One thing to keep in mind while reading the first segment of Duds and Studs is that not all Duds are created equal. When I started doing this feature back in 2007, it was obvious to see the players that struggled, but even in blowout losses, I had the pleasure of picking one or two diamonds in the rough every game. Now, even in convincing wins, I am forced to highlight a few things the Irish could work on, so don't take it the wrong way.
Duds
Run Defense: One element that Weis has been preaching this offseason is the aspiration of attaining the sacred 4.6 YPC that BCS caliber teams achieve year in and year out. Nevada put up an impressive 5.3 YPC, and Notre Dame allowed starting pistol back Vai Taua 149 yards and an average of 6.3 YPC. Ryan still looks slow in lateral adjustments and Brian Smith had some issues breaking down and consistently making form tackles, which contributed to these stats. With Brandon Minor and Shoelace Joe Jackson coming up next week, Notre Dame needs to improve against the run.
The New Scoreboard: Not sure how much I like the new color graphics on the scoreboard. There was a particularly strange TechmoBowl-Like animation that gave me chills in the wrong way...
Secondary: Colin Kaepernick's 12/23 for 149 yards doesn't look great at first glance, but drops on multiple passes show that a shutout probably wouldn't have been possible if Nevada's receiver's brought their A game. Placing our secondary on the Duds list may sound harsh, but for all of the offseason hype about our DBs being a team strength, they came short of what I felt was expected. (Note: Weis may have had our DBs playing safe this week, and if this is the case, they probably shouldn't be getting this criticism).Manti Te'o: Until ESPN's #2 overall recruit starts putting up 5 sacks and an interception every week don't expect me to be impressed.
Jimmy Clausen: Notre Dame averaged 8.3 yards per play, the highest of the Weis era, and Clausen's decision making at quarterback significantly contributed to this achievement. Averaging 17.5 yards per pass attempt, JC was able to carve up this Nevada defense for four touchdowns and not committing any turnovers.
Michael Floyd: You've probably read it everywhere else, but Floyd put on a heckuva show Saturday. To put it one way, Minnesota Slim touched the ball four times and was only tackled once, finding the endzone on each of his three other receptions en route to a 189 yard day.Pass Blocking: BGS speculated that the Wolfpack's DE tandem of Kevin Basped and Dontay Moch might be the second toughest end combo the Irish will face this year. This makes the zero sacks (and few QB pressures) even more impressive. Now if only we could get this kind of production while run blocking...
Good Youth: It has been touched on elsewhere, but the past two seasons, freshman and sophomores have played more because of a lack of competition in the older classes than anything else. So it was nice to see couple sophomores, redshirt freshman, and true freshman get a few snaps because Weis wanted to get them experience, not because we needed them to win. The best part about the depth? Our starters are finally starting to practice against a pretty capable scout team.That's it for now, Go Irish! Beat Wolverines!
4 comments:
Great writeup, Clausen was sacked once though.
Nicely done, one question however: If the tailgaiting was so great how come the shirts are so clean in the photo op?
I apologize for the sack comment.
As for the shirts, lets just say it was early in the day.
For some reason, the sack that Nevada had against Clausen was not officially recorded as such. I have no idea why, as it clearly was a designed pass and not a designed run (the latter taking a sack away from Brian Smith, turning it into a tackle for loss instead).
So don't blame yourself for it, you came by the mistake honestly.
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