If you could boil down one game to encapsulate a season, you might have something that looks like the Champs Sports Bowl. During Notre Dame’s 18-14 loss, the Irish turned just about every conceivable emotion for a football fan on its head– ecstasy to agony, confidence to frustration, bravado to helplessness.
At times, the Irish looked like the BCS contender many thought they were entering the season. The defense absolutely overwhelmed Florida State’s offensive line, beating quarterback E.J. Manuel to a pulp while limiting the Seminoles to single-digit rushing yards for much of the game. Offensively, the Irish cobbled together just enough in the second quarter to control the line of scrimmage, running Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood, targeting Michael Floyd and Tyler Eifert, even mixing in the running of Andrew Hendrix with the passing of Tommy Rees.
Then the game flipped, and as it did too often this season, the snowball built, and the Irish tumbled out of control. The Irish weren’t able to overcome three interceptions, two coming in the Florida State endzone. The secondary that played so well swarming to the football failed to do its job when the throw went over its head. And after having what looked like a comfortable 14-0 lead, the Irish gave up the final 18 points of the game, turning a potential ninth victory against an impressive opponent into a logic-defying fifth loss of the season.
“The turnovers were again a large reason for us not to be able to win this football game,” head coach Brian Kelly said after the game. “It’s been the case all year. It started at South Florida, and continued to show itself throughout the entire year.”
This football team showed us what it was all season, and then proved it one last time on Thursday night, making the same mistakes that doomed the Irish all year. Let’s find out what we learned during the Champs Sports Bowl, the crushing finale to one of the most frustrating seasons the Irish have played in a very long time.
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The Irish will never be a successful team if they can’t solve the quarterbacking situation.
There aren’t many teams good enough to turn the ball over three times and beat a good football team. Notre Dame proved that, one-upping themselves by having Rees throw two of the interceptions in the end zone while Hendrix set up the Seminoles deep in Irish territory when he hit Florida State linebacker Nigel Bradham in the chest. Any aspirations the Irish had to be an elite football team went down the drain with the team’s quarterback play, and three crucial interceptions against the Seminoles put the focus straight on that issue for head coach Brian Kelly.
“It’s nice to be able to talk about a Notre Dame football team that plays championship defense, because they did that today,” Kelly said. “Now we’ve got to get our offense to obviously play at that level as well. That will be the next step for our football program. Getting our offense to play at the same level that our defense is evolving to.”
Even if Rees went out and threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns, the competition at quarterback would’ve been open heading into spring practice, and Rees’ struggles against another elite defense adds yet another data-point for those who don’t believe the sophomore quarterback has what it takes to lead the Irish back into the elite of college football.
Kelly sticking with Rees for much of the bowl game shows you that while Tommy still makes maddeningly bad decisions interspersed with some impressive throws, Kelly thought he was the best guy to protect a fourteen point second half lead. But for those thinking that just because Rees was the guy for the Irish throughout the 2011 season he’s the guy for next year, fear not.
“I’m going to evaluate everything that I do and how we do it,” Kelly said. “Because the offense just has to get better.”
Expect all three quarterbacks on the roster to get a shot at running this offense. And while Andrew Hendrix certainly has a skill-set that uniquely qualifies him to take over, the guy that has the most potential still hasn’t taken a snap. In Everett Golson, Kelly has the prototype triggerman for what he needs to run his optimal offense. Whether he’s ready to run the show or not remains to be seen.
The quarterback position got derailed in the season’s opening minutes, and ironically Dayne Crist’s undoing initially wasn’t his own, but rather Jonas Gray’s goalline fumble. From there, the senior quarterback was tentative, missing more throws than he made, and making a critical red zone mistake before going scoreless and into halftime down 16 points in his one half of football.
We’ll never know what Dayne Crist would’ve done if he came back out after halftime. But there’s good reason to believe that whoever was playing quarterback was gap filling for Golson or Hendrix, two guys better suited to run the offense. Even with an Irish win and flawless quarterback play, this would’ve been the top story of the spring. But the Irish collapse behind center tonight all but assured it.
***
After playing aggressively for most of the first half, calling off the dogs killed the Irish defense.
When Lou Holtz questions your strategy, you know you’ve got reason to be second-guessed. But even Dr. Lou was wondering why the Irish stopped blitzing in the second half, giving E.J. Manuel time to throw the ball and an overwhelmed offensive line time to catch its breath.
After spending much of the first half running for his life, Manuel settled down and had a nice second half, completing a few deep circus catches over Irish cornerbacks Gary Gray and Robert Blanton, pulling the Seminoles back in a game that they were dominated in for much of the evening.
After going up two touchdowns, it seems that the Irish were content to go back to their base defense, forcing the Seminoles to earn their yards and they guarded against the big play in zone coverage. But by allowing Manuel time to breathe, they enabled the FSU offense to make the big play, with wide receivers Bert Reed and Rashad Greene catching touchdowns to lead the Seminoles back and Kenny Shaw giving the secondary fits as well.
It’ll be lost in the shuffle, but safety Jamoris Slaughter played his best game in an Irish uniform from a hybrid linebacker position, racking up two sacks as the Irish pass rush pressured FSU relentlessly. Aaron Lynch also dominated the team he almost played for, adding 1.5 sacks and spending much of the evening chasing Manuel down in the backfield. Stephon Tuitt rallied back from an illness that derailed the end of his season to play another excellent game, giving the Irish front seven some really impressive building blocks for next year.
Holding the Seminoles to under 250 yards is a good day at the office and placing the blame for this loss on the defense is particularly foolish, especially considering that Bob Diaco‘s troops put up half the team’s points with a forced fumble by Manti Te’o and scoop and score by safety Zeke Motta. But after two seasons at the helm of the Irish defense, Diaco will need to evolve this defense next season, taking advantage of the horses he has up front, especially when he won’t be able to lean on a veteran secondary.
***
With Michael Floyd departing, the Irish are going to have to find offense from somewhere.
After making a circus catch on a jump ball in the corner of the end zone for his 37th career touchdown catch, Michael Floyd‘s Irish career ended on the sideline when his teammates needed him the most, unable to get back into the game after suffering an injury securing the ball after beating talented FSU cornerback Greg Reid for a ball that seemed destined for Reid’s hands.
The senior wide receiver, who broke the game’s first big play with an early 41 yard punt return that set the Irish up in FSU territory, seemed dinged up before the touchdown catch, after a big collision on the Seminoles sideline with safety Lamarcus Joyner, who collided with Floyd and cornerback Xavier Rhodes, sending his teammate out for the game with an apparent knee injury.
“He’s just an incredible competitor,” Kelly said of his star receiver. “This is my 22nd year and I’ve had great players, guys that have gone on to have great careers in the NFL or doctors and lawyers, you remember the guys that overcome. The guys that compete and battle. He did that today.”
Floyd didn’t play the best game of his career, limited to just five catches for 41 yards, dropping a deep ball that could’ve gone all the way early in the game and being overthrown on another deep throw where he had his man beat. But Floyd’s departure from the field in the game’s final quarter gave Irish fans a grim look at what this offense will look like without it’s star receiver.
It might be hard to recognize for Irish fans, but Floyd is the only receiver on the roster that keeps defenses honest. The Seminoles secondary didn’t seem concerned with anybody other than Floyd and tight end Tyler Eifert, with the Irish’s all-time leading receiver the number one priority for a secondary that suffered multiple injuries in the game. Yet without Floyd in the game, the Irish couldn’t take advantage of the depleted secondary, and it was John Goodman acting as the deep threat for Rees, targeted in the endzone on the game’s defining interception.
Reinforcements are coming, with Deontay Greenberry one of the most important commitments on the Irish board right now and the Irish still in the hunt for some blue-chip, college ready talent. But after watching four years of the Irish’s most dominant wide receiver in school history, the Irish offense will need to find someone to fill the very large hole Floyd leaves behind.
***
Tyler Eifert has a tough decision to make.
With Floyd graduated and heading to the NFL, the spotlight is now on tight end Tyler Eifert to decide whether or not he’ll return for his senior season at Notre Dame or follow in the footsteps of Kyle Rudolph and exit Notre Dame after three seasons and declare himself eligible for the NFL Draft.
Eifert led the Irish with six catches and 90 yards in a losing effort, taking a few bruising hits while making tough catches for big gains from both Rees and Hendrix. The solid performance capped off a season with 63 catches — and Irish record for tight ends and the best season in the NCAA — while also being named a Mackey Award finalist. Reports say Eifert has heard he’s graded out as a second or third round player, not as good of an assessment Rudolph received last year, but good enough to make the decision difficult for Eifert and his family.
Talking to the Chicago Tribune after the game, Eifert knows he’s got a choice to make.
“I mean, there’s not much more information I can get to make a decision,” Eifert told the Tribune. “I think I have pretty much everything I need. It’s just a matter of what I personally want to do and figuring it out.”
If Eifert returns for just his third season of competition, the Irish will have a proven offensive weapon to build around, and someone to keep defenses honest. He’ll also have a chance to work on his physicality, the area of his game that likely drags his draft grade down a round or so. If he doesn’t, the Irish might look to see if Mike Ragone‘s eligible for an injury hardship waiver and a sixth year, or work quickly to get freshman Ben Koyack and sophomore Alex Welch ready for action, with no tight end currently on the recruiting radar.
Unwilling to make any proclamations after a difficult loss, Eifert has to make a decision before the January 15 deadline.
“I’d like to figure out what I’m doing as soon as I can,” Eifert told the Tribune, “but it’s not really a decision to rush.”
***
After rolling into last offseason with momentum, it’s time to batten down the hatches and get to work.
The unprecedented forward momentum the Irish took into last year’s offseason didn’t propell the Irish to 2011 greatness. So perhaps a stinging ending to a frustrating season will help refocus a football team that absolutely needs to do better at the little things that differentiate a 8-5 football team from one that finds itself in a BCS bowl.
Fans will always grumble and question whether the men in charge are the right ones for the job. Back-to-back 8-5 seasons likely add members to that bandwagon, a group that always has strength in numbers among the Notre Dame faithful. But Brian Kelly and his coaching staff are going nowhere, and while they’ll face lower approval ratings than they had last offseason, they need to continue their dogged chase to transform this football team.
“We know what we need to do,” Kelly said. “We’ve already talked about it. The players that are going to be back for the 2012 football season will be committed to getting that end done.”
After transforming a defense that destroyed Charlie Weis’ career at Notre Dame, Kelly will look at the flaws of his offense. Hired as an offensive innovator, Kelly will now look to improve a unit that played the bowl game short its offensive coordinator and will likely be filling the hole from within.
“We have to get our offense better,” Kelly stated. “When I say better, I’m not talking about the way our guys compete, I’m talking about, we turn the ball over. And we cannot win football games at the highest level if we continue to turn the ball over. The coaches have to get better. The players have to get better. And we need to solve this issue if we’re going to be an elite football team.”
While the next three months will be dedicated to fixing problems that doomed this football team, the next 35 days will be dedicated to finishing strong on the recruiting trail. After identifying the frailty of his defensive front seven, Kelly’s built a unit that can stack up with the rest of the BCS contenders. Now it’s time to upgrade the deteriorating skill positions on the team, bulking up both the wide receiving and defensive back coffers with hopes that the staff has identified game-ready talent that’s able to step in and compete.
Once again the vultures will swirl above the football program, wondering if Brian Kelly is the right man for the toughest job in college football. That’s what happens when you lose football games the way this team did, and give away a bowl game to a traditional rival like Florida State. But after getting ahead of themselves in a season lost to maddening inconsistencies, the Irish will have five perfect examples (USF, Michigan, USC, Stanford, and Florida State) of why they need to keep focusing on the task ahead instead of what’s behind them. It may be hard for those of us watching on television or the stands, but for a football program with a singular goal, the frustration of 2011 will likely power this group into 2012.
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- trbowman - Dec 29, 2011 at 11:51 PM
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Offense failed the defense.
D was lights out.
Too bad the seniors couldn’t go out with a W
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- 808raiderinparadise - Dec 30, 2011 at 4:45 AM
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Rees is terrible.
Hendrix is awful.
Golson is the future been saying that allllllllll season.
How can Rees have Eifert/Floyd/Toma/Wood/Riddick and a good o-line and be so awful? He has been spoiled. and Hendrix is nothing like we thought. He is one dimensional in every throw, every pass every play.
Play Golson … start him. His team, let him play before he transfers elsewhere and crushes us.
FYI Crist was/is better than Rees/Hendrix
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- nudeman - Dec 30, 2011 at 11:03 AM
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808
I agree 1000%.
I blame KELLY for this completely disappointing year.
Pulled Crist after 30 min and created a circus at a position that should have been one of strength
Fell in love with a guy who just can’t play the position
Coached his team to the bottom in turnovers and penalties
Blamed his team
Made other excuses
Team came out completely flat in big games
Has beaten NO ONE other than teams like Navy, Air Force and Maryland.Tommy Rees just can’t play.
Hendrix, I am sorry to say, doesn’t seem much better.
Threw a HS type INT and was so nervous he tripped over his own feet on one of his early runs (then fumbled)
MF, game captain, drops the year’s only perfectly thrown long ball. A perfect metaphor for the season.
Diaco with a tremendous 1st half game plan must have left the stadium at halftimeBut here’s the kicker:
Next year looks to be worse. No seasoned WRs, another QB circus, and BK blaming everyone else.
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- c4evr - Dec 30, 2011 at 6:54 PM
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808 and nudeman are tuned in to the real problem. I just can’t for the life of me see why so many here still defend Kelly. He at least deserves the same treatment he bestows on his players. My theory, and it’s only a theory, is that he is unsuited to face the pressures at ND. Other elite coaches learned the ropes under other great coaches (i.e. Meyer/Holtz) who were shown how to run a big time program. Kelly, on the other hand, achieved success at Div. II, then in the Big East – not a football mecca – without having been shown how to handle the pressure cooker environment of BCS caliber teams. It’s not really his fault… he’s a Cessna pilot being asked to fly a 747 in mid-flight. Still, his arrogance – oh, the arrogance – of saying he won’t question how he’s been doing things for 20 years just shows how ill prepared he is for this level of coaching.
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- tony34343434 - Dec 30, 2011 at 10:00 AM
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I hate to say it but we have to look at the coaching staff also, the team has not improved this year and is still making the same mistakes they made in week one.
1) as an alum of ND i have always heard friends say ND will never be good because we can’t get good athletes in the school because of academic reasons. We do get good recruits and still do not win, Look at TCU and BOISE how do they get weaker recruits and then beat teams like Georgia and are ranked in the top ten and we are begging to be ranked in the top 30? is it coaching? Philosophy? What are we missing?
2) the secondary still does not TURN AROUND when the ball is thrown, like in the michigan game, the quarterback for FS was throwing the ball up for grabs, our secondary needs a ton a ton of work to get decent. FS’s quarterback is an average thrower at best, no way you let him complete all those long throws.
3) all of you who want Golson, that is great, but are we going to have another learning curve. as irish fans we are always waiting until next year, do u want to have 2 more years of 8-5 seasons, i do not know the answer, i was a big Rees guy at the start of the year but he has not gotten it done, and how can anyone say Hendrix is the answer, he has such a small sample of plays. BK should have put Hendrix in the whole second half the game last night means very little, it is only to build momentum for next year.
i love the irish and always will, but this was a frustrating year, from south florida, to michigan, to the fumble against USC, they need some big changes, and recruiting is not the only answer, look at all the guys we have in the pros.
we had a team of Golden tate, with Floyd and Clausen, all pros and could not win, what is the answer?
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- trbowman - Dec 29, 2011 at 11:51 PM
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I hate the rotating QBs stuff. Always have.
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- 1historian - Dec 30, 2011 at 7:21 AM
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I hear you but I would argue that Golson is the man next season – this season was a holding action at the position.
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- trbowman - Dec 29, 2011 at 11:53 PM
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Eifert is gone if you ask me. Just reading the quotes it sounds like he’s looking NFL.
Just another reason to bring back Ragone for another year.
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- bernhtp - Dec 30, 2011 at 9:00 AM
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Sadly, you are correct. Tyler is gone.
I hope he works hard to complete his degree.
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- joeschu - Dec 31, 2011 at 10:57 AM
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He’d be crazy not to go now. If he comes back, it is with a lot of pre-season hype on him, and look at ND’s schedule and the roster of QB’s. There’s no way he can even match this season without Floyd spreading the field. Most importantly, the QB’s throwing to him range from unknown quantities, to known noodle armed turnover machines. That leaves him looking like a “bust” (through no fault of his own), and significantly hurts his draft stock.
I hope he gets his degree too, but not right now. Go to the combine son. Get drafted, finish your degree in the NFL off-season.
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- trbowman - Dec 30, 2011 at 12:05 AM
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Jamoris Slaughter just sounds like the name of a nasty linebacker, don’t it? lol.
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- jerseyshorendfan1 - Dec 30, 2011 at 12:08 AM
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My 5 things:
1) Kelly made some really strange calls which cost us this game,
2) Rees was in classic form….very statuesque and throwing picks,
3) Diaco forget to carry his game plan over to the second half,
4) Hendrix wasn’t much better than Rees,
5) I’m another year older and this sh*t just don’t change.P.S. I watched a video clip earlier in the day about the 1993 ND-FSU game and the announcer (Costas I think) was talking about ND having the most titles and Heisman winners and it dawned on me…………neither of those numbers has changed since 1989. The state of this program is abysmal. I can only hope recruiting turns this thing around at some point.
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- 9irish - Dec 30, 2011 at 4:12 PM
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bravo, bravo…having a bad period with one bad coach happens sometimes…having it go on for about 15 years is getting a little trying.
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- frankbjr - Dec 30, 2011 at 12:34 AM
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In the total scheme of things, what does this game really mean? A chance to let the guys play in a bowl game, and keep their shirts with their names included.
There are three things that should be apparent to all. One, without a quarterback you CANNOT win a close game. Two, without a quarterback you cannot create a rhythm to your offense which in turn allows your offense to control the ball, the clock, and hopefully scores enough points to win the game. Three, without a quarterback, you turn the ball over repeatedly which places your defense on the field too long, which in turn allows four freshman offensive lineman to look like four senior offensive linemen, i.e. the last four minutes of this game.
And last as a special champs bowl bonus; the fourth thing. Without a quarterback, you score seven offensive points (with a miracle catch), against a defense whose only remaining cornerback was not even at the game (arrested) and a safety playing at corner; against two all american receivers.
My prayer is that ND does well in the recruiting game and that next year the quarterback issue will be resolved early on.
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- 9irish - Dec 30, 2011 at 12:51 AM
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Couldn’t agree more about the QB. I don’t care who it is..you never tell someone “you are in charge….kinda…for the moment…maybe”
frustrating
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- 9irish - Dec 30, 2011 at 12:46 AM
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One more year…then we’ll see. Just lack confidence, always looking like they are hoping for a upset, not a beat down (offense). Rees is gone. Failed experiment.
Never seen a team with that much talent that just gives games away. I hope they figure it out. Soon.Go Irish
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- ndtoronto - Dec 30, 2011 at 12:51 AM
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So i guess rees isn’t much of a gamer after all.
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- txbeej - Dec 30, 2011 at 12:52 AM
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The defense will have to carry the team next season.
We will not get better production from the quarterback position. Set your expectations appropriately.
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- irish4006 - Jan 4, 2012 at 2:14 PM
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Why will we not get better production from the qb position? “I had to work with what I was left with…” should not be a valid excuse in year 3 of coaching. Kelley recruited Golson who sat out (and I hope learned a lot) one season, Hendrix looks like he has the tools to become a Kelley qb. if we don’t get production next year, that will be a coaching failure. It is college football, you only get an athlete for 4 years (if you are lucky); if you don’t start getting production in year 2, you either recruited bad or coached bad. If you are sitting someone out in year 2 because there is someone else playing significantly better (which is clearly not the case at qb), that’s a different story. I still think Kelley is a good coach (better than the last 3 we saw), he will be able to turn this thing around and find a way to win. So far, his only failure is to stick with Rees for this long. But hey, a lot of you (including the owner of this space) were arguing about TR’s winning record and how he threw underthrown “perfect passes” whenever he threw a touchdown. Also, I believe, like he said, he truly felt that Rees was the best option he had. We want to think Dayne was better (he looked better, to us), but he clearly didn’t look that way to the coaching staff.
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- ndtoronto - Dec 30, 2011 at 12:55 AM
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Btw was it just me or did yall want to punch the announcer’s face in (forgot his name) when he kept saying that xavier rhodes dude was all over MF…if i don’t recall MF beat him twice cleanly but he dropped one ball and the other rees w/ his “cannon arm” sailed the ball over MF.
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- 9irish - Dec 30, 2011 at 1:13 AM
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He made all kinds of mistakes…but I see it all the time. I think I may go into broadcasting, I can guess what happened better than most of them all the time….on one screen!
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- ndfan12345 - Dec 30, 2011 at 12:56 AM
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What do the rees sympathizers have to say now? I have been saying he needs to sit permanently since Pitt and after Stanford I saw no way Kelly could start him but he did. After his 5th turnover I can recall (I’m sure there are more but I wanted to avoid hyperbole) in the redzone I thought he’d be done tonight but no. Perhaps the real issue is with Kelly sympathizers like myself though. It wasn’t just one bad call (allowing rees to touch the field ) it was what seemed to be an effort to put players in positions to fail. I can’t reconcile the 5 losses we’ve had with the season an even moderately well coached team would have had.
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- c4evr - Dec 30, 2011 at 7:08 PM
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Only Kelly could take a walk-on who set a record for FG’s and turn him into a 60%-er. Sure the QB’s are the ones throwing the INT’s, but that’s as much on the coaching having them feel comfortable back there as it is an error in judgment. Imagine how you would feel if you knew you were going to be yanked – or ‘platooned’ – in the next series (or Play!). You would be pressing a little also to make something happen. And that goes for all the players with the exception of a few. They all seem to be playing scared – or at least nervous – and you can’t be completely in the game if you the least bit distracted. Distracted – that’s the best word I can use to describe this season. Distractions cause three huge momentum swing turnovers inside THE THREE YARD LINE!!!!! How many teams in history can lay claim to that?! This is all on Kelly. To put him in the same context as Faust is a disservice to Gerry who was at least a humble, affable guy if ineffective.
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- bbdaines - Dec 30, 2011 at 1:07 AM
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That was the ugliest coaching performance I have ever witnessed.. I sincerely hope for NDs sake Kelley take a really close look at HIS performance this season. The talent was there for much better, and it was poorly coached from the start to finish!!
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- mdcudahy - Dec 30, 2011 at 4:35 AM
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Sadly, Kelly reminds me more and more of Gerry Faust. Both are examples of the Peter Principle: People rising to their own level of incompetence. The biggest difference I saw between the first half and the second was the play calling…
Regardless, they’re still my team, and as always, I hope for a better next year!
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- ndfan12345 - Dec 30, 2011 at 1:09 AM
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When Kelly makes comments like the one tonight comparing o and d I wonder if he has any concept of reality. When you put an anchor on your offense it will sink. When you let an anchor pull you under you can’t question why you’re sinking. When you refuse to cut that anchor when you are underwater it is time for a new captain.
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- ihatemistate - Dec 30, 2011 at 10:25 AM
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If Kelly keeps this up ND won’t be able to recruit a QB worth a hill of beans. He never did this crap here in Grand Rapids. What the hell is the matter with him? He’s so arrogant noone can tell him anything. And what about the defensive coach?? Did he smoke crack at halftime? What is ND paying these guys the big bucks for????????
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- prophetjcb - Dec 30, 2011 at 1:11 AM
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All season long, I have defended Kelly as I believe he has the program slowly but surely moving in the right direction. The same thing that has plagued us all season bit us again tonight: inconsistent play at the most important position on the field, quarterback. This year, I found this disappointing but too early to blame on Kelly. Next year, it is his responsibility. Next year, without major improvement, it is either a failure to recruit, a failure to develop, or both. Dayne is gone, Rees has reached his ceiling, and Hendrix shows flashes. I hope the Golson kid is as special as he seems. But it all I going to come down to QB. We don’t need a Heisman winner, we just need smart, consistent play and leadership. We had none of the above tonight, just as in all five of our losses this year. Take issue if you want with play calling and switching guys in and out, but that’s Kelly trying to make something out of some seriously limited personnel in my opinion.
Less understandable and less forgivable was the decision on the defensive end to go into a safer, prevent type of defense that allowed the Seminoles (who play on emotion and confidence more than most teams) to re-energize and roar to life. Instead of putting our foot on their throats, we brought them back to life on a night when our offense was struggling. FSU was ready to quit and we let them off the hook. This wasn’t personnel, this was a tactical coaching decision. Hard to figure and hard to forgive.
But what has been consistent is Keith’s column – a great year of balanced and insightful reporting. Thanks Keith! You added a lot to following this program.
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- irishbornraised - Dec 30, 2011 at 1:20 AM
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1. QB play was horrible, there have been a lot of people saying you can’t win without a good QB. that’s not necessarily true. Look at LSU, they have two different mediocre QBs. Yet D saves them, what we can’t have however, is a QB that turns it over every time the ball touches his hands.
2. Why would you stop blitzing a freshman O-Line, with your studly D-Line. I love Diaco, but I wish he could sit down with me, and use the Pelepenisian wars as an analogy for the second half
3. Our senior class will be greatly missed. Floyd might be the best we’ve ever had, and WHAT A CATCH!!!! On the bright side, our secondary played poorly, and it’ll be a clean slate. It’ll go one of two ways: A: It becomes legend like our front seven, we put it together and make it one of the best Ds ever B: They make this year’s critics stop talking about Gary Gray.
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- ihatemistate - Dec 30, 2011 at 9:52 AM
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No way Floyd was better than Sharky. He may have the record but talent wise Sharky and for that matter Eifert outshine Floyd.
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- hyde - Dec 30, 2011 at 10:29 AM
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Tate was better than both.
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- ndfan12345 - Dec 30, 2011 at 1:32 AM
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Keith, you are awesome and 99% of the time I appreciate you bringing us back to earth. But you are WAY too charitable to rees. Does anyone really think we would have gone worse than 8-5 w Hendrix or crist? And is there anyone willing to say rees is worth the development time more than the other qb options? We played the worst guy in the short and long term and BK acts surprised we didn’t have a championship level offense tonight with trying @ qb? What could he have possibly expected?
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- jonnyapple02 - Dec 30, 2011 at 4:48 AM
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Hi Keith,
This is my first time commenting on the site, but I’ve read almost everything you’ve written over the past couple seasons, and I’m a big fan. Thanks for your great coverage of the team and for giving a thoughtful and wise perspective on the always interesting, always kinda nuts Irish. On your live blog today someone mentioned being part of the silent majority of positive Irish supporters (even when the going is tough) and I count myself in that bunch. Even though tonight’s loss was a downer, I remember that A) it’s just a game and B) we had some entertaining moments like MMF’s TD catch and C) lots to look forward to next year.
I’m an ND alum now in a touring band and spend my hours in the music world, a culture that feels about as far away from competitive sports as I could imagine, but I keep coming back to read your stuff and I really dig it. Thanks again Keith and I’ll be tuned in during the off-season.
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- ndnative - Dec 30, 2011 at 12:40 PM
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Why did this get dislikes? For being positive and praising Keith? What a bunch of sore losing louts.
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- 9irish - Dec 31, 2011 at 6:14 PM
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Eh….sometimes you punch your best friend when your girlfriend dumps you, even if he had nothing to do with it!
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- irishfb05 - Dec 30, 2011 at 4:50 AM
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Hey I’ve been reading these posts for a few years now and have finally gotten so frustrated I decided to join and start posting.
Anyway with that out of the way I agree with you prophetjcb on the much less forgivable decision of the defense starting to play safe in the second half. I was under the impression that when Diaco took over this was going to be an “aggressive” defense and it has been anything but they constantly give way too big of a cushion and rarely blitz. The saddest thing about this is they have the personnel in the front seven to be very aggressive and possibly hide our biggest weakness on d the secondary play.
However not blaming Kelly for play calling because he is trying to make something out of nothing with his qbs is just wrong. I agree he doesn’t have much to work with back there but he has a 1,000 yard rusher perhaps that would take some of the heat off. I mean the first drive of the game you have first and goal from the four and you can’t get four yards in four plays? Instead we put it in TR’s hands to make a play? More than a little foolish. He gets pass happy he has done it all year we only ran the ball 14 times against USC have TR throw 30 plus times does not seem like a recipe for success….even Stanford has a better balance than that and they have Luck. I wouldn’t care if Peyton Manning was my qb with first and goal from the four and a 1,000 yard rusher in the backfield I’m running the football at least once
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- ndrocks2 - Dec 30, 2011 at 4:58 AM
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Rees has to go period but the problem I see is that Hendrix has been here for two years and even though they said this week he has the entire offense down they still run basic plays with him. Two years is a long time to bring someone along and while I assume he has more ability and they keep him on a short leash something is not right if he cannot take this job from Rees of all people.
Golson or Hendrix? One has no experience the other very limited and the only skill position players they have coming back is Wood and maybe Eifert. Riddick is the only other player I can think of but a case could be made he has went backwards the last two years. Every other returning wide receiver and running back is as unproven as Hendrix, I suppose you could say everything will work itself out but honestly BK has not developed a single wide receiver since he has been here and a case could be made he really hasn’t developed any skill players except Eifert.
I’m a BK fan and still think he is moving in right direction but if you stop and think about it who has he developed in the last two years on offense? This is sure as hell not the multi-dimensional offense by any stretch of the imagination that everyone envisioned when he signed on as coach. Hopefully this is our low point in the BK era and this time next year our cupboards will be full of developed mature offensive options. Tick tock, tick tock…
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- ndfan12345 - Dec 30, 2011 at 7:39 AM
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Not sure if you left Jones off the list on purpose but he proves your point perfectly. Hes getting worse. So is ridick who I have never seen do anything to justify the praise BK gives him. And BK if BK hasn’t gotten Hendrix ready, and it’s hard to imagine a premed major not knowing anything he’s been studying for two years, it’s bc BK gave all his attention and time to a guy w/ zero potential. I thought the qb situation was an isolated problem but I am beginning to think it’s a microcosm of BKs offensive coaching.
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- corsair5 - Dec 30, 2011 at 7:24 AM
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Five things I learned tonight:
1. QB’s: No matter who. They were horrible.
2. The running game died with Jonas. Wood can not run lights out with out a big back leading the way.
3. The defense? When do you stop doing what is working? Blitzing? etc. Did they just go into the locker room at at the half and say ” Hey:? I have an idea lets stop doing what was working?”
4. I am tired of the Irish Secondary. They have been the whipping boys for years and it showed again.
5. It does not matter how many top recruits you get. It is how they play on game day. Obviously we have a few who showed up (Lynch had his moments), but regardless. Just another end to a fail season.I am at a loss as to who is at fault these days. In the end I will keep watching and keep wondering. Maybe someone will come along and light a fire. Hopefully sooner then later.
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- dmac4real - Dec 30, 2011 at 11:32 AM
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1. Yup
2. This was the #1 running defense in the nation. It was not all us. Stanford was top ten i believe too…
5. Lynch played very well….Tuitt played good.
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- fredshaheen - Dec 30, 2011 at 8:33 AM
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These folks need a coach that they want to play for and I do not believe that Coach Kelly is the guy.
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- ihatemistate - Dec 30, 2011 at 10:16 AM
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Man did you hit it-I think the players can’t stand him. Like Knute Rockne said, you NEVER dress your QB down in front of the team or a crowd. NEVER. And for all the negatives on Hendrix, I think he’s dynamic and gets the ball down the field and isn’t afraid to run with it, and so what if he threw one interception, he’s hardly played. and getting yanked in and out of the game certainly isn’t helping his performance. Put the kid in and keep him in.
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- danirish - Dec 30, 2011 at 8:40 AM
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Now that I’ve slept on it I have this to say. If Kelly starts Rees next year I might just quit college football all together. One thing that Davie/Willingham/Weis/and now Kelly have taught me is that there are a lot of cool things to do on a Fall Saturday afternoon.
BONEHEAD! That is what Kelly is! I know – he is in his second year, I know Rees is 12-4! But Rees is not it. All of you saying Hendrix sucked – well, if you got yanked around you’d suck too. He hasn’t thrown 40 passes yet. Imagine if he had been the man the whole year? We may not have had more wins but I bet Pitt & BC would have been easier to watch.
Kelly is done, this ship is sinking. If we get 7 wins next year it will be a miracle without Eifert, Floyd and a brand new secondary plus is Kelly suddenly going to coach during the game? We are going to suffer a fallout like nothing else. Kelly will stick with Rees – I’ll take a gentleman’s bet on that one. It sickened me to see him yell at Rees/Hendrix when the one who is deserving of the scorn is him. The media loves a crappy ND coach so they won’t say the obvious.
Irish fans – prepare for another coach in a few years…..
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- irish2011 - Dec 30, 2011 at 8:59 AM
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For all you let’s Hendrix in where was he throwing that int to? BK get your head out of the clouds and start coaching. Are talent level is slowly rising. Everybody learns from mistakes so BK and Diaco you are no exception. Couple of positives one the D was lights out can’t blame secondary when Dcord calls off the horses. Those TD catches were darn good throws n catches. Is it just me or did Riddick run mean tonite dare I say Jonas mean like he wanted contact something to think about. Go Irish!
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- boerussell - Dec 30, 2011 at 10:01 AM
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I agree with the blame placed on Kelly for continuing to pass the ball 30+ times a game. Other teams do win despite their qbs, Kelly just wasn’t willing to attempt to. Instead of ” we cant turn the ball over” how about ” we cant run an offensive system that puts our players in position to turn the ball over,”
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- 4hrchubby - Dec 30, 2011 at 10:26 AM
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Where is robertg? when you need a clear and concise look at things, he is the man!
Well maybe not….but he couldn’t have made this season any wackier.
