Triple Rainbow!!!
DMQ will come through with a post giving a solid, statistical analysis of the effort. It will take him time to write it, and it will be good. This will be my rambling, 'soft' and stream-of-whatever coming through....
VICTORY!
Man, what a game. I was in SF visiting a non-ND-friend this weekend and he was kind enough to pop on the TV to watch ND get shellacked by Utah. I was resigned, but curious. I was also 3 IPA-in-a-can's in by kickoff.
After a great kickoff return, our offense looked befuddled. Then we go for it on 4th and 3 (another terrible call by BK - and no BK, I will never 'get used to it') and we don't even get close.
Great. Here we go again.
But then? Our defense kinda held 'em. And then? They held them for real. ALL DAMN DAY.
Rainbow #1: Blanton off the edge. BLOCKED PUNT RETURNED FOR A TOUCHDOWN!!!!!! What is this, Ty's first year? No offense and scoring off a blocked punt? Felt like it, but hey, I'll take it!
Rainbow #2 was the ND defense from that field goal on. What an effort by the defense on Saturday! New blood in the form of Kona and Prince (great name for a pop band) must've pumped some mojo into this squad, because they played awesome. I don't know if Utah's OL was bad, or if our DL just figured it out, but the push up front was an amazing, beautiful thing Saturday. We saw effort and technique, we saw big pushes into the Ute backfield that threw off timing, and we saw Wynn running for his life. It was beautiful, and I honestly didn't know what to think. We played okay at times earlier this year. The D has had bad games, and they've had 'okay' to 'decent' games. This was a GREAT performance, and something I've sorely missed.
Rainbow #3 was the running game and Tommy Rees playing it smart in the 2nd half. Milking a lead, grinding out the clock a bit. It was sooooo nice to see a game end that way. And even though it was over and even though it was boring as all hell, I forced my buddy to watch to the end. When he asked why, I told him this: "It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a 4th quarter like this man. I am going to savor it."
The ND offense still has a long ways to go, and a similar start against USC, or even Army, may not yield a similar result. The run game needs to continue to evolve, and even though he had one big run I don't see Jonas as the savior that many are making him out to be. That said, that spot should be wide open competition this week.
The D should just get props, props and more props. That's an explosive offense that they shut down, and it was a thing of beauty. I don't care if TCU crushed 'em the week before. Utah could've just as easily come out and played an amazing offensive game - ND didn't let them do that. ND's D literally TOOK this game away from Utah. And I loved every second of it.
This team still has a long way to go, but this was a great win and a serious shot in the arm. It helps to end some of the negativity surrounding the program (for some, it will never go away, but this helps with some folks), gives the team something to build on, and makes a Bowl Game more realistic. It also causes one to pause and think 'well if we'd just beaten Tulsa, things would look even better'. And I'd agree - I've had that same thought. But let's not focus on that for a few days. Let's just savor a solid win over a Top 20 team. Simply because it feels good.
By canuck75 November 15, 2010 - 1:29 pm
OK, I am on a bit of a streak as I called the win, so I want to complain a bit about Jonas. My recollection is that each and every year when he got some garbage carries, he turned the corner at least once and broke away. How is it that he remains so ensconced in the dog house. How could any coach not reward that run on Sat? He must be the world worst blocker, because he has certainly demonstrated superior running skills than Cierre or Armando.
I get it that Hughes is not quite right for this offense, but Jonas should get 20 carries at least once to see what he can do.
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By JM November 15, 2010 - 1:40 pm
He is the world’s worst blocker and has a problem with fumbling when it’s not garbage time. He has wiffed on several blocks when he has been in; I really wish he could get the blocking thing down and not fumbling, because he can flat out run.
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By canuck75 November 15, 2010 - 2:49 pm
What is not quite fair is that Cierre has a fumbling problem too, but Kelly gave him multiple chances. Maybe Jonas blocking really is that bad.
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By JM November 15, 2010 - 3:31 pm
If I have the right guy (and not Wood), he wiffed on a huge block in the Stanford game that resulted in a sack and fumble by Crist.
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By theIrishLion10 November 16, 2010 - 5:18 pm
I think it was Wood who missed that block on the sack/fumble
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By Craig November 15, 2010 - 3:22 pm
The problem last year was that on half his carries, he’d miss the hole and go for a loss or short game. Allen has always been less likely to run for 20 yards but much more likely to run for five.
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By TF November 15, 2010 - 1:29 pm
Regarding going for it on the first drive being a bad call.
“Flea flicker on 4th and 30 from our own 20? Do it.”
-The Biscuit
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By The Biscuit November 15, 2010 - 1:51 pm
HA! TF, had it been a flea flicker I’d have been okay with it. It wasn’t.
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By TF November 15, 2010 - 4:36 pm
Fair enough.
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By theIrishLion10 November 15, 2010 - 1:42 pm
I dont want to brag, but after Ian Williams went down against Navy I joked about Kona Schwenke coming in to dominate the rest of the season (with a “false” sense of optimism regarding my own “joke”). I wouldn’t call it dominating, but he is playing pretty good football at the moment…
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By Pat November 15, 2010 - 2:04 pm
This program really needed this win. Clears the air a bit and feels much better going into New York to play a primetime game. I hope we see this same Irish team that we saw Saturday the next two weeks. If so, I could see this squad making some noise in LA…
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By AKMatt November 15, 2010 - 2:04 pm
Props to special teams too. Not just the blocked punt. Turk kept them pinned deep in their territory all day and the coverage guys totally shut down Shakey.
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By The Biscuit November 15, 2010 - 2:07 pm
Absolutely. The coverage on Shaky (what a great name for a kick returner) was awesome.
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By Nate November 15, 2010 - 6:38 pm
His pizza’s pretty good…
(hoping they still have Shakey’s Pizza in the States somewhere, and not only in Japan)
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By SDI November 15, 2010 - 2:22 pm
It’s taking a lot longer than we all wanted, but I get the feeling that the ND program is slowly evolving into a winning program again.
It seems like there is an arc for this senior class. They came in at the absolute nadir of ND football, but have fought and clawed their way to a better place. Along the way they have ended the bowl loss streak, ended the losing streak to BC, and ended the losing streak to ranked teams. I think there is some truth to the notion that they have built a foundation for greater things to come, and that this is not just spin from the current coaching staff.
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By canuck75 November 15, 2010 - 2:43 pm
How important is the right QB? I happened to watch Tulsa on Sat night and the kid (Kinne)
was spectacular. It occurred to me that if he was playing for us we would be undefeated. My point is not that he is NFL great like Luck, or sprinter great like Denard, but simply a good running /passing qb
that makes it difficult to defend.
If Hendrix is even close, then we will be great again.(And at this moment I like Rees very much)
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By tjak November 15, 2010 - 7:21 pm
How about Emeko giving it to NDNation. When even the players comment on how negative they are, you know they have missed the point of Fandom. Nothing wrong with constructive criticism, but a fan site should you know, be fans.
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