(Yes, I know the song is titled Anchors Aweigh.)
A four game winning streak had people feeling pretty good about the Irish. But a loss to now 6-1 USC has people ready to jump overboard, just as Navy and its dangerous triple-option attack come to town. While Irish fans might be walking around with an anvil tied to their leg, the guys on the field don’t have that option, with just five more opportunities to play football this regular season.
The gentlemen over at One Foot Down supplied this week’s questions. There’s plenty more to talk about today, so let’s get right after it:
Coach Kelly refused to fall on the proverbial sword after USC. He felt that some of the players that needed to play with poise just didn’t. Do you agree or disagree? Did coaching play a role in our egg-laying against USC?
I completely, 100 percent agree. Football coaches coach. Football players play. Even if the coaching staff didn’t have its best day — and it certainly didn’t — the guys on the field are to blame for that one.
(Yes, I know this is when people comment, “It’s the coaches JOB to make sure that the players on the field are ready!” Only partially true. The coaching staff lays out the blueprint. The players still need to execute it.)
From play one of that game, the Irish didn’t meet expectations. On offense and on defense. That people are riled up that Kelly said he wouldn’t fall on his proverbial sword and change what he’s done for twenty years during bye week preparation, is pretty ridiculous. (Note: That’s what the question was.)
But even if Kelly did decide to call out his players, I’m absolutely fine with it. Coaches use the media to motivate players all the time. I’m 100 percent for it, and I’m 100 percent against coddling players on a football team that’s still trying to properly develop the right DNA. If that means mentioning that Cierre Wood didn’t play well or the defensive front seven played poorly (No. 5 included), so be it.
In their post-game interviews, Coach Kelly, Jonas Gray, Harrison Smith, and Tyler Eifert all called the atmosphere for USC “electric.” Coincidence?
No. I called it that, too. It was absolutely electric in there, and on campus all weekend.
(I didn’t realize that people had started to think that there was some kind of PR campaign to use the same word or description. That’s ridiculous. It was really the only word you can use to describe that atmosphere, so if you’re wondering why everybody said the same thing, don’t over think it.)
A quick aside: About 90 minutes before the game, I went down to the first row by the tunnel and just watched the swarm of recruits and people on the sideline for about 20 minutes. To a guy, you could see the look in the eyes of the high school recruits visiting campus. Each and every one of them did their best to try and stay cool, but every once in a while they’d take a second to soak it all in, almost picture themselves out on that field getting ready to go to battle.
Sure, it’s special on campus before every big game. But there was something different about last Saturday night. Even if the Irish spit the bit the first time, I absolutely support an annual night game. (Tee up 2012 vs. Michigan right now.)
Is your faith in this coaching staff shaken after Saturday night’s debacle?
Absolutely not.
It’s as if people are forgetting that the Irish had worked their way all but out of a 17-0 hole and were set to tie the game as the fourth quarter was approaching when Dayne Crist forgot how to take a snap, forgot how to fall on a football, and took the Irish’s chances of winning the game from greater than 50% to about 10% in one catastrophic play.
On no planet is that play on the coaching staff.
Back in the olden days (like 1998), an Irish football coach got at least until the third season to have people start freaking out if they didn’t have a national championship run in them. While guys like Bob Stoops, Jim Tressel, Nick Saban, Les Miles and Urban Meyer had people thinking that year two was the season it’d happen, it was only the impressive work that Kelly did with the defense and in recruiting that had people even thinking that was possible this year.
Are these close losses absolutely frustrating? Yes. But I, for one, think the Irish losing because they made mistakes is far more encouraging that watching them get bludgeoned by USC or Michigan.
Should we be satisfied with a mere win over Navy, or does it have to be somewhat convincing?
Any win against Navy should be satisfying. Do people forget that the Midshipmen have won three of the last four against Notre Dame?
That said, as long as the offense rebounds and the Irish win, people should be satisfied. Navy does not have a good enough defense to stop the Irish offense. Notre Dame should be able to run the ball or throw the ball at will, and as long as they clean up their work in the red zone, they should put up all the points they need to.
If they can force a turnover or two with Navy playing a young quarterback, this game could get into Air Force territory, too. But expect to see Navy move the ball between the 20s.
Will the Irish shut down the vaunted Navy triple option, or are we in for a shootout?
I guess I jumped the gun a little bit on this one, but I don’t think ND will ever completely shut down the option. Yesterday, Bill Wagner talked about the subtle changes Navy will likely make with their offense, and the result might actually help the Irish against the option, though Trey Miller is a much better passing threat than Kris Proctor.
That said, the Irish defensive front is in for their biggest challenge of the year. Notre Dame will be starting three freshman (eligibility wise) across the front with Stephon Tuitt, Louis Nix and Aaron Lynch all likely getting the call. Chase Hounshell will be next in line at defensive end. Navy has to be licking their chops at their good luck, with both seniors Kapron Lewis-Moore and Ethan Johnson either out (KLM) or severely limited (EJ’s high ankle sprain won’t go away.)
Take us out with a quotation, clip, or photo to summarize your post-USC/pre-Navy state of fandom.
Man, this is far tougher than I expected. Since I’m in this fight regardless of W or L, I’d just ask anybody that wants to keep commenting or reading to just remember that this is football. It’s a hard sport and Notre Dame doesn’t have the advantages they did 30 years ago. More importantly, this is supposed to be fun. We only get this for like 13 weeks a year and then it’s winter.
Then, I’d like to steer everybody to this video, which I can’t host here. The Irish are in definite need of a montage.
