do we have to hear or read about "Notre Dame is going to have to take some shots down the field " ? Talking heads and many here having been claiming that for 14 games. ND hater Trevor Matich was bemoaning that again this morning. I swear many don't even watch the games. They just look at the numbers and draw conclusions. They've played the same all season. Protect the football, move the sticks and grind it out. The short passing game is effective when needed. Great defense and amazing the difference a healthy quality kicker makes.
How many more times...
- Thread starter echowaker
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Notre Dame passed for 90 yards, and frankly, I wonder the same thing watching the offense for 4 quarters.
That said, you gotta stay in your lane and play to your strengths.
I don't understand. The numbers aren't relevant. Winning the game matters. Who says it has to be won in a certain manner ? If they win the next two games without significant passing yards will it still be a question ?
Thing is, Faison, Greathouse, and Collins have skill sets that I believe are worthy of taking more shots down the field. It simply doesn’t happen that often, and I trust Denbrock’s opinion more than me, or anyone else for that matter.
We played just like we did vs A and M
Protect the ball , let the other team earn it
No turnovers .
The 4-1 when we drew Georgia offside Leonard did the right thing and went deep.
Protect the ball , let the other team earn it
No turnovers .
The 4-1 when we drew Georgia offside Leonard did the right thing and went deep.
What don’t you understand about the quarterback needing time to throw down field?
If the QB is under immediatepressure, he can’t make downfield throws
Have someone explain that to you?
I don’t believe that's what sjb was saying.
I kinda think he was agreeing with you, and he was correct in stating to say in the lane
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You would like the offense to set defenses up with our short passing game by calling some stop & go routes but Riley hasnt been consistant enough throwing that type of deep ball. My biggest gripe about Denbrock is the inability to design plays to get Love & Price on outside. I get keeping the d honest running between the tackles but my lord he kept slamming it up the middle way too often. Protecting the lead is fine but I felt he went way too conservative.
I wonder if the talk about our passing game is in part worrying about a scenario where our defense doesn’t hold up to the level at which it has all season. I for one did not expect the defense to play so stout yesterday.
In particular I was worried about the DL with Mills out and Cross being banged up. Man was I pleasantly surprised by the play of that group! On Oben’s strip sack I yelled out, “RJ! Where have you been buddy!?!” Such a great play.
If the defense keeps playing with this intensity, I could care less if we win games
3-0. That said, if the team ever does go down multiple scores, we may need our passing game to flourish to a level which we haven’t seen much this season.
In particular I was worried about the DL with Mills out and Cross being banged up. Man was I pleasantly surprised by the play of that group! On Oben’s strip sack I yelled out, “RJ! Where have you been buddy!?!” Such a great play.
If the defense keeps playing with this intensity, I could care less if we win games
3-0. That said, if the team ever does go down multiple scores, we may need our passing game to flourish to a level which we haven’t seen much this season.
Correct and we've been hearing that refrain here all season long. I think Denbrock has been fantastic. His utilization of motion , formation and personnel groupings has been excellent in my opinion. He understands their strengths and weaknesses. In this day and age with so much athleticism and speed on the defensive side of the ball that few if any teams run outside anymore. The " student body sweeps" that USC made famous are a thing of the past. Love and Price especially have great vision and an innate ability to bounce plays outside. Of course the defensive look predicates the call. Most of ND running plays are zone reads. I thought against Indiana there was at least 3 or 4 plays where Leonard should have kept the ball. The o line does a great job at combo blocks and getting to the second level resulting in a lot of the long runs this year.
I've been saying for weeks the defense is going to carry this team as far as it can, and the offense needs to do just enough enough to win games.
Let's be realistic. The offense scored 1 TD yesterday, and that was off a turnover deep in Georgia territory. The offense did enough to get into FG range for Jeter to get it done.
The defense is going to have to continue to play extremely well, force turnovers to give the offense higher probabilities of scoring. This offense has yet to prove it can drive the field against a good defense similar to Georgia.
well, penn state does not have the corners georgia has, and can be passed on.
Penn state also has a QB that's started maybe 30 games, stockton last night as you know was starting his first.
My point, psu will probably score upwards of 20 points, maybe more. So ND's offense has to be better than last night. Penn state will sell out to stop NDs run like georgia did, but we need to score, so throwing over the top wasn't needed last night, but very well could be needed next Thursday.
The defense was outstanding and the one TD they gave up was on a blown coverage. I've said it all year. Nothing comes easy against the ND defense. They make teams work incredibly hard and leave little margin for error.
I think Georgia may have been taken aback at how physical we were.
And vice versa. The Georgia defensive front 7 was physical and the best ND faced all season:
You have to throw it deep sporadically to keep the defense honest. Although we didn’t complete much deep last night, I do think it helped open some lanes in the running game, specifically outside the tackles.
Good post.
Another thing is we haven’t seen love and price in the backfield at the same time. Lots of creative options available with those 2 together. Would love to see us add 1-2 option plays to the offensive arsenal. I think we could really do some damage there also. Jmo.
Just win baby. Denbrock and Freeman know what they are doing. For now the game plan that they have used is good enough. They will know when to unleash the dogs. Hopefully, they will run when needed and I would be completely satisfied if they were never needed
Its the "formula". Get up, control the clock/tempo, reduce risk.......We are a run first, setup the run with the pass......just the formula.
Both of those guys are fast enough to bounce outside when the interior is jammed.
