A nice college qb isn't going to win us any playoff games. I like Book but it was time for him to move on. We need someone with more talent if we want to win those games
People need to stop manipulating words. NO ONE HAS EVER SAID HE'S NOT VERY TALENTED!!! There is a huge difference between championship caliber QB and not very talented. Book was in between. Everyone should know that and you saw just that. It's not good enough at the most important position if our goal, and it sure as hell better be, is to win a championship!
You could put Peyton Manning back there and if you can't lineup 3 guys at cornerback that can stop NFL receivers youre still going to lose.
We were definitely good enough in 18 at corner to win a Title and we have been in other years as well. We have not been good enough at QB
Difference between talent and elite talent. Ian is talented but not elite
He was a nice qb. Good, not elite. How was he against ranked teams. Please break it down from 1-5,5-10,10-15. Sorry Book was good but never taking us to the promised land. But some fans are ok with being good but not great. Maybe that's you?
Some fans are content with this level. Ara seems to be one of those.
You guys are crazy!!! The Bama defense beat OSU. With all the offensive weapons Bama had last year 10 different QBs from 10 different teams would have won a championship.
Do you actually follow college football? The days of defense wins championships are over.
A great defense will beat a great offense every single time.
The winning team the last 7 years has averaged 41 pts, and this is against some of the top defenses (other than Oregon 2014).
Ya I guess you have missed the boat on college football today. Our defensea helped get us to the dance but unless you been living in Mars it's beyond obvious that offense gets you the rings. Don't believe me listen to Nick Saban a couple months ago . "I grew up with the idea you must have good defenses to win. You aren't going to win anything now doing that. We changed our philosophy five or six years ago that we have to outscore them" But heck that's just Nick Saban talking. What does he know?
Nick Saban has recruited the top defensive players over the past five or six years also. He knows it is nice to have a GREAT defense.
I guess I'm confused. So you're saying Saban doesn't believe his own words? If ND does not revamp its offense and get an elite qb we will not win a NC. Just that simple.
You need both an elite offense and an elite defense to win it all. But if one has to be a bit better than the other, you pick offense all day.
and it seems like these are issues that are being addressed in the next two recruiting cycles. future is bright.
No it is not just that simple. Oklahoma has had elite QB's and elite offenses and they haven't come close to winning a NC. They never had the defenses that Alabama had.
Good point and accurate. When two top teams or elite teams play each other , who has the advantage? The team with a good offense but an outstanding defense? Or, the team with and outstanding offense and a pretty good but not great defense? As with most things somewhere in the middle lies the answer. For me, I would always want a high scoring offense. Who wouldn’t ? That’s not to say a dominant shut down defense wouldn't be a plus. It definitely would. However, given the choice , an elite offense is a must to win it all. While a defense that is good and let’s say can keep the opposition to field goals , would be just enough. It is really hard to have both at the same time. Not impossible, just not likely from most teams. Teams with less talent usually like to spread the field and play matchups. That’s the great equalizer. It’s keep them competitive. At the end of the day, you need to score a good amount of points and be able to stop the other team , at some points in any game in order to win.
So an average defense with a top 3 offense wins every time?
Yeah thats bullshit. The minute love went out the scored three straight times on one on one coverage twice to his replacement.
No we had 2 really good ones. Pride and Love. Thats good enough to win a title. There's been title teams without good number 3 corners. Bracy didnt even play that game. It was Vaughn and he was playing injured
I don't get that either. Wasn't he playing as a frosh last year? It can't be saying much for the other guys that couldn't unseat such an inept frosh. I thought he played pretty good all in all, again, as a frosh.
I agree. Kelly is good, he's what we needed after Weis. He has grown but not enough and certainly not fast enough. He did not have the team on fire to get on the field in the CC and CFP. Lou used to have them ready to run through a brick wall by game time. Kelly doesn't possess that motivational managerial skill. Rees as OC is just stupid for a college team like ND. So yea, he's good, not elite.
Yea, I think Saban said that, as well. You're both wrong. So much depends on so much (as variables like QB ability, time to throw, running, blocking, catching etc.) but, defense will always keep you in a game - if they are good. If the offense struggles or has to press to make plays, TO's happen. Then momentum happens, as the game plays on and the O can't bust through a good defense? Frustration. Don't forget intimidation. How many times do you see the O intimidate the D? Hardly ever. The D players intimidate the O much more. Just think about a violent sack. Or a safety hitting a guy crossing the middle. Laying out a RB. Goal line stand. Meanwhile, a defense can score too.
No saying that by any stretch. We were inferior and the coach ignored that.
I guess you missed last season when Saban said “It used to be good defense beats good offense. Good defense doesn’t beat good offense anymore.”
He is very slow for the position. ND couldn’t hide him vs Clemson and bama. It’s exactly the point of this thread. What’s holding us back vs the elites.
I care less about about president game speeches then how Kelly prepared a team to play a great opponent with multiples weeks of prep. We have laid eggs.
