Despite the huge win…What are your areas of concern?

[E1k]

5-14 on 3rd downs

Only once last year did we hit a mark that bad and that was against GT

It was against a legit defense of course but we need to be better there

Not very efficient…

I think im less concerned about 3rd down conversions and more concerned about how quick we get to 3rd down

Last year thru like 4 or 5 games we were converting 3rd downs over 75% of the time, that **** wont happen again

Of course we don’t have cam but martinez was automatic on short yard conversions. Like i don’t remember not converting one with him, need someone to step up there

 

[E1k]

My only 2 actual legitimate concerns with this team are no surprise to anyone

1) Mario’s game and clock management. Has always been an issue and will likely always be an issue. The Delay of Game right after the half and the strange timeout usages are so infuriating.

2) The kicking game. I think the talent is there and hard to complain about a 47 yard game winner. Less worried about this than number 1.

If I had to come up with a 3rd “concern” i really don’t think I could do it. Some will say the run game but the same run game was dominant a year ago and is really going to wear on teams that arent built like ND up front. Annoying at times but it’s effective for what we want to do. Have a hard time seeing any ACC team survive 335 pounds across the OL bullying them all night and consistently tackling 225 pound wrecking balls along with it. Big runs will start to pop and 3rd and shorts will come easier. FSU, UF, VT, and Pitt are probably the only 4 teams left that have a chance physically in the trenches. And we probably just out talent VT at the end of the day.

Him wasting a timeout on the first possession we had too punt was crazy, glad it didn’t hurt us…And before the half, right before cj made that catch we let the clock run from 57 seconds all the way to 18 seconds without snapping a play

I sometimes think mario in game coaching is the blame for too much stuff but it was very bad in this game

 

[jps2344]

And you can't say Mario game flow decisions lol…Those aren't going anywhere.

There was so much to like with Toney, C.Brown/Fletcher, a dominant defensive line ,etc...but here are a few things that caught my eye that weren't quite up to snuff yet. And please don't say I'm being a negative, it's just a topic for discussion, and it was a knock out performance as far as game 1s go…Those can at times be very, very sloppy, and we looked mostly great.

1. Safety play…I think it's still a question. Better than Jaden Harris no doubt, but that isn't the bar. Poyser has time to improve no doubt, but I thought the writers crowned him a little early this offseason after some success at CUSA, and I'm still concerned now. He didn't have a great night, and while I think Thomas can definitely give us snaps in the box he is what he is, and really fell asleep on the first Irish TD. I'm hoping Day, Pruitt, or Fitz can keep the heat on Poyser or get some snaps, because imo Poyser was mediocre (again it was game #1, I'm still optimistic with him)

2. LB (especially Toure) in coverage. I like a lot about our LB crew. But I really think we need Pruitt (0 snaps?) on the field in obvious passing situations. Let's just say that breakdown which basically blew the lead and could have blown the game for us…Wasn't the first time Toure looked lost in coverage to me. If he is on the field 3rd and long or against a heavy passing team, he needs to be blitzing or put Pruitt (0 snaps) in the game. That being said, Toure is very physical against he run and definitely had his moments in that aspect.

3. Kicking game…Obviously. One of those makes was ugly and the kid has not had a good career with FGs. Great to see him win the game though no doubt. On the plus side Joyce continues to develop and looked good.

4. Depth at nickle…K.Scott was one of the best players on both teams on the field last night and the best in our back 7. It's a little strange to me that Isaiah Taylor and a walk-on were behind him on the depth chart. Hope this is just CMC being vague or rewarding some good practice habits. Was hoping Brantley (0 snaps, is clearly #5 at CB) or Day, Ewald, etc…Could provide some depth here should Scott go down with injury. Just nitpicking I guess…And who knows maybe Taylor won the backup fair and square and is capable.

5. Not to jump on wagon or sound cliche…But the stupid *** penalties and timeouts. A delay of game out of halftime??? While I watched our QB and RB do a secret handshaking before they lined up?

I think everything else is nitpicking, and I really believe Trader will give the WRs a jolt. We aren't one of the nation's best WR group at the moment, but I think the stuff above is bigger concerns. Bell got beat a couple times and doesn't look dominant just yet, etc…TE wasn't involved much, but I think will be as the weeks progress. Lofton did catch a big pass when called upon and blocked all night. But we are pretty **** good area and a dangerous team, those are just some items that caught my eye.

Way more to like than to be concerned about.

For a first game of the season I was pleased with how clean the operation went. Lest we forget about other openers against far less competition where we looked like a joke. Whether it be the inability to adjust to the quick WR screen against Maryland in 2011 or the opener against UF a handful of years ago where we had 15 penalties. Point being we’ve been a disaster more times than not. That was not the case Saturday.

The talent and depth is there. Just as important is the staff is there to correct any issues and put the talent in the best position to succeed. Hetherman is a massive upgrade. Dawson is in year 3 and is a proven entity. Positional staff is stable and is a good fit. Point being this is a place now which is very different than it has been for ages. That is, competent staff who stay and create stability combined with more depth and talent than we’ve had in 20+ years. Things are good.

 

[Brooklyndee]

I keep seeing Dawson, Dawson, Dawson... and while I agree the play calling needs variety, I have a bit of a hard timing buying that Dawson went from "end this ************ right now" guy to milk the clock up 2 scores while dominating guy. Alternatively, we have a head coach who is built that way. And the offense and defense went play not to lose at the same time. Unlikely the head coach had nothing to do with it.

His approach is a bi product of what I said from day 1 going into the off-season last year. Day #1 post cam ward is guys just have to be aware why we shouldn't stress next seasons offense as long as we have a CAPABLE QB then next seasons offense will be a far heavier version of a possession offense. We'll be run heavy. Well week one we saw that come to fruition. We won't be so clear cut most weeks like we were this week. But this season knowing we expect a better defense will be more about time of possession and exerting our will. I e. RUN.

 

[marshallrc13]

And you can't say Mario game flow decisions lol…Those aren't going anywhere.

There was so much to like with Toney, C.Brown/Fletcher, a dominant defensive line ,etc...but here are a few things that caught my eye that weren't quite up to snuff yet. And please don't say I'm being a negative, it's just a topic for discussion, and it was a knock out performance as far as game 1s go…Those can at times be very, very sloppy, and we looked mostly great.

1. Safety play…I think it's still a question. Better than Jaden Harris no doubt, but that isn't the bar. Poyser has time to improve no doubt, but I thought the writers crowned him a little early this offseason after some success at CUSA, and I'm still concerned now. He didn't have a great night, and while I think Thomas can definitely give us snaps in the box he is what he is, and really fell asleep on the first Irish TD. I'm hoping Day, Pruitt, or Fitz can keep the heat on Poyser or get some snaps, because imo Poyser was mediocre (again it was game #1, I'm still optimistic with him)

2. LB (especially Toure) in coverage. I like a lot about our LB crew. But I really think we need Pruitt (0 snaps?) on the field in obvious passing situations. Let's just say that breakdown which basically blew the lead and could have blown the game for us…Wasn't the first time Toure looked lost in coverage to me. If he is on the field 3rd and long or against a heavy passing team, he needs to be blitzing or put Pruitt (0 snaps) in the game. That being said, Toure is very physical against he run and definitely had his moments in that aspect.

3. Kicking game…Obviously. One of those makes was ugly and the kid has not had a good career with FGs. Great to see him win the game though no doubt. On the plus side Joyce continues to develop and looked good.

4. Depth at nickle…K.Scott was one of the best players on both teams on the field last night and the best in our back 7. It's a little strange to me that Isaiah Taylor and a walk-on were behind him on the depth chart. Hope this is just CMC being vague or rewarding some good practice habits. Was hoping Brantley (0 snaps, is clearly #5 at CB) or Day, Ewald, etc…Could provide some depth here should Scott go down with injury. Just nitpicking I guess…And who knows maybe Taylor won the backup fair and square and is capable.

5. Not to jump on wagon or sound cliche…But the stupid *** penalties and timeouts. A delay of game out of halftime??? While I watched our QB and RB do a secret handshaking before they lined up?

I think everything else is nitpicking, and I really believe Trader will give the WRs a jolt. We aren't one of the nation's best WR group at the moment, but I think the stuff above is bigger concerns. Bell got beat a couple times and doesn't look dominant just yet, etc…TE wasn't involved much, but I think will be as the weeks progress. Lofton did catch a big pass when called upon and blocked all night. But we are pretty **** good area and a dangerous team, those are just some items that caught my eye.

I don't have too many concerns. We played well against a great team in the first game. Only thing I didn't like was how conservative we went in the 4th. We could have put it out of reach!

 

[Silentobserver]

Too soon for reality...
Natty is our floor...

I think this team has what it takes to win the Super Bowl with an outside chance at this summer's World Cup

 

[Brooklyndee]

He is also incredibly biased. I saw his posts laying the early groundwork for Dawson to be the scapegoat this season.

I look forward to your thread. We were dominating them and then gained 15 yards over 4 possessions leading to commentary that we went conservative to ultraconservative.

1-0, but a bunch to work on. Allowing good teams to come back from down 14 to tie the game can end poorly.

Scapegoat huh? I'm glad you read that 1 individual post so clearly that you determined I'm making Dawson a scapegoat this season... Stay angry brother. Atleast you're consistent.

 

[Angry Ibis]

His approach is a bi product of what I said from day 1 going into the off-season last year. Day #1 post cam ward is guys just have to be aware why we shouldn't stress next seasons offense as long as we have a CAPABLE QB then next seasons offense will be a far heavier version of a possession offense. We'll be run heavy. Well week one we saw that come to fruition. We won't be so clear cut most weeks like we were this week. But this season knowing we expect a better defense will be more about time of possession and exerting our will. I e. RUN.

Run, pass, swim - whatever it takes. We won the game, but the offense and defense went conservative to a point where they allowed ND to tie the game, leaving a game we dominated to an unproven kicker. So there was an adjustment made somewhere -- either ND adjusted and we did not, we both adjusted and they did a better job of it, etc., but adjustments went from dominating to gaining 15 yards over 4 straight possessions and creating low margin of error -- which I think is a reasonable concern as feel for the game, game management, etc. have been concerns.

 

[Angry Ibis]

Scapegoat huh? I'm glad you read that 1 individual post so clearly that you determined I'm making Dawson a scapegoat this season... Stay angry brother. Atleast you're consistent.

I am very happy. It is ok. I respect your loyalty to Mario. It is like Nick Wright to LeBron, Barry Bonds' trainer to Barry, Peanut butter to jelly. I agreed with much of your post, but find it hard to believe that both the OC and DC coached not to lose at the same time, but the HC who looked like confused Aaron Boone much of the 4th quarter had no role or responsibility for it at all.

It's all good. Just win. We won.

 

[Brooklyndee]

Run, pass, swim - whatever it takes. We won the game, but the offense and defense went conservative to a point where they allowed ND to tie the game, leaving a game we dominated to an unproven kicker. So there was an adjustment made somewhere -- either ND adjusted and we did not, we both adjusted and they did a better job of it, etc., but adjustments went from dominating to gaining 15 yards over 4 straight possessions and creating low margin of error -- which I think is a reasonable concern as feel for the game, game management, etc. have been concerns.

And I wouldn't disagree. Yet it was you that said I already set Dawson up as the scapegoat for this season. Hence why I said stay being angry brother. I mention something it's I'm creating a scapegoat. You mention it then it becomes valid... Koo. By the way I said exactly what I expect from this seasons offense from the day last season ended. This doesn't catch me off guard and it doesn't surprise me. Running the ball isn't an issue. Lack of creativity in the run game and forcing the same exact plays repetitively and situationally is... Dawson needs to address that and more than likely it was just the fact we were going up against a team who we mirrored ourselves in. Limit our possible errors and dominate line of scrimmage. Now hopefully we got the kinks out and he can focus on addressing the kinks. Cause it's needed

 

[SinisterCane]

Jimmy's Canes and Butch's 2000 and 2001 teams had a killer instinct.
This team let Notre Dame hang around until they put the game's result in doubt.
We're not there yet. We can be there, but not quite yet.

Conservative play calling kept Notre Dame around

 

[Brooklyndee]

I am very happy. It is ok. I respect your loyalty to Mario. It is like Nick Wright to LeBron, Barry Bonds' trainer to Barry, Peanut butter to jelly. I agreed with much of your post, but find it hard to believe that both the OC and DC coached not to lose at the same time, but the HC who looked like confused Aaron Boone much of the 4th quarter had no role or responsibility for it at all.

It's all good. Just win. We won.

The head coach is the reason we took that approach. That's a given. We all know that much. Again the issue wasn't taking that approach. The issue was using the same exact run plays over and over again in the same exact situations. Instead of going hb dive on first down maybe run a toss or go play action. You can be conservative and call the game to the demands of your head coach while still showing variety in your plays. As Malik rosier showed consistently, we can use the short passing game to assert ourselves just as easily. Just show some different looks. Not first down dive. Second down some version of a intermiate route and third down off right tackle... That was my issue. & Whether or not I'm loyal to Mario I've called him out on plenty of issues I had with him since he's been here. You guys just choose to remember when I am in his corner opposed to when I'm not. It's cool. But this ain't an issue I have with him

 

[Gables Canes]

A lot of this has already been said I’m sure, but without fully reading the thread:

1. Safety play
2. LB’s in pass coverage
3. Offensive play calling - too conservative and predictable
4. Lack of TE usage. Get them more involved especially on the 3rd and 4 type situations
5. RB rotations - when Fletcher is hot, keep him in the game
6. Markel bell against quick athletic DE’s
7. This should be #1 but I put it on the bottom so as not to beat a dead horse - in-game coaching and clock management aren’t below average, they’re bottom of the barrel

 

[ST26]

A lot of this has already been said I’m sure, but without fully reading the thread:

1. Safety play
2. LB’s in pass coverage
3. Offensive play calling - too conservative and predictable
4. Lack of TE usage. Get them more involved especially on the 3rd and 4 type situations
5. RB rotations - when Fletcher is hot, keep him in the game
6. Markel bell against quick athletic DE’s
7. This should be #1 but I put it on the bottom so as not to beat a dead horse - in-game coaching and clock management aren’t below average, they’re bottom of the barrel

The offense was conservative because it was game 1, in the rain, and we were going against one of the best secondaries in the country. If you watched some of the other games this weekend, a lot of offenses struggled (South Carolina, OSU, Texas, LSU/Clemson). Lofton missed time in camp due to an injury, so his usage was limited. He was essentially just a decoy against ND. You'll see a lot more of the TE's as the season goes on

 

[GojiraCane]

Then why recruit a player like Pringle who has side-by-side ability to attack the perimeter

To attack the perimeter.

But you have to be careful about using him in his very first game as a freshman against a national championship (tournament) caliber defense where he has to pick up blocking assignments.

 

[TrumpyCane]

We scored 27 points

TrumpyCane knows its not the same ND as last year but only 2 teams scored that many last year against them

 

[ST26]

That’s not happening

Lyle got banged up, so I’m sure they’ll open up the run game more when he’s a full go

 

[Angry Ibis]

The head coach is the reason we took that approach. That's a given. We all know that much. Again the issue wasn't taking that approach. The issue was using the same exact run plays over and over again in the same exact situations. Instead of going hb dive on first down maybe run a toss or go play action. You can be conservative and call the game to the demands of your head coach while still showing variety in your plays. As Malik rosier showed consistently, we can use the short passing game to assert ourselves just as easily. Just show some different looks. Not first down dive. Second down some version of a intermiate route and third down off right tackle... That was my issue. & Whether or not I'm loyal to Mario I've called him out on plenty of issues I had with him since he's been here. You guys just choose to remember when I am in his corner opposed to when I'm not. It's cool. But this ain't an issue I have with him

I think it’s both. Agreed on the different looks and Dawson needs to adapt. Similarly Mario needs to adapt. No one is saying come out slinging for the sake of slinging, throw 3 incompletions and punt just to be “fun”. The conservative mindset blew a 21-7 lead, and the overall feel for the game, clock, etc, is a work in progress - a little deep into his career.

But like with the Yankees, he’s our Aaron Boone so just win.

 

[Hurracanes]

And I wouldn't disagree. Yet it was you that said I already set Dawson up as the scapegoat for this season. Hence why I said stay being angry brother. I mention something it's I'm creating a scapegoat. You mention it then it becomes valid... Koo. By the way I said exactly what I expect from this seasons offense from the day last season ended. This doesn't catch me off guard and it doesn't surprise me. Running the ball isn't an issue. Lack of creativity in the run game and forcing the same exact plays repetitively and situationally is... Dawson needs to address that and more than likely it was just the fact we were going up against a team who we mirrored ourselves in. Limit our possible errors and dominate line of scrimmage. Now hopefully we got the kinks out and he can focus on addressing the kinks. Cause it's needed

From my understanding, Mirabal and Mario have their “influence” in the run scheme. You would know more than I do in that department but this scheme is going to catch up to haunt us against the big boys should we make it to the playoffs. It’s fine against the mid tier ACC teams but even then it limits your offense’s ability to have the most success possible. Opponents know what we are doing and we aren’t catching them off guard with these repeated dive’s.

We can bully and outsmart opponents at the same time.

 

[nickster]

Him wasting a timeout on the first possession we had too punt was crazy, glad it didn’t hurt us…And before the half, right before cj made that catch we let the clock run from 57 seconds all the way to 18 seconds without snapping a play

I sometimes think mario in game coaching is the blame for too much stuff but it was very bad in this game

You are right. I credit Mario 100% for the resurgence of the UM prograam, With that being said on gameday he is UM's biggest enemy. The guy just has ZERO awareness on how to use clock management.