After having a good night’s sleep and reflecting on the game, I think we all need to take a deep breath and appreciate what we have in ND football right now. Yes, we lost the game, a game we legitimately should have won. But stop and think about that. At any point in the BK era did we really have the better team in these kinds of matchups? Hell no. We didn’t match up athletically and he coached not to lose. The only big game won during the BK era was the OU game on the road. Now, in just the 2nd year of Freeman, we EXPECTED to win this game and we matched up much better athletically. His first recruiting class had a really high blue chip ratio, and Greathouse, Flores, Love are all playing big minutes in key roles. VERY different from BK. Hartman is here, and he points directly to Freeman as a big part of choosing ND over Alabama and others. We don’t win that sweepstakes under Kelly. We have two top 10 QBs in upcoming classes in CJ Carr and Deuce Knight, and we kept CJ after Tommy Rees left for Bama because of the relationship with Freeman and others.
We’re better than we have been in a LONG time offensively, defensively, on the recruiting trail, and the results on the field are showing it too. BK loses this game by 21 easy. Remember all of those big games? Remember the disappointment and the athletic difference, particularly at WR and DB? Wasn’t there last night and OSU has studs on both sides. We were man for man with them and there wasn’t a skill/talent gap. The recruiting classes are ramping up (although I still worry about the DL).
We WILL win games like this moving forward. The coaching staff will clean up their mistakes (and they were epic mistakes) which is something I like about Freeman. The players will learn from this about finishing, just like they learned not to overlook opponents last year after what happened with Marshall and Stanford. I like our chances against USC especially after watching USC-ASU last night after the ND game. We will play more disciplined moving forward, and these guys don’t make the same mistakes twice.
It’s all still to play for this year - we can still make the playoff despite this loss. For the first time in a big game in a LONG time we were the superior team. We lost by and inch at the last second DESPITE making all of those mistakes. Eliminate any one (int drops, too soft coverages at end, 10 men on the last two plays, etc) and we win easily. Kick the damn field goal on the first drive and we win by a TD at least. We are a MUCH better team than we were two years ago and I like the trajectory we’re on. Chin up, deep breaths, and GO IRISH!☘️☘️☘️
We’re better than we have been in a LONG time offensively, defensively, on the recruiting trail, and the results on the field are showing it too. BK loses this game by 21 easy. Remember all of those big games? Remember the disappointment and the athletic difference, particularly at WR and DB? Wasn’t there last night and OSU has studs on both sides. We were man for man with them and there wasn’t a skill/talent gap. The recruiting classes are ramping up (although I still worry about the DL).
We WILL win games like this moving forward. The coaching staff will clean up their mistakes (and they were epic mistakes) which is something I like about Freeman. The players will learn from this about finishing, just like they learned not to overlook opponents last year after what happened with Marshall and Stanford. I like our chances against USC especially after watching USC-ASU last night after the ND game. We will play more disciplined moving forward, and these guys don’t make the same mistakes twice.
It’s all still to play for this year - we can still make the playoff despite this loss. For the first time in a big game in a LONG time we were the superior team. We lost by and inch at the last second DESPITE making all of those mistakes. Eliminate any one (int drops, too soft coverages at end, 10 men on the last two plays, etc) and we win easily. Kick the damn field goal on the first drive and we win by a TD at least. We are a MUCH better team than we were two years ago and I like the trajectory we’re on. Chin up, deep breaths, and GO IRISH!☘️☘️☘️
