It's time to find out. I believe... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz-WkZSF8rc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_plrGJkv4Ic
I went the the Ft. Wayne Bishop Dwenger game last night and saw Tony Springmann play. It was his first game of the season after suffering a concussion in preseason practice. He's listed as 6'7" and 258 lbs. He's every bit of 6'7" but he actually looks bigger than 258. He played LT and DE. He looked very good. He looks solid enough to be on the field in a college game. At halftime, they honored my son's undefeated state championship team on its 20th anniversary. I mention this because of a thought that makes me feel really old.....The kids playing last night were not even born when my son played HS football!
Notre Dame 23 Purdue 12 It was a solid, but unspectacular opening game. I saw a lot of good things today: 1. The defense has been dramatically improved. -Tackling was hard and sure. -Pass coverage was good. -All defensive backs looked outstanding, especially Darrin Walls, Gary Gray and Zeke Motta. -Pressure on the QB was good. -Run defense was good. -Manti and Carlo are a couple of beastie boys in the middle, although Carlo must improve his pass coverage. Kelly's comments on these guys were right-on. -The defense gave up only 3 points, with the offense giving up the other nine. 2. The offense was good, but with some rookie mistakes, which are all correctable. - Our new OTs were outstanding all day, especially Zach Martin, who unfortunately didn't understand his assignment on the safety and blocked out instead of down... - Saint Dayne looked good for a first-time starter, with a few confused moments. He will get better... -True frosh WR TJ Jones is a real ballplayer. After watching him I can understand why Shaq transferred to UCLA. He would never have beaten out TJ... - Cierre Wood is so good, that Armando will be lucky to hold onto his starting job. Wood has already beaten out everyone else... - Theo Riddick was not much of a factor. He appeared to be lost at times... - Michael Floyd had an off day. -I don't believe that Kelly showed much of his offense today. I suspect that he's saving a bigger package for you-know-who next week... ..........JO'Co
Teo wasn't the best LB on the field this day. That honor goes to Carlo. Nine total tackles including 7 solos and three for losses. He also made the tackle to end three Purdue drives. The bigger the spot, the better he plays
Congrats to the Irish on a solid victory.....M looked much improved -v- UConn - next week should be a good matchup.
It was a solid, but unspectacular opening game. I saw a lot of good things today: 1. The defense has been dramatically improved. -Tackling was hard and sure. !!!! -Pass coverage was good. -All defensive backs looked outstanding, especially Darrin Walls, Gary Gray and Zeke Motta. -Pressure on the QB was good. -Run defense was good. -Manti and Carlo are a couple of beastie boys in the middle, although Carlo must improve his pass coverage. Kelly's comments on these guys were right-on. -The defense gave up only 3 points, with the offense giving up the other nine. 2. The offense was good, but with some rookie mistakes, which are all correctable. - Our new OTs were outstanding all day, especially Zach Martin, who unfortunately didn't understand his assignment on the safety and blocked out instead of down... Kelly point of emphasis. - Saint Dayne looked good for a first-time starter, with a few confused moments. He will get better... -True frosh WR TJ Jones is a real ballplayer. After watching him I can understand why Shaq transferred to UCLA. He would never have beaten out TJ... - Cierre Wood is so good, that Armando will be lucky to hold onto his starting job. Wood has already beaten out everyone else... CAN WE SAY 1-2 Punch, that will benefit AA a lot and keep him fresh. - Theo Riddick was not much of a factor. He appeared to be lost at times... - Michael Floyd had an off day. -I don't believe that Kelly showed much of his offense today. I suspect that he's saving a bigger package for you-know-who next week... I wondered about that myself The only thing I'll add right now is that Marve was able to get outside and make some plays and Denard Robinson is twice as fast and shifty...I'm worried big time about Shoelaces!
re: Shoelaces He worries me too. He's a great natural athlete who seems to just make it up as he goes along. You can't really plan for guys like that; just corral them and hit them as hard as you can on those few occasions when you actually get your hands on them. Getting Darius Fleming back will help and guys like Manti, Carlo and those headhunter safeties will know what to do. This Irish team hits harder than Connecticut... re: small offensive package Kelly didn't show much for obvious reasons: 1. QB Dayne Crist hadn't started a game since 2007. 2. New coach, new offense, new players, opening game etc. 3. Keep mistakes to a minimum. 4. Michigan next. Did the Irish even have a penalty? Having seen Kelly's offense many times before, we know what it looks like and the Purdue game was a severely dumbed-down version of it. Think about the slot receiver, Theo Riddick. Kelly threw to him on the opening play, then he kind of disappeared. That slot receiver position is a main key to Kelly's offense and he basically didn't use it after showing it. Watch for Riddick Saturday. If I'm right, he'll run reverses, sit-down routes over the middle, deep go-routes out of trips and crossing patterns. BTW- speaking of speed...how about Bennett "Action" Jackson? ........JO'Co
Some game observations Crowd was loud and excited. Students were really upbeat and great. Sideline looked organized and very enthusiastic. Only once did I see a defender look confused as to his assignment. A very, big improvement. The special teams were great. Kickoff coverage was exceptional. Ruffer was perfect on his FGs. The last one was a critical kick. Biggest surprise of the whole day was that the game lasted only 3 HOURS. Everyone was thankful.
from Carlo's dad just a few minutes ago..... George… Sunday 10am he went to the Gug for his ice bath, came home and said he felt fine so we went for breakfast. He went to a team meeting last night and was awarded the GUNIT award by Diaco for being the top linebacker in that game. He has brought pride back to New Jersey and we are all excited for him and he’s just warming up. This weekend will be a very big game against Michigan and I believe Diaco will have them very well prepared to stop their QB. It’s amazing what good leadership brings to a group of talented kids that want to win. Just got home at 4:30pm yesterday and we are leaving at 4:00pm on Thursday…. GO IRISH !
Good for Carlo. I'm very hopeful that Diaco will mould this unit into one that can play very well and not look so poorly coached and out of position as the Tenuta defense did last year. I wonder what this means for McDonald when he is ready to play, it does seem like Diaco will play a lot of guys.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20100906/SPORTS13/100909709/1001/Sports Another good article in the South Bend Tribune. JO'Co, Bennett Jackson was running high school track a few miles from where I sit just three months ago. He has blazing speed and a bodybuilders physique. He had four tackles on special teams against Purdue in his first college game. Not bad. JIF, Yeah, Carlo is one of us :lol: His dad and I are good friends; he owns a business very much like mine in the same field. When we became friends Carlo Jr. was a freshman playing both ways on the Varsity at Verona HS. His family is first rate.