This couldn't have been the same Pittsburgh team that laid an egg at home against Rutgers last week could it? I guess the Irish have a lot further to go than some of us thought. Oh well, hopefully a trip to Boston will be the cure for whatever ailed ND today.
Not any easier this AM. 1. Harrison Smiths stupid PF was the key play in regulation: If he doesn't do that stupid push of the OL to the ground after the play is over then they punt instead of drive for a score. 2. The over throw of Michael Floyd wide open in the endzone in OT by Clausen, very unlike JC. Make that throw and we win in OT. 3. Still discouraging that we didn't score a TD in OT in 4 tries. 4. Still disappointing play by the OL 5. Still a very hard loss and now we go on the road to BC and they will be fired up to the max up there in Chestnut Hill. This game makes or breaks their season. Charlie better get the team ready. We should beat them but that is a theoretical...still have to play the game.
Reality bites. We are improving in a nice way and we will become bowl eligible, but we are not yet the team the fans want to see. This game showed that in a big way. Where ND is concerned I'm a glass half full guy until the glass springs a leak, as it did for me in TW's last year. I'm as upset and frustrated as everyone else at what I saw yesterday, but I try to keep it in perspective. We can't leap from 3-9 to 10-2 with young, inexperienced players, no matter how talented they are......and they are very talented. What we are seeing is harsh reality, which destroys our flowery illusions of a worst-to-first kind of turnaround. With the benefit of hindsight, I can say that I wish some play calls had been different or that special teams had not sucked so badly or that the O-line had not been manhandled by Pitt's front four. But in general - because of the youth and inexperience of this team - I did not see glaring evidence of poor coaching. That's just my opinion. On to BC. To hell with them.
One thing that I didn't mention but should have was Lesean McCoy. This kid is a stud. He has excellent vision, runs with power, but the most impressive thing about this kid is his balance. I can't tell you how many times I thought that he'd be knocked down but he'd somehow get back into control and keep rolling. Ringer was a good back but this kid is the best I've seen this year. Stats are for losers. But how does a team that outgains its opponent in total yds. and wins the turnover battle 3-0 lose? By bad special teams, poor playcalling and failure to convert. Here's one very big reason why Forth down conversions Pitt 3-3 ND 0-2. In the first overtime we had second and goal from the 3. Instead of going with an Aldrich package that uses Schwap as a lead blocker they went with a stretch play with Allen, lost a yd. and ended up kicking a FG. If we can't get 3 yds. in two plays, we don't deserve to win. The offensive line is just not competent. A big change has to occur before next season. To show how unathletic these guys are, Chris Stewart injures his knee running out on the field to start a series. I've never seen that before. A player jogs out for a series, suddenly goes down and has to be helped off the field.
ND/Pitt <r>I can't even bring myself to talk about this game yet.. ...what a heart breaker. <br/> <br/> I knew when it went to OT this was a loss. We never win OT games. <br/> <br/> The game went downhill after the penalty on Smith. <br/> <br/> Gonna take a couple of days to get over this and I have NO confidence we can win at BC next Sat. The Irish will be lucky to be in any kind of bowl. <E</E></r>
wish in one hand, crap in the other. as Sid said, reality hurts.. now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to soak my nuts in ice because this week really left me sucking air
A dose of common sense from Sid. I think, as fans, we want to win them all naturally. But put into context that we were 3-9 last year and many if not all predicted anywhere from 7-5 to 9-3 for this year, then we are with in reach of those goals and going to a bowl game. So if you predicted 7-5 we are ahead of the game, if you were an 8-4 guy then we are on track and if you were a 9-3 guy then you are disappointed. I think if we beat BC/Navy/Syracuse and play a good game at L.A. then the season will be a success and the disappointment of losing to UNC and Pitt when we were capable of winning those game will subside. Terry
Ha ha, Terry. Hopefully, an occasional dose of common sense will help to offset my occasional rants. :lol: :lol:
ND/pitt <r>Terry,<br/> <br/> I agree that we need to keep our perspective here but it's just hard after a game like the one against Pitt. There were some similarities between the PITT and UNC games. I won't get into all of them but both of those games should have been wins for the Irish. We outplayed both of those teams which is what makes it even worse. <br/> <br/> I hope you are right about the next three games, I wouldn't count the BC game in the win column until the final whistle blows though. You know how we are with BC. <br/> <br/> <br/> The team has improved from last year. We have been in every game, even with MSU it was close until the final 6 minutes or so. <br/> <br/> They have taken some big steps and they are so close to being a good team it almost hurts. <br/> <br/> Patience....we need it now but it's never been one of my best attributes. <E>:?</E></r>
Jif, B.C. always gets up for the Irish. We will see their best game of the year from them, they will play like they are protecting the Motherland from cruel barbarian invaders. They hate us with a passion. Unfortuneately we haven't been able to match their hate/intensity/emotion very often and it's cost us games. Hopefully this year the Irish will arrive in Beantown with a real purpose and put together a 60 minute game.