Defense this year

[Izo]

Still sucks .no real shutdown corners .Defensive backs seemed out of position . Hard game .At times Temple had a decent ground game in first half . Fourth quarter ,just run the ball and get this game over with .
Georgia is a real test and I'm worried

 

[mirer03]

You suck.

 

[iwish]

Still sucks .no real shutdown corners .Defensive backs seemed out of position . Hard game .At times Temple had a decent ground game in first half . Fourth quarter ,just run the ball and get this game over with .
Georgia is a real test and I'm worried

You're just a real joy to be around I'm sure - amazing post.....

 

[echowaker]

Still sucks .no real shutdown corners .Defensive backs seemed out of position . Hard game .At times Temple had a decent ground game in first half . Fourth quarter ,just run the ball and get this game over with .
Georgia is a real test and I'm worried

I m guessing your glass is half empty.

 

[deadirishpoet]

Still sucks .no real shutdown corners .Defensive backs seemed out of position . Hard game .At times Temple had a decent ground game in first half . Fourth quarter ,just run the ball and get this game over with .
Georgia is a real test and I'm worried

There was definitely progress

 

[stu4don]

I think you are being a little too hard on them. We held a talented team to 16 points. We had three sacks and a turnover. Yes, we need to improve on inside runs. But we didn't let guys go all the way nor did we let receivers get behind us. Remember

A whole new defense after three years of terrible coaching.

Clear to me today on D:

Tackling is better but room for improvement.
D Hayes is a really good one.
Morgan needs to step it up.
We could really use Aholi to come up and make tackles on runs.
Martini seemed lost in space at times.
Coney needs to be on the field.
Jay Hayes played well.
Drue is a good fit at rover.

Overall, I'm optimistic but we'll have to pick it up next week vs, Georgia running game.

Go Irish. Good start.

 

[HDK]

I think you are being a little too hard on them. We held a talented team to 16 points. We had three sacks and a turnover. Yes, we need to improve on inside runs. But we didn't let guys go all the way nor did we let receivers get behind us. Remember

A whole new defense after three years of terrible coaching.

Clear to me today on D:

Tackling is better but room for improvement.
D Hayes is a really good one.
Morgan needs to step it up.
We could really use Aholi to come up and make tackles on runs.
Martini seemed lost in space at times.
Coney needs to be on the field.
Jay Hayes played well.
Drue is a good fit at rover.

Overall, I'm optimistic but we'll have to pick it up next week vs, Georgia running game.

Go Irish. Good start.

I'd like to know how talented Temple is. I thought they had pieces, but not enough to solve the puzzle.

I saw some good from our defense, but was not impressed with our defensive backs or our tackling on a lot of their between the tackle runs.

Team will certainly be better than last year, but I'm not holding out hope for any playoff run.

 

[tokilamockingbrd]

wah. They had 85 something yards and like 2.3 per carry. Yes we went through a stretch where they had success but we corrected it.

The only thing they had consistent success was screens and at times quick hitters.

 

[stu4don]

I'd like to know how talented Temple is. I thought they had pieces, but not enough to solve the puzzle.

I saw some good from our defense, but was not impressed with our defensive backs or our tackling on a lot of their between the tackle runs.

Team will certainly be better than last year, but I'm not holding out hope for any playoff run.

They can still win 9 games. Did you see their schedule? They do have USF and Navy (and Army looked pretty good.) But their QB played damn well today. I was impressed with his poise.

 

[HDK]

They can still win 9 games. Did you see their schedule? They do have USF and Navy (and Army looked pretty good.) But their QB played damn well today. I was impressed with his poise.

I thought they had a number of guys on defense who were really quick to the ball and tackled really well. Problem was they had five or six who weren't as good.

Our defense just still leaves me uneasy. I thought Temple's QB overthrew a lot of guys who were wide open.

Nice to win big and have so many big plays; but it will be a different story next week.

 

[Telx1]

Three sacks, several tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and stops on fourth and short, good one on one tackling in space. Significant improvement over last year, and lots of room and need for more. Knew that our freshmen were the two deep on the interior defense, but surprised by how much action they saw, especially Hinish. Good solid effort overall, but we'll need to see significant improvement next week, which is the case for most teams from game one to two.

 

[DieHard_Irish]

Three sacks, several tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and stops on fourth and short, good one on one tackling in space. Significant improvement over last year, and lots of room and need for more. Knew that our freshmen were the two deep on the interior defense, but surprised by how much action they saw, especially Hinish. Good solid effort overall, but we'll need to see significant improvement next week, which is the case for most teams from game one to two.

Agreed. Toughest game for a coach is game #1, biggest improvement occurs between week 1 and week 2.

 

[echowaker]

Still sucks .no real shutdown corners .Defensive backs seemed out of position . Hard game .At times Temple had a decent ground game in first half . Fourth quarter ,just run the ball and get this game over with .
Georgia is a real test and I'm worried

Temple 5 for 17 on 3rd down. That doesn't t suck.

 

[zonairish]

Temple 5 for 17 on 3rd down. That doesn't t suck.

Yea but you know they were successful 5 times

 

[HRC08]

There was a big difference on defense between last season's opener and today's game. Come on. The Irish applied constant pressure on the QB who did a real good job of getting the ball out quickly. They pinched the run inside and were gashed a few times but I'd much rather see them beat for 6 yards inside then risk giving up a big play on the outside. Though I think the secondary has a lot of work to do. Nick Watkins looked good though.

 

[IRISHJD98]

Three sacks, several tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and stops on fourth and short, good one on one tackling in space. Significant improvement over last year, and lots of room and need for more. Knew that our freshmen were the two deep on the interior defense, but surprised by how much action they saw, especially Hinish. Good solid effort overall, but we'll need to see significant improvement next week, which is the case for most teams from game one to two.

And kept Wimbush's well returned INT from becoming a TD;

Forced a three and out to start the second half.

 

[REMND]

Still sucks .no real shutdown corners .Defensive backs seemed out of position . Hard game .At times Temple had a decent ground game in first half . Fourth quarter ,just run the ball and get this game over with .
Georgia is a real test and I'm worried

Way too many positives to justify your post.

Held them to under 100 yards on the ground,

Stopped them on 12 of 19 3rd down attempts including 2 4th down ones.

Limited them to 19-35 on passing so there was some good coverage there.

Stopped them from scoring after the interception and our failed 4th down attempt.

Kept them from scoring the last points of the first half and first possession of the second.

11 TFLs.

2 sacks and forced a fumble we recovered.

Limited them to one big chunk play over 25 yds.

Limited them to 16 points. They had the ball for just shy of 34 minutes.

Good defensive effort.

 

[IRISHJD98]

Way too many positives to justify your post.


2 sacks and forced a fumble we recovered.

Not to nitpick, but we had 3 sacks.

 

[REMND]

Not to nitpick, but we had 3 sacks.

Nice. We must have just gotten nearly 30% of last years production in one game.

 

[Get Nasty]

Re-watched the game.

-Martini was awful in the first half with Missed lanes, missed tackles, over ran lanes... (coney was much better first half)
-Nyles played tentative it seemed in the first half, and allowed OLine to get on him
- Nick coleman was why they were able to get outside, guess he doesn't know hot to contain. He also was himself (not good) in coverage. Not sure how he can stay at FS much longer.
-Watkins, Drue, Coney, Both Hayes, Tillery were awesome throughout the game
- Love was solid, but not great, he was going against a good WR
- The interior Dline reserves and bonner didn't play great but didn't play bad. Martini mostly and a little Nyles made them look bad at times
-Bilal was playing in quicksand during the fist half, much faster in the 2nd half
- 2nd half the LBs improved much more.

Moving forward, Coney needs to win the position over Martini, he's just a different type player out there and a better tackler. ND is going to play two really really good RBs this weekend, and georgia will keep running the ball. Interesting to see if ND plays as much of a rotation as they did this week. I see Drue and Tillery and Jay Hayes hopefully logging a few more snaps or at least a higher %. Love needs to get some time at FS, that seems like such a natural position for him. Coleman is just not a good football player.

Much tougher test against the run and on defense this week. Big game, need to be solid against the run and win the turnover battle.

 

[echowaker]

Morgan has to be significantly better this week. He got caught up in traffic way too often against temple. Too slow to the ball. Hopefully the light has come on for Coney. The skill set has always been there. He can be a difference maker.

 

[Yooper Irishfan]

I was pretty disappointed in Morgan's play. We're going to need him to be much better this week.

Overall the defense didn't seem to have many blown assignments, and when we blitzed, there was somebody there to make the tackle on the hot reads. I set a low bar for this first game, and they passed. Need to raise the bar significantly for Georgia. I do think getting a true freshman for his first road game is a break, no matter how talented he is.

 

[NDCap]

Yes there were times when the defense looked very similar to last year but overall the defense is a 100 % better at this stage. We now have DE's that can pass rush and more quality depth up front that will only get better . I really hope Ewell improves in practice and gets into the rotation because he has size that will be needed . My concern is that the safety position may never be a strength until Allen arrives next fall. Elliot and Studstill will improve but will they ever become great players ? The corners will play much better this week. The LB core will as well. My take on RB's are the best tandem they will face but is the dawgs oline as good as Temples? New QB for them too in South Bend ? Make him beat you.Load the box and make him throw. On another note look for ND oline to make a statement saturday night that we have the best running game in the country.

 

[Islero]

Still sucks .no real shutdown corners .Defensive backs seemed out of position . Hard game .At times Temple had a decent ground game in first half . Fourth quarter ,just run the ball and get this game over with .
Georgia is a real test and I'm worried

Temple's offense had several players that are projected to be drafted. The way we handled them suggests that your criticism is way off. Yeah, Georgia will be a tougher test, but the are now coming in with a freshman QB and their receivers probably aren't as good as Temple's, and their O line isn't all that great. My advance prediction has ND winning this one 33-17.

 

[Telx1]

Morgan led the team in tackles, but disappointed in part because we have high expectations for him. A repeated observation is he let the OL get to him or got caught up in traffic, but I think much of this was due to our two freshmen getting pushed around a bit. Morgan did miss some tackles for sure, but I felt he was fending off too many bodies too often when Temple ran to right of center.

 

[NDIRISH53]

Nyles Morgan often looks like a chicken with his head cut off. Let's linemen come to him instead of delivering the boom. Wastes so much movement as well. Needs to sure up tackling. He either steps up or gets exposed vs power running Georgia