Comments on: The way too early 2012 starting lineup: Offense

By: irish4006

irish4006 — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:13:05 +0000

Comments section seems to be broken, I only see 2 comments out of 67, ‘Previous’ or ’1′ button does not work.

By: fitz79

fitz79 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:18:36 +0000

Brain Kelly, Please give Golson a shot. Think of it this way. What will us fans be more willing to put up with: a few mistakes by a young guy with a ton of promise as he tries to learn the offense and the ropes of the college game, or an over hyped upperclassman, who in spite of signs of some decent play is turnover prone and always seems to take one step forward, 2 steps back? TR is a perfectly fit back up. We could still win ‘some’ games with him out there. But isn’t the whole point to take this team back to a BCS caliber program? Not just a barely adequate program? How will that ever happen at this point without taking some educated gambles? Kelly, take the chance on this young man and at least no one will be able to fault you for not trying!

By: ndmick

ndmick — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:55:06 +0000

I just cannot find a reason to roll with TR. He is what he is and his talent is maxed…and the mistakes keep rolling, and always at the critical juncture….I know his record is good, however he hasnt won a big game for us….and certainly helped lose a few. Tough to be hard on a 20 year old, but he’ll receive a great education and be fine…time to see what the others (EG) can accomplish. Someone stated above TR will be on a short leash…if that is the way you roll into the season, you have the wrong guy, and probably know it.

By: dmac4real

dmac4real — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:23:56 +0000

He tore us up two years in a row. The kid can fly and he was the reason they won. He is good.

By: dmac4real

dmac4real — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:22:02 +0000

“If I asked you if TR should have come in after one half aginst USF, you would have said “hell no”. But he did.”

81,000 people cheered “Hell yes” when TR was announced as the second half starter against USF. I was there. DC was that bad that game.

By: nudeman

nudeman — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:14:30 +0000

I agree with everything you wrote except that TR is the new DC.
No … he’s still BK’s Paperboy.

If I asked you if TR should have come in after one half aginst USF, you would have said “hell no”. But he did.
If I asked if he should have been pulled vs. Pitt, you’d have said “yes”. But he wasn’t
Same with USC.
Same with FSU. In fact most believed there was no way he’d even start that game. But he did.
If I asked you if he shouldhave been the Spring game starter, you’d have said “F no”. But he was.

So see? There’s no logic here.

By: bb90grad

bb90grad — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:10:15 +0000

Thanks for the explanation Keith. Clear and cogent as usual. I’m an architect; sometimes you gotta draw me a picture.

Would it be fair to say EG, AH and TR are all at Maslow’s Stage 3, consciously competent but struggling every day for performance to come as second nature?

Love the site, keep up the good work.

By: bb90grad

bb90grad — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:04:47 +0000

and Michael Vick. Didn’t he just last season say “I guess I need to start learning how to read defenses”? Either totally tongue in cheek or on par with Jessica Simpson’s Chicken of the Sea comment. Don’t know which…

By: ndnphx

ndnphx — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:43:18 +0000

With all the talent accumulating at RB/Slot, we’re finally seeing the offensive “system” BK is building. Big plays are to come from RBs/Slot guys making guys miss and breaking tackles, with the TE (or WR) the third-down/key play go-to guy. Verticality is lacking, save for the occasional shot downfield to keep the defense honest and hope to create some space for the rest of the offense. We don’t have a true vertical threat on the roster anyway.

Hence, the insistence on TR. Supposedly reads quick, makes good choices, gets the ball out in a hurry and on time. Except he doesn’t, not at all consistently. The other guys have to fit into that mold, though, before they take his job away. No matter the upgrade in skill sets they all possess, especially EG.

As for installing the New England offense, fine. Except the reason it works so well for the Patriots is that they rarely make mistakes. Not so sure how that’ll play out with us…

By: bearcatirishfan

bearcatirishfan — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:17:40 +0000

Denard also plays in the weak division of the small 10. Seriously they play nobody. Only two quality teams they played nd should have lost mich state did loose. Anyone else think that the big 10 is severely overrated at this point.

By: dmac4real

dmac4real — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:10:44 +0000

“You cant just wing it and bank on your athleticism in college”—–Denard Robinson disagrees with you.

By: dmac4real

dmac4real — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:08:25 +0000

By no means am I going to say TR is amazing, but your underestimating the team with 6-6. Look at the losses last year. 2 bcs teams. 1 top 5 team that was on probation so it couldn’t be ranked. Another was top 5 to start the season and has obvious potential. Its not like Tommy Lose to shitty teams. Those were all quality teams. We can still go 8-4 with TR. Go ahead everybody, thumbs down, but you know im partly right. That said, get EG on the field asap.

By: ndmick

ndmick — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:05:22 +0000

Nudeman, don’t see BK leaving the season in TR’s hands to start. This team needs someone making plays, not managing the game too the point he loses it with turnovers….TR does not win games, he loses them.

By: dmac4real

dmac4real — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:05:12 +0000

Not true. Cierre tore it up against USF and UM, when Jonas Gray was used very little. Cierre Wood is a very good back, and quite possibly tied with TE for the most talented offensive player. We were not in a puddle against michigan running game wise; Cierre has like 130 yards.

By: dmac4real

dmac4real — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:00:43 +0000

Kelly hasnt been running the spread for 20 years. The full spread didnt really fully develope until about 10 years ago when Urban was at Utah.

By: dmac4real

dmac4real — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:58:03 +0000

Bern: I find it very hard to say the defense will be better. We lose: Johnson, Flemming, Lynch, Cwynar, Smith, Gray, Blanton. That is a lot of 2 deep guys were losing there. Its going to be hard to improve on that.

By: bernhtp

bernhtp — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:35:37 +0000

Navy’s possession drives were very short this past season. I don’t expect them to do better this year. They’ve lost some important players and Notre Dame’s defense will be better, especially relative to an offense that passes little.

By: bearcatirishfan

bearcatirishfan — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:30:11 +0000

That darn field goal was my first game ever at nd stadium was only 13. Great comeback though. Beat BC THIS YEAR BOYS I don’t care who starts.

Yes I’m still bitter

By: ndgoldandblue

ndgoldandblue — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:54:43 +0000

If nude is right with his prediction that Rees is going to the starter next season, then that means three things are, most likely, true: 1) Hendrix isn’t the man, and he is never going to be the man. After two full seasons and a spring and fall practice, if the guy hasn’t shown that he can be a starting QB over Rees, he will never be. 2) Golson just doesn’t get it. There is no reason why a quarterback who ran a spread offense in high school shouldn’t be able to pick up a similar offense in college. If Golson doesn’t beat out Rees, it’s because he doesn’t get the offense or he doesn’t get that he needs to learn the offense properly. You just can’t wing it and bank on your athleticism in college. 3) Kelly already thinks that Kiel is the future. By staying with Rees, Kelly could be preparing Gunner to take over the reins immediately afterward instead of waiting for another quarterback to be the man. If number three is correct, then I do have hope for the future because, out of all of these guys, I truly believe that Gunner will be the best quarterback. He may be even better than some of our recent QB’s (Quinn, Clausen). If so, the future looks bright.

By: 9irish

9irish — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:50:09 +0000

that was a good year! just that one damned field goal…

By: madmick69

madmick69 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:39:51 +0000

I’m thinking that everybody missed the big picture here. TR just became Dayne Crist…if he starts in Dublin, he’ll be on a very short leash. First sign of trouble or the first bone head interception that he throws (14 of them last year) and either EG or AH will find their way onto the field. Believe me when I say that Golson is the man and should get the nod. Based off what I saw in the B/G game, Golson was the only one who could move the offense consistently. He has game management issues but TR took a delay of game penalty too. Golson seems to make the right decision with the ball more times than not. Things just seemed to click with him in the huddle. The bottom line is that BC deployed the perfect defense against Kelly’s offense and Stanford duplicated, they both knew that TR is not a threat to run the ball. Play the run first and drop seven or eight into coverage. If any team decides to take a page from last years games and use this scheme then the QB is going to have to be a threat, while Hendrix can run, Golson is the dynamic runner, dynamic QB. Short of the long is that if TR has a bad half, he’ll know what it was like to be Crist last year.

By: mtb1996

mtb1996 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:50:15 +0000

I loved Kevin! That season was my first year at Notre Dame. And KM I think only went on to play in the CFL, right? Although the final outcome sucked, watching him sling it to Mays for a 22 point comeback in like 8 minutes at the end of the BC game was “almost” the best game I ever saw.

By: fnc111

fnc111 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:44:20 +0000

Turk doesn’t understand BK is obsessed with TR. 6-6 and no one will be talking about all he does is win anymore but we still all have to suffer through the taunts at work everyday when turnover Kelly teams disappoint us again.

By: turknd

turknd — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:14:01 +0000

I can’t believe it is April and almost everybody is thinking TR will be starting this upcoming season. It is clear that EG and AH had a better B&G game than did TR, but did you think that Kelly would admit that? Especially w/ the AH interception and the mismanagement of the clock and ball fumbling of the ball w/ EG. Clearly more work is needed w/ those two, however that can be rectified and the upside is bigger. The shortcomings of TR can’t be rectified.

BK is not going to show us his hand to us, or to EG nd BK so they can keep progressing.

(I hope I’m right)

Sorry if I had any mispellings Nude.

By: bernhtp

bernhtp — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:03:55 +0000

You picked my door #3. I largely disagree, but do cede the point that the first two games last year ending in inexplicable losses because of all of the turnovers led to a strangely conservative bent in his psyche. Of course, Tommy is only the conservative choice to those that don’t notice the explosive vest he’s wearing.

I still think that one or more of the other guys will step up and ultimately win the job. I’m not as pessimistic as you are.

By: Keith Arnold

Keith Arnold — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 23:27:35 +0000

@bb90grad — There is nothing overly complex about the offense. The problems people are putting on Hendrix come from the fact that he came up in a very rudimentary offense.

Hendrix knows the offense backward and forward. From what I’ve heard he studies it on flashcards and can recite the playbook. To say that he’s slow to learn things is a misrepresentation of the truth.

Where he’s lacking is the ability to take that knowledge and seamlessly apply it on the field. It’s understandable considering he spent his freshman season redshirting and getting to know an offense that’s light-years more complex than the one he ran in high school, and most of his sophomore season running as the No. 3 QB behind Tommy and Dayne.

By: irish4006

irish4006 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 23:01:52 +0000

I am not a big Cierre fan. Ok, let me re-phrase – I don’t think Cierre can win us games on his own, although he is amazing when used in a one-two combo. His production dramatically improved (stats-guru types can correct me if I am wrong) when Jonas started playing strong. Every time Jonas touched the ball, there was a possibility that something big would happen. I had a feeling that the season ended for us when he went down. If GA III, Amir, Keith, Nude or anyone can step up and play the role Jonas did, we will be in great shape. If not, I am afraid we will be in the same puddle we were in Stanford, FSU, Michigan games.

I am all for armchair coaching with the talks about great running game, two/three TE sets, safe/short passes and winning games; it will only happen if the running game is as good as the Jonas/Cierre combo we saw during the little winning streak we put together in the middle of 2011 season. Even Tommy didn’t look too bad in those games…

By: hbmichael9

hbmichael9 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:07:16 +0000

Hey guys – long time reader and just starting to get in on the commenting. Hopefully you will come to recognize me as a regular contributor.

On the RBs, I for one am surprised to see little to no articles or much press in these long articles around Cierre Wood. The guys is solid and when is the last time we have had a 1,000 yard rusher returning? He seems to be overlooked because of lack of questions at that position and with him specifically.

Also, I must be higher on GAIII than most. Of course we are always enamored with what “could be” but expecting a true freshman or transfer who was not a superstar to be better than what we have seen with our own eyes (albeit in limited action).

By: fnc111

fnc111 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:43:11 +0000

Ndgrad62 is right on with how the offense will be run. I think AH and Golson will both run some wildcat too and TR obsessed coach Kelly will limp to the finish line again trying for 8 wins- his goal. It will be a lot of simple pass plays and getting the ball in space to guys like Amir, Theo and Neal because we know TR can’t go downfield. If Jonas had another year left it could work but just handing off to Cierre with that stud O Line could tire him out. Have to find a second RB that won’t be a turnover machine.

By: 9irish

9irish — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:24:54 +0000

I agree with that. The thing is like a Corvette with stolen spark plugs. If they get this thing figured out, they can go very, very far.