Bobda.. You know that I got nothin but love for ya.. With that said, let's drop the puck, grab the back numbers and start throwing hay makers. f*** Michigan. It's time again. ps On a related note... the Finebaum show is now national via Sirius/XM radio. The Southern fans are truly shocked at the Ohio State/Michigan fans. I've been telling these guys that they've been dealing with school girl drama for decades while the real hooligans lie to the North.. They didn't burn their way to Atlanta by accident. But enough side show babble about the pageant conference. Let's do this... it will be fast, physical and ugly. Last man standing wins. Oh, and I'll miss the game. My son is the captain of the football team starting at LT and DE/OLB. He has a 2:30 kickoff. Some things are more important... but in between cheering for my son, you bet our ass I'll be rooting for the Irish to beat the Wolverines.
I spent most of the summer reading about UM woes, one game and that all seems to be gone out the window. On offense they seem to finally be where RR wants them to be, Shoelaces is the reincarnation of Pat White. I think we will have to outscore them, game may be somewhat similar to last years game. Question: what the hell is a 3-3-5 defense? What is it's strength?
....and you wonder why...after spending 31 years there... I am not all fuzzy hugs for fans of the Big 10 and their conference....? :lol:
Dave, You have a valid point sir. T, The 3-3-5 is an umbrella defense designed to show multiple looks to the QB and confuse them. Power running teams have a way of eating it up (which we are not), so this will be an interesting matchup.
In all seriousness, what is RR thinking by employing a defensive scheme that would seem to struggle with power running games in the Big 10? If you consider: 1) the traditional power programs that he is compelled to beat year in and year out to compete for the title, Wisky, Iowa, PSU and Ohio State and now Nebraska, ALL of those teams have always and I assume will always seek to pound you into submission FIRST if the opportunity is available, 2) playing in the midwest in November oftentimes, the power running game is the only reliable means by which to move the football.....you must have a running game to win in November and you must be able to stop a runnng game to win in November.....the last is also why to achieve true competitive parity, any college football playoffs must include trips to venues where it ain't always sunny and warm.....similar to the NFL where a trip to Lambeau, Soldier Field or Foxboro in December is a definite possibility.
don't get me wrong, it CAN be effective against power running games, but the bottom line is that you can't stop 9 with 6. It's a numbers game, no matter how good your LBs and DLs are. They'll have to bring up that rover back in run support a lot (effectively making them a 3-4), which is fine but you are now closing up that pass umbrella. the 3-3-5 is a VERY good defense at stopping spread run and passing attacks. The safeties and corners are playing downhill in pursuit. Lots of big hits and turnovers. Still, the best way to beat it is to run right at it.. over and over and over again until they cheat, then you play action deep.
I would think maybe the problem would be the difference in the size of a typical 3-4 OLB vs the "rover back" in defending the run.
Corey, Right now, I in the middle of workweek from Hell, spending Labor Day weekend writing a never ending appeal brief. I think my employer's design to work me to an early death is going to prevent me from having any time for an extended, knock down, old time hockey brawl re this week's game. I think I'll have time for a couple slashes and a spearing major, but I do not think we are going to be able to earn game misconducts as we have in past years. Re the game: Denard is special and will give defenses fits this year. From a standpoint of pure athleticism, he is the best running QB I have seen in the B10 since Randal El but his skills are not yet as refined as El's were. His speed and talent meshes perfectly with RR's offense ; his ability to run with the football in the spread offense opens up the running game for our other backs and the passing game. He is an adequate passer at best, but the offense RR employs is comparable to an option offense that DC's defend by overplaying the run, which allows even an adequate passer to be effective. His problem is what your Dad hit on: he runs with too much abandon and needs to learn to take a dive Barry Sanders' style before he gets killed out there. It is difficult envisioning him, given his small physique, finishing the year in 1 piece. He took at least 3 nasty hits during the UConn game, one that knocked him out of action for a play but looked worse than it turned out to be. He is going to take more punishing hits on Saturday. If he goes down this year, M's changes of having a very good season this year go bye-bye. If he plays our the season, he probably saves RR's job. The big question is how our defense holds up against ND's passing game. The Domer transfer playing for UConn missed severl wide open receivers on potential big plays. If your new Qb's passing ability is even moderately close to Clausen's abilities, the Irish will put points on the board. Looking forward to the game
Pat White was about 6' 1" or so and less than 200lbs at WVA, he ran the ball a lot, he was pretty durable mainly because he did not run the ball like Tim Tebow. There were many games where they hardly threw the ball at all. Give him an opening and he was into your secondary in a heart beat. He also had help from Steve Slaton and a FB who I can't remember but a kid with a lot of heart who if you didn't pay attention gashed you as well. I fear Shoelaces.
Here's something to put the fear of God into Bob: Gary Darnell ran the 3-3-5 for Fran at A&M during their last year as an answer to all the spread offenses we faced. In that incarnation it couldn't stop anything... but I'm sure your version won't look anything like ours.
re: matchup I believe that Rich Rod and BK have faced each other several times before, so I doubt that they will try to surprise each other. Both of them stubbornly stick to what they know and what has worked in the past. Saturday should be no different...IMHO.
ND <r>Hmmmm.....My bold prediction is that shoelace will have less than 100yds rushing and ND RBs will have 150 at least. <E></E></r>
It's hard not to note that Danny Hope observed that by not blitzing so much like we did last year that our defense had fewer holes to fill. Also Kelly made this observation as well in a similar vein. I think we will have to treat playing a Read Option Team like UM some what like we are playing the Naval Academy. The defense will have to be very disciplined, stay in their lanes and tackle very well. Robinson will likely make some big plays, I don't think he can be shutdown completely. But we have to minimize them. Terry
ND <r>I haven't been able to see a full replay of the UConn game just some youtube clips but I'm pretty confident the Irish D can do a better job than they did on containing shoelace. From the few clips I saw It didn't look like UConn took advantage of some things the um D was giving them either. <E></E></r>
I get that....but if you had to install a defensive system that will give your kids the best opportunity to consistently compete against Wisky, Ohio State, PSU, Iowa and Nebraska and win in the Big 10 would that REALLY be the one???? In truth, Purdue is the only program that has had ANY success in running spread systems and even that has been inconsistent at best.....the guy is defending against ghosts, imho or more likely.... could it be that he is an offensive guy with an offensive mindset that what he's running is his baby.....he wants his defense to be the one to consistently give his offense the best looks on a day to day basis in order to have the offense executing at as high a level as possible......we'll see how that works out for him. With apologies to my friend Bobda, I could be wrong, but I don't think so....we'll see
Rich Rod was supposed to be a great coach...I know I thought so. I do think Kelly IS a great coach....so...hmmmm..... In a little bit of a shoot-out the Michigan Qb dances and improvises his way to a great.....late lead in the game but ND returns the magic to South Bend with a very late FG drive.....a 50 yarder with a breath of a breeze from TD Jesus helping it along..... ND 33 UM 31