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Ski...you sounded downright post loss Bodiesque. Here’s my perspective on the last three games that have reignited the fire Kelly bandwagon. We played Wake Forest exceptionally well to take a commanding lead, and then we played prevent like defense to keep everything in front of the defensive backfield, and we got complacent and sloppy, and they shredded us. Some alarm bells went off. We came out aggressive against Miami and Wimbush made some excellent throws and the team was moving the ball until a missed TD opportunity and dropped third down pass stopped us. Then lightening struck with turnovers and momentum moved 100% to Miami and we looked powerless on offense and pathetic on defense. It was a shitstorm that we did not handle as a team or coaches, but these happen to every team on occasion. The problem is these seem to happen way too often when ND is on the big stage with Kelly at the helm. The ND faithful needed and wanted the Navy game to be a feel good game that would put the second half of the WF game and the Miami game behind us, but it didn’t. It was a hard fought close game that we could have lost in the closing minute, and we didn’t dominate like fans desperately wanted. But put into perspective, the defense actually played one hell of a game against the nations number one rushing offense, held them way below their average For points scored, yards rushing, yards per rush, etc... and just about any meaningful metric you can think of. On the other side of the ball, our offense looked sluggish. Wimbush was inconsistent and inaccurate, but our receivers were wide open all game; and once Wimbush settled down and got into rhythm, we moved the ball and scored readily. There was nothing wrong with the game plan, just early execution.
Now, we are on to Stanford; a team on an upward trajectory that is very dangerous if Love plays. They will load the box and dare ND to throw, and Wimbush will need to calm down and be accurate from the outset. We cannot be a one dimensional running offense and expect to win. I hope we pound the shit out of them with a punishing running game with multiple runners seeing action, but we need Wimbush to throw often enough and accurate enough to make them defend the pass. We also need to see Wimbush run on designed plays up the middle and scramble on broken pass plays enough to cause them headaches all night.
Wimbush is absolutely critical to this team’s success, and he has been a huge part of our nine wins, and a huge part of our two losses. Don’t give up on this kid! He has immense talent and an incredible upside. Right now he is pressing and thinking too much instead of trusting the process and allowing his muscle memory to take over. He needs early success against Stanford, and a good win, and then five weeks to rest and then prepare for a major bowl. If that happens, Come January, I expect we’ll all be talking excitedly about what we expect from him next season. But to get there, we need air cover for the Stanford game, and clear skies are forecast for clarity from 50000 ft, and we need a steely eyed squadron commander who has each players back, to lead us. Are you that man? I believe you are!
