Lot's of changes in football over the last 50-plus years, but the one mainstay is that whomever controls the line of scrimmage wins the game. This is where Georgia has the advantage. It is also a reason why teams like U.S.C. don't win anymore. They have great speed and athletes but have neglected their interior lines the past 10-years. I am not saying N.D. has neglected interior line recruiting, but it lost too much this year to stop Louisville and New Mexico in their tracks, so it does not bode well at all for Georgia.
(no message)
It's the coaching (or lackthereof) that's killing ND, especially within the interior of the o-line.
One area where ND has recruited about as well as anyone recently is OL.
stats against weaker teams and/or one big run a game. ND hasn't been able to really control the LOS with a consistent running game since Davie. The zone blocking crap needs to go. ND recruits road graders and they just be utilized as such.
(no message)
(no message)
(no message)
(no message)
I don't know. I find that perplexing.
(no message)
Many felt the Quinn hire was a bad hire. I was willing to wait and see. He seems to have seamlessly continued recruiting, but the on-field results took a hit last season. In 2017, ND averaged 270 yards per game rushing, with 6.3 yards per carry. In 2018, that fell to 182 per game, with 4.5 per carry. Acknowledging that it was Quinn's first year as the OL coach and that ND lost two top 10 NFL picks, I reserved judgment. So far, I don't like what I've seen through two games against weak opposition. Especially the UNM game. 157 yards at 4.1 a clip seems like a poor performance against that team. So if ND get's stuffed by UGA, as many predicting, in light of what has come before it over a season plus . . . I could see it being a referendum on Quinn. I'm surprised that this is controversial. And, yes, I do understand the idea that ND struggled in short-yardage situations and didn't always produce under Hiestand either. I get that. But it was certainly better overall. Plus I don't mean this in anyway as cover for Kelly. I don't think it is either/or. You can have issues with Kelly's overall management of the team and of his schemes and system and still hold the guy in charge of the OL accountable for the performance of the OL. I can at least.
in 2017 we had a QB that wasn’t a good passer, so the offense was committed to running the ball and we saw a good run game that looked greater than it was due to big plays.
Now that we have a better passer at QB i see a commitment to spreading it out and tossing it around. i’ve heard on a few podcasts that passing is more complex and takes a lot of commitment in practice time.
i don’t think at this level you can have the OL practice pass protection most of the time then have them run block like Wisconsin.
We saw the similarities with Weis, so I’m not surprised that we can’t run inside or grind it out in short yardage situations, the reps aren’t there.
Agree to disagree. What is funniest to me is that when Quinn was hired, your reaction was “Cool, I hope can keep things going.”
In short yardage
(no message)