Oh what could have been if we had those 4 tonight. Damn!
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Mills, Traore, Botelho, Morrison
- Thread starter Shakin' Down the Thunder
- Start date
It was amazing we got as far as we did with all the injuries to the DL and OL.
No shame at all; we nearly took it down to the wire; did not give up when we were down so much. This is what has been missing for Notre Dame since Lou; a team that does not give up when its seriously down in the second half. Marcus Freeman is THE MAN.
No shame at all; we nearly took it down to the wire; did not give up when we were down so much. This is what has been missing for Notre Dame since Lou; a team that does not give up when its seriously down in the second half. Marcus Freeman is THE MAN.
Dude. Completely forgot about Morrison.
Here's the thing. If Morrison is out there, Moore doesn't become the star that he is.
There are guys on the bench who should have been developed and played. It is unfortunate for the injuries but along the D line there are bigger guys on the bench. We couldn't get to Howard because Rylie Mills didn't play and Cross and Hinish are too small. Yes with Traore and Bothelo we probably win but they knew it all year long and didn't bother developing the younger guys because our schedule was so damn easy. Got bit in the ass in the end.
The difference tonight was giving up so many damn runs to Will Howard. Killed us, couldn't get off the field
So you think our younger bigger guys would have been better pass rushers? Like who, Sevillano? He's more of a run plugger. The only guy that maybe could have tried was Mukam
Mills Cross and Onye were our best interior pass rushers. 2 were out and the other one was hurt
Tough to overcome. I wonder how OSUs DL would have held up if they lost Sawyer and Tui and 2 of their interiors
He played really well running and throwing. He was 17/22 and was barely touched behind the LOS
You are entitled to your opinion. The other guys should have been developed and inserted into other games at times. Cross and Hinish did nothing and Rubio was the only guy on the line with a similar size to their D. How can you be a 4 star player be in a program for 2 years and never see the field at a depleted position. I don't really care anymore. This was our chance to win it all and we didn't.
He had a QBR of 99.1. Basically had a perfect game. Even when he was pressured he responded perfectly. So aggravating to watch.
That was part of the difference. We lost game by ineffective offense on series 2 n 3
The most completions to start a game and national championship games
He was 17 for 21 for 81% CP
HE HAD A GREAT NIGHT
Second-guessing is always easy, but I wonder if we should’ve mixed it up, disguising some Zones
F Will Howard. That was a good college performance. They game planned well, and he out-RLed RL, with the safe easy stuff. That guy won't do shit in the NFL. But they got the win tonight, so I guess he gets to thank Jesus and all that.
Have to agree with you there. I saw plenty of games where we were up big in the 4th quarter and mills ,cross were still in the game. I was saying the same thing. Play the younger guys like sevillano.
Like what are you doing? Get them outta there. Don’t take risks like that. It’s a long season
For what it's worth, I've read that OSU paid Howard $100,00 LESS than ND paid Leonard.
So are you saying ND would have won if they had Howard instead? I think while Howard did play better than Leonard last night. Leonard isn't the reason ND lost.
I'm by no means GOING THAT FAR as who knows that if Howard had played for ND that it would have even made it to the NC game. That's a long road of WHAT-IF'S. But yes, Howard DID PLAY BETTER last night -- not only passing better but also running more effectively, albeit for a VARIETY OF REASONS.
But in fairness, I've always wondered either IF or WHY DIDN'T ND go after Howard, the MORE COMPLETE QB? A pass-first guy who can OBVIOUSLY RUN. And while he's NO JAYDEN DANIELS, Denbrock would clearly have been able to craft a more DOWNFIELD OFFENSE around him.
As it was -- and I'm not knocking Leonard, Denbrock Freeman or ND -- the team's offense this year had a somewhat SCHOOLYARD feel to it, anchored as it was by the need WHEN ALL ELSE FAILED to run Leonard. I mean, who was the GO-TO RUNNER last night? Leonard. And, yes, that worked all year, but only up until ND played a BETTER TEAM, part of whose superiority came from its more dangerous LONG-RANGE, QUICK-STRIKE weapons.
Do you know if ND had any interest in Howard or how any of that went? Frankly, from what I've seen in the playoffs, I wouldn't have had a problem with him at ND. And with Denbrock as his coach, WHO KNOWS?
Again, no knock on Leonard or ND and the year it had. Nor am I crying in my beer that we went after the WRONG GUY. I'm just curious given how it ALL PLAYED OUT.
Maybe the second half is evidence we could’ve won a shootout had we not screwed up those drives.
But I really can’t put much blame on the offense when the defense gives up 28 points in 4 possessions. This is a football team predicated on its defense. Now I understand the injuries so I’m not that mad about it. It is what it is.
Better than ND did. Our backups are hinish, junior, and oben played a lot. Those 3 alone would never sniff the two deep or field at OSU in the last 30 years.
The long run to start second half, I think it's hinish that just gets pancaked at the LOS with a 1-1 block, that just can't happen. Bowen over ran play like he does a lot and was what caused a 5 yd gain to go 70, but hinish started the issue.
NDs dline gap between the starters and reserves is WAYYYYY to big, and why we struggled last two games and i'm concerned going into 2025 with our interior dline and maybe end based on health.
I know probably as much as you when it comes to recruiting. For all we know ND did try to recruit Howard, but early on he let it be known he was going to OSU is my guess. I thank Leonard for his efforts. Great season.
And I'm really hoping one of Angeli, Minchey, Carr is going to give ND elite QB play. Something ND hasn't had in a long time and desperately needs it as I don't think ND is ever going to have 20 5 star guys on the roster.
no, thats what happens when you have talented starters and really no talent at the reserve spots. The gap between the 4 injured dl (including cross) and our backups was huge. Cross was playing most of the last 2 games on one leg because an undersized DT one one leg is better than our backups. That's a problem
If we didn't have talented backups, we wouldn't have played for the NC beating 3 top 10 teams in a row
When you lose 4 DL for the year, you are going to struggle.
