Notre Dame at Michigan Review

           Notre Dame lost in the final seconds to Michigan last Saturday night, 35-31. The first night game at Michigan Stadium was a thriller as it went back and forth in the 4^th quarter. The first three quarters were dominated by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as they led 24-7 going into the final quarter. Then Michigan Wolverine quarterback, Denard Robinson, caught on fire (figuratively of course) and decimated the Irish secondary. Robinson finished the night with 338 passing yards and four touchdowns; two of those touchdowns came in the final 1:30 of the game

What I liked about the game

Defensive front- The front seven, meaning the linebackers and defensive line, of Notre Dame played with a lot of strength and skill throughout the game. They held Denard Robinson to a lot of short yard runs and got a couple of sacks. In the first half of the game Michigan had nothing going on offense. I’m not sure what happened after halftime but the defensive front lost their edge over Michigan’s offensive line, but still made some good plays.

Receivers- This unit made a complete turnaround of what they did last week. The Notre Dame receivers all made great plays and were the key to the Irish offense. Michael Floyd had another spectacular game with more than 100 receiving yards. Theo Riddick had six catches and two touchdowns and took a lot of pressure off Floyd. T.J. Jones and tight end Tyler Eifert also had catches that showed just how much talent there is on the offense.

Balance on offense- This was one of my keys to winning the game. At halftime Notre Dame had run 41 plays, 22 of those were passes, 18 were runs. That’s a little pass heavy but that’s where the strength is at on offense. In the 2^nd half Notre Dame called 16 runs and 14 passes (before the final Irish drive that was all passes and led to a touchdown).  There was balance on offense, but there didn’t need to be. The Irish needed to continue passing throughout the third and fourth quarters. Sure they had the lead, but it’s not like they were up by 21 or more points. Until you have a huge lead like that there is no reason to play conservatively, which is what it felt like the Irish were doing.

            Again, a round of applause goes to Irish running back, Cierre Wood, who had another fantastic game. There were just too many fumbles and lack of consistent runs in the fourth quarter to make me like all of the Irish running game.

What I didn’t like about the game

Defensive secondary- This would be the cornerbacks and safeties, although there wasn’t anything safe last night. These guys were decimated the entire night. On the Wolverines last two drives in the closing minutes of the game, Robinson led their offense down the field twice, passing to whomever he wanted whenever he wanted. Everybody knew that the Wolverines were gonna pass; there wasn’t enough time to call any run plays. There were also numerous long passes in the first half that could have resulted in Michigan touchdowns had the ball not been overthrown or dropped by receivers. Something has to change, whether it’s with the defensive coordinator or defensive backs coach. 

            On the plus side, this unit did get three interceptions.

Turnovers- Five, there were five turnovers last night. That’s TEN turnovers in two games. Seriously, how hard is it to keep control of the ball? Notre Dame is losing these games on their own. Could you imagine if they dropped that number down to three turnovers a game? They would have won both of their games. There were two interceptions by Rees, a fumble by Rees, a fumble by Cierre Wood, and another one that I don’t recall.

Play calling in the second half- As I mentioned, Notre Dame actually passed the ball more than they ran the ball in the second half, which is a good thing. The runs though came on crucial third downs when a pass would have been a better call. On every third and short the Irish ran the ball and got stuffed. It was so obvious that they were gonna run that the Wolverines blitzed just about everyone on their defense. Irish quarterback Tommy Rees has to see this and call an audible, or as he did earlier in the game, fake the audible call and still run it.

            In the second half they also used a two tight-end set. I am completely confused and shocked on why anybody thought that would be a good idea. Bring in one tight-end and make the other defense think you’re gonna pass. Two tight-ends on the field is the biggest indication that you’re going to run than anything else.

            

            My patience with Notre Dame Football is growing shorter and shorter with every disappointing loss and disappointing season. I am sick of going through “rebuilding years” and “motivational losses”.  I want to experience the same joy and happiness that other fans enjoy when their teams win big games. Notre Dame has not beaten a Top #25 team in years and that’s a shame. How long can you continue to say “This is Notre Dame. We can’t lose forever; we have a rich tradition; etc.” This is the 21^st Century, and Notre Dame Football is losing relevance every year.

           The Fighting Irish take on the Michigan State Spartans next Saturday.

Notre Dame vs. USF Analysis

Tommy Rees (blue jersey) after USF defeated Notre Dame 23-20

           
            The Notre Dame Fighting Irish lost their first game of the season to the University of South Florida Bulls last Saturday night. The final score was 23-20 but it was never really that close of a game. The Bulls played hard all day (literally all day, it took six hours to play the game because of weather delays) but Notre Dame basically gave the game away. The Irish had five turnovers, three of which came in the redzone.

Three things I liked about the game:

1. Tommy Rees: You heard it here first folks. Ever since the end of the 2011 season I have been praising and preaching that Rees is the best quarterback on Notre Dame’s roster. After starter Dayne Crist put no points on the scoreboard, Rees was put into the game at halftime. On his first drive he marched the Irish all the way down to the goal line until he threw the ball and it bounced off wide receiver T.J. Jones’s helmet. Eventually Rees would allow the Irish offense to score 20 points. Rees HAS to be the starter the rest of the year. It’s a crying shame that it took a loss to prove I was right about Tommy.

2. Notre Dame’s defense: The Irish defense held USF’s offense to just one touchdown and three field goals and only gave up about 250 total yards the whole game. That is damn impressive considering how many times USF had the ball in good field position. Everybody on the defense should be applauded for the way they played. They played with heart and tenacity when the offense showed none.

3. Michael Floyd: Thank god for Floyd. It seemed like Floyd was the ONLY Irish receiver that realized there was a game on Saturday. Floyd finished the game with 12 receptions for 154 yards and two touchdowns. He has a serious chance for the Heisman trophy in my opinion esp. if he can average a touchdown a game.

I’d also like to mention running back Cierre Wood and the Irish offensive line. Wood and the o-line played with a lot heart and skill. Wood finished the game with 21 carries and 104 yards. That would not have been possible though without his o-line opening up holes in the defensive line.

Three things I didn’t like:

I don’t know where to start, there are just so many different things to choose from.

1. Dayne Crist and other wide receivers not named Floyd: Crist played like his usual self so I guess I’m not too disappointed with him. I am disappointed that head coach Brian Kelly did not realize this. Receivers T.J. Jones and Theo Riddick ought to both be placed on probation or something for their absolutely inexcusable performances. Jones’s ineptness right outside the end zone and Riddick’s dropped punt return destroyed all momentum Notre Dame ever had. Both players also dropped several catchable passes. You are scholarship athletes at the University of Notre Dame. Play like it. Or how about “playing like a champion today”?

2. Defensive penalties: At first I was going to write about how awful the Big East officiating crew was during the game. Then I saw that USF actually had more penalties called on them. Irish safety, Harrison Smith, was called for two back to back facemask calls. That was two penalties on subsequent plays that gave the USF Bulls free 30 yards. Smith ought to be riding the bench next week. There was also a late hit call on one of the Irish defensive lineman that gave the Bulls another 15 yards. Again, you are a scholarship athlete. You are being soundly beaten. Why take your anger out on the other team? How about you go hit yourself.

3. Turnovers: This destroyed Notre Dame’s chances. You can not commit five turnovers and expect to win the game. There was a fumble by Jonas Gray that USF recovered and took back for a touchdown. The punt return fumble by Riddick led to the Bulls getting a field goal. There were two interceptions by Rees (I can only account for one and that was when it bounced off of Jones’s helmet.) but neither resulted in the Bulls getting any points. Then of course Crist threw an interception in the end zone. As I also stated, three of those five turnovers occurred in the red zone. You got to believe that even if ND hadn’t of scored a touchdown, they would have at least gotten three field goals and have nine points.

            In my preview posted on Saturday I said the three keys to the game for the Irish would be to: Stop B.J. Daniels, get the offense rolling, and start strong. Notre Dame did stop USF’s quarterback B.J. Daniels. However, the Irish did not get any kind of offense going consistently until the second half. They also had the complete opposite of a strong start. That is basically why they did not win.

Skip Holtz with one of his players after the game. Holtz's father, Lou, coached a national championship team at Notre Dame. Skip also attended Notre Dame and was a member of the football team.

            Notre Dame’s (0-1) next game is next Saturday against the Michigan Wolverines (1-0) who won their game, beating mighty Western Michigan. Be sure to watch ESPN’s “College Gameday” Saturday morning as they will be broadcasting from Michigan Stadium.