It was obvious last night that the Irish did not seem to be in the game. How do we expect them to be in the game when they start the game actually playing a "Prevent defense." How do you get a team fired up when you tell them "to give the other team, 10 to 15 yards on pass plays." "Don't let them get behind you, etc."
USC was a wounded tired team, many hurt players, freshman QB, miserable record, not even bowl eligible. We treated them as if they were a real threat. We seemed to be impressed by stories of the past .Did they play well? They played only as well as a team would play when the opposing team gave them half the field to dance on.
When a team runs a "prevent defense" do the coaches realize that they are muting the aggressive nature of their own team? And it can be hard to get them to turn on an aggression when they need it. But they had one strong effort for a while when the ND defense, that we were familiar with, played as they could and USC could do nothing. Then ND scored and had a 14 point lead and the Coaches went back to a "prevent defense" and USC scored . We have a great bunch of defensive players that have shown us what they can do. I hope the coaches show some confidence in them.
If we play in the playoffs like we did last night, our "schemes" will crush us.
Going in, they likely figured the most likely path to an upset was SC’s exceptional athletes making big plays. The strategy to make them complete drives to score was understandable . . . and it only surrendered 10 points. The problem was ND’s sluggish offense allowed those 10 points to matter.
year we woulda lost this game.
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the reason is the coach decisions. Prevent defense is why the team was lame and USC was in this game.
The QB is young, but he can throw. If you give him time he will kill you. Wait for future games and if we give him time we will lose.
I don't agree that we took them lightly. It was the coaches decision.
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That is a LOT of travel, and there is no way we were at 100% for that game. USC was rested and ready. We still got the W.
I think they were a little nervous and expected USC to roll over for them last night. That did not happen. The turnovers in the first half were huge and probably saved the game. The half time adjustments Lea made were on the money. They pitched a shutout in the 2nd half and the offense found the end zone. It was uncomfortable as hell but after a very long travel season, they pulled it out.
I think the fire is there. The defense is one of the best in the nation and I think Book's decisions (outside of the INT in the 4th) have been very good. If they face off against Clemson, it'll be a really good, low scoring game. Not sure anyone can stop Bama this year.