ND Fans were seen cheering for snow as, finally, the hooded sweatshirt made an appearance. Please, lord, let the Emperor don the Cloak.
Let me ask you: are you the sort of guy who goes shopping for a car, does a little haggling with the sales manager, and gets 2000 below sticker and thinks, “Hey, hey! I just made a deal?” Or are you the sort of guy who does his research, knows the exact invoice cost of every piece on that car to the penny, walks into a dealership, and gets 2000 bucks below invoice because you know the dealer’s gonna get a kick-back, he knows you know, you know he knows you know, and you still leave the place, in your new car, thinking you should have gotten a fraction lower on the 0.0% financing? All while having gotten upgraded corinthian leather floormats for free?
Unfortunately, right now, I think this Notre Dame team is made up of a bunch of the former type of guys. Way too much “good enough” happening in the program right now, and I’ve got to believe that, no matter what Charlie says to the public, he’s none too happy. This was a missed opportunity right here. This was the last game against a “traditional” offense and a defense made up of D1 sized players if not D1 talented players before the showdown in LA. Up next, Air Force and Army. Outmatched, outsized, out-coached. But good enough and nuanced enough that ND can ill-afford to pull a Michigan or Ohio State and just squeek by. So here was our chance, against UNC, to blow out a “traditional” or “typical” team early, and get our starters off the field to help build up some game-speed depth in key places like RB, Safety, Linebacker, Rush End, etc… And we blew it.
If we go into the Coliseum 10-1, and we lose to USC, I’m gonna look back on this game with a lot of frustration. Our front line guys can play with USC, but it’s a lot to ask some of our very young talent (remember, Ty left us with almost no Junior class for depth) to go in there and go blow-for-blow against the mightiest football program of the last 6 years.
This team just isn’t made up of guys with a prediliction towards crushing the larnyx of their opponent, and it’s unfortunate to see. So much natural ability, so little instinct to leave their prey a bloody pulp in the dirt.
Depth is a not a luxury, it’s a necessity for a top-10 program, and we’re teetering on the extremes. It was no more evident just how bad our depth was than when Brady was knocked off the field for a late-hit in the second half. The crowd did the collectice “oooh” and then we all realized just how close Knute had those walls of the stadium placed next to the sidelines. And we all held our breath. Because this ND isn’t winning games as a complete team. This ND is winning games with Playmakers, and we just caught a glimpse of a play that could knock out our Key Playmaker. Sure, the same could be said for a lot of teams, but imagine if it had been Shark or even Darius. Any one of those 3 cogs leave the field, and suddenly we’re all wondering if we can make it to LA with only one loss.
Tackling or a lack thereof
So what’s the problem? Why didn’t we win the game 45-0 with Brady and Company hooting and hollering from the sidelines as James Aldridge plowed into hapless middle linebackers after 6 yards gain after 6 yard gain? It all comes, once again, from tackling or a lack thereof.
3 key play accounted for 3 of UNC’s touchdowns this weekend. On those 3 key plays, a tackle was missed. The run back of a kickoff to actually give David some momentum. The “20 is the new 15” play by Lambert who’s 4th and 5th vertebrae apparently underwent some sort of temporary fracture, making him the defensive equivalent of a gummy worm as he flailed at UNC’s receiver caused me to involuntarilly mumble “Cliffor Jefferson” for about 30 minutes. This after inexplicably leaving the receiver to apparently go and make the high-light reel tackle of a QB who was 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. And then, again, with Lambert’s valiant but failing attempt to pick off a pass in 3rd and long, resulting in a fresh set of downs for UNC in a drive that should have been stalled, but ultimately resulted in points on the board for the Heels. (By the way, talk about a people who should be offended by a mascot: “Hey, y’all! We’re North Carolina and we’re a bunch of rednecks with no shoes on!” Come on, Myles Brand, get on this!)
I’m picking on Lambert, but really there were numerous times when the defense as a whole let the team down. If I were an offensive coordinator, I’d throw to the shallow flat all day until someone on ND’s side of the ball could prove that they can break down, square up, attack the ball carrier, and make an actual tackle. ND just doesn’t do this. They break down, square up, and then, ole! They either try to re-enact Zibby’s famous Ball Strip from the 2004 MSU game or they randomly pick an angle and lunge with their shoulders, putting a really nice hit on the ball carrier so the ball carrier can be on Sportscenter later that night, shown breaking tackles. And for all the effort to force a fumble this year, other than the MSU game, how much has it really paid off? I’m not looking up the stats, but I know I watch this team enough to understand that this is not a “creating opportunities” type of defense.
Charlie has said in past press conferences that, because of depth issues, they don’t take guys down to the ground in full-contact practice sessions. This makes me cry uncontrollably. Because these guys are clearly willing to hit someone. People don’t fly around on the field like our safeties and linebackers if they don’t want to hit. But their technique is so monumentally bad that I’m willing to bet I could shake their tackles 8 out of 10 times.
This was an opportunity missed, and it breaks my heart. The next 2 games will be against bizzare offenses and teams that, no matter the score, just will not give up. Meaning less quality time on the field for our 2nd and 3rd string guys. Meaning we go into USC with a Rumsfeldian force. Meaning trouble.
A Quick Breakdown:
QB – A+ Brady has one final skill to master, but I think he’d be better at it if he didn’t trust so much in Shark and Rhema: Throwing the ball away when there’s just no play.
RB – B- Darius gets a bump for good blocking. But Darius, you play like that again, and I’m gonna join the James Aldridge bandwagon. There were holes. Brief holes, but they were there, and a year ago you would have hit them.
TE – A Carlson is the man. From where I was sitting in the stands, you could often just look at the defense and know Quinn was throwing to “Hercules.” Nobody on UNC’s side of the ball could do anything about it.
WR – A Rhema played well. Shark played well. They did have a drop or two that was uncharacteristic. And you have to wonder what John Bunting was thinking when he said, “We weren’t gonna double #83. We just needed to make a play on him.” Um, what? Someone should really fire that guy.
OL – B- Really not a horrid afternoon. Pass protection was pretty good. There was only one sack or hit on the QB that wasn’t a “coverage sack” or hit. They also managed to open up some running lanes, but they really need to work on getting to the linebackers. B/c those linebackers are closing the holes quickly.
DL – B Very active afternoon for these guys, but they’ve GOT to finish the play. Better QBs will make bigger plays against this D if the front line can’t finish plays that should result in sacks. For every second that a QB is scrambling around, that’s another second that the secondary has to cover their men. These guys can’t tackle.
LB – B- Crum had a solid day. But my blood pressure nearly spiked after the 20th missed tackle. The entire point of being a linebacker is to make the tackle. Make the tackle.
DB – F Ultimately, the big play comes from poor technique on the part of cornerbacks and poor position maintenance on the part of safeties. These guys can’t tackle.
Kicking – F Geoff Price gets to claim this as an audit. Everyone else, you’re being sent back a year. I thought we were kicking off to the 15 b/c it was into the wind. Then we had the wind to our backs, and the kickoffs still landed at the 15. These guys also can’t tackle.
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