Prister on the QB's ... • When I think of…the quarterback situation entering Saturday’s game with the Bearcats, my first reaction was to say a healthy Jack Coan would and should start against Cincinnati. But I’m intrigued by the possibility of Drew Pyne in the starting role. Pyne’s play against Wisconsin was inspiring. Because Coan has played four games, his shortcomings have been exposed. He’s a statue behind the line of scrimmage with a poor pocket presence. But he can sling it downfield, and when he doesn’t overthrow it, big plays materialize. His first-half performance against Wisconsin that allowed the Irish to possess the football nearly two-thirds of the first 30 minutes was vastly underrated. Pyne has not played enough for his shortcomings to be exposed. He completed 6-of-8 passes for 81 yards and led one touchdown drive. His size could be a limiting factor over the long haul. The sample size against Wisconsin is not enough to just hand him the keys to the offense. And yet the possibility of Pyne playing a full game against the Bearcats is intriguing. His leadership and compete level are upper percentile. We should know a bit more this afternoon about the quarterback situation during Brian Kelly’s noon press conference. Then again, he’s unlikely to reveal too much to the Bearcats.
Kurt Hinish will not play vs Cincinnati. On DL Kurt Hinish: "Kurt went and saw a specialist. He was cleared from having any kind of head injury. It was something different, so he's excited, but he won't play this weekend. We expect to have him back next week." Didn't commit to Coan as the starter, said though he was ahead of where they thought he would be on Wed.
Sounds like we'll have our 2nd string LT back finally! ON OFFENSIVE TACKLE MICHAEL CARMODY "Carmody has been getting a lot of work at left tackle. He's improving each week. We think we're in the right kind of position for him to be able to play on Saturday at left tackle."
I don't see one bit of improvement in ND's O line. Kelly could put Tom Brady back there and it would make any difference (forget that: Brady wouldn't go in behind that mess.)
Yeah this has been going on since the Nebraska game back in 2000, several teams have done this. Georgia seemed like they had 40% of the stadium. ND fans take advantage of the secondary market where opposing team fans who really want to make the trip will pay a big premium for the tickets. Cincinnati fans can drive to South Bend so I'm not really shocked. It's a huge game for them and I'm sure they felt like they had a good chance to win even back in the summer.
It's been awhile since I've seen a ND offense this pathetic. Probably that 2007 season when we lost 8 out of our first 9 games.
So on the stats. We have more time of possession and the rushing/passing stats are a push. But 3 TO's is the difference. That last drive before the half by Cincy was a very good drive.
The red area in the stadium is limited to the normal visitors' seating areas, a couple of high sections, and a strip in the lower seating area. Probably a total of 5-8,000, at most 6-9% of the crowd . I've seen much, much worse. The crowd and the O-line are not responsible for our problems today. As a team and as a coaching staff, we just can't get out of our own way. Pathetic.
OK the defense get the strip sack fumble recovery, Drew Pyne takes us in for the score 17-7. No shutout now!! There is a prayer, the defense is going to have to be really good not let them have any drives force some 3 and outs and hopefully another TO!
Bad penalty on the Punt return after a good defensive series and a critical big drop by Kevin Austin and we have to punt the ball back. Time is tight.
Big play to Lenzy for the TD!! 17-13 after Doerer misses the XP, that's huge because now we have to score a TD and hold them. 17-14 and we could have forced OT. Defense has to come up big on this next series.
24-13 just when we needed our defense to come up with a great series Cincy makes all the big plays and Ridder puts us away with a big throw and a great run for a TD. It will take a miracle for us to win now. But hopefully we can put up another score and at least make it possible even if improbable. Onside kick.
Well that's it, didn't make the 4th down. UC has the ball and can run out the clock. Ridder really played a good game for UC, he was very accurate with his down field throws when he had open receivers . I don't know if things would have been different if Pyne had been the starter. It's not like he lit them up when he came in the 2nd half, he did have 2 scoring drives. I hope he's earned the starting nod at this point and I don't really see the reason to play Buchner except if we are in a blow out situation.