1). Much better effort than against BSU
2). Vanderbilt is good, their QB and DB’s are great.
3) Gloria matched up well to our tall receivers - excellent & tall DB’s
4). OL protected pretty well and opened big holes for RB’s
5). Wimbush is very definitely the best QB that we have right now
6). Yoon’s Miss was on the snapper though Book did a good job of still bringing in the errant snap
7). ND is going to REALLY benefit when it gets Dexter Williams back
8) in the past 3 games, the ND defense was very good in all phases except continuing to give up long 3rd downs (I think that this is mostly due to the fact that we have played some really good QB’s thus far).
9). Special teams was better (esp Doerer), I’d give them. “C” overall, but much room for improvement still.
NDis not going to blow teams out with this offense so stop expecting it.
We have no game breakers on offense other than Wimbush (but getting Dexter back will give us 2).
ND’s WR’s are bland & unremarkeable when their height advantage is negated & they don’t create separation
Kelly’s (plural) play calling still poor (that 2 point conversion attempt call with Book perhaps the worst of all).
The 2nd half ND offensive stagnation problem is mostly d/t play calling on our part, not D adjustments.
Platooning Book in for Wimbush at goal line when W is playing well is stupid & takes away best O weapon.
Take away the name “Vanderbilt” & watch game-we should be happy with this win regardless. Great QB.
We are certainly not a top 5 team right now.
Facing this team will prepare us better for Stanford given their similarities on offense.
- I don't know how much Kelly is involved in play calling during the game- I had thought that was Long's responsibility now
- I'm sure Kelli IS involved in the offensive game plans and some things there have been real head scratchers
- Not punching it in with first and goal from the two was pathetic
- I'm glad Book is getting involved even if it is only in red zone situations.
- I agree about the receivers. I am not at all sold on Alexander as a coach. The pass play route designation and effort seem to be lacking
- I think Weisher is better than Mack and in single tight end situations he should get the nod
- I wouldn't be surprised if Williams had taken a couple of runs to the house that Jones got tackled on but it was still Jones' best game of his career. He showed a lot of effort and the line did give him room th run.
- Armstrong is a work in progress and maybe we will get a chance to see what Flemister can do. Seems like the Davis experiment is over?
- Found a kickoff returner in Young. Can he return punts? Maybe he needs more playing time at receiver vs Claypool?
- The OL play was much better but how well conditioned are they? Seems like a big dropoff for them, and for the whole team, in the fourth quarters. What's going on with that?
- Against good teams, continuing to give up long drives will bite the defense in the ass eventually. But can't argue with defensive effort.
- Would have liked to have seen more pressure on Vandy QB
- I hope the Wake game is played- team needs another chance to get things figured out before Stanford comes to town. At the risk of being proven wrong for the fourth time in a row, Freshmen at Linebacker and QB should have an opportunity to see playing time vs Wake.
- Pitt and Syracuse will be harder games than I expected. Florida State and USC should be easier.
Decision to go for 2 was totally foolish. Like Northwestern game a few yrs ago. At least the Irish won this one.
Book would be more than a solid QB if he was forced to play with practice reps. Jones made some runs that Williams would have been stopped at the line of scrimmage on. Going for two with that play was stupid but the call was even worse. Weishar is way more dependable than Mack. Kmet is better than both of them. Vandy's QB will be drafted by the Giants and learn one year under Eli before he becomes his father's QB. Their defensive backs were superb. I watched Pitt play Penn State and in the first half they absolutely physically dominated Penn State but made typical bonehead plays and I swear Penn State must have paid off Pitt's punter/placekicker. Syracuse throws the ball like crazy, they may play very well or screw things up a lot. I hope for the latter. Our safeties will be fine and our defense may have given up a lot of yards but their QB and receivers were timing things well and converted or had pass interference called on a lot of 3rd and 4th and long.
I actually thought Wimbush look good yesterday. Most of his throws were on target. The WRs need to pull them in. I agree that the WRs are missing something. Last year they weren’t physical enough, and I believe the same can be said this year. My concern seems to be the development of the WRs. The D always seems to make a big play in the clutch. Bend but don’t break.