I don't have anything to say at this time, but I'm concerned that if we don't start a topic on this week's game and put the USC game to rest, we will be jinxing the team by taking Navy too lightly. :roll:
ND <t>I still hate playing the service academies. <br/> <br/> Navy's starting QB left the game last sat with an injured arm/hand. Not sure if he will be playing or not.</t>
The spread is 17.5. Lewis-Moore is finished for the year at DE with an MCL. Ethan Johnson, the other starting DE hasn't played in a month and will see only limited action this week. Our entire D-Line will be freshmen and a sophomore. This may be the week I take Navy and the points.
Navy does not have a good defense this year. This should be somewhat of a repeat of the Air Force game. We should take the ball if we win the toss and get on the board, and score as much as possible in the first half. Even without their starting QB they still have that FB who ran over us last year and given the way USC ran up the middle I'd say that dude is licking his chops. It won't help either that KLM is gone for the year now, and that EJ is still hobbling. That means a lot of freshmen will be playing on the front line. That is never a good thing against an experienced option team. Sure our freshmen DL are good and have more athletic talent than the Navy guys, but they are freshmen and will likely fall for every option trick in the book. While Rees has come under a ton of criticism, against Navy he should be as efficient as he was against Air Force, and our RB's should have good days as well. But I will not be shocked to have us give up 25-30 points to these guys. I see that Kelly said that there were a lot of guys out running today which I take it to mean wind sprints as punishment/character building from their play vs USC. Hopefully the coaches had to run as well, it wasn't their finest hour either. We put 59 on Air Force, we should put 60 on Navy.
Last week's performance certainly knocked down my confidence a few pegs. I'm betting on the Irish but it won't be 20 points. They'll bring in Ricky Dobbs who is in his 9th year of eligibility. They were going to redshirt him to get a 10th year, but now they need him. :lol:
ND <r>Here's the latest on the Navy QB:<br/> <QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> Proctor ran the offense every bit as good as Dobbs did. I watched some of the Navy/ECU game and the backup QB didn't appear to be as good as Proctor but did have an arm.<br/> <br/> As Terry mentioned their defense isn't as good as it has been the past couple of years but as always with these guys you have to take advantage of your time with the ball cause they will eat up a lot of clock. Hopefully we can get off to a fast start and just keep scoring.</r>
8) re: Navy QB hand injury The Navy has been beating the Irish like a drum and they haven't passed in five years, except as a trick play. I'll be curious to see Diaco's game plan after the one he used last Saturday and the one he used against Navy last year...
Kelly pretty much gave us the defense when he said that when playing the service academies the amount of yardage you give up is meaningless, the goal is to limit the points. By that I take it that he will trade the between the 20's yards for stops in the redzone. That's what he did with Air Force, they consistently gained a lot of yardage running to the edge but couldn't really break the big gainer, same in their passing game they threw the underneath stuff with impunity but didn't hit the big one. If the result vs Navy is the same I'm ok with it, but personally I'd really like to see our defense string the option out with excellent assignment defense and limit the edge and stuff the FB, in other words shut'em down. But that doesn't sound like how he'll play it. I do wonder how they plan on stopping the Navy FB, since on the last USC drive that little guy just kept running up the middle for yardage right over Nix, Carlo, and Te'o.
I re-watched that drive last night . USC got the ball with 6:41 left at exactly mid field. They ran that little RB back between the tackles every play except for one when they ran Tyler between the tackles and he scored but it was called back on a penalty by USC. At that point Haden clearly indicates to Kiffin not to score and Kiffin gives him a funny look. They ran the clock out at the two yard line. To me, that is the greatest insult of all; worse than anything the players said about us quitting. Kelly trudging to the locker room with a pocket full of T.O.s is a close second. It is key to get out on top of Navy because they will definitely have a big edge in T.O.P. If we fall behind we will likely start turning it over. Smart money takes Navy and the points. Bet the over. ND-38 Navy-31
Morris Inn will be renovated and expanded...but I'll bet I still can't get a room there!! Morris Inn Link to More Conceptual Drawings
Well, you could have been the one footing the bill for the renovation. I've stayed there a few times always during non football times. The rooms I got were always draconian and comparable to a Motel 6. It does however have Leahy's in the lobby.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KHAQE7YeHcY" frameborder="0"></iframe>
Bingo! Senior Leadership! Aaron.....My man! You tell 'em! Thanks, Terry. That video tells it all. Well, maybe not ALL, but it speaks volumes why we have been so inconsistent. Some things you simply cannot lay on the coach. At some point, the athletes must take ownership if the team is to reach its full potential, and the seniors must lead the way. That's why I earlier mentioned team leadership as one my two biggest concerns.
I knew you'd like that, you have always reminded us of the power of having great Sr. leaders and the problems that exist when you don't have it.
Well one thing continues to go well for ND and it's athletes and that is academic achievement. ND Academics
I expect to see those same schools up there every year, but somebody at Wake Forest has been doing an amazing job!