Being from Texas, I'm a big McDaniel fan. I was a little disappointed that Kelly didn't give Cam more of his share of the carries. I know that maybe he needed to get Folston going and this was a good opportunity. But when they gave Cam the ball he ran just as well as Folston. He should have had a2 TD's but the refs took one away with that bogus holding call on Nikklas. But it was good to see Folston get some work and be successful. FWIW Cam avg 7.4 yds/carry to Folstons 7.8 and if they hadn't taken away his TD run he probably would have had a higher average. Koyack and Nikklas also becoming a big part of the offense, that is a good thing and we have a couple of other TE's who are waiting in the wings in Heurman and Smythe. I wonder if Alex Welch will ever be much of a part of the team going forward. He's been injury prone and then was passed by both Koyack and Nikklas and probably by the freshmen next year if he comes back for his 5th year.
Speaking of Bogus Calls, how about that personal foul on Utopo for targeting, which they had to swallow their whistles on because he never hit the kid and it was Farley who laid a good hit on a RB (and targeting only applies to recievers) and knocked the kid out of bounds. That was a 4th down play and gave them life and they went on to score. It should have been our ball going the other way. That was as bad as the officals calling incomplete forward pass on Air Force QB when he dropped the ball scrambling.
I think Connor Hanratty was the story of the game yesterday. That kid blew open huge holes at LG all day.
Terry, when I answered your question about ND-Purdue in Lucas Oil Stadium, I did not realize that the two schools were talking about it. I'm excited at the possibility.
Man the defense is getting thin at the wrong time. I think we are going to have to outscore people to win the next 3 games.
Where do you guys stand on the whole field condition? Kelly was asked about it after the game (or maybe in his Sunday press conference) and said that the field conditions have been an on going problem that go back quite a while. I certainly have noticed that we haven't had a great field for quite awhile now but not sure when it started to go bad. It didn't even look good early in the season after a summer of good rain and sunshine in South Bend. Everybody knows Kelly wants to go to Field Turf, and of course that pisses off a certain group that feel that ND tradition is grass and should remain grass. Personally I don't get all wrapped up in the Artifical vs Grass thing, we have grass at Reliant Stadium and some have called it a terrible field, it looked pretty torn up last night in the Colts/Texans game to me. Our Grass is in trays that can be changed out, if you watched you saw that the middle section of the field was greener than the sides, no doubt newer trays brought in. We have a complete 2nd field growing somewhere that they use to replace trays. We don't have high useage of the field, beyond the few college games (UofH) that are also played. The field is in trays so it can be removed for concerts and other events that are held at Reliant. If I had a vote, I'd go with the field system that they have at Lambeau Field, it's a high tech grass system that is one of the best if not the best in the country. It's expensive for sure. But bottom line is if we go to Field Turf I'm ok with that, I just want a good field for the team to play on.
I'm okay with either, although I'd prefer the Green Bay version. This season should forever serve as the benchmark for Kelly for kids who whine about not getting playing time, or having to wait their turn. Kids like Vanderdoes would have been playing a lot right away, but right now he'd be the staple along the interior. I don't even want to mention the QB situation. Some kids are going to leave, and some people are going to circumvent the NCAA rules to undermine you in recruiting, but I do hope that a season like this one is mentioned for the next decade to recruits. You never know when your time is going to come, regardless of what the depth chart looks like.
Article regarding the present field in Green Bay. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/sports/football/tenderizing-the-packers-tundra-with-light-and-heat.html?_r=0 http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/137327223.html?ipad=y
The Green Bay system is very interesting. I'd be curious how the cost compares to field turf. Like Terry, I don't have a preference. I'm familiar with the advantages of field turf at the high school level, where the 365-day usability and much less maintenance cost are major factors in the decision to pay the roughly $700,000-plus for the conversion. The cost may have risen in the few years I've been away from it. I would surmise that ND, as we speak, is undergoing a thorough analysis of the cost/benefit considerations of all available systems. On a different topic, here is an outstanding video of the highlights from the Navy game, including Kelly's halftime speech and the impressive interaction among McDaniel, Atkinson, and Folston. It's good stuff: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hO4BZZFgR7Q" frameborder="0"></iframe>
After reading Bobda's articles that is pretty amazing what the Packers have done to maintain their turf, it's certainly easier no doubt to just go to Field Turf. More amazing is that looking at this article on the best NFL playing fields per the Players Assoc, the Packers are 5th behind Az, Tampa, San Diego, and Carolina...all of course warmer climes. Best NFL Fields I wonder what the problem is with ND, I know some places like Michigan had water table problems that they just couldn't over come. I remember when New England finally gave up on grass and went to turf, I forget if there was something that prevented them from having a Green Bay like turf or was it just a financial decision. Some of the arguments for Field Turf at ND are that the stadium could be used for more things, but personally I don't care about having rock concerts or outdoor hockey or Lacrosse tournaments, etc at ND stadium. I just want it to have a great playing surface for the players.
Sid, that was an excellent video. I really like these ICON videos that ND has been producing. Kelly really has a good delivery on these speeches. I wonder if he scripts them and practices them.
I want a great playing surface and some home team identity. Block ND at the 50. Notre Dame and Fighting Irish in opposing end zones.
I want a reversible Leprechaun at the 50, so he always is facing the opponent with his fists clenched. :lol:
For Sid... Changes to ND/Purdue Schedule Adding 5 ACC schools every year has forced these types of changes to the ND schedule. The good thing is that the ACC games can be spread out over the season, the B10 games seemed to have become locked into September. There was a time when that was not true. When Mike and Sid were in school Mich State was always a November game, not sure when it changed or why we agreed to change it though.
I'm probably the only guy here who is sad that the continuity of the series is being interrupted, but hopefully it will continue to be played at least occasionally during my lifetime.
You're not alone, Sid. This is the trickle down effect of the super conference format and the BCS. I hate this.. hate it.