The NI loss means the team MUST concentrate every moment going forward, including at practices. One slip up and it's over. THAT should foster growth.
Plus, this horrific loss occurred very early in the season and will be a distant memory in November.
Beat USC and NI is erased.
Ok... I tried.
was bad especially at QB. However, that does not mean I am not rooting hard for them to win the rest, Dig deep boys.
Win every remaining regular season game and win at least 2-3 playoff games regardless of our seed number. A 14-2 final record with a competitive loss in the NC in year 3 would be a nice rebound and positive leap board into the future for Freeman.
This will require a 12-13 game win streak from a HC who's max to this point has been 5 straight, so I don't know if he can do it but it's there for the taking if he's up to the task.
1) The offensive line has to solidify. No more of this Jekyll / Hyde identity. Ashton Craig and Billy Schrauth getting injured makes this more difficult, since those two were our most solid players on the line. I haven't heard any injury updates, so I suspect that we'll know more today after x-rays.
That being said, the silver lining here, is that Rocco Spindler filled in very well, having been a starter before, and aside from a few nervous snaps, Pat Coogan did decently, also having been a starter (Pendleton wrested away that starting LG position). We've lost too much depth on the line, though, and everyone had better be praying for speedy injury recoveries here.
2) Riley Leonard has to be able to show at least *some* semblance of a downfield passing ability. He's a running QB first, of course, and he's not going to evoke images of Joe Burrow, Ty Detmer, etc., but if he doesn't make the defenses at least respect the notion that he can complete a 20 yard pass downfield, they're simply going to stack the box like defenses did against us in 2017, and early 2018.
He'll get a chance against our old friend, Chuck Martin (a fellow I actually respect) this Saturday.
3) Marcus Freeman and Mike Denbrock have to be willing to yank Riley Leonard if he stinks up the field. I respect Leonard for being a tough guy, and a real competitor, but against NIU, when he had an injured shoulder and did a very poor job (understatement), the coaches should have benched him, and Leonard should have had the courage to say that he couldn't run.
If they finish with 1 or 2 losses it won't look as terrible.
It was a very bad loss though.
Ditto for A&M. Purdue is a lost cause.
...fan since the late 60's. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think ND would be rooting for teams with far less talent to lose just so they could move up in the rankings!! I guess all good things come to an end....ND is becoming like Navy, Army, , etc. - the teams that now say, "I remember when...."
