Allowed Stanford to pass for 288 yards, and control the clock, time of possession over 36 minutes.Regained possession with over 6 to go, kept ball till 230 to go, then the 2 minute O acted like 10 minutes to go.
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There were those here who have called them “phenomenal” and “very good” based solely on point totals.
All I can say is…those people are not watching the games….
And they keep holding opponents to their season lows. But yeah, carry on.
same same guys who were here last year. This nonsense about them holding teams below their season average is a ridiculous rationalization. Troy held Marshall to 7 points. Gardner Webb held them to 13. Cal scored 9 and 13 points against Washington St. and Colorado, respectively. Look at the teams that North Carolina and BYU scored a shitload of points against likeFlorida A&M, Georgia St., Utah St. and Wyoming which pads their PPG average considerably. Season average points per game against the level of competition our opponents played is not a good measuring stick for the effectiveness of this defense.
Worse in many others. And wait till we play Clemson, USC and Syracuse.
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Except for maybe the top 3-4 defenses, every defense in the country has flaws, many of them serious flaws. The bottom line is the defense has been hung out to dry by the offense and has actually done a good job of keeping points down - the only stat that matters.
ND's defense has held every team but one to below their season-average yards per play (the one exception by 0.2 ypp) and every team below their season average. Three teams scored their season-low against the defense.
junctures in the games they lost. Sometimes, how and when you give up points, as well as who you give them up to, has a more negative impact than how many points you actually give up. Holding Marshall and Stanford to 19 and 16 points respectively is nothing to be impressed with.
7 of 16 converted.The D sucks.
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Agreed
I'm not making excuses for the defense. Defense was down two starters with a 3rd playing injured while another DT in the rotation walked away.
This team isn't good enough to absorb those losses on one side of the ball while the other shits their pants.
In all three losses the defense couldn't hold a lead late in the game. Yes, they should win games based on the point totals allowed and the offense is horrible. However, the defense has not stepped up and taken over a game at key points. In the fourth quarter against Ohio St., they had an opportunity to at least give the offense a punchers chance when they were trailing 14-10. Instead, Ohio St. ran the ball down their throat and dominated the line of scrimmage driving 85 yards for a score and eating up most of the clock. When they took a 15-12 lead against Marshall, the defense could have taken the game in their hands. Instead, immediately following Notre Dame taking the lead, Marshall drove 85 yards down the field against what looked like very confused and uninspired defense. Against Stanford, we took a 14-13 in the fourth quarter and the defense couldn't hold a lead. Is ithat unrealistic to expect an experienced talented defense to hold a lead in the fourth quarter against an inferior opponent? Stanford managed to keep us from scoring after they took a 16-14 lead.
The defense may not look as visibly horrible as the offense. However, they have some serious problems, as well. Why is no one calling out Al Golden??
3rd year as OC. He owns what the offense is. He recruited the crapola that is the qb position.
In that same span of time, ND is on its 4th DC. Elko, Lea, Freeman and now Golden. Golden was the last coach added to this staff in Feb 2022. Let's see what the defense looks like in 2024.
The DL is banged up, and we lost a starter at DT. The linebacking corps even without the injuries is MAC level. The secondary has the most talent, but has also been hard hit by injuries. It was maddening to watch Stanford's QB through ridiculously accurate jump balls on out routes.
Kelly/Clark Lea/Elko were doing things with smoke and mirrors for years. It has finally caught up to us.
At the beginning of the season there were 6 starters on defense being touted as guys who would be playing on Sundays. There was talk of Foskey and the Ademolola's not coming back because they realistically could have been drafted. There was talk of Joseph, Hart, and Luifau not coming back after this year due to their draft potential. Mills is considered to be a guy with NFL draft potential in another year. Was everybody wrong in their assessment of these guys? I had much higher expectations of the defense this year than I had of the offense.
to a couple bottom feeders
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you speak of were starting on a defense that was a hell of lot more effective than this year's. Instead of comparing this defense with guys who are gone, you might want to compare the guys who are here with who they were last year.
Foskey isn't Foskey
Hart isn't Hart
Joseph isn't Joseph
Bertrand isn't Bertrand
Kaiser isn't Kaiser
The Ademolola's aren't who they were last year
Have all of these guys regressed??? Is it possible that their regression might have something to do with 2 guys who weren't here last year named Golden and Washington?
Let's stop this lack of talent bullshit excuse.
feated and top 10.
As the head man would have them 5-1.
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