Without further ado, this week’s mailbag.
rossumnminor: Keith is this a second chance and sort of a good thing that OU and ASU are very similar across the board? I.e. another week of similar preparation?
Let’s start this off with a football question. Well done, Rossumn! If you’re looking to actually think about Xs and Os and not complain about playcalling, effort, the alma mater, and all the other garbage that bubbles to the top after a two-loss month, this is a great place to start.
There are a ton of similarities between ASU and OU, though I’d give the edge personnel wise to Oklahoma, though Taylor Kelly might be the best quarterback Notre Dame faces all season. That said, both defenses are built around pressure schemes and work from a 3-3-5, and Notre Dame will once again be seeing a lot of man coverage.
(Speaking of that...)
dudeacow: What happened to Daniels? After a phenomenal start he had a horrendous day vs MSU and was a no-show vs the Sooners. Same thing with Niklas. Where has our receiving corps gone?
It’s times like these where we’re reminded that Daniels is still a relative newbie out there, even though he’s in his third year of the program. There’s no doubt the talent is there to be a productive college wide receiver. But Brian Kelly was candid in his assessment of Daniels, who disappeared at times against both Michigan State and Oklahoma, when he said Daniels needed to do the ordinary things better.
As for Niklas, don’t expect to see numbers like the ones Tyler Eifert put up. Niklas is a valuable cog in the Irish blocking scheme, and while Ben Koyack played a much better game last week, Niklas is too big of a body to not spend a good portion of his time blocking in the running game.
blackirish23: Job vacancies at places such as USC always has a domino effect. Any predictions where some of those dominos may fall, and will some of those pieces be from our coaching staff? I.E. Have you started hearing any rumors?
I am curious to see if Mack Brown survives the season at Texas. Deloss Dodds announcing his retirement makes you wonder if he’ll make one last big decision before saying goodbye. But unlike last year, I don’t think anybody’s star is on the rise like it was for Bob Diaco or Chuck Martin.
Could UConn target a guy like Bob Diaco? Maybe. They terminated Paul Pasqualoni in the wake of Kiffin’s firing. Diaco is a native of the northeast, is a young and charismatic guy (as opposed to Pasqualoni, who was a head-scratching hire), so who knows?
But I have a feeling the Irish will be working with the same staff in ’14 as they are this season.
jerseyirish10: Keith, with your recent article, including the analysis, of the empty set with Tommy Rees, why is BK continuing to use this formation? Clearly, Golson had/has the tools to extend those plays because of the threat to run or pass. As the head coach and OC, why aren’t he and Martin tossing this out and sticking to what Tommy can do? Combined with a stronger conviction to the running game, wouldn’t that provide the more balanced offense and focus on everyone’s strengths?
I feel like I answered this question yesterday. I don’t necessarily think the no-back formation should be thrown in the dumpster, but it certainly shouldn’t be one of the Irish’s most utilized formations.
ndlv: I know that Jaylon Smith is a little bit small, but he has the talent to play any of the LB positions. Why not move him inside and replace him on the outside with a safety like Shumate or Redfield (as they used to do with Slaughter)? This would get more speed and talent on the field. Grace, Fox, and Carlo may have the size for the middle, but they clearly don’t have the speed.
On paper, a move like this makes sense. And perhaps it could be a spring adjustment, because life after Louis Nix could be downright scary at the nose tackle position. But just assuming a linebacker like Smith can succeed inside and a safety has the tools to play outside linebacker is risky business. The last time Notre Dame tried something like that, converted running back Travis Thomas tried to play on the edge of the defense at 220-pounds, and Jon Tenuta’s boys looked like a roller derby team out there.
Getting speed on the field makes sense, especially against spread teams that move quickly. But you don’t hear fans calling for Stanford to swap out their big bodies and stout front line because they can’t run as fast as other defenses. Playing the scheme correctly -- like Notre Dame did last year -- is a big part of the formula.
a. papadec: Will the pessimistic fans ever shut up?
b. dickasman: Will the optimistic fans (shut up)?
c. c4evr: Will all the level headed, logic driven, reasonable people ever contribute?
a. Of course they won’t. You’ve got to blame somebody.
b. I wouldn’t expect it. You’ve got to have faith.
c. Please don’t leave us. It’s already so lonely.
chadwalters425: Why do you think Notre Dame’s fans are quick to sell their tickets against big game opponents (like Oklahoma this year or Nebraska in 2000) while other schools show solidarity and don’t appear to sell tickets to opposing fans in similar games (see SEC or UGA @ Clemson) in significant numbers? Or am I just biased?
You are biased. Unless you watch a whole lot more football than I do, and keep your eye on StubHub or the secondary ticket market on a daily basis, this seems to be one of those prime examples of Notre Dame fans only griping about what’s in front of them.
You realize that Nebraska game was 13 years ago? Wide receiver Corey Robinson was five years old then. That Oklahoma fans paid dearly to buy tickets in the corner of the upper bowl doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen anywhere else. (And opponents do get an allotment of tickets to purchase. It would’ve been different if the Crimson was scattered all around the stadium.)
I spent an entire football season on the road in ’08, going to the biggest games of the year all around the country. Every place I went, I saw a large showing from the visiting team. At a place that was treated like the Cathedral of college football for traditionally proud groups like Nebraska and Oklahoma, you have to expect that to happen when come play Notre Dame.
No team had a higher per-ticket price than Notre Dame this season. That’s certainly not driven by just the opposition.
jerseyshorendfan1: Do all the idiotic questions here jeopardize the continuation of the mailbag feature?
No way. I kind of like this feature.
upthera44: Is there any update on Greg Bryant’s supposed knee injury?
There probably will be one tonight when Kelly talks with the media. I would hate to think the vigil would be over come October.
nudeman: Why does Brian Kelly perpetrate the myth that “if he turns the ball over, he won’t play”, then keep playing Tommy Rees?
In defense of Rees, this hasn’t been happening on a continuous basis, though I did say that last Saturday was probably the worst game of Rees’ career since the USC game his freshman season. And if you thought Andrew Hendrix looked comfortable back in the pocket running the Irish offense, you saw something different than I did.
I’m working on some things for the Pregame Six Pack that digs a little bit deeper into Rees’s struggles.
@NDEddieMac: Why do ND fans always whine about inconsequential (stuff) during football season?
To make themselves feel better?
Everybody can sound intelligent when they talk about ambiguous things like tradition or making sure the team stays on the field to sing the alma mater. (By far the dumbest “tradition” that’s really not a tradition at all, in my opinion.) But not everybody can talk about the challenges of facing press coverage or linebackers making proper run fits. So it’s just more fun to sound like the old guy that walked uphill to school both ways.
Now get off my lawn!
chadwalters425: Do you think Todd Graham is just renting his place in Arizona and can get out of his lease to go to Los Angeles in the next four months?
I got a good laugh out of this one... Could you imagine?