A lot of stuff swirling around the Irish right now. Most of it about the OL and OL coach Jeff Quinn. For the fans he was not a popular hire, but Kelly has a habit of hiring people who he is comfortable with rather than the "best" available. I'm sure Kelly would say that Quinn was the best available, but fans don't agree. Of course the fans also didn't like the hiring of Rees, most preferred Joe Moorehead the current OCoord at Oregon. From team leader and captain, LB Drew White. “At the end of the day, I think Notre Dame beat Notre Dame today,” said Irish captain Drew White, who tried to do his part by picking up a fumble and returning it 28 yards to spark Notre Dame’s first of two second-half touchdowns. “We made too many mistakes and didn’t execute well. That was that.” Irish can either put the Cincinnati game behind them and move on to Va.Tech and prepare and win in Blacksburg or they can wallow in the what ifs, the internet meltdowns over Kelly, the QB's, the OL, the OL Coach, etc, and let that all beat them again. Kelly said today that he knows who the QB will be to start the game vs Va.Tech but he's not saying who that will be. ON IF HE WILL ANNOUNCE HIS STARTING QUARTERBACK "I think I probably won't announce it. I'll probably just talk to the kids, we'll rep it and you guys will do fine investigative work and probably figure out who it is." Kelly also sort of acknowledged the internet talk about Jeff Quin the OL coach. Not a surprise that he defended him. What else can he do. ON HIS ASSESSMENT OF OFFENSIVE LINE COACH JEFF QUINN "I think any criticism like that is totally unfair. Look, everybody has a job to do, everybody takes this extremely serious, it's their livelihood, and all of my coaches, whether a position group is not performing up to their level, they are examining everything about that. We put in 77 hours last week, so there's no stone unturned and everybody's doing everything they can to get the best out of their unit. As I told our guys, we are responsible for putting the best guys on the field and getting the most out of them. So, if we've got to be smarter and we've got to be able to put them in better positions, then so be it. That's what we have to do. A lot of this is about making sure that we put our players in the best position to succeed and that we care about our players and we continue to develop them." I just hope this team is able to put it all behind them and go to Blacksburg and play and beat a good Va.Tech team.
Coan, a game-time decision last Saturday against the Bearcats, was able to play and quickly led Notre Dame down the field on the game's first possession. But on second-and-goal from the 6, Coan's back-foot pass near the goal line was intercepted. Buchner also was picked off in the game. On the season, Coan has completed 61% of his passes for 1,100 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions. Pyne has gone 15-for-30 for 224 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers. Buchner's 3-for-6 with a touchdown, and a pick; he also is the Irish's second-leading rusher, despite registering carries in just three games, with seven attempts for 100 yards. ”I think I probably won't announce it,” Kelly said of the Irish starter. “I think I'll probably just talk to the kids. We'll rep it. You guys will do fine investigative work and probably figure it out. “I think I'm more interested in what we do, more than I'm trying to hide something from Virginia Tech. “But they've seen all three play. They're pretty smart. They can figure it out. This is not about trying to gain a competitive advantage. This is about talking to our kids today and getting them moving and start the process that way.”
On freshman Joe Alt, who is converting from TE to OL this fall. Tall order for a kid not only to make that conversion but to also be thrust into playing LT sooner than it would seem optimal. Joe Alt is the Notre Dame answer at left tackle if Baker nor Carmody can play. “I wish he would become it tomorrow,” Kelly said of Alt's considerable upside along the offensive front. “I think his demeanor, if I had to point to one thing. Now, he has size, right? He has skill-set. He looks like a tackle, acts like a tackle. I just love the way he does his job. He's unflappable. He goes out there. We play him at tight end, change the jersey, put another number on him, doesn't effect him, he goes in and does his job. “Is he perfect? Absolutely not, but having said that, there's a physicality to him that he brings that we really like that we feel like we need at that position. And here we go. We've got another guy at left tackle, and he's healthy.”
Not I. I may be a minority of 1, but I don't think he's ready to start. Play? Absolutely, perhaps even most of the game if necessary. Start? No. I may be wrong, but that's how I feel.
You could be right Sid, he won't be the first backup QB who looks good in relief and when handed the reins to start a game suddenly looks like the backup! Fans are restless and while coaches can't and shouldn't listen to talk radio, read internet experts, etc. If Coan starts and flops and we lose, there will be tar/feathers pitch forks, etc for Kelly. Kelly has said that they want and need to settle on a QB, can't go with the back and forth. But he might not have much of a choice. If Pyne starts and flops in the 1st half, and he goes back to Coan and Coan has a good run and we win or lose, then he's still hasn't got a guy who is the GUY at QB. He has to hope that the team rallies and plays their best game, that that OL finally has a good game and that who ever starts at QB takes advantage and puts points up and the Defense doesn't give up big plays to keep Va.Tech in the game and allow them to win in the 4th qtr.
This is starting to feel a little bit like the year we went down to FSU and lost in a very close game in 2014, after that we were never the same team and lost 4 out of the next 5 games, before winning the bowl game. Losing to FSU the way we lost just seemed to take it all out of the team. I hope that hasn't happened to this team.
Some thoughts relative to my earlier post: -Terry, Pete Sampson agrees with you that Pyne should start. -One thing in favor of Pyne starting is his obvious ability to offset our O-line's problems with his quick release and quick feet. For that reason alone, I would favor him being the starter. However: -If he starts and can't move the team, who do you bring in? Coan? Buchner? That would be a real downer in terms of the QB situation. The savior has failed. What do we do now? -If you start Coan and he moves the team to score and be in the lead, great. Then you can work in Pyne, not playing catchup, which might keep the momentum going. If Coan doesn't move the team, you still bring in Pyne, but if we're playing catchup, it potentially could be Cincy Part II -The QB controversy is going to be an issue until it isn't, which hopefully could be resolved Saturday. One thing is certain. Based on the O-line's weaknesses, it's unlikely our running game will bail us out of a difficult situation. -Finally, the old standard was never more true: We must avoid turnovers, which killed us last week. If Coan hadn't thrown the INT, would the game have been different? I hope we're not asking that question after Saturday.
Unless Buchner has more of an offensive package that he can execute than wildcat QB I just can't see why he plays at this point except in blowouts. I agree with Sid's thoughts on the situation. It will be an issue till it isn't, that would require whoever starts at Va.Tech to play well, and the team to win. Then that same guy will have to do it again and again! One thing that bothers me about Pyne was that when he came in against Cincinnati he did put 2 scores on the board, but he wasn't very accurate with his throws. 9-22 for 143 yards. If he's going to be successful he needs to be better than that, CFB QB's in spread offenses should be around 60%, the great ones approach 70%. We do have an open date following the Va.Tech game so there is some time for the team to work on the OL. Michael Carmody's needs to be healthy for this game, not that Joe Alt hasn't shown some promise but if he's not able to go then we only have Alt and Lugg at Tackle and if either of them go down we'll be playing a guard at tackle.
One thing nobody is really talking about is Michael Mayers injury. We could all see that late in the game he came up lame, he tried to give it a go after that but it was clear he couldn't really run. Kelly said he's dealing with a muscle strain, and is expected to play at Va.Tech. I hope he's ok and can play at 100% because we need him as a target for the passing game. He's no Tommy Tremble blocking but he's a heck of a pass catcher at TE.
ESPN has been promoting a story about the rights to the slogan "Play Like a Champion Today". it's kind of an interesting read, reminds you of the complicated history of the slogan. Nobody really knows where it came from, Holtz said he saw in a book about Rockne and that the Rock had it up at one time, but nobody can find that book or remembers. OU has had it up for a long time as well, some say that Bud Wilkenson brought it with him from Minnesota, they have photos of it in the OU locker room. The real bruhaha is over the rights, Rick Mirer and a group have got the rights to the slogan now, they aren't going after OU but they are marketing stuff with the slogan on it. They say they just wanted to make sure it was owned by a Notre Dame entity. ______________________________________________ But Mirer and his group formed Play Like A Champion LLC last year and set out to land the one that got away. They felt it needed to be owned by Holtz, who went 100-30-2 at Notre Dame, including claiming the school's last national championship in 1988. "Coach has to be a part of this," Mirer said. "This was his doing. This is his legacy. We still have him. The guy's got a statue." Records show the Wengers' company transferred ownership of the trademark to Holtz's group in September 2020. Notre Dame officials said although they always had a good relationship with the Wengers, there were several others involved in licensing over the years, and terms of the deal were not disclosed. When reached earlier this week, after one question about the Wengers' journey with the trademark, Ron hung up and did not answer a return call. Mirer said he was conscious of the Wengers' history with the sign. "Let's take care of her family, make sure that they're whole," Mirer said. "Because she really created it -- with some direction, obviously."
I saw that, he'll probably catch on somewhere. He seems to have peaked out and is looking at a few more years as a backup somewhere. The good news is that his last contract should have put him in a good position financially for the rest of his life, assuming he manages it well.
This has bound to have been a tough week for the team. They have to know about all the stuff out there now about the OL and them going to Heistand's house for coaching last year, and other stuff. The fact that there hasn't been a QB really step up and seize the job like Book did when he took over for Wimbush. They are bound to be aware of the continuing anger that some fans feel about the University celebrating Kelly breaking Rockne's record. It's just seems like there is a ton of negativiity right now. Will they block it all out, circle the wagons, or whatever teams do when things look glum and go out and play their asses off and beat Va. Tech or will they let this affect them and give a half hearted effort and let the season go into the tank.
Prister on who will start at QB. • When I think of…who will start at quarterback for the Irish at Virginia Tech, my initial reaction to Brian Kelly’s declarative “we know exactly who it is” Monday statement made me pause. For him to be that certain, it must be the veteran Jack Coan, right? A 23-game starter in Lane Stadium would be an asset. Then we heard Drew Pyne would get the starting nod because mobility at quarterback against this Virginia Tech defense in a tough environment is critical. Pyne has been productive in six of 10 series at the helm and gives the offense the best chance to be balanced and well-rounded. Then I was told Coan had received most of the No. 1 reps on Tuesday and Wednesday. Stay tuned. The probing of Brian Kelly continues Thursday at noon.
Joe Wilkins out for the season with a torn MCL. Scott, whether ND wins or loses will not be dependent on who is the QB. That's a fact. All three are capable and competent. Each brings something different to the offense. With a solid O-line performance, each is capable of leading the team to a win. Without it, we need to rely on the defense to keep it close and hope for the best. That's what it's going to be like for the rest of the season.
Sorry to hear that about Joe Wilkins. While he wasn't a big part of the rotation, that was Austin, Lenzy and Avery Davis. He did play in all 5 games, but only caught 4 balls for 61 yards. The freshmen Deion Colzie and Lorenzo Styles Jr will get whatever minutes that he would have taken. Both those kids have high ceilings so maybe they'll get a bit more chance to shine the rest of the year.
Kelly didn't say who would start in his press conference today, but all signs point to Jack Coan. On naming the starting quarterback: "At this point, we'll let it roll out when we get out on the field and kind of go from there. The guys know. We've been practicing all week. I don't think it's going to be a big surprise. Virginia Tech's seen all three of these guys play."