Wow, this is getting kind of hard as I get older. Can we just have a blowout again? Let's go with Bad News, Good News, and Head Scratchers this week.
Bad News. Lots of penalties again. Very poor tackling throughout on defense; let's work on some fundamentals. Waiting to see something work regularly with this defense; see lots of "watch and stick" (but we miss many tackles!). DBs rarely seem to be close to the ball. Blitzes seem to be consistently read by opposing QBs. Punts were a little shaky but the kickoffs are getting better as the Colonel notes.
Good News. Held a good Purdue running team to 74 yards. Wildcat with Crist is like a whole new team in there (reminds of the late 40's Irish that played two first string squads because they had so many great players). Jimmy comes through again. He said Charlie would not get fired because of his QB play and he has delivered. Reminds me of Joe Montana years; we should always believe. Most importantly I think the team showed a lot of heart and once again played hard till the end. Last year we lost several leads and folded. We have seen the opposite in the last three games including Michigan. Very encouraging. Back up receivers did fill some of the void and Charlie figured out a nice way to get the ball in the hands of Tate often. Some excellent blocking on offense throughout the game. Crist looked okay and it is nice to have him around. That time on the field will pay off later. Really fun to win at smash mouth football during 2nd quarter.
Head Scratchers. Why does it seem we are usually in the wrong defensive set for the opponent's play call? Do they have our signals? Weis looks like a genius with the Crist wildcat package; why can't he be more consistent? He had Purdue completely confused. My team star McCarthy misses coverage and Purdue walks in for a score. Why, why, why don't we go to Rudolph more? Oh Yeah, and why did Purdue call a timeout to help us catch our breath and get a play at the end? Bad move.
Think of it this way. We win a tough one without Floyd, without Allen and with half a Clausen. Feels good to have some depth. If Armando and Jimmy are healthy next week we should win comfortably. Another heart stopper otherwise.
Go Irish! Beat Huskies!
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I was in the grocery store today and a friend of mine who graduated from Purdue walked up to me and said, basically, "how does it feel to out coach the opponents?" He was basically talking about the freebie time out at the end. I was yelling (in a good way) "why did the clock stop?" at the TV. Poor judgement there.
That second quarter sure was fun to watch, wasn't it? Razzle Dazzle to the extreme.
Have a good week all.
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