My missed opportunity for the day belongs to Kevin Austin. He has to make that catch down by the goal line. He did come back and play well, and had some outstanding blocks, but ND could've put that game away at the half.
Offensively, it's hard to nit pick at things because no game is going to be perfect. I thought the O line played well. They gave the QB time to throw, they picked up the blitz, and had a push in the run game.
I'm not a big fan of using 2 QB's, but I'm all in 1000% on Buchner being in there inside the 10 yard line - not every single time, but man, he's a weapon. Nothing against Coan because I thought he played very well, and especially getting the ball on target to his receivers so they could run after the catch. When Coan was inside the 10, it was like the defense was in prevent mode. You had every DB and LB in pass coverage, and with that small of a field, and Coan not a threat to run, it made completing a pass next to impossible.
One player that stuck out to me on offense was Lorenzo Styles Jr. He has better hands than I thought, and he has legit speed. WOW! I hope to see his role grow.
Defensively, how can you complain when you give up 3 points through the first 3 quarters, and 16 for the game? I felt on that TD drive that Freeman gave a little too much leeway, and along with some excellent play calling by SC, our defense was taken to school. There were too many times that our backend didn't recognize that there were more receivers lined up wide than we had DB's to cover. Maybe missing Hamilton had something to do with it? The tackling back there was atrocious. I'll give SC credit, their corners make tackles, the ND corners were really lacking. Shout out to TaRiq Bracy who stepped up his game.
How about MTA? He's playing the best football of his career by far. Other than Hamilton and Foskey, MTA is a guy that has now become irreplaceable. Speaking of Foskey, and I know I've personally beat this into the ground, but can we please not line him up in the MLB spot on passing downs and have him just hanging out in the middle playing zone? He and Bauer were so close together on one play that they could've held hands. I understand why he's being dropped when go to a 3 man line, but why are we then bringing up a safety or a LB to rush the passer from the edge? He was on the field for 48 snaps last night, about 2/3rds of the plays, and came away with 5 tackles and 2 of them being sacks. I'd like to see him out there a little more. Maybe take him off the kick-off team if we're worried about his stamina?
The Irish played well last night. They took control of the game from the very first series and never looked back. This team isn't perfect, but they play hard, and they play together, and they're 6-1. The fans in the stadium last night acted like this was a game between the number 1 and 2 teams in the country. And it got cold man in the 4th quarter lol. Things could be sooooo much worse - you could be an SC fan. Go Irish!
Offensively, it's hard to nit pick at things because no game is going to be perfect. I thought the O line played well. They gave the QB time to throw, they picked up the blitz, and had a push in the run game.
I'm not a big fan of using 2 QB's, but I'm all in 1000% on Buchner being in there inside the 10 yard line - not every single time, but man, he's a weapon. Nothing against Coan because I thought he played very well, and especially getting the ball on target to his receivers so they could run after the catch. When Coan was inside the 10, it was like the defense was in prevent mode. You had every DB and LB in pass coverage, and with that small of a field, and Coan not a threat to run, it made completing a pass next to impossible.
One player that stuck out to me on offense was Lorenzo Styles Jr. He has better hands than I thought, and he has legit speed. WOW! I hope to see his role grow.
Defensively, how can you complain when you give up 3 points through the first 3 quarters, and 16 for the game? I felt on that TD drive that Freeman gave a little too much leeway, and along with some excellent play calling by SC, our defense was taken to school. There were too many times that our backend didn't recognize that there were more receivers lined up wide than we had DB's to cover. Maybe missing Hamilton had something to do with it? The tackling back there was atrocious. I'll give SC credit, their corners make tackles, the ND corners were really lacking. Shout out to TaRiq Bracy who stepped up his game.
How about MTA? He's playing the best football of his career by far. Other than Hamilton and Foskey, MTA is a guy that has now become irreplaceable. Speaking of Foskey, and I know I've personally beat this into the ground, but can we please not line him up in the MLB spot on passing downs and have him just hanging out in the middle playing zone? He and Bauer were so close together on one play that they could've held hands. I understand why he's being dropped when go to a 3 man line, but why are we then bringing up a safety or a LB to rush the passer from the edge? He was on the field for 48 snaps last night, about 2/3rds of the plays, and came away with 5 tackles and 2 of them being sacks. I'd like to see him out there a little more. Maybe take him off the kick-off team if we're worried about his stamina?
The Irish played well last night. They took control of the game from the very first series and never looked back. This team isn't perfect, but they play hard, and they play together, and they're 6-1. The fans in the stadium last night acted like this was a game between the number 1 and 2 teams in the country. And it got cold man in the 4th quarter lol. Things could be sooooo much worse - you could be an SC fan. Go Irish!
