I'll start the topic this week. I'm concerned about our defense vs. Michigan. I hope I'm wrong, but I did not see what I hoped would be a stout effort against Temple. If we play D vs. Michigan like we did vs. Temple, we'll lose, plain and simple. On the other hand, the offense looked pretty good. Here's a segment from an article in today's campus newspaper, the Observer:
Sean Mele's ILB analysis... Devin Gardner was a highly rated QB coming out of HS, and while he was spotty with his play at QB last year, it's understandable given that the offense was designed for Denard Robinson. But in his first game he looked (from the highlights) like he's the QB I thought he would be. He's mobile, without being Denard mobile, has a strong arm and if we thought the kid from Temple had a good game vs us, then Devin will light us up if we don't make a big improvement. I don't know what UM's RB's and WR's are like though, I did read that they lost their #2 RB , but he will be replaced by a kid who was one of the top rated RB's in last years recruiting class. We are the underdogs, and give the performance of UM last week vs out performance and that it's at UM I am not at all surprised.
I think Carlo is on the field in the red zone because Fox is weak against the run. Carlo is sub par against the pass but I think Diaco fears the run more.
I just so disappointed that Grace isn't better. I thought he would win the starting job and that he was more athletic and faster than Manti was and we'd be good. That he couldn't beat out either Carlo or Fox is disappointing.
Referring to all of our MLBs, it's only one game. For that reason, I - the de facto cheerleader for Tommy Rees - have said nothing about his performance on Saturday. I recognize that we need to see how the team and the individual players fare vs. top-level competition. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), we only have to wait a few more days to see.
One good thing about Tommy is that he's played at Michigan and if it weren't for a horrible series of plays by our DB's he would have beaten Michigan with an efficient drive to seal the win, all the D had to do was prevent the big play, which they didn't and he beat them last year with his QB draw. So I don't fear that Tommy could or would be overwhelmed by the situation or the big crowd. Michigan is the favorite by the bookies, which I like. What I didn't like was Kelly voicing his opinion of the UM/ND "rivalry" and saying it wasn't really a rivalry. Technically I guess he is right in that rivalries are made over a long period of time where teams play one another. I get that. But I would have just as soon he just have aknowledged that UM/ND has had many great games, with many big stars and leave it at that.
Terry, I agree with you re: Kelly's comments. So does Lou Holtz. He (Kelly) needs to hire you as his publicist. :lol:
I hope DaVaris Daniels is 100% for Michigan, those groin pulls can be nagging injuries that follow a player the whole year it seems. Also I wonder what the carries distribution will be at RB? Amir Carlisle will get his and between you and me it looks like Cam McDaniel is the better of the running backs between he and GAIII, but he of course doesn't have the speed that GAIII has..I doubt we see much of the freshmen.
There is something about our defensive strategy that has bothered me for years. And I can't put my finger on it. Our D-backs play loose and our D-Line does not penetrate with any consistence yet opponents seem to attack our LBs. The sweet spot when you play the Irish is 5-15 yards down the field. If I had to guess, and its just a guess, I would say the defense is too complicated. One thing I know for sure, when aplayer has to think too much he slows down.
If you go back and watch the OU game last year it was classic Diaco/Kelly defense. They let OU run up all sorts of yards but not score many points. It was frustrating watching Landry Jones complete all those 5-15yd passes, with little or no consistent pressure. Now when we did bring pressure Manti' got a big sack and we did hold them as far as the running game goes. That worked because Landry Jones was a bigger slower version of Tommy Rees. But when we played BYU that BYU QB drove us nuts with his ability to make first downs on QB draws and broken plays. I hope against Mich that they are able to contain Gardner when he runs, which is what they were able to do last year to Shoelaces. But I think most of us much prefer the DL/LB strategy that results in a ton of pressure and sacks, like what the Wade Phillips strategy does for the Texans...and Tuitt is supposed to be the next JJ Watt isn't he?
To both of your points, Holtz always said that letting the opponent throw and catch the ball is not going to beat us. What's important is bringing down the receiver at the point of the catch. Kind of a bend-don't-break approach. What concerns me is that this is essentially the same defense that we had last year, minus T'eo of course, and we gave up more yards to Temple than we did to 11 of 13 opponents. I hope it's an anomaly. We'll see.
I think Zeke Motta was under valued and so was Kapron Lewis-Moore. Not only were they excellent college players but I believe that they were tremendous leaders. I'm not sure where the Sr. Leadership is coming from on this defense.
Rees sliced and diced our defense two years ago and threw the key pass in last year's game to beat us, Denard, our beloved savior in the 2010 and 2011 games, is in Jacksonville and our running game now consists of a back who is still recovering from a horrific leg injury and a freshman back who probably will involuntarily piss his pants once he sees how huge your defensive line is. Our tallest receiver is 5'3'' and our offensive coordinator schemes are frozen in a 1998 UCLA time warp. But it ain't 1998: time has moved on, e.g. The Polish cavalry was the best in Europe at the start of the 20th century but did not fare well against Nazi panzers in 1939. If we lose by no more than 14 points to a team that played for the national championship last season, I will be a happy camper. Actually, I will still be a happy camper if the rout that I fear comes to fruition as Lloyd, Anne and I are off to South Dakota starting tomorrow. Lloyd and I will try to summon the spirit of Crazy Horse on Saturday morning to provide courage to our stripe head warriors in their attempt to beat an invading, invincible, blue coat legion that threatens to leave Ann Arbor in ashes. Hopefully, I will be able to find a bar in Custer, South Dakota that will have the game on.