Kelly was asked about that penalty, roughing the snapper, and he said that they had been doing it all game and he complained to the officals...he said the officals aknowledged it and that if they did it again they were going to call it. It certainly isn't a common penalty, and I do remember us getting called for it in a game, forget which one, but I had never heard of it when it was called on us. As far as Golson, he is what he is and I'm not sure it's going to change, at least not this year. Flutie kept saying he's just needs to relax and be the athlete that he is, and while I rarely like anything that the short sawed off BC alum says..I think he's right on that. It was easy to see that when he was just winging it he was much more dangerous. The other thing is that people talk about he's just a young QB, but he's been on campus for 4 years now, he's been through 4 spring trainings, and while he didn't play last year he spent that whole fall training with the top QB guru in the country. He is what he is and he's not a young inexperienced QB. This is the team I think we all expected to see when we were talking about expectations before the season. We figured we would have to outscore a lot of our opponents because we were young and thin on defense. Well we are young and even thinner on defense since we were counting on Baratti and Collinsworth being the the defense and at least before the cheating scandal, we were expecting Russell, Ishaq t o be veteran anchors for the defense. So we are down quite a bit with regards to experience. Kelly commented that the UNC fast tempo was a huge problem for the young guys getting lined up, even said that it was a problem for Jaylon who after 18 starts I don't thing we should consider a young guy anymore. All I can say is that after watching UNC, FSU is going to say...lets go really fast and jump on these guys. The UNC QB was really a bull running the ball and he threw the ball well extremely well, he really put the ball right on the money on some of his TD's passes. Missed some of course but he was a load. He's no where near as good as Famous Jameis. That said if Golson doesn't give them 21 points, then we walk all over these guys and it would have never even been close. 50-43 ...I had been lured into thinking that BVG was a magician and we weren't young and thin on defense and that we wouldn't have to outscore people. I think looking at the schedule coming up...we're going to have to score a lot of points down the stretch. I think we are capable of that.
ND record when 6-0 or better facing another unbeaten team 6-0 or better. 1913 Notre Dame (6-0) 30 Texas (7-0) 7 W 1926 Notre Dame (6-0) 7 Army (6-0) 0 W 1930 Notre Dame (7-0) 14 Northwestern (7-0) 0 W 1943 Notre Dame (8-0) 14 Iowa Pre-Flight (8-0) 13 W 1966 Notre Dame (8-0) 10 Michigan St. (9-0) 10 T 1973 Notre Dame (10-0) 24 Alabama (11-0) 23 W 1988 Notre Dame (10-0) 27 USC (10-0) 10 W 1988 Notre Dame (11-0) 34 West Virginia (11-0) 21 W 1993 Notre Dame (9-0) 31 Florida St. (9-0) 24 W 2002 Notre Dame (6-0) 21 Air Force (6-0) 14 W
I watched portions of the game a second time. Golson is at the epicenter of everything good and bad that is happening right now. For a guy who spent a full year being tutored by a QB guru he has some really poor pocket skills. I don't think he drops deep enough and he has a habit of stepping up into his blockers. I am beginning to think that he often makes his blockers look bad vs the other way around. On the other hand, his escapability is as good as there is in college football and his arm is like a laser. But nine turnovers in three games will make an entire team look worse than they really are and that is where we are right now. He is exhausting the defense with his sloppy handling of the ball. I watched FSU too. They don't look unbeatable to me, not by a long shot. Pass rush is average as is their entire defense. I think we might have a good shot.
Something that stood out to me yesterday, which had not seemed to be a problem in the first 5 games, is the indecision on KO returns. It happened at least twice that I can recall, and I feel like it cost us as much as 10 yards, maybe more, in field position. Did anyone else notice, or am I being too picky?
Picked up a verbal from Louisiana prospect Bo Wallace, who is listed as a Outside LB and is 6'4" 189lbs. He's a 3 Star kid. Coach D has him as a little bit of a project, he will need to gain weight/strength and work hard. Could be an excellent college player or a career special teams/backup guy. ESPN has him as a 4 *, but not a top 300 player. But as with most fans, I'm going to trust the coaches that they see something. He does have some good offers, Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Arizona State, Nebraska and UCLA and some others. So welcome Bo!
UNC didn't know the rule on roughing the snapper but Kelly did...good job Coach!! http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/colleges/x1154809582/Despite-losses-UNC-feels-primed-for-solid-finish
:x For me, the biggest problem is still at center, not QB. LBs and safeties come pouring in on the QB on every play. Golson is dancing, side-stepping and running for his life soon after the snap and sometimes he doesn't have time to turn around. Matt Hegarty must play better or Nick Martin's hand must heal sooner... There isn't much to analyze this week. We've all had this game circled since last year, along with the finale in Los Angeles. This is where the rubber meets the road. If our QB hands out free points we go down. If he doesn't, we have more than enough to beat these guys, based on what I've seen. Let's do it. Go Irish!
Sid, You aren't alone. the other deep back needs to get to blocking and stop acting like an adviser back there. Twice our return guy came firing out and passed the other back on the way. The only guy deciding to return or stay is the guy making the return. The other 10 need to block. It's as simple as that. I have no idea what that kid was doing but it better get straight.
JO'Co, I agree with you re: the center position. The cameras and the announcers focused on Hegarty several times, and it wasn't pretty. It's a glaring weakness that must be corrected somehow, some way.
I played the center position in high school. # 1 task is to get the ball cleanly to the QB. #1A is to get yourself immediately into a good blocking position. Hegarty is really slow on the second part. I still think Golson is making matters worse with his horrible pocket technique.
George, the game announcers made the point early that the coaching staff is coaching him to move up in the pocket. You know that I normally am the last guy to criticize coaching, but in this case I believe they are mistaken to force him into the middle of the scrum and take away one of his two biggest assets, his feet. I understand their objective, to take away the ability of the outside rushers to get to him while he's checking down, but I don't think the trade-off works. I believe he has less vision and less time to make a decision in the middle of the pocket. Anyone else have an opinion on this? I'm all ears. IMO if they don't let him return to a 3-5 step drop, FSU's D-line speed will wrap him up and neutralize his effectiveness.
Part of his problem might be his height. Maybe 6'.... its possible he is moving like that to see over his blockers.
Excellent point. I guess we'll see the rationale either be successful or not. I'm concerned that FSU is watching the UNC game tape and licking their chops (following their crab leg dinner). :lol: