Do You Have The Dice?
or How Notre Dame Blew The Game Against Purdue
This week, everyone's favorite armchair coach is bringing you proof that he's not a completely one-sided asshole (he's an all-around asshole, thank you very much). Here are a few things that just royally pissed me off about the entire 41-16 defeat on the home turf.
1. This is Notre Dame. But this is not defense.
This is a team that has been known for several years as being one of the best defenses in the nation. But watching the game today made me wonder if the defense had even set their feet on a field since last Saturday's crushing of the Huskies. While they did an admirable job of keeping the running game in check, the passing game just soared right over their heads. You have got to play a much closer game when you have an opposing QB that fires shots more accurately than John Wayne. Which leads to...
2. Kyle Orten
This kid is incredible, no doubt about that. Yes, he has Heisman written all over him. So shouldn't this have been a clue to our defensive coordinator that maybe we would have to work a little harder than we did last week against a quarterback with a completion percentage that looked more like the voter turnout rates for Alaska? Where the fuck was our defensive coordinator on that one?
3. If you're try-try-trying again and still losing, change your goddamm strategy.
Brady Quinn isn't such a bad quarterback either. His stats were actually comparable to Orten's today. But if you don't have an offensive line that will give the kid the protection he needs, then the boy can't help YOU either! Stop putting him out there to take sack after sack if the offensive line just can't take the heat. Find another runner besides Darius Walker who can do some things that Purdue's DC hasn't seen before and make them think on their feet. Or bring out Pat Dillingham for more than the last four minutes of the game and let him take some shots of his own. You can't win a game when you are only choosing between short passes by Quinn and short runs by Walker.
4. Number of ND defensive linemen who can define "audible" = 0
Do these guys not recognize a huge shift in the offensive line that is taking place right in front of their faces? Do they just look at a guy who is wide open and shrug their shoulders? Apparently.
5. Roll Your Dice
I was very pleased with Ty twice during this game. Too often I see great teams throw away opportunities by punting on 4th and 5. Twice, Willingham pushed on. The first time, they got the first down and more. The second time, the receiver kept right on running into the endzone. It's risky, but when you're already down, what more do you have to lose? Other than those two plays, the offense played like a bunch of pansies. (Note: I was highly against the two point conversion attempt because it was ill-timed. Knowing when to roll your dice is great, but you don't want to roll them on the chopping block.)
I can only hope that this game serves as a lesson to all of the coaches and players, but judging by the lack of response from all of the input that they should have gathered from the first half going into the second half, I'm not keeping my hopes up.
or How Notre Dame Blew The Game Against Purdue
This week, everyone's favorite armchair coach is bringing you proof that he's not a completely one-sided asshole (he's an all-around asshole, thank you very much). Here are a few things that just royally pissed me off about the entire 41-16 defeat on the home turf.
1. This is Notre Dame. But this is not defense.
This is a team that has been known for several years as being one of the best defenses in the nation. But watching the game today made me wonder if the defense had even set their feet on a field since last Saturday's crushing of the Huskies. While they did an admirable job of keeping the running game in check, the passing game just soared right over their heads. You have got to play a much closer game when you have an opposing QB that fires shots more accurately than John Wayne. Which leads to...
2. Kyle Orten
This kid is incredible, no doubt about that. Yes, he has Heisman written all over him. So shouldn't this have been a clue to our defensive coordinator that maybe we would have to work a little harder than we did last week against a quarterback with a completion percentage that looked more like the voter turnout rates for Alaska? Where the fuck was our defensive coordinator on that one?
3. If you're try-try-trying again and still losing, change your goddamm strategy.
Brady Quinn isn't such a bad quarterback either. His stats were actually comparable to Orten's today. But if you don't have an offensive line that will give the kid the protection he needs, then the boy can't help YOU either! Stop putting him out there to take sack after sack if the offensive line just can't take the heat. Find another runner besides Darius Walker who can do some things that Purdue's DC hasn't seen before and make them think on their feet. Or bring out Pat Dillingham for more than the last four minutes of the game and let him take some shots of his own. You can't win a game when you are only choosing between short passes by Quinn and short runs by Walker.
4. Number of ND defensive linemen who can define "audible" = 0
Do these guys not recognize a huge shift in the offensive line that is taking place right in front of their faces? Do they just look at a guy who is wide open and shrug their shoulders? Apparently.
5. Roll Your Dice
I was very pleased with Ty twice during this game. Too often I see great teams throw away opportunities by punting on 4th and 5. Twice, Willingham pushed on. The first time, they got the first down and more. The second time, the receiver kept right on running into the endzone. It's risky, but when you're already down, what more do you have to lose? Other than those two plays, the offense played like a bunch of pansies. (Note: I was highly against the two point conversion attempt because it was ill-timed. Knowing when to roll your dice is great, but you don't want to roll them on the chopping block.)
I can only hope that this game serves as a lesson to all of the coaches and players, but judging by the lack of response from all of the input that they should have gathered from the first half going into the second half, I'm not keeping my hopes up.
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