There are a lot of things I could focus on for the post-Purdue recap. The offensive scheme that worked but wasn't the explosive madness we might have expected, the defensive improvement in tackling and assignments/communication, Crist's solid game-management but 3 overthrown TD passes, the solid running game, the mental errors we did make, the OL hits and misses, the DLs slight but not amazing improvement....
Not that kind.
But really, what was the biggest difference vs last year? Discipline. And with that discipline, a sense of purpose and a sense of place. A confidence. Discipline by the players, discipline by the coaches. The sound byte in the off-season was all about organizing the lockers. But Saturday we saw the result of BK's philosophy and approach.
I liked it.
Notre Dame hasn't been a disciplined team in years. Weis liked to gamble, his players were super high then super low. His defense was a gambling defense - if we get to your QB first we win, if not, we lose. Go for it on 4th. Pass the ball to get the 1st rather than run and run out the clock. Gambling.
Brian Kelly's Notre Dame team displayed a remarkable amount of discipline on Saturday, and to me that's the biggest difference from last year and the reason why ND will continue to have success.
Penalties? 2.
Wasted timeouts due to confusion or missed subs? None.
Turnovers? 1. (and a weird one at that)
Broken plays/busted coverage? Minimal.
This team just felt different. The game was tightly managed and the coaches made good, sound decisions. The players were in the right place at the right time (for the most part), and while there were the mental breakdowns we all expect in Week 1, they weren't the kind of things that we saw last year - the 'deer in the headlights' kind of confusion.
“We showed some pretty good discipline,” Kelly said. “I would not characterize it as sloppy today. I would characterize it as good, all-around football. It wasn’t great, but it was pretty good.”
No it wasn't perfect and there's plenty of room for improvement, but overall this improved sense of discipline and the resulting confidence and performance was what made me happiest about Saturday.
What did you see that you liked/didn't like Saturday? What stood out for you?
By TLNDMA September 6, 2010 - 12:50 pm
I liked that Crist didn’t force any throws. Next time he’ll get it to Rudolph. I’m sure he and Floyd will spend some time on those throws to the endzone corners. And he stood in there and took a good shot on TD throw to Jones. He’s got moxie, I think his team will feed off that.
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By Brendan September 6, 2010 - 12:52 pm
Unless I’m mistaken, both of those penalties came in the kicking game. That means that the offense and the defense had 0 penalties. Can’t remember when that even might have happened last.
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By The Biscuit September 6, 2010 - 1:37 pm
Thats right Brendan, both Special Teams penalties
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By SDI September 6, 2010 - 12:57 pm
To expand on the zero offensive penalties: Consider that ND had a first time starter at center, a first time starter at QB, and two first time starters on the O line, all playing in a completely new offense, and still not only did they not have a single false start or illegal motion or delay of game, but they didn’t botch a single snap. Even well coached teams typically have a couple of these types of miscues in the first game.
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By SDI September 6, 2010 - 1:00 pm
I liked having a center who consistently knocked linebackers on their arse. The gaping holes that the backs had to run through were a thing of beauty. I liked Michael Floyd blocking aggressively downfield all game long. Loved the pressure from the front four on D. Ian Williams looked much more energetic and athletic.
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By SDI September 6, 2010 - 1:19 pm
The only thing that I saw that I didn’t like–meaning that concerns me going forward–is the outside linebacker play. I think that right now, BK only has one good outside backer in Fleming. I think Smith, Neal and Filer all have issues. The fact that a true freshman, who started out playing inside linebacker (Shembo) is probably going to play significant minutes next week worries me.
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By The Biscuit September 6, 2010 - 1:38 pm
Fleming and Shembo were both out the majority of the game with cramping…I’m sure that had something to do with the less-than-great play. Fleming being out hurt.
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By VicPaul September 6, 2010 - 1:34 pm
I loved seeing the video in the locker room after the game. It looks like the boys really respect and like BK. It also looks like they are having fun being at ND and wanting to win for her. Can’t wait for T’eo to knock Robinson right out of the stadium next week. Go Irish!!!!
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By tjak September 6, 2010 - 3:07 pm
Agreed VicPaul. It looks like the boys would run through a wall for Kelly. Could bode well for the rest of the year. I loved the energy in the stadium, at least from what I could tell on TV. Any one who was there can tell me what the energy was really like.
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By the biscuit September 6, 2010 - 5:00 pm
Much more energy than recent years’ games. The crowd seemed louder and more electric, both before and during the game. Granted, that couldve been the 18 beers in me, but I don’t think so.
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By Fenian Fox September 6, 2010 - 1:35 pm
Some thoughts:
Is Jamoris Slaughter hurt? He didn’t play in the second half that I saw, but I never saw him leave gimpy.
Does more ball control mean that we are not going to go over the top with Floyd more? Granted the two overthrows in the endzone, but over the top to Floyd seemed like it could have been more of our offense. Likewise, he was open for a 5 yd in slant the whole game with only one guy to beat – I’ll take those odds.
Will Hughes ever see the field again? On a related note, are we ever going to use a 2 tightend I type power set? I haven’t watched Kelly enough in other places to know. Seems like it would be a decent change of pace.
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By The Biscuit September 6, 2010 - 1:40 pm
Yeah, Slaughter has an ankle sprain. Should play next week though.
Totally agree on Floyd – I think BK needs to exploit that matchup more next week. Cuz it’s ALWAYS a good matchup with him.
Hughes will be a short yardage guy only from now on. AA and Wood have locked down 1 and 2.
Not sure on a 2TE power set. I feel like BK will use 2 TEs, but would typically split one out into the slot…could happen though in short yardage.
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By Brendan September 6, 2010 - 1:57 pm
I assume we’ll see longer balls early and often against Michigan. With that secondary it should be successful, or at least force the LB’s to hang back some and open up running lanes.
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By Mark G September 6, 2010 - 2:28 pm
I haven’t seen the replay yet, but I thought he did go to 2 tight ends (with one set back slightly) when, after the safety, the Purdue D-line was firing up field. Good offensive call adjustments to call traps and slants to get inside rushing D-linemen.
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By Pat September 6, 2010 - 1:58 pm
In addition to all the good points made above, here’s a few things I noticed:
We look bigger. Remember how skinny Kyle Rudolph used to seem? Not anymore — the kid’s huge. Across the board, I thought guys looked stronger, better fit, et al.
Gary Gray. He’s bigger, too. His tackling was superb, the best I saw all day.
Crist needs to read that DE and keep the ball more often instead of always giving to the back. I wonder if he is worried about the knee or was instructed not to keep it. Running game was great otherwise. It’s all about yards per carry.
The offensive gameplan was relatively conservative, but well executed overall. Some less sloppy play and it’s a blowout.
Kelly, our head coach, ran out of the tunnel leading the team onto the field. How about that?
NBC — much, much better. Three hours and we had played a football game.
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By SDI September 6, 2010 - 2:05 pm
Pat–i believe BK commented about Crist needing to do a better job on the run calls. I took that to mean exactly what you said above. On some of those early plays Kerrigan came screaming down the line and left the outside wide open to Crist if he would have kept the ball and run it himself.
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By Pat September 6, 2010 - 2:36 pm
I hadn’t seen that, but good to know. Exactly, on some of those, he had a lot of room outside. You also need to keep that end honest so he’s not blowing up the back.
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By tjak September 6, 2010 - 3:13 pm
Pat, Have not always agreed with you, but you are spot on about Crist keeping the ball. There were some pretty serious running lanes for him if he held on to the ball. I recall a number of times during the game where I thought, ” Wow if Crist kept it he was gone.”
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By Mark G September 6, 2010 - 2:34 pm
For me the best news as DEFENSE.
Biggest thing that jumped out at me is that the leading tacklers were not safeties — two middle linebackers, D-end and I believe both corners had more tackles than any safety. Fantastic.
Calabrese looked great — moves well, a motor that runs high. Manti overpursued on 3 plays, but broke up two screens that would have gone big otherwise, and his tackle on 3rd and 5 near end of game where he hit the guy and immediately drove him back was huge. And it was great to see us getting pressure on a QB with a 4 man rush — not always getting to him, and he completed some great throws on the run, but we did not give him all day to set up.
The two overthrown balls against us in 4th quarter where receiver had gotten behind corners were concerning — particularly since both were over the middle and there was no safety help. A QB with a better tough would have burned us.
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By SDI September 6, 2010 - 2:40 pm
Manti has great instincts. He has outstanding anticipation and just seems to sniff out what the O is doing very early in the play. In a weird sort of way it’s almost too early. He reacts to well and closes distance so fast he overshot the play a couple of times.
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By trey September 6, 2010 - 3:46 pm
Loved- Cierre Wood/Armando Allen
Liked- Line play O and D
Didn’t like – Containment. I’m actually a bit concerned with going up against a guy billed as a running QB because we couldn’t stop Marve when he rolled out.
Hated – Still can’t put the hammer down when we need to. Hopefully that was first-game jitters. I think it was. The fumble doesn’t happen, we are singing a happy tune till next weekend instead of worried about a few hiccups.
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By Ska September 6, 2010 - 5:54 pm
Hey!! I know those kids. They deserve the cage treatment. One of them threw apples from their wormy apple tree into my yard. Three apples and you are out.
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By canuck75 September 7, 2010 - 10:06 am
Just a brief comment to agree with much above. I’d like to think that Denard played perfectly, and at the same time UConn was demoralized. We should be ready for his speed and he is due to fumble/int a couple times.
We looked very solid, and I agree with the sentiment that suggested that maybe 23-12 was better for us than 35-3.
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