see a player walk right past Kelly like they didn't care while Kelly was going purple on them? In Kelly's defense, he got better at that as time went on, but I am not sure he ever learned the ability to truly motivate his players. Seeing Marcus Freeman try to fire up the team as they stood in the tunnel waiting to run out onto Kyle Field offered a pretty stark difference between MF's and BK's styles. Freeman has things he needs to get better at, but there is litte doubt his players love him, respect him, and play hard for him. When the game is on the line, those things can make the difference between winning and coming up short.

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banmate6 said:

I actually think BK took responsibility and genuinely emoted about his own shortcomings. He basically admitted he can't get it done in the big one, just like we saw at ND. And at LSU he has even more means...hence maybe the deepest soul searching.

BK knows how to organize a football team. Ok but not great Xs and Os and play calling. But he can work with coaches on that stuff. He'd do ok in the NFL in my opinion...but college kids are different.

His main college coaching gap is motivating players. He can't inspire. All too often not only does he lose in big games, but loses big. We saw that so often with ND. And it wasn't just losing to Alabama, but losing big to Miami a few years ago.

Combine this with forcing a certain style and suspect game day calls. He is what he is. Time will tell if he can correct it.

My bet would say no. But you never know. I just think too little too late to change so profoundly as his age.

And yes, as we keep discussing, this is the major edge Marcus Freeman has over him. The players love him. And he knows his limitations and adjusts...just look at the coordinators on both sides of the ball right now. Playing optimally to ND strengths.

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Get Nasty said:

I’ve never seen a further/faster fall of a player. With out some legal issue or major injury.

2 years ago he’s the man, going into osu as the clear qb for nd, so good they didn’t even look at the portal despite his limited experience, potential heisman candidate

2 years later, after two transfers, one with hope of playing a different sport, he’s a signal caller for nd in their opener

Seems like a great person, things happen, but man, that’s a fast fall. Smart enough to come back for the nd degree though!

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ZibbyQuinn said:

No doubt, that rotation will stay intact. Just anticipate KVA/Ausberry to log more snaps. Sneed is a situational guy and not an every down player- in some games that will warrant more snaps, others less. Ausberry will be the better player in my opinion. Aus berry was the games highest rated defender and it was clear he knows the position at a higher level than Sneed.

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THUNDERSTRUCK111 said:

Id use him a place holder for a fake field goal. , have a play or two for him to either run or throw into the end zone. Jmo.

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