Comments on: Inept Irish Stagger Past Ball State

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 19:39:07 +0000

I feel like Te’von Coney evokes that fire. But I think championships are won in the trenches (Clemson / Alabama anyone?), and we don’t have a guy on either side of the ball that’s an enforcer in there. Maybe that’s the difference…Zorich was a DT.

By: TnIrish

TnIrish — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 17:30:43 +0000

Its not all on Wimbush when the O line stinks it up and there is no consistent running attack to open up more play action. That being said, this starts to remind me of Golson’s last season. He played like he figured he would never be replaced and his bad mistakes early in the season came back to bite us against better teams in November.

What would Saban do if he had Book watching? Bama is good because of the coaching and player depth. Players know if they don’t perform they will be replaced.

Of course this is all moot if we don’t get better performances from the O line in coming games. We would not be able to determine if Book was the answer if he ends up getting sacked repeatedly which would be akin to when Brady Quinn first took the helm.

By: TERENCE MCMANUS

TERENCE MCMANUS — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 02:41:43 +0000

As much fun as it is for us armchair qb’s to blame the coaches when Notre Dame plays down to the level of its sub-par opponent as it did (again) last Saturday, it’s not really their fault. No matter what Kelly says about “coaching them up” or whatever, it is the responsibility of the seniors to be leaders on the team and get them to play with some fire.

I remember Chris Zorich and what a maniac he was on the field. It was said that he played with such fire that his teammates had to do the same thing for fear of the consequences – from Zorich – if they didn’t. So far I don’t see anyone even remotely like that on either side of the ball.

By: Mike Coffey

Mike Coffey — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 01:21:49 +0000

In reply to Kevin Welsh.

The offense I saw on Saturday will not be able to put enough points on the board to beat Stanford or Virginia Tech. Southern Cal out there probably will be a toss-up in ND’s current state as well. There’s three potentials already.

Are two more losses really so outlandish if ND can’t score points?

By: Kevin Welsh

Kevin Welsh — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 20:54:11 +0000

In reply to ccb. A 7-5 prediction for this team is the most laughable thing I have read on this board.

By: Phil

Phil — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 20:43:40 +0000

Terrible performance after a really good win. It’s easy to overreact to this game because they were awful all the way around but I’ll reserve judgement, Contrary to what Kelly said after the game, Wimbush clearly was told to limit his running as they thought this was an easy opponent and he should’ve been able to pass at will. I guess Kelly didn’t show them the Appalachian St/Penn St game or even Utah St/MSU game. Not good to be unprepared and unmotivated. After that performance if Wimbush isnt on a short leash I give up…

By: Laurence Rossi

Laurence Rossi — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 19:47:03 +0000

Another in a long line of underperforming ND QB’s. CK seems to adhere to the “incumbent” line instead of thinking outside the box. Book is better, as may be some underclassmen, but we’ll never know. Frankly, Wimbush is unwatchable, but then so was Kizer, Golson, Zaire…anyone see a pattern here? Kelly also left a trail at Cincinnati as well.

By: Mike Coffey

Mike Coffey — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 19:15:02 +0000

In reply to Kevin Welsh. When the same issues occur over and over and over, maybe it should be evaluated whether or not the "paid staff" is appropriate.

By: Terry MCMANUS

Terry MCMANUS — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 18:39:33 +0000

There was a time when the Notre Dame football team, the stadium named after a legendary coach, even the very phrase – Notre Dame – invoked awe and respect.

Today – 2 games in:

A mediocre team, a mediocre coach, almost beaten AT HOME by Ball State. Even the announcers at the game had to notice that – Ball State didn’t seem very overwhelmed by the fact that they were playing Notre Dame in this legendary stadium with 80,000 or screaming supporters.

By: Irish Puncheur

Irish Puncheur — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 17:39:55 +0000

In reply to Dan.

Ball State isn’t a middle MAC level team…They were 0-8 in MAC league play last year. Dead last. Your observations about decision making on plays where he took unnecessary sacks is spot on. Several times, instead of just throwing the ball away, he took large losses. If you watch his throwing mechanics, he was throwing almost sidearm all game off of his back foot. He has a hitch in that sidearm delivery that requires his body to sink down and the ball floats on him because his feet aren’t set. You can’t fix those bad instincts/habits in a week of practice. Folks can put their head in the sand and note that we are 2-0, still ranked in the top 10, whatever. He may have better days and the team may play well enough around him in many games to cover for these deficiencies. I’m just saying what my eyes are telling me.