I'm sure this will be a cheerful series of posts. Just as soon as anyone can think of something positive to add, I will respond to it with childish aggression and immature heckling... Jimmy Clausen looks pretty darn good to me, and I've seen many of his high school games on TV. The only thing missing is the big, downfield rocket and that will come later, once his rehab is complete. The kid doesn't rattle;he makes good decisions; and he can do things the other kids can't do. He looked better in his debut than Brady Quinn did, or a lot of other Irish QBs from the past. He'll do just fine, as will speedster Armando Allen, and I hope we can find someone to block for them before they get killed... Paul Duncan is having major problems at LT, but so is Sam Young at RT. Both are being backed up by true freshmen on the depth chart... Isn't David Bruton a wonderful player? Chinedum is playing for the Bengals, but he isn't missed on the field. Bruton is a definite upgrade at that position. Our safeties really are super... The WRs still look lost out there. Grimes and West have problems getting open, while Parris and Kamara get open, but can't hang on to the ball... The defense looks good, but they can't stay out there all day. They need some help from the offense to eat some clock and that means blocking. I haven't seen much of that yet... Our kickers continue to surprise. They have fine legs and they're young too. I don't worry about the kickers anymore... Golden Tate is beginning to elbow his way into the mix. He and Allen may be too fast and athletic to leave on the bench...
Michigan has been a real shocker in the first two games. Now with Henne out for several weeks, I think the doomers get their first win next Saturday. Don
I did think that they played better yesterday. At least they seemed to play with some fire. The defense looked better. I don't know if that's because they were better or Penn State isn't as good offensively as Georgia Tech. Clausen looks like he's really going to be a good one.
We are paying our dues, pure and simple. We MUST develop a running game, somehow. 0 net yards rushing after two games. Unnacceptable. I also like Clausen. That's one position I'm not concerned about at this point. Like JO'Co, I wonder why our tackles can't get the job done. One area that really concerns me is penalties. We don't have poise. We allowed PS to keep a drive alive with a face mask on a 3rd down sack. They eventually scored. Poise, running game. Two areas sorely deficient because of a lack of senior leadership - my mantra, of course. Thanks, Ty.
In the recruiting class two years ago when you got Sam Young you also got a highly ranked team mate of his last name Winger who is also an offensive lineman. The Gators wanted both of them, do you know how Winger's doing?
Burp.. Hell yeah, I can't wait for this game- another titanic clash between college football's most famous teams. Hey, Jo Co, you wanna pass me that bottle of Vitalis. I'm thirsty. You think that piece of lunchmeat in the dumpster is still fresh?
Bill I think you mean Dan Wenger. He's listed as a red shirt freshman this year maning that he didn't play at all in 06.
I wish that the game next week was on the Big Ten network. Since Comcast doesn't carry it, I couldn't watch. Watching ND football makes me feel like I'm 16 again. I keep wondering if I'll ever score.
Attention all Skyboxers... when making a statement like gipper's above, please insert a HUMOR AHEAD warning so some of us can avoid spitting drink on our monitors. :lol:
re oline recruiting, ND also signed Webb and Carufel in that class. If those guys are as good as projected, the ND o-line should be very good in the future.
oh we have <t>OL 'talent' but we don't have experienced, talented OLs... that's the problem.<br/> <br/> People can point to other teams where they have a few younger OLs who are in the rotation, or who start...but they miss the overall point that they are usually anchored by some experienced OLs...or they were able to serve in a good apprentice role for a year or two.<br/> <br/> Due to our lack of OL recruiting under EACH of the last two HCs (but esp Ty), that isn't the case. Even the older OLs are guys thrown to the wolves who have grown up....but have they learned? That's the question I have.<br/> <br/> I am having a lot of reservation about John Latina at this point. Its one thing if we're getting beat... our OLs look lost and this is something that has plagued us since the firing of Joe Moore.<br/> <br/> I said before the start of the season that I was excited about the running game. What I didn't consider is that somehow Young would suffer a regression. I believe it is Wenger who has looked ok in duties. Duncan is a GD turnstile at this point who can't stop jumping offsides. A whole lot of these things sound like coaching to me.<br/> <br/> CW must get a hold of this, even if it means taking over the duties of coaching this position.<br/> <br/> We have the best set of RBs since the Holz era of the early 90s. We may well have one of the better QBs to strap on a golden helmet in South Bend. Our WRs are coming along ok, we knew they were young...but the biggest failure is the OL and their failure has been absolute. This must change and it must change now.<br/> <br/> BTW-I disagree with anyone who says that our defense has been anything less than fantastic. Sometimes numbers lie. That defense of ours has kept each of these last 2 games from becoming 60-3 affairs.<br/> <br/> I am VERY happy with the progress Corwin Brown has made with this unit. <br/> <br/> Our problem on D is:<br/> <br/> -Lack of help in any way, shape or form from the offense. Our D literally spends all day on the field.<br/> <br/> -Lack of DL depth (this is Chuckle's fault-he didn't recruit well along the DL early..He has now...any DL looking for PT should be heading to South Bend). We could be living better with the lack of defensive depth if our offense could get a flipping first down.</t>
:?: I'm not completely sure how y'all know that Jimmy Clausen is going to be good...I hardly got to see him at all. I was sittin' with some guys from my 30 yr. OSU reunion (at a bar...seemed appropriate)...watched the ND game but didn't catch much sound. All I seemed to see was shots of his parents and shots of Tiger and LeBron ("other impressive debuts".) They forgot one...wasn't there another guy with the initials JC that had a pretty impressive debut many years ago? :wink: Anyhow...hang in there...better times are coming...ya got the Boilers in a few weeks.
I was at the game. That was the least competetive ND team I've ever seen. The outcome of this game was NEVER in doubt. ND's 10 points came on an interception return and a punt return that resulted in a field goal. It's too early to start evaluating Clausen. PSU was playing soft and giving the short underneath stuff. They had this game under control early. After that first score they just shut ND down. No, I'm not back. I just jump on here occasionally to see what's up. I'm splitting my time between PSU and West Virginia (my first love) and clearly enjoying myself these last couple of years. The Mountaineers are really fun to watch. They can score from anywhere, any time. Enjoy the year guys.... When's the last time Michigam and ND went into a game both 0-2?
The Detroit Lions have more wins than ND and Mich. combined. I think it could be the end of the world.
The current group of Sophmores OL was considered the top OL class in the nation when they were recruited. Charlie took 6 guys. Sam Young, Carfuel, Bartley Webb, Olsen, Chris Stewart (Houston kid) and Dan Wenger. He added to that this years freshman Dever, Nwanko, Romaine and Nuss. This year he's got 3 guys in Cave, Clelland, and Golic...the smart money keeps saying that Trevor Robinson will also join this class. Those kids are all pretty well thought of, but that's the problem....they are all young and inexperienced, with the exception of Sam Young. Young by the way hasn't played all that well so far this year, soph slump? And some of those guys may not end up as OL's, then there are they guys who don't work out ...don't know who that might be yet, although there is talk that Bartley Webb is unlikely to start in his career at ND or at best not till he's a Sr.