Didn't deserve it for 3 1/2 quarters though, did we?
A la Ole Blue Eyes: Mistakes? We made (more than) a few. Look at John Walters' blog on the NBC Sports page. He has a great list of them all. Pretty much matched the list I was making. We had two third down and one fourth down defensive penalties that extended Aztec drives. We turned the ball over twice in the red zone. We fumbled a field goal snap. Duval Kamara had a good pass pop off his pads for an INT. I could go on. I might later.
Bright spots? There were a few of those, for sure. Rosie is spot-on about Mike Danello. He’s the real deal on special teams. And Kyle McCarthy had 15 tackles. I believe that between Kamara, Golden Tate, David Grimes and Michael Floyd we can have a good array of wideouts. I would say Jimmy Clausen’s arm is definitely 100% and I think it’s a good 100%. And no sacks allowed on 34 attempts. A good sign.
But these goods and bads are all at the tactical level of gridiron warfare. There are bigger themes we must be concerned with. My strategic level worry beads:
1. Near the end of the 3d quarter, after we had gone 3-and-out, INT, Fumble, 3-and-out to start the second half, Pat Haden said “It is library quiet”. And he was right. This team is not getting the fans excited. At the end of the game, Tom Hammond gave us a C+. I think he was generous. For once, I agreed with Mark May. His adjective was “uninspired”. For all the verbiage I’ve read about the passion and emotion of this team, it was sorely lacking for 50 minutes or so today.
2. Where is the offensive “vision”? We rushed for 105 yards, at a 3.1 yards per carry pace. As I said earlier today, that won’t win many games. Our “template” drive was our fifth possession in the second half. Five Clausen completions to 3 different receivers and two Allen runs averaging 5 yards per, capped with JC’s 38 yard TD pass to Golden Tate. Every play was crisp, the passes were mostly quick reads. If we do a drive like that 3 or 4 times per game instead of once, we’ll win a lot of games this year.
3. Godfather, correct me if I’m wrong from an “in the stands” viewpoint, but this team hasn’t yet told us why we want to be in the trenches with them. From the coaches to the players, they haven’t demonstrated to us what their raison d’etre is. Why do we want to love them? How will they make us forget Brady and the Shark? We want to believe, but they’re not playing like a team that is going to pull us in to believing. Do they believe in themselves? It’s not evident yet.
It’s late, and the final strains of Layla are echoing, so I’ll sign off. I’m actually in town this week, so I look forward to the myriad responses I’m sure this posting will receive. And I’ll try to post on other items, like Digger and Cowbells.
And take heart. It wasn’t pretty, but we’re still BCS eligible.
Have a good week all. Please also take pause on Thursday to remember all the great Americans who lost their lives seven years ago on September 11th.
GO IRISH!!!! BEAT THOSE STINKING WOLVERINES!!!!
The Colonel
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3 comments:
Another good analysis Colonel. I have to agree with the #3, it has been hard to get behind (or excited about) this team over the past year. Just too many bonehead plays and momentum busters (like turnovers). I thought we would hear an incredible boo if they had gone in behind at halftime (which they probably should have).
Clausen looked pretty solid in my eyes, lots of zip on the ball, not too many bad decisions. He still needs to learn to throw it away or eat it occasionally when the play is busted or not happening. Better than taking the big loss or turnover.
Anyway, more on my game entry. Thanks for typing.
Ahhh, but #3 is the one that I disagree with. Why do we love them? That's easy, and Don W, having lived through a few Faust years, surely you know the answer too. We love them because they are ND. We love them because in our heart or hearts it doesn't matter one lick if they win or lose. My experience with ND football was only different than that of you guys who graduated a few years before me because of a lack of major bowl games -- not a lack of the excitement, the tradition, the we're in the trenches with you feeling. Our trenches might have been a bit muddier (literally -- 3 total rain games my senior year), but we were there with the team because we all were ND.
Now, who's got a tear in their eye? Rosie, onions don't count!
Nancy, glad to hear from you and thanks for your thoughts.
While I agree with the points you made, I think I'm talking about something different.
I've mentioned in previous posts that I'm "hung over" from the Brady/Shark teams. I was "into" that team. I couldn't wait to see the offense get the ball again to see how we'd score next. It was exciting, and there were personalities I could latch on to and identify with. I was stoked that Samardzija was #83, because that meant I could buy an 83 jersey (my graduation year) at the bookstore.
That's the kind of love I'm talking about. Yes we'll all go to the games and cheer and go nuts when we score, and curse when they fumble.
I saw some flashes of that yesterday. Players like Mike Anello (Rosie's new crush), Sergio Brown and Kyle McCarthy (quietest 15 tackle game in history) give me hope. I think (as I mentioned) our receiving corps can get our hearts racing.
Haven't "adopted" Jimmy Clausen yet. Too wobbly last year, and now, according to my 12-yr old niece, he has "girl's hair". I'll be honest; Brady played a lot when he was a freshman and I remember "adopting" him early. So the jury's still out for me on JC.
If we win in a good way Saturday, I think the love will start blooming.
Look ma, we're blogging!
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