Ugly and boring, kudos to Wake Forrest those guys came to play. Other than some big plays like Adams TD run and Trumbettis Pick six they were right in the game with a chance to pull the upset.
I hope that was enough to hold on to that 4th spot. The only stat we won was the scoreboard. I give us a 50/50 chance come Tuesday. I think we better root hard for Minnesota tonight just in case.
Wake Forest 23 first downs to ND's 15 WF ran 74 plays for 340 yards while ND ran only 49 for 282 WF 44 rushed for 121 yards, ND 30 for 171 Kizer 13 of 19 for 111 yards and three sacks. Walford for WF 19 of 30 for 319 and the key pick six. Adams 17 carries 141 yards, one TD. Kizer 13 carries 30 yards, 2 TDs. Fuller 3 catches, 37, Brown 3-27, Hunter 2-22, Adams 2 for minus 3 Jaylon Smith top tackler with 14, Joe Schmidt with 10, Redfield 8, Shumate 7, Okwara 3 sacks. WF had the ball 35:48 to 24:12 for ND ND 6 of 11 on third downs, WF was 7 of 16.
Well it was a shitty win, that is true. And those stats make you wonder what Wake Forrest did to lose it, they beat us in just about every category ...but they did. What do they say? Stats are for losers. Things I worry about though, Will Fuller is a great receiver of that there is no doubt. But like Temple, Wake Forrest was determined to take him out of the game and they did. Now both those teams lost to us, but it bothers me that you can take Fuller out if you want. Makes you wonder how stupid was it for Pitt to not take that tact on Fuller. Stanford shat the bed tonight and now that last game while not meainingless is no longer a play in game for the winner. We still have to win of course, but them being a 2 loss team now takes some of the gloss off of a win if we do win. Now I know this sounds crazy, but really Wake Forrest showed BC how to defend the Irish, remember those two played to a 3-0 WF win...so they are pretty similar. So I have no doubt that BC will show up with their hair on fire and nothing to lose, I hope we show up.
I don't know how it impacted todays game but a lot of people noticed that Irish OL's had their ankles wrapped and that 4 out of the 5 are dealing with High Ankle sprains. Maybe that's why the OL just didn't have any push.
ND <r>Corey,<br/> <br/> Well I wasn't feeling too good after the game yesterday but then this morning I see:<br/> <br/> UCLA LOST to Wazzu (the Pirate is doin his thing)<br/> Baylor LOST<br/> LSU LOST<br/> Stanford LOST<br/> Utah LOST<br/> Temple LOST<br/> <br/> Clemson close against Cuse<br/> IOWA close but gets by Minn<br/> TCU close gets by Kansas<br/> <br/> My coffee is tasting pretty good. I've seen worse SR days in SB. With all the injuries this year and down to the 3rd string QB, 4th string RB...I'll take that not so pretty win and just say we're 9-1. As long as the next two games are wins I'll take them any win we can get them pretty or not so pretty.<E></E></r>
Let's have a little perspective. When you score from the 2 with one play you don't get to pad you time of possession or first down stats. Likewise when you score on a pick 6 you don't get to pad your time of possession and first down stats. When you stop your opponent and force him to punt and the officials give the ball back on some ******** roughing the snapper penalty their stats will look better than they really are and they might even score. When you score four times as many touchdowns as your opponent you must have done SOMETHING right.
Oxymoron of the day. :roll: Way too much obsession here with single-game statistics, guys. Chill (I know it won't have any effect, but I'll say it anyway). Do you want to trade two quick-strike TDs for time of possession? I don't care if WF had 400 yards passing. They only scored one TD. What about our red zone defense. Do we not get any credit for that? Lou Holtz once preached that the opponent can move the ball up and down the field all day, but if they can't get into the end zone, they can't win (not his exact words but what he was saying). We're not playing for style points. I hope we never do. The chips will fall where they will fall re: the playoff. We just need to be the best team in the stadium on game day. Period. It was a comfortable win against a game opponent. Take it and move on. Please.
I think my perspective is different from you guys because, while we are all fans, you look at these games from a fans persepctive and I look at them from a pollster's viewpoint. My report car: OL : C- Nothing going all day running or passing exept for one play TE: D I'm not sure wehad any playing. One catch I think WR: C Fuller shut down. Basically Chris Brown and Torii Hunter Jr. RB: B 147 yards from a freshman with no blocking is not bad QB: C- Kizer out of synch all day. Ran pretty well which is very risky. DL: B- Workman like. LB: B Schmidt played well. Smith a true AA CB: D They get picked on. S : B Some big plays. Overall good game ST: B No big damage. Yoon had no FG atts. Punter is hot and cold. Coaching; Kelly gets a C. He seemed as out of sync as the team. Uncle Rico get a B. He defines bend not break but you have to wonder if the goal line heroics hold up against a Stanford. But he works hard and wills a defense that is dominant to key stops. Autry Denson gets an A. He is the unsung hero.
George, we all have different approaches. I like your weekly grading. I may not agree with all your grades or views, but it encourages conversation and demonstrates your love of and loyalty to the program. One more time, what I love about Skybox is that we can disagree, but we do it respectfully. This is what allows for the expression of divergent opinions. At the end of the day, we're all friends. I hope.
Let's face it the injuries are taking its toll on this team. Sure we have great kids who step up and fill in but the lack of depth over a course of a season is a problem. We're now starting our #4 RB. We had Bryant transfer and Folson goes down in the first game. We are forced to rely on Prosise way more than we'd like to and eventually the guy just breaks down. We now have to rely on a freshman for not only RB duties but also pass protection on certain plays. So we have our #2 QB handing off to our #4 RB and we're down on the coaches??? It would be great if Kizer was experienced enough to look off the D once in a while. Considering how thin our depth is and the amount of injured talent sitting out games, I think that they've been outstanding. If this team gets to the playoffs (and we can get a few of the nicked up healthy) we can still be a real tough out. I agree a healthy ND team would have blown Wake out yesterday but take a look, we are a busted up group hanging on with guts and leadership.
Tim, I hope you have several more good coffee Sundays in your near future. The Pac12 is a hot mess right now because this is what happens when you put your faith in Stanford. That's a team that can take the best down to the wire but get their butt kicked by Northwestern. It should be mentioned their 2 losses this year came in games in which no one thought there was a chance they'd lose. This is the worst Oregon team since the mid to late Bellotti years. Stanford presents some bad matchups for us with their running game and huge, physical WRs.
Oregon may finally be healthy. Vernon Adams played with a broken finger early in the season but he's finally healthy and playing like the QB they thought they were getting when they signed him.
there weren't many recruits at the game, but Wolu Betiku a big time DE/OLB from California was in and he had a lot of good things to say about the Irish. He did make one comment, "I thought religion was forced on you" ...gee where do you think he might have gotten that idea??? typical negative recruiting against the Irish. Terry Bowden when he was at Auburn told some recruits that they forced you to go to Mass every day at Notre Dame. Avery Davis, the QB from Texas had a great visit as well and said a lot of good things. Who knows, he's new on our radar. But reportedly Sanford really likes this kid and would like him to be our QB in the 2017 class. Alloway another kid from California also had a great time, supposedly the distance is a problem. His momma wants him closer to home. Don't write him down if Momma isn't onboard.