I know everyone has been waiting with bated breath, so here goes.
TLDR: ND wasn't ready this year, but might be next year. Book was fine. DV really struggled. Love Dex, Pride and Gilman. Where are you Kareem, Tillery and Claypool?
From great tragedy comes great triumph. I think Winston Churchill said this, or maybe Hozier, who knows. The point is that we thought it was our time, but Clemson proved resoundingly that this is most definitely its (and Bama's) era.
That's OK, because now our juniors and redshirt seniors have big motivation to return. This is our best chance to compete against the five stars. Kareem, Love, Okwara and Hayes back for another year? I'm drooling!
Game/Player Reviews:
I predicted ND to win 24-21 and Book as the MVP, so there you go. I was at the game. If you really want to understand this game, check out the "All 22" feed on WatchESPN.
I might criticize some players in an attempt to get closer to the truth of ND football. I hope that's OK.
Game Plan:
I wanted ND to attack on both offense and defense, especially the latter. They definitely did on defense. They came out firing, blitzing on several downs in the first Q. The pressure worked and forced a few errant throws from Lawrence. It was a good start.
The offensive was inconsistent, but showed some life. Dex ran for 10+ and a first down right away. Book completed one to Mack that got called back on a false start. These false starts hurt us a couple more times. Claypool missed a gimme third down catch that would have extended the drive around midfield. Book looked composed to me at the beginning, and frankly throughout the game.
I wasn't one who thought that the offense should try to be something it wasn't (e.g. play action deep passes). I wanted quick hits and getting Book in rhythm, and felt like we saw this begin in the first series and continue after Book's second series fumble. I taunted Clemson fans around me saying Book was feeling good throughout the first and second quarters.
Basically, both the defense and offense attacked Clemson in my preferred manner. I was pleased with the coaches. Execution is a different matter.
Love's Injury and Donte Vaughn:
In my preview, I was quite adamant that we had to rely on our horses on defense. Love, Gilman, Pride, Tranquill, Coney and the d-line. I was especially worried about Bilal and the nickel spot. I wanted the front seven to attack and the back-end talent to win on their islands.
This is what was happening until Love's injury. I won't rehash Clemson's obvious successes against DV, but I'll point out some of the not so apparent.
Love was out starting with 4:26 left in the first quarter (I still haven't seen where the concussion happened). This is where DV entered the game.
On DV's first play, he substantially overcommits to the RB on a read option and Lawrence sweeps around the right side for 10+ yards. We began to drop defensive ends and LBs to help DV with the pass. Okwara dropped deep to the flat on the play before DV was beat for the first TD.
With 10 minutes left in q2, Clemson runs to the right and DV is pancaked over Gilman and Tranquill, who make the tackle. He just couldn't get off blocks at all.
With 8 minutes left in q2, Clemson runs to the right again and DV is dominated so hard that he actually injures Gilman. Can't make this stuff up.
Prior to DV entering the game, our front seven pressure was working pretty well. We also had breakups from Pride and Elliott. Gilman was a heat-seeking missile.
It was a REALLY big deal when Love left.
Ian Book's Play:
Call me a library, because I am a Book lover. I hope to be fair with this analysis.
With that said, I will adamantly argue against anyone who thinks Book played poorly. I beg you, watch this game from the All 22, or just watch it again and count how many times Book has more than three ticks to find an open receiver.
Here are the bad things that Book did.
He fumbled away great field position on the second possession of the game. That's kind of a big deal, but it was also 0-0 and we held them to a field goal.
I don't think that this counts, but I'll include it. He missed Armstrong on a 3rd and 3 at the beginning of the second Q. Nevermind that he was only looking for three yards, waited for either of Finke or Claypool to get some sort of separation, and would have had to turn his neck 90 degrees, throw off his back foot, and hit Armstrong on a deep route that Armstrong wasn't even supposed to run (his was a shallow crossing route that he improvised deep).
Book doesn't have the arm to make that throw. It's a valid criticism from that perspective.
He missed Boykin on a 3rd and 2 early in the second Q. Bad miss for him.
He missed Boykin deep on the first drive of the third Q. If he leads him, it's a TD. Probably should have been a PI, but we got a generous PI call earlier in the game, so I'll call it even.
He probably panicked a bit by sliding right and leaving the pocket early on the third down of the first drive of the third Q. He was sacked.
He threw the bad pick on the second drive of the third Q. Remember, he did this with five minutes left in the third Q, down 20 points, knowing they had to make some kind of play.
So a fumble, a pick forcing things down 20, a missed slant, a slight pocket panic, and a missed deep throw.
Here are the good things that Book did.
He never had the "deer in the headlights" look that we have seen from so many ND QBs in MUCH less pressure-packed games.
There were just TWO 3 and outs all game, and one of those came with 3 minutes left in the game (the other was the Boykin slant route miss).
He was a remarkably effective runner. He dove for more than one 3rd down conversion through a crowd. Book might be just as effective at running as Wimbush.
He completed a lot of passes. Seven different receivers caught passes. He never hit the deep ball but there were several nice throws, both over the middle and to the sideline. He also forced a couple of PIs.
I don't think it is correct to say Book was "off." Maybe he wasn't "on" but he also wasn't off.
So look, I'm not going to argue with anyone who says we need an elite QB to win championships, and that Book isn't elite. Point absolutely taken.
But no one thought that he was elite before the game. No one was counting on him to hit a deep ball off the back foot to Armstrong. Yet many of us, including me, predicted us to win. So why now is it all on Book, when he basically performed how all of would have predicted?
There's a small chance that Book can improve his arm in the next 8 months. We'll see.
TLDR: ND wasn't ready this year, but might be next year. Book was fine. DV really struggled. Love Dex, Pride and Gilman. Where are you Kareem, Tillery and Claypool?
From great tragedy comes great triumph. I think Winston Churchill said this, or maybe Hozier, who knows. The point is that we thought it was our time, but Clemson proved resoundingly that this is most definitely its (and Bama's) era.
That's OK, because now our juniors and redshirt seniors have big motivation to return. This is our best chance to compete against the five stars. Kareem, Love, Okwara and Hayes back for another year? I'm drooling!
Game/Player Reviews:
I predicted ND to win 24-21 and Book as the MVP, so there you go. I was at the game. If you really want to understand this game, check out the "All 22" feed on WatchESPN.
I might criticize some players in an attempt to get closer to the truth of ND football. I hope that's OK.
Game Plan:
I wanted ND to attack on both offense and defense, especially the latter. They definitely did on defense. They came out firing, blitzing on several downs in the first Q. The pressure worked and forced a few errant throws from Lawrence. It was a good start.
The offensive was inconsistent, but showed some life. Dex ran for 10+ and a first down right away. Book completed one to Mack that got called back on a false start. These false starts hurt us a couple more times. Claypool missed a gimme third down catch that would have extended the drive around midfield. Book looked composed to me at the beginning, and frankly throughout the game.
I wasn't one who thought that the offense should try to be something it wasn't (e.g. play action deep passes). I wanted quick hits and getting Book in rhythm, and felt like we saw this begin in the first series and continue after Book's second series fumble. I taunted Clemson fans around me saying Book was feeling good throughout the first and second quarters.
Basically, both the defense and offense attacked Clemson in my preferred manner. I was pleased with the coaches. Execution is a different matter.
Love's Injury and Donte Vaughn:
In my preview, I was quite adamant that we had to rely on our horses on defense. Love, Gilman, Pride, Tranquill, Coney and the d-line. I was especially worried about Bilal and the nickel spot. I wanted the front seven to attack and the back-end talent to win on their islands.
This is what was happening until Love's injury. I won't rehash Clemson's obvious successes against DV, but I'll point out some of the not so apparent.
Love was out starting with 4:26 left in the first quarter (I still haven't seen where the concussion happened). This is where DV entered the game.
On DV's first play, he substantially overcommits to the RB on a read option and Lawrence sweeps around the right side for 10+ yards. We began to drop defensive ends and LBs to help DV with the pass. Okwara dropped deep to the flat on the play before DV was beat for the first TD.
With 10 minutes left in q2, Clemson runs to the right and DV is pancaked over Gilman and Tranquill, who make the tackle. He just couldn't get off blocks at all.
With 8 minutes left in q2, Clemson runs to the right again and DV is dominated so hard that he actually injures Gilman. Can't make this stuff up.
Prior to DV entering the game, our front seven pressure was working pretty well. We also had breakups from Pride and Elliott. Gilman was a heat-seeking missile.
It was a REALLY big deal when Love left.
Ian Book's Play:
Call me a library, because I am a Book lover. I hope to be fair with this analysis.
With that said, I will adamantly argue against anyone who thinks Book played poorly. I beg you, watch this game from the All 22, or just watch it again and count how many times Book has more than three ticks to find an open receiver.
Here are the bad things that Book did.
He fumbled away great field position on the second possession of the game. That's kind of a big deal, but it was also 0-0 and we held them to a field goal.
I don't think that this counts, but I'll include it. He missed Armstrong on a 3rd and 3 at the beginning of the second Q. Nevermind that he was only looking for three yards, waited for either of Finke or Claypool to get some sort of separation, and would have had to turn his neck 90 degrees, throw off his back foot, and hit Armstrong on a deep route that Armstrong wasn't even supposed to run (his was a shallow crossing route that he improvised deep).
Book doesn't have the arm to make that throw. It's a valid criticism from that perspective.
He missed Boykin on a 3rd and 2 early in the second Q. Bad miss for him.
He missed Boykin deep on the first drive of the third Q. If he leads him, it's a TD. Probably should have been a PI, but we got a generous PI call earlier in the game, so I'll call it even.
He probably panicked a bit by sliding right and leaving the pocket early on the third down of the first drive of the third Q. He was sacked.
He threw the bad pick on the second drive of the third Q. Remember, he did this with five minutes left in the third Q, down 20 points, knowing they had to make some kind of play.
So a fumble, a pick forcing things down 20, a missed slant, a slight pocket panic, and a missed deep throw.
Here are the good things that Book did.
He never had the "deer in the headlights" look that we have seen from so many ND QBs in MUCH less pressure-packed games.
There were just TWO 3 and outs all game, and one of those came with 3 minutes left in the game (the other was the Boykin slant route miss).
He was a remarkably effective runner. He dove for more than one 3rd down conversion through a crowd. Book might be just as effective at running as Wimbush.
He completed a lot of passes. Seven different receivers caught passes. He never hit the deep ball but there were several nice throws, both over the middle and to the sideline. He also forced a couple of PIs.
I don't think it is correct to say Book was "off." Maybe he wasn't "on" but he also wasn't off.
So look, I'm not going to argue with anyone who says we need an elite QB to win championships, and that Book isn't elite. Point absolutely taken.
But no one thought that he was elite before the game. No one was counting on him to hit a deep ball off the back foot to Armstrong. Yet many of us, including me, predicted us to win. So why now is it all on Book, when he basically performed how all of would have predicted?
There's a small chance that Book can improve his arm in the next 8 months. We'll see.
