It’s games like this that I think of the sage words of @cheta41 :
Gamecast- Not a fan of ABC/ESPN telecasts. I don’t know if anyone else had this issue but I could barely hear the announcers for much of the game. The crowd noise was drowning them out and there were only 5500 people in the stadium. The camera angles, particularly on the overhead wire cameras, were often difficult to follow the action.
Brian Kelly- It’s always good to see when he doesn’t try and out-think himself on trick plays and 2 point conversion tries. Stick to what you do best and just put points on the board. Procedural penalties drive me crazy and that’s on the HC. There was that penalty on ND’s 2nd punt for illegal formation with 5 men in the backfield. It’s the small things that need to be ironed out.
Skowronek- Huge game with 2 big catches for TDs to lead all receivers with 107 yards and 2 TDs. The catches themselves were certainly impressive, going up top and hauling them down from a place only he could get them but the most impressive part was the wheels he showed after the catch, racing to the endzone. Very Impressive. These folks pretty much say it all:
Book- He wasn’t great, but let’s hold our horses here. He certainly looked more comfortable in the pocket and he did pass for 312 yards and 3 TDs, but the stat line, 16-30, isn’t particularly impressive. However, with the exception of NC State this year, opposing QBs are at about 50% completions against the Pitt D (Narduzzi is a pretty good D coach). That also includes old friend Phil Jurkovec who was 19-35 for 358 yds (10.2 ypa ) and 3TDs against Pitt this year which is not terribly dissimilar to Book’s 16-30 for 312 yds (10.4 ypa) and 3 TDs. Phil was also sacked 6 times for a loss of 42 yards while Book picked up 40 yards on 8 carries. Book also had a higher QBR (95.5 to 81.8). If ND wants to be a serious contender for the NC the completion percentage HAS to be better. Consider a post a made 2 years ago (https://notredame.forums.rivals.com/threads/my-two-cents-qbs-moving-forward.129194/#post-2474371) All the Geek Stats you didn’t know that you didn’t want to know!
To Book’s credit, I mentioned the Skowronek catches above, but Book threw those passes to a place that only Skowronek could catch them. There’s always a fear of overthrowing to a waiting defender, but I looked at the throws several times and there was nobody behind Skowronek that had a reasonable chance to catch the ball in Skowronek didn’t. Very smart ball placement. Another throw that really stands out in my mind came in the 3rdQ when book threw across his body and across the field to McKinley who picked up 41 yards and set up a FG. It was a heck of an athletic move.
Post of the Game-
Mayer and Tremble- Men among boys. Tremble is running over everyone with seamless blocks throughout the game and Mayer has emerged as one of the most dependable receivng threats on the team.
O-Line- It was said during the game (when I could hear it) that “This offensive line is as good a 5 guys as you’ll find in college football,” and I agree. That said, I thought the o-line could have played a bit better and opened up what has been a killer ground game all year.
Geek Stat- Even with a pass-centric attack, ND dominated Time of Possession, 40:59 to 19:01. Wow!
D-Line- Great push all day and only allowed 44 yards rushing. They also opened the lanes for 3 sacks and 6 tackles for loss. One play that stands out was from the 1st Q where Hinish blew up the runner in the backfield. On the next series, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa sacked the QB, but he had his arms around the O-lineman and the QB and still managed to bring him down. That’s some strength and an impressive wingspan right there.
Secondary- Also fantastic. Pitt only had 118 yards passing and Yellen was intercepted 3 times. The Shaun Crawford Show- Perseverance and Redemption is awesome to watch. He led all tacklers on ND with 6, one for a loss. I love watching that kid go.
The Day’s Best Defensive Plays- Bauer reads Yellen perfectly and comes down with an INT in the 2ndQ then runs it back 16 yards. Much like I talked about with the Book-Skowronek connection, I thought for sure it was too high for Bauer, but he went up and grabbed it. Just a great play. A short time later, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had a perfect read on his INT. As soon as I saw that ball thrown in his direction I knew he was going to get it.
Kyle Hamilton-
The Quote- The previous comments led me to this paragraph and they all coalesce here. I wrote it down and I lost it so I may be butchering this but the commentators (I again, when I could hear them) said something to the effect of, “Looking at Clemson, Alabama, and ND, ND can play defense with any of them. In fact they might have the best defense.” That’s a real credit to Clark Lea’s scheme and BK finally building that D that he promised us when he took the job.
Special Teams- There’s been a real improvement over the past couple of years on ST. As good as the other plays that I’ve mentioned (Skowronek/Bauer/JOK) the play of the day belongs to Foskey on the blocked punt and return for a TD. Just an incredible play. Foskey again gets props for his work returning punts, picking up 31 yards on 2 returns. Even when Matt Salerno should have called for a fair catch and then gets hit hard, he still recovers well. He’s a sure handed returner.
Post-Game Post of the Game- Titled “Positive Takeaways”
It's on to GT! Have a great week!
No bitching here, but it’s amazing what happens when you can actually put the ball in the endzone consistently. Apparently, it’s worth more points on the scoreboard. A week after that dreadful offensive performance (1 TD) against Louisville, ND came out and hammered a Pitt team that some looked at as having upset potential. ND pretty much scored at will until bringing in the subs at the end of the 3rdQ. Geek Stat: Until that change at the end of the 3rd ND didn’t have a single 3 and out all day until then, and technically that happened at the start of the 4thQ. On the down side, Pitt did a good job of containing what had been an explosive run game all year, only allowing 115 yards in the ground. They did that with 12 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.
Gamecast- Not a fan of ABC/ESPN telecasts. I don’t know if anyone else had this issue but I could barely hear the announcers for much of the game. The crowd noise was drowning them out and there were only 5500 people in the stadium. The camera angles, particularly on the overhead wire cameras, were often difficult to follow the action.
Brian Kelly- It’s always good to see when he doesn’t try and out-think himself on trick plays and 2 point conversion tries. Stick to what you do best and just put points on the board. Procedural penalties drive me crazy and that’s on the HC. There was that penalty on ND’s 2nd punt for illegal formation with 5 men in the backfield. It’s the small things that need to be ironed out.
Skowronek- Huge game with 2 big catches for TDs to lead all receivers with 107 yards and 2 TDs. The catches themselves were certainly impressive, going up top and hauling them down from a place only he could get them but the most impressive part was the wheels he showed after the catch, racing to the endzone. Very Impressive. These folks pretty much say it all:
Book- He wasn’t great, but let’s hold our horses here. He certainly looked more comfortable in the pocket and he did pass for 312 yards and 3 TDs, but the stat line, 16-30, isn’t particularly impressive. However, with the exception of NC State this year, opposing QBs are at about 50% completions against the Pitt D (Narduzzi is a pretty good D coach). That also includes old friend Phil Jurkovec who was 19-35 for 358 yds (10.2 ypa ) and 3TDs against Pitt this year which is not terribly dissimilar to Book’s 16-30 for 312 yds (10.4 ypa) and 3 TDs. Phil was also sacked 6 times for a loss of 42 yards while Book picked up 40 yards on 8 carries. Book also had a higher QBR (95.5 to 81.8). If ND wants to be a serious contender for the NC the completion percentage HAS to be better. Consider a post a made 2 years ago (https://notredame.forums.rivals.com/threads/my-two-cents-qbs-moving-forward.129194/#post-2474371) All the Geek Stats you didn’t know that you didn’t want to know!
To Book’s credit, I mentioned the Skowronek catches above, but Book threw those passes to a place that only Skowronek could catch them. There’s always a fear of overthrowing to a waiting defender, but I looked at the throws several times and there was nobody behind Skowronek that had a reasonable chance to catch the ball in Skowronek didn’t. Very smart ball placement. Another throw that really stands out in my mind came in the 3rdQ when book threw across his body and across the field to McKinley who picked up 41 yards and set up a FG. It was a heck of an athletic move.
Post of the Game-
He just wins, baby.
Mayer and Tremble- Men among boys. Tremble is running over everyone with seamless blocks throughout the game and Mayer has emerged as one of the most dependable receivng threats on the team.
What they said.
O-Line- It was said during the game (when I could hear it) that “This offensive line is as good a 5 guys as you’ll find in college football,” and I agree. That said, I thought the o-line could have played a bit better and opened up what has been a killer ground game all year.
Geek Stat- Even with a pass-centric attack, ND dominated Time of Possession, 40:59 to 19:01. Wow!
D-Line- Great push all day and only allowed 44 yards rushing. They also opened the lanes for 3 sacks and 6 tackles for loss. One play that stands out was from the 1st Q where Hinish blew up the runner in the backfield. On the next series, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa sacked the QB, but he had his arms around the O-lineman and the QB and still managed to bring him down. That’s some strength and an impressive wingspan right there.
Secondary- Also fantastic. Pitt only had 118 yards passing and Yellen was intercepted 3 times. The Shaun Crawford Show- Perseverance and Redemption is awesome to watch. He led all tacklers on ND with 6, one for a loss. I love watching that kid go.
The Day’s Best Defensive Plays- Bauer reads Yellen perfectly and comes down with an INT in the 2ndQ then runs it back 16 yards. Much like I talked about with the Book-Skowronek connection, I thought for sure it was too high for Bauer, but he went up and grabbed it. Just a great play. A short time later, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had a perfect read on his INT. As soon as I saw that ball thrown in his direction I knew he was going to get it.
Kyle Hamilton-
The Quote- The previous comments led me to this paragraph and they all coalesce here. I wrote it down and I lost it so I may be butchering this but the commentators (I again, when I could hear them) said something to the effect of, “Looking at Clemson, Alabama, and ND, ND can play defense with any of them. In fact they might have the best defense.” That’s a real credit to Clark Lea’s scheme and BK finally building that D that he promised us when he took the job.
Yup.
Special Teams- There’s been a real improvement over the past couple of years on ST. As good as the other plays that I’ve mentioned (Skowronek/Bauer/JOK) the play of the day belongs to Foskey on the blocked punt and return for a TD. Just an incredible play. Foskey again gets props for his work returning punts, picking up 31 yards on 2 returns. Even when Matt Salerno should have called for a fair catch and then gets hit hard, he still recovers well. He’s a sure handed returner.
Post-Game Post of the Game- Titled “Positive Takeaways”
It's on to GT! Have a great week!
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