Notre Dame vs Stanford.

Discussion in 'Sports Board' started by Terry O'Keefe, Nov 22, 2021.

  1. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Boy Stanford football has taken a nose dive in recent years. It wasn't that long ago that David Shaw was considered a Top 5 coach. Stanford football was very good, they played an old school type of football, tough defense, and a tough combination of hard nosed running the football with a good passing offense. They had some really good TE's and Big receivers. Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love were AA running backs.

    But that all seems to have gone away now. Some have said that the further that Shaw got from what Harbaugh started the worse his record became. Maybe so but they were still a formidable foe. He is 5-3 overall in bowls, with 2-2 record in Major Bowls, his destruction of a pretty good Iowa team in the 2015 Rose Bowl was his best bowl win.

    I doubt if many Irish fans will forget that game in South Bend in the 2012 season, where the epic goal line stand at the end secured a hard fought win for the Irish.

    I have read that some think that the early signing period has hurt Stanford, and Shaw was one of the major opponents of it. Stanford has the toughest admissions of any major college program. Their admissions people are slow to authorize admission for any football player and with the early signing period that in effect ends recruiting for the year with 90% of the players signing, hurts them. Their targets don't want to wait till Feb and take a chance that late in the process that Stanford will reject them, and they will have lost their spot at other schools they had interest.

    This years Stanford squad is not a good team, they somehow beat Oregon, but that was a fluke. They lost badly to a bad CAL team, they gave up over 600 yards of offense, including 300 yards rushing.

    So unless something goes really south for the Irish we should beat Stanford handily. Whether we'll score 50+ points you never know, but we certainly are capable of beat them as bad or worse than CAL (44-11). Weather in Palo Alto should be perfect this weekend. Hopefully we get a really good win and also get our younger players into the game and get them more experience. Last weekend our 1st team OL got 43 snaps and the 2nd team OL got 16 snaps. I imagine if we are up big at half that like vs Ga.Tech, Kelly will send out Coan for 1 more series and then turn it over to Buchner, Diggs, Estime, and the 2nd team OL. Guys like Lorenzo Styles and Dieon Colzie will get a lot of snaps even in the 2nd half.

    I saw a report that C'Bo Flemster broke his ribs in practice, I think we've seen the last of C'Bo. That whole deal with his leaving the scene of his car wreck and then lying to the police that it was stolen, pretty much seems to have ended his career. He was a coaches decision to not make the trip to Va.Tech which tells me there have been some issues between Kelly (and Lance Taylor) and C'Bo. Clearly though C'Bo who was a really reliable alternative to Kyren/Tyree last year, has lost his spot to Diggs and now Estime. I would expect he'll be in the portal after the season.

    The topic of post season of course dominates the conversation. As I have said more than a few fans would be happier if we finished just out of the running for the CFP and end up in a New Years 6 bowl. Fiesta and Peach seem to be the possibilities.

    Here's hoping the lads go out on top and have a great win, hopefully the starters have another 1st half like vs Ga.Tech and that we get a lot of reserves quality playing time. Also that nobody gets hurt. That was the best thing about the Ga.Tech win was that not only did we just dominate but we came away with no injuries. I gasped when I saw Kiser helped off the field, but he was back in the game in the 2nd half.
     
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  2. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    This is the time of the year that guys hit the portal, and/or opt out of bowl games. It's widely believed that Drew Pyne is a likely candidate for the portal unless he see's himself as a backup to Buchner. Clearly Kelly/Rees are counting on Buchner to be the starter in 2022. I've read that Pyne is hypercompetitive and isn't like the accept 2nd banana and wait to see if an injury happens to Buchner and gets his shot.

    Williams is not coming back, there is talk that Patterson might comeback, but I'm not very convinced that he will comeback. He's consistently rated the #2 center behind the kid from Iowa. Centers rarely go high in the NFL draft so he probably can't really improve his standing by coming back. He'll have his degree and I wish him well in the NFL. Kevin Austin is being talked about as a 5th or 6th round at best WR maybe even a FA, He definitely could improve his draft standing by coming back

    I'm sure there will be a surprise coming of somebody leaving who we didn't think. The DL has several guys who could come back...not named Kurt Hinish...but also could move to the NFL. I hope guys like Foskey come back.
     
  3. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    On Hamilton, there keeps being talk that if we made the CFP that he might find himself healthy enough to play. You have to wonder if Kyren Williams who is a team player for sure, might decide that Stanford is it for him unless it's a CFP game. I don't like it, but we see that more and more every year. Fla and Georgia both had a lot of starters opt out of New Years 6 bowl games so that they don't get injured before the combine.
     
  4. George Krebs

    George Krebs Well-Known Member

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    The Irish need to grind Stanford into pulp on the road. This is the last chance to show what you've got so make it count. I would expect Williams to play a bowl game. He's Round 3 guy at best so He's not risking a lot and he could also come back for another year. I think Hamilton is done as is Patterson. Austin would be nuts to move up now but who knows.
     
  5. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    I agree! Plus, while I have respected the program that Shaw ran at Stanford; I've never really cared much for him. He's always got that smug look on his face during the game.
     
  6. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    I post this for Krebs! From Kelly's mouth to his ears, in todays press conference!

    ON HIS PHILOSOPHY WITH GAME MANAGEMENT, NOT RUNNING UP A SCORE, ETC.
    "I think just the way to play the game for me has always been about we're going to play it the right way. From our standpoint, we wanted our quarterback Tyler Buchner to be in the game, regardless of what the score was, to run the offense. If that meant throwing the ball and we were up 35 points, it was important that we played the game the right way for us, but we're never going to do it just to give people the impression that we're better than we should be. We're going to play the game the right way. I think that's just probably it more than anything else. Look, everybody talks about Georgia's defense and Georgia's got a great defense. But we've outscored our last three opponents on defense, and no one talks much about that either. I just think that when you talk about game control, you got to bring in your defense and your offense and a balanced football team is just as good."
     
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  7. Tim Gentry

    Tim Gentry Well-Known Member

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  8. George Krebs

    George Krebs Well-Known Member

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    The Irish got more buzz from the GTech slaughter than they have from any other game this year. I rest my case.
     
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  9. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Well the first surprise is that punter Jay Bramblett is going to graduate and transfer for his final year. Which is why the flip of the punter from Wake Forrest was so important. I'm a bit surprise as most Grad transfers are guys looking for more playing time, in this case it's that he wants to play his last year close to home so his family doesn't have to fly so much to see him play. Good luck to him, I'll be curious where he ends up. He is from Alabama.
     
  10. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Men's Basketball lost a close game to St. Mary's last night in the Maui Invitational 62-59. Close game through out. St. Mary's is a WCC team as is Gonzaga, they are usually a pretty good squad. Next up is the host, Chaminade.
     
  11. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Irish take on Scott's Aggies in the late game tonight, consolation game in the Maui Classic, I don't know what to expect. I won't be up to watch.
     
  12. Tim Gentry

    Tim Gentry Well-Known Member

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    Well I know it sounds silly if you look at this ND/Stanford game on paper but it still scares me. Most ND fans know how strange things seem to happen when ND plays at Stanford Stadium. I think Kelly did a smart thing by taking the team out this eve to CA so they will have a day to get their legs under them before the game and it shows he is taking this game seriously and hopefully he gets the team to perform up to the standard.
     
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  13. Sid

    Sid Well-Known Member

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    I agree, Tim. I've seen too many "backfire" games at Stanford over the years to feel comfortable, despite what the oddsmakers say.
     
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  14. Sid

    Sid Well-Known Member

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    A message from a fairly reliable source to those who are disappointed when ND doesn't "blow out" or run up the score on an opponent:
     
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  15. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Recruiting is coming to the end, with the early signing date.

    The 2 top stories are the 2 players who seemingly been less than 100% committed to the the Irish. Both are wr, Amorion Walker from Louisiana has talked a lot about how he grew up a Michigan fan that many just assume it's a matter of time till he decomits. Now CJ Williams is a worry, decided he needs to take visits, is saying that the Irish need a 2nd Qb in the class. Many fear that as soon as USC names a HC that he will flip.

    If we lose both it is a big hit to the class. This late it will be hard to replace them with any WR much less equivalent talent.

    The other story is Wisconsin OL, Billy Schrauth. Who would be the cherry on top of the OL class should he choose the Irish. But nobody really knows where he might end up.
     
  16. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Solid 45 - 14 win for the Irish

    We dominated the 1st half, Stanford made some plays in the 2nd half but not enough.

    Big game from Coan, Mayer and Kevin Austin.

    Defense was really dominating in the 1st half, but as I said Trees made some plays in the 2nd half in the passing game.

    I was really hoping Kyren would run for 200 yards, given that a bad CAL team ran all over Stanford just last week.
     
  17. George Krebs

    George Krebs Well-Known Member

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    Irish did what they had to do. What I wouldn't give to play Cincinnati again.
     
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  18. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Assuming we don't make the CFP, it looks like the Peach Bowl or the Fiesta Bowl with most seemingly thinking it's the Fiesta Bowl vs either Baylor or Michigan State.

    Irish Men's Basketball takes on Illinois who is down some starters in the Big 10 / ACC Challenge.

    Irish women are 6-1, lost a close one to UGA and then beat #16 Oregon State to finish the tip 1-1. Next up will be Michigan State on Thursday.

    Irish Men's Soccer beat Wake Forrest yesterday to reach the NCAA Quarterfinals and will play Pitt for the 3rd time this season. They beat Pitt 1-0 in the regular season and 2-0 in the ACC Tournament. Hard to beat somebody 3 times though, Hopefully they can keep it rolling. Game will be Saturday at Notre Dame. Soccer is always played on campus till they get to the Final 4.

    Irish Hockey gets back on the Ice this coming weekend welcoming Ohio State to South Bend for 2 games.
     
  19. kp

    kp Well-Known Member

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    Notre Dame certainly has an argument for being in. One problem is that they lost to the only ranked team (in the current CFP rankings) on their schedule, and they don't have a conference playoff game to stay in the front of the committees mind.
     
  20. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    I think you are right. I think that as of today there are 6 teams that are worthy of a playoff slot, and when you look at schedule and that 13th data point that the committee loves to look at, then I'd say we have the 6th best shot at it as well. OKState if they win the B12 and somebody falls out of the current top 4 will slip into that top 4 over the Irish. I don't think they are a better team than we are, they are a good team for sure, but the metrics that the committee looks at favor them.