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Notre Dame On-Field Breakdown Thread

NicKane said:
If I’m being honest, I think UNC’s tight end and receiver named ship, is better than anything Notre Dame is thrown out there at the skill positions this year. Do you not agree with that? I think their quarterback carr has carried that team this year.
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You act like their TEs and RBs were making some amazing plays. THey were ******* wide *** open dawg.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
Have we been beaten vertically once all season by anyone not named Duce Robinson? I can't think of a single play all year except for the FSU game and garbage time against Pitt where a ball with 20+ air yards was completed. It's all underneath and YAC. The more I think about it, the UNC game wasn't *that* much different than any other game, except we couldn't get a stop in the red zone. We've given up passing yards all year to anyone with a pulse, but when we get inside the 20 and literally can't just play deep cloud coverage because our DBs would be in the 4th row, we've been able to tighten up and get stops. UNC went 5 for 5 in TDs last week. National average on TD% in the redzone is about 60%. If they go 3/5 instead of 5/5, we win the game 38-27 and everyone is a lot happier.

Granted, this isn't any excuse. Stop allowing every QB you play to complete 70% of their passes for 10 yards a throw. Just saying, we haven't given up really big plays at all this year. We're 7th in the country in 30+ yard plays allowed, and we can't cover anyone. That doesn't make sense. We should be way worse. But it's because nobody even tries to beat us deep. Just run into a soft spot, catch a ball with nobody near you, break a tackle, and pick up 16 yards. Or catch a screen for 22. Or leak out of the backfield and catch an angle route for 11. No need to even attempt low percentage downfield throws when we're just throwing a welcome party to pick us apart underneath.
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The best thing our defense/heatherman can do this week, if they change absolutely nothing from last game....play faster and actually make open field tackles. There's at least 2 drives that are dead in the water if our first defender makes the open field tackle instead of missing it. They shouldve never even got to the redzone on some of those drives even with the gaping zones.
 
Seems like the biggest questions are

Who covers the RB and/or slot on this defense?

Will Heatherman put Smith and Toure w/ unrealistic coverage responsibilities?

And do we wrap up this week?
 
dukemv said:
Watching last year's defense tackle is so refreshing. Driving through the chest, driving with the feet. So refreshing.
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Man, I could almost cry watching it. 😂

In the last press conference, Hetherman said he counted 20 missed tackles resulting in 100+ additional yards. 🤦🏾‍♂️

If this team can just get back to tackling better and fix absolutely nothing else, the passing yards allowed ranking could go from #122 (283 passing yards per game) to somewhere around #75 (160 passing yards per game) overnight.

That's a difference of 123 yards and at least 2 scores.

For context, last season's defense ranked #60 in passing yards allowed.

Now combine that with the #1 run defense and the high scoring #1 offense, and this team would beat anyone in the top 25 by a minimum of 14 points.
 
Hstokes1447 said:
Man, I could almost cry watching it. 😂

In the last press conference, Hetherman said he counted 20 missed tackles resulting in 100+ additional yards. 🤦🏾‍♂️

If this team can just get back to tackling better and fix absolutely nothing else, the passing yards allowed ranking could go from #122 (283 passing yards per game) to somewhere around #75 (160 passing yards per game) overnight.

That's a difference of 123 yards and at least 2 scores.

For context, last season's defense ranked #60 in passing yards allowed.

Now combine that with the #1 run defense and the high scoring #1 offense, and this team would beat anyone in the top 25 by a minimum of 14 points.
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Thats good arithmetics
 
Calinative said:
You act like their TEs and RBs were making some amazing plays. THey were ******* wide *** open dawg.
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I’m saying it right now because I actually know this game versus you that doesn’t know a **** thing about it. UNC’s tight end is an NFL tight end and maybe the best one we will play all year. If you disagree with that, it shows how little you know about football, but of course, we already know that..
 
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Big game Mario will have the boys ready! I believe no matter the negativity in CIS that our beloved Canes will tackle better, force some FG’s and overall play much more soundly on Defense.

Start fast! Put the pressure on ND. It’s a must win as a loss pretty much knocks them out of the playoffs coming at #11 CFP and as the game gets later, and they are behind, they will play even tighter.
 
dukemv said:
Seems like the biggest questions are

Who covers the RB and/or slot on this defense?

Will Heatherman put Smith and Toure w/ unrealistic coverage responsibilities?

And do we wrap up this week?
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I’d assume Marcellin instead of smith/Toure.

Would like to see them put Fitz in the slot a little more this game on their slot as well.
 
LuCane said:
I wish I could explain to you how opposed I am to the approach you described in your last paragraph. It makes me ill. It’s such bad Math. Free access throws, simple sit downs for 7-8 yards on 1st down, etc. That is exactly the opposite of how I’d prefer to play. Sure, some teams drop passes, make errant throws, or self-destruct. But, many don’t.
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The last few weeks have been like watching our 2024 defense, everything works against us, it's infuriating, make a **** adjustment Heatherman
 
561Cane said:
Big game Mario will have the boys ready! I believe no matter the negativity in CIS that our beloved Canes will tackle better, force some FG’s and overall play much more soundly on Defense.

Start fast! Put the pressure on ND. It’s a must win as a loss pretty much knocks them out of the playoffs coming at #11 CFP and as the game gets later, and they are behind, they will play even tighter.
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I agree that starting fast is a huge key, if we can get an early 2 score lead, I think they will start to really feel that pressure
 
NicKane said:
I’m saying it right now because I actually know this game versus you that doesn’t know a **** thing about it. UNC’s tight end is an NFL tight end and maybe the best one we will play all year. If you disagree with that, it shows how little you know about football, but of course, we already know that..
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Lmao you're so stupid you can't comprehend nobody is arguing about whether UNCs TE is good or not. Their TEs and RBs were wide *** open and didn't need to be NFL players to kill us all game. For someone that "actually knows the game" you're pretty ******* stupid about most comments you make about OUR PLAYERS strengths and weaknesses and what is actually valuable. Only a moron like you would be defending guys like Toure+Smith geting all the snaps and be like "but UNC has an NFL TE, so that's the reason"... Lmao. Yeah ignore every other passing attack that dominated our defense this yr. We're ranked last in pass coverage cause UNC has an NFL TE. Certainly we won't play any other teams with NFL players this yr especially in the playoffs.
 
Hstokes1447 said:
One thing I’ve noticed about this ND defense is that they tend to start very slow. Most of the points they’ve given up this season have come in the first half. They’re susceptible to getting gashed on the ground, and through the air, they play a lot of soft zone that allows offenses to move the ball without much resistance.

Wisconsin – 14 points total, 10 in the first half.
Michigan State – 10 points total, all 10 in the first half.
North Carolina – 26 points total, 14 in the first half.
BYU – 28 points total, 21 in the first half.
Navy – 13 points total, all 13 in the first half.

If they come out and play anything like they have shown on film, Mensah is going to carve them up. I think Miami can put up 21–28 points by halftime.
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"They’re susceptible to getting gashed on the ground, and through the air"

That's a bad combination
 
I expect Hetherman to make some adjustments and our defense to tackle better. I mean we can't possibly be any worse at tackling than we did at UNC. Our O will need to be efficient most of the night against ND and score on all opportunities. If we score over 30, we have a decent chance to win. It won't be easy though. Nd's key D players being out helps us, but ND's Dline is talented especially with Traore and Young at DE, so our Oline will dictate the whole night. If our Oline can't contain their rush, it could be a tough night. ND's QB Carr is better than Edwards so we will have to play much better against him than UNC.

We can't afford to turn it over at all against ND, and definitely not give Notre Dame any free points playing on the road at night. I expect Miami to be up for this game and play much better although our D is still suspect. Mali and Mensah and co are the difference on the road. The way Mensah is playing, I think we are a well oiled machine on offense. Our Oline seems to be improving by the game.

Miami wins 35-31.
 
GUT CHECK time for our boys..... Either we're #1 and play like it or not.... first hit tackles!!! LFGGGGGGG
 
I’m going to be a contrarian. Low scoring game. This is one of the 3-4 games this year where Wilson plays hard and makes a difference. TOP wins the game. Fletcher runs for 125+. Canes 23-20. You won’t find a more technically sound analysis in this thread.
 
Calinative said:
Lmao you're so stupid you can't comprehend nobody is arguing about whether UNCs TE is good or not. Their TEs and RBs were wide *** open and didn't need to be NFL players to kill us all game. For someone that "actually knows the game" you're pretty ******* stupid about most comments you make about OUR PLAYERS strengths and weaknesses and what is actually valuable. Only a moron like you would be defending guys like Toure+Smith geting all the snaps and be like "but UNC has an NFL TE, so that's the reason"... Lmao. Yeah ignore every other passing attack that dominated our defense this yr. We're ranked last in pass coverage cause UNC has an NFL TE. Certainly we won't play any other teams with NFL players this yr especially in the playoffs.
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You’re an idiot, plain, and simple and everyone on here knows it. You don’t know **** about football and it is clear as day. So go take a long walk off a short pier for all I care. uNC’s wide receiver Ship and they’re tight end are two of the best skill players weve played all season. Whatever kind of word salad nonsense you wanna try to write to try to pretend that’s not true, it’s just what it is, nonsense!
 
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