Notre Dame fan back to say hi

Nov 1, 2023, 12:05 AM

I’ve had cordial discussions here dating back our last few matchups (maybe even the semifinals matchup in 2018?)
I’ve provided ND breakdowns here before so I’ll do that again

QB: Hartman. You guys probably know him better than I do. He has just been a game manager. I think we would have won all of our games except Ohio State and maybe SC with Ian Book instead. What has hurt Hartman a lot is that he we do not have Boykin / Claypool type receivers. And we have not had the ones we do have healthy lately (will get to that later). He only has interceptions against Louisville and Pitt I believe, so he takes care of the ball most games. I think he gets rattled if he throws a pick though. Can throw a nice long ball down the middle of the field and does well at finding tight ends on third downs.

RB: we are loaded here 1-5. Estime (7) is the bell cow at around 230 with wheels, patience, and vision plus the ability to break tackles. He will have a tough time finding yards against Clemson I suspect. He and Logan Diggs (transfer to LSU) split carries in last year and did what they had to with 3-5 yard body blows. Jeremiyah Love(12) is a very talented freshmen, with Jadarian Price (24) being mainly a receiving option out of the backfield. Ford and Payne get carries too to keep the others fresh. Estime runs better as the game progresses.

Wide receiver: big disappointment but not surprising. Kelly had some big holes in recruiting in the classes that are now juniors through 5th years. Jayden Thomas (86) is a junior and our only healthy upperclassman true receiver. He is built like a tight end and can block well. He has been still struggling with a hamstring though. Tobias Merriweather (5) is a sophomore who was a talented recruit, but has a lot of drops and mistakes. Chris Tyree is a fast slot receiver who has had more success lately after switching from RB in the off-season. Our other receivers are true freshmen in Flores, Greathouse, and Faison (walk on lax player). They have shown flashes including td’s in the Ohio State and USC games, but aren’t 6-10 catch type guys yet despite large snap count numbers.

Tight end: Mitchell Evans is out for the year and it’s a shame because he probably would have won the Mackey with Bowers out. Holden Staes is a very capable receiver as the backup and Eli Raridon is back in action after an injury. Both are sophomores and will be the next line of Irish tight ends. I expect about 70-80 yards out of them with our receivers not contributing as much.

OL: has been inconsistent compared to what it should be. Joe Alt is the LT and projected as a top 10 draft pick. I think he peaked against Clemson last year and has regressed slightly this year. Blake Fisher is a junior as well at RT and is very talented but mistake prone (holdings, false starts, etc.). He is projected as a third rounder right now. The guards are our weaker spot. Pat Coogan (sophomore) and Rocco Spindler (jr) re talented maulers but can be best in pass rush with simple moves. Zeke Correll is the veteran center. He sometimes struggles with larger fronts and has played guard, but he’s probably an above average Center.

DL: has been a surprising strength. Howard Cross was a mid season 1st team AA, and the others (Rylie Mills, Botelho) have shown flashes. They get some pressure and do well against the run. The offense has hung them out to dry a few times though and they were running on fumes by the Louisville game.

LB: same starters for the last three seasons. Veteran crew but lacking a little in athleticism. A lot of us were hoping some talented underclassman would over take them. JD Bertrand (27) is like Skalski in that he is very assignment correct, gritty, and can fix others mistakes. Marist Liufau (8) shows talent but is over aggressive some times. Last year and early into this year we would send blitzes that never hit home. They’ve improved a little at getting to the QB.

Secondary: very strong at 3/4 spots, and when the nickle (Thomas Harper) is needed. Benjamin Morrison(20) is left in one on one coverage frequently and holds his own against the nations best receivers. He had 3 int in last years game. He was out against Pitt with a quad injury but expected to return. Cam Hart is a big veteran with some speed and the other side and usually isn’t heard from. Pretty dependable and may have played his way into a mid round draft grade. Xavier Watts is one of the safeties coming off big games. He is a converted receiver. He had four interceptions the last two games with a chunk of return yards, returned a fumble for a td against SC, and forced another one. DJ Brown(2) is our weak link. He dropped what would have been a game ending interception against Ohio State, has dropped a few others, and misses tackles. He’s a veteran. We are deep at the corner spots if Hart or Morrison are out, but those guys can be picked on a little. Teams have had success across the middle of the field with tight ends.

Special teams: return unit has been better. We had a kickoff return against USC for a td, and a punt return against Pitt. Spencer Shrader has a booming leg. All kickoffs are touchbacks and he can hit from 55 yards comfortably. He is inconsistent with accuracy though. Imagine being a beginner golfer that can drive it 300 yards but who knows where it will go. Bryce McPherson has averaged 46 yards a punt, but has not been good at pinning teams deep.

Coaching: freeman is great at motivating his team for big games. He has a lot of head scratching decisions though (Ohio State clock management with the ball and a lead late, going for it on 4th and forever against Louisville early in the 4th from our 35, etc.) Our offensive coordinator is in his first year and has struggled a lot. The defense and special teams have masked a lot of offensive deficiencies lately. Could be a rough day for him if Clemson takes care of the ball and plays defense the way they are capable of. Al Golden has been really good all around in year two on defense. We have improved in turnovers forced and in limiting big plays. The defense has been susceptible to penalties and sustained drives though

Overall I see this as the dogfight that Vegas lines suggest. Our offense will have its problems with Clemson’s defense and it could be a low scoring rock fight. Clemson had a lot go wrong (blocked punt, long int touchdown, etc) before last years game got out of hand in South Bend. Freeman’s teams have gone through boom periods and bust periods alternating. We are due to hit the bust period. Clemson will be fired up, we may be sluggish after a couple of nice wins and playing an early road game, and I would imagine the breaks won’t all go our way again.

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unfortunately for us, Vegas has this one wrong.

Re: what rate did you get? 8-9%

As long as your name ain't Tyler, we're good.***

Re: Notre Dame fan back to say hi

I’m not sure actual football talk is allows here at the moment, but I have a few minutes to share some general thoughts.

Offense: if you have looked at our stats but not actually watched our offense you might think we’ve been pretty successful. The reality is:

1. our line has major issues. We’ve moved guys around all year trying to get something working but we are very inconsistent. Run blocking is horrid. Blitzes kill us. They do create holes from time to time, but…

2. our RB’s have major issues. Shipley probably won’t be playing this week, but he’s been mostly ineffective anyway. We seem to run like we’re shot out of a cannon…full speed in a straight line, usually right into the back of our “blockers”. No vision. Mafa is better about finding the hole, but we’ll see how he does as the main back. Don’t know who will share time this week but Dominique Thomas has played well when given a chance. We depend on our backs being able to block on blitzes but are not very good at that. Ball protection is an issue.

3. WR’s for the most part seem slow and rarely get separation. When they do get open we either can’t get them the ball or we have a drop/penalty. Brown is IMO the best in the group. Collins, Randall and Stellato have potential but are inconsistent. Our TE, Briningstool is our most sure handed guy right now. The only pass play we consistently catch is the #### screen, which we run every other down, and usually lose yards.

4. QB is inconsistent but has potential. Too many brain farts. Not very mobile so when combined with a weak line…well, it’s a problem. He has a good arm when he has time. Spends most of the game running for his life. Decision making is questionable. Ball protection is an issue.

5. Red zone offense is horrible. Play calling all over the field is a real headscratcher as well. We have decent stats but that’s very misleading.

Defense: has been pretty good for the most part. If they play well we might have a chance. Our LB’s are strong but sometimes out of position. Trotter is a good one. Our DB’s are left on an island a lot and have done ok. Wiggins does a good job (we probably beat FSU if he hadn’t gotten hurt at the end). DL is strong as usual. If we can get some pressure on your QB without having to blitz every down we might have some success. We will probably try to shut down the run and pray our secondary has a good game. Hartman could make us look silly…

Special teams: we punt pretty good.

In spite of what Vegas says, I expect this one to be all ND. Maybe 48-14.

Anyway, I’m out of time. HTH

Notre Dame fan back to say hi

unfortunately for us, Vegas has this one wrong.

Sounds about right Mr Ronnie Reagan, aka: The Gipper!

Re: Sounds about right Mr Ronnie Reagan, aka: The Gipper!

Re: what rate did you get? 8-9%

Well. There you go again, LBB.

As long as your name ain't Tyler, we're good.***

Re: Notre Dame fan back to say hi

Re: Notre Dame fan back to say hi

Re: Notre Dame fan back to say hi

Re: Notre Dame fan back to say hi

Re: Notre Dame fan back to say hi

That doesn't answer my question

Re: Notre Dame fan back to say hi

Re: Notre Dame fan back to say hi

Re: Notre Dame fan back to say hi

Re: Notre Dame fan back to say hi

Question...

Re: Question...

Re: Notre Dame fan back to say hi

Thanks Gipper

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