If you think Alabama’s run of 3 National Championships in five seasons wasn’t something close to damn near flawless, you’re sorely mistaken. Personally, I like the direction of the program now as opposed to how far it had gone down after Lou left (namely during Ty Willingham’s lazy tenure). Could things be better than they are now? Yes, I think they could.

Well, looks like Sark won’t have to worry about his job any longer.

That says as much about the state of the program as anything. Despite the injuries and departures, they are 12th nationally running the ball. 10th overall on offense. This despite backups in the backfield and Fuller is only true playmaker at WR.

Letting UMass and Navy hang around the entire first half is inexcusable for a team that wants to compete for a national championship. The team lacks the leadership and confidence that the coaching staff must instill. I think we have the speed and athleticism on both sides of the ball, but the strength and tenacity is lacking when you compare them to BAMA and FSU. I said that Golson would do better at FSU because he has a more physical team with a better running game and D; not that the ND backs lack speed but they will not run through or over people to get that 2 yards you need on a 3rd and 2, and the line is not a top 5 line that you need to win it all. I think the team keeps too many of the plays near the line of scrimmage and doesn’t go deep enough to stretch and open up defenses, but I don’t think BK trusts his QB enough. It’s a pity because Cincy’s redshirt freshman backup is doing really well and makes very difficult long passes. I think it goes back to instilling confidence in players.

As stated in the Good/Bad/Ugly write up – Interior running struggles. Notre Dame attacked the perimeter yesterday, with C.J. Prosise getting to the edges via the quick pass or outside handoffs. But the Irish seemed to struggle running north and south, disappointing against a defense like Navy’s.

Alex Bars started for the first time, as Quenton Nelson’s ankle wasn’t ready to be tested. Nick Martin will need to get healthy after a tweaked ankle. But against USC, the Irish will need to be able to move the point of attack, something they didn’t necessarily do consistently against the Midshipmen.

Brian- ??? Didn’t CJ rush for over +120 yards and 3 TD’s? Yet, you claim the OL line was “pushed around”?
My beef was that ND didn’t run more, because they could have run for 2x if Kelly was really focused on the
running game.

You were both pretty close

Lol