Defense has done something it hasn't done all year give up so many explosive plays for TD'S. other than that they have been OK As you say offense has sucked
Well it was a great season and I really enjoyed this team, I thought we could play them close and with a little luck steal a win. I didn't see a beat down like this coming, Clemson defense was everything advertised and more .
Yes, the Clemson defense was as advertised. Best the Irish have played against in a long time. I think our D could have held up but the offense wasn't able to put anything together. Very good season for the Irish though.
This season was a great ride. Very disappointed in our offense especially an O line that was a finalist for the Joe Moore award. No excuse for not holding onto the football. It would have been nice to have gotten the ruling on at least one of the many replay decisions during the game. Considering how few injuries we had this year it was disappointing that so many of our key personnel were out at the same time. Maybe we should try using osterine in our strength and conditioning. That Clemson QB was very impressive gutting us time and again with passes up the middle of our defense.
Oh well. We got beat by a better team. No complaints. The biggest difference between the teams was our lack of a burner on the outside. We just didn't have one and they had three. Huge WRs can do a lot of things, but they can't stretch a good set of Dbacks vertically and that's exactly what Clemson was able to do. Corey is right. Their corners were making tackles on our running backs, while their WRs were running right by our corners. Speed on the outside was the difference in this one.
We're down 23-3 and Te'von Coney, our defensive leader, folds his arms and wags his finger after a QB sack. This single bush league gesture speaks volumes of how far away we are from being a well-disciplined, championship caliber team. Yes, it was a great regular season but a sad and embarrassing ending.
I still remain concerned with 'how' Brian Kelly teams lose. We had things we could do to Clemson, but didn't. Part of that is lack of execution, another part of that is poor scheme. When Carson, the defensive lineman/end is openly calling for quick slants and button hook routes (and he's right) something is wrong. I agree with Sid about the posing. It's bush league but it is something that needs to be nipped in the bud when they are young. When the guy is out there as a senior doing it, it's too late.
Lads, I know the game yesterday has to be disappointing to all Irish fans, but Notre Dame did have a great season. Losing to Clemson should not cause any of you to feel shame. The Tigers have an excellent football program. The pain and discomfort of losing will not seem so prominent after a few weeks! I am anxiously awaiting to see how they fare against Alabama.
Well the sting is still there this morning. Not so much that we lost but that after the 1st qtr we weren't competitive. I do agree that our offense killed any chance the defense had of keeping it close. The OL was just overwhelmed by the Clemson defense. Naturally questions arise about the game plan, the teams preparation, all those things. But as others have noted Clemson had the speed on the outside and the QB that could take advantage of that. Ian Book had a magical season, but he didn't have the arm to take advantage of the few times our WR's got open deeper, Clemson didn't really have to worry about any deep throws. Could this have been offset by throwing button hooks, and slants, I don't know. When things are going south, everybody has suggestions of play calls that weren't made. I'm not sure what the future will be in 2019, we have some young WR's who do have speed and need to be ready to play next year and our OL will return 4 of the 5 starters so it should be solid with potential to be very good. Of course right now many question the coaching of Jeff Quinn. At QB we have a young QB in Phil Jurkovec who has size and arm strength that Ian Book does not possess. He needs to be given a chance to win the job. RB is unknown. Armstrong returns, the rest of the crew will be unknowns as they didn't play very much this year. Defense will lose Tillery, Coney, and Tranquil and probably Love and they will be hard to replace, but we do have some good young players. We'll see if the accolades that Clark Lea got this year translate into another good defense. Tough schedule, with road games at Georgia, Michigan and Stanford. Nobody saw an undefeated season coming this year, but things broke right for us. I seriously doubt if we go undefeated next year and 2 or 3 losses would seem likely against that schedule.
As we transition away from football.... Mens basketball had a terrible game yesterday vs a winless Coppin State. They were in danger of losing to them till they pulled it out late. ACC play starts Jan 1 v Va.Tech. I think it's going to be a rough year for them. We're 10-3 but that winning record is more because of all the cupcakes we've played than an indication that we're on track for a 20 win season. Of course things can change and there is some young talent on the squad, but I fear it's going to be at best a .500 season in the ACC. Women's Basketball plays Lehigh today and should win going away, their last tune up before ACC play starts Jan 3 vs Pitt at home. Irish Women should be a top 5 type of program all year. We have a big game vs undefeated Louisville who handed us 2 of our 3 losses last year, including an epic beat down by 33 points at Louisville midseason. They also beat us in the ACC Championship game. Hockey gets back on the ice vs Boston College tomorrow night then we resume B1G conference play where we are in a close battle with Ohio State and Wisconsin for the lead.
Turns out we needed a few more, maybe 6-8 of their players suspended! Beat us like an army mule. Showed mercy for the entire 4th quarter. We wouldn't even move the ball against their 2nd and 3rd team defenders. When Julian Love went down Dabo wasted no time sacrificing Donte Vaughn to the gods and blew the game open right there. Dexter Williams had a horrific game that may haunt him as he attempts to make the NFL; dropped passes, big losses on runs, a fumble and several missed pass blocks. Gilman and Coney literally had more combined tackles than the rest of the team. Passing game was completely locked down. And Kelly is now entrenched in the same conversation as Jim Harbaugh. Six trips to a Big 6 bowl. Six losses by an average of 24 points. Going for it on 4th down when we were turning the ball over was a brain fart of enormous consequence. It really is Clemson, Alabama and then the rest of college football.
Well the Irish Hockey finished the year strong with a 4-0 shutout of Boston College. Jackson tied the all time win total of legendary Irish Hockey coach Lefty Smith. Irish women basketball got Muffet McGraw her 900th win easily against Lehigh.
"Nobody saw an undefeated season coming this year, but things broke right for us. I seriously doubt if we go undefeated next year and 2 or 3 losses would seem likely against that schedule." agreed
Very good news for the Irish defense, now if Julian Love were to decide to return that would be awesome, but truthfully if he's likely to go in the 1st round then I don't blame him for leaving early.