Well as much as that game plan was unexciting to watch and puzzling to me as a fan, as that writer points out, it worked. If we had a top defense that forced turnovers and stoned the other team...sure be conservative on offense. But to this point we have been suspect on defense and while I applaud our defensive effort esp in the 4th qtr with the game on the line, I'm not convinced that we can win with defense. Kelly has to figure out a way to get some running game going, if he does then Tommy Rees will be a very good QB and our offense should be able to put up points. I know to a certain extent it's up to the players to execute and we do have a young OL on the right side and a 1st time starter at center so that doesn't help. But some RB has to step up and take charge of the position. The fact that Kelly played Taurean Folston saturday wasn't lost on me, he looks the part...is a light bulb about to go on for him? If so that would be tremendous.
It is a proven fact that no RB - none - can run successfully without effective blocking in front of him. Not just the 3 or 4 DL. Effective run blocking must cover the LBs near the hole. Only then will a RB have a chance to seek daylight and take it from there. We have 5 outstanding RBs, 3 of whom form a great combination IF their OL can block for them. This hasn't happened yet. Through 4 games, the team has a net total of 457 rushing yards. McDaniel has carried the ball 45 times for an average per carry of 3.8 yards; Carlisle, 33 carries, avg. 4.8 ypc; GAIII 24 carries, avg. 5.0 ypc; Folston, 9 carries, 2.9 ypc; Bryant, 3 carries, 4.7 ypc. What is the point of these stats? To make it perfectly clear where the responsibility lies for our anemic running game and what needs to be improved if we are to achieve balance in our offensive attack.
I'm with you guys in that the OL needs to run block much better. We're actually getting good run blocking from the TEs, it's the interior that's hurting us. At the same time, we're not running the ball on 3rd and short anyway. We're throwing. We've always been throwing. It's something Kelly has always done and will continue to do so... and along those lines, Rees is effing terrible. I don't want to hear some post-game apologetic BS about 'it worked.' I've got that game DVRed. You can see time and time again, Rees simply did not throw the ball to a WIDE OPEN check down WR for a 1st down. He held onto the ball then tried to go deep with it. (which is exactly the opposite of protecting the ball or making smart decisions). The only way you can say Rees erred on the side of caution was that he chose to overthrow the deep ball every time he made a shitty read. And he made shitty reads all night long. Granted those over throws on the deep ball kept them from picking it off. They would have picked it off because there were 2 men covering the deep WR. You know why there were 2 men covering the deep WR? Because no one was covering the wide open check down 5 yards downfield. I don't want to hear **** about Rees is better than the other options. We don't know that. The only other option that has ever really been put against Rees in a fair competition was Golsen, and he won the job. Rees has been Kelly's guy since walking on campus. Crist got a quick hook. Hendrix gets a nano peek every now and then in mop up time. Never has another QB been handed the keys to the Ferrari and given permission to use all the gears. Only Rees... And he's awful. He's a 4 year starter/contributor. Kelly has been here for what, 4 years now? We don't have another QB in the program who can properly read and throw a simple 6 yard checkdown?!?!?!? If that's the case, we are employing the wrong people. Call me crazy, but I think this program gets better the second Rees graduates and exhausts eligibility. BTW, I'm not getting into either Sid or Terry here.. this is a common theme/excuse during the Kelly years and only Rees has had this amount of rope to play with during that time frame. It bothered me in year one. It drove me nuts in year two. In year three, it was cute but thank God our WRs are better than they get credit for and year 4.. I'm doing all I can to hold back some Belushi-esque rants. All the rules apply evenly, except to one guy and it has always been that way since he stepped on campus. That would make sense if he brought a lot to the table but he doesn't. Jeez, they were patting him on the back from bringing the team together and acting like a leader 2 games ago. He's the QUARTERBACK!!! He's supposed to do that!! Oh well, maybe we're sandbagging for OU...
This from IE's Tim O'Malley. A sliver of hope maybe? With Saturday's win, head coach Brian Kelly's Irish moved to 28-4 when rushing more than 30 times in a contest. With four games in the books for 2013, Brian Kelly's Irish have just 457 rushing yards to their credit, or 104 fewer than at the same point last season. But a closer look reveals the Irish ground game, save for a matchup vs. Navy, struggled through the opening quartet of contests last season as well. 2012 Navy vs. 2013 Temple: The Irish dominated the Midshipmen with 293 yards on 46 carries and five scores. Against the Owls, a respectable but underwhelming 188 yards on 35 carries with one score. Advantage, 2012. 2012 Michigan vs. 2013 Michigan: It was Game No. 4 last fall rather than the second contest this year, but the 2012 Irish were held in check in victory, finishing with 94 yards and a touchdown (by Rees) on 31 carries. The 2013 squad hit for 95 yards on a maddeningly-low 19 carries. Advantage, neither. 2012 Purdue vs. 2013 Purdue: Game 2 (2012) vs. Game 3 (2013) with the Boilermakers destroying Notre Dame's running game last year, holding the Irish to 52 yards and a score on 36 carries. This year's rushing attack, though frustrating and sparse until late, yielded 91 yards on 37 carries, likewise with one score. Advantage, 2013. Michigan State 2012 vs. 2013: Fought for 122 yards and a score (by Everett Golson) on 34 rushes vs. the Spartans last season. Finished with 82 yards on 32 carries (101 minus 19 in lost yardage). Advantage, 2012. How much better was Notre Dame's running game last season compared to the current crew? Not enough to think it won't get better as the 2013 campaign rolls on.
And some people question ND's independence and its contract with NBC. Re: the IE analysis: I instinctively have felt that we are not far behind last season in our rushing stats, but I couldn't find last year's stats to compare. I feel that that we have a much improved stable of RBs if the OL can get its act together. Like Terry said, a sliver of hope.