Big game this weekend. Road trip to a dangerous Clemson squad. They always have a lot of talent, and whether you like Dabo Sweeny or not he's recruited very well and will be a very tough game for us. Death Valley, that's what they call it. I don't believe it's the same as that other Death Valley in Baton Rouge, but no doubt they have a great crowd at their stadium. I'm not really worried about the offense, I think we'll be fine. Kizer still has a lot of learning to do, but he has a good OL in front of him and 1 awesome RB plus a couple of young guys who look like they have some talent as well. It's our defense that worries me, Joe Schumidt other than the Ga.Tech game has not been a great MLB, and our pass defense esp Cole Luke is very vulnerable. It's troubling to be at this point in the BVG coaching regime and not be sure if he's the right guy. Is his defense too complicated? I get it that a lot of people are always impressed with coaches that have NFL credentials but bottom line is that these are college players and not seasoned NFL guys, and they don't have the same amount of time that NFL players have to learn schemes/defenses/etc. Simple is good for college players, complicated is bad. I still think we can win at Clemson. Have to play better on defense.
I remember a few years ago Clemson hosted FSU in a huge Saturday night game. Players marched in through the bleachers and walked down to the field through the crowd. FSU then destroyed them. And quickly. I think we will do the same.
We've opened in Vegas as underdogs and Will Fuller is giving them bulletin board material through his Twitter account. :cry: I respect them, but I don't fear them.
Last week, the Game Day fools picked UMass to beat us. The week before that they picked Georgia Tech. I hope we're an underdog every week...
From Dabo's press conference today: Q. Do you have a problem with this not being a true ACC game? COACH SWINNEY: Not being a true ACC game? No. I got asked I got so-called asked a question by a media guy, I don't even know where I was now. It might have been in ACC meetings. You asked me a question and I just answered it. The guy asked me a question of whether I thought Notre Dame should be in the conference. And I said, yeah, I do. And then the headline is Coach Swinney has come out -- no. I could care a less what Notre Dame does. I really could care a less. My concern is Clemson and the things that I control. I don't care one iota what Notre Dame does. That's their business. But ask me the question or my opinion, yeah, I think they should have to play 13 games. I mean, to me, I feel, not just them, same thing with the Big 12. I don't think that's fair. I don't think it's equitable. I can't do anything about it, so I ain't worried about it. I could careless. But you asked me the question, I answered it. Next thing I know, I'm national news. You know why? Somebody mentioned Notre Dame, and somebody mentioned Notre Dame. Somebody mentioned that about Iowa or Iowa Wesleyan, nobody would care. But Notre Dame, man, I'm all over the news like I've got some agenda. I ain't got no agenda. I don't care what they do. To each his own. I'm worried about Clemson. But it's like the NFL. How many, 32 teams? 32 NFL teams? Okay, well, if 27 of them have to play 16 games and then the other five play 15 games, well, that doesn't seem right to me, but that's the way it is. And I will really focus on that. I don't lose one second of sleep on that. I'm worried about winning the games that we have at Clemson because that's what matters to me. But when somebody asked me the question do I think that it's fair that these teams only play 12? No, I don't. I don't. I think that makes no sense to me.
Link to Dabo's Press Conference Transcript. http://247sports.com/Bolt/Dabo-Swinney-Previews-Notre-Dame-39825905
Clempsin is the poster child for underachievement. You may get a game out of them, but they'll fold at the end.
This story won't appeal to everyone, but I was moved by it. http://espn.go.com/college-football...ry-clemson-offensive-coordinator-tony-elliott
Sid, I was impressed by that as well. I am having a difficult trying to decide on confidence points for this game? :roll:
I watched the Clemson-Louisville game. I think they're beatable, but no question it's a very stiff test for our defense. Don, you're doing OK in the pick'em contest. Don't tell me your decision. Based on your performance so far, if you pick Clemson, that won't bode well for the Irish. :wink:
Kizer said in an interview he's not really worried about the potential for rain, that he had some of his best games in the rain in HS. Good interview here. http://www.13abc.com/sports/headlines/DeShone-Kizer-University-of-Notre-Dame-Football-Media-Conference-330165501.html
Hey guys my weather man is saying this weekends game against Clemson is going to be a mud fest as the hurricane drops large amounts of rain....
Yeah it's going to be a mud game. I was at the Notre Dame/Stanford game in 2012 which was not only rainy but it was cold. But somehow we won at the end. You have to figure there will be some turnovers by both teams due to the weather. It is on grass and not turf, so as you said...mud!
Cole Kmet, TE from Illinois committed to the Irish today, it came down to Ohio State and Notre Dame. Gives us 2 top rated TE's for the 2017 class. I know Tim Gentry is smiling!
re: Cole Kmet This guy looks like a real TE; not an H-back. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VtKRpj8Qdlw?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0"></iframe>
Great effort on the last sequence. I'm not sure about the 2 pt conversion call but great effort. Almost pulled out another one.
tough loss kp, too many errors by the irish. but credit to the kids they fought through the errors and had a chance at the end. i'm not sure i would have called a qb run for the 2 pt conversion, maybe if we still had malik zaire at qb. i thought we were going to get run out of the stadium after we went down 14-0 right off the bat, so many what if's..corey robinson missed a couple of big catches, they would have been tough caches for sure but man what difference makers they would have been. feel bad for chris brown he was maybe going to score and the clemson kid makes a great play to knock the ball out and saves the td. kizer made some good plays but he also missed some throws and didn't see some wide open guys. credit to that clemson d though they came out breathing fire and stuffed us early on. i didn't really think we were going to be undefeated after losing so many starters but i still think we can have a really good season.