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Perspective from ND Fan

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Appreciate the respectful post. IMO, you're underestimating Beck and our WRs. If ND tries to play single-high man against our offense, they're going to be roasted. You're also overestimating the ability of your new QB -- who was rumored to have accuracy issues during camp -- to avoid turnovers while generating first downs against a good defense. Even a great RB is going to get stopped if everyone knows he's getting the ball and we're able to load the box, which we should be.

We roll.
 
JHallCanes said:
What do you bench?
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Jarrell Miller Yes GIF by DAZN
 
I respect your post, I think that most Miami fans (including myself) were underestimating you guys big play ability at WR. I also think ND fans are underestimating our oline/Dline, our backs, and our secondary. I think you’re right it’ll be a low scoring game
 
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grover said:
Appreciate the respectful post. IMO, you're underestimating Beck and our WRs. If ND tries to play single-high man against our offense, they're going to be roasted. You're also overestimating the ability of your new QB -- who was rumored to have accuracy issues during camp -- to avoid turnovers while generating first downs against a good defense. Even a great RB is going to get stopped if everyone knows he's getting the ball and we're able to load the box, which we should be.

We roll.
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We might be overestimated our defense also. Yes we are talented on paper but this is a brand new coach and scheme. So let’s wait and see before we say we have a good defense. I’m hoping we do but can’t talk about the ND assuming when we are as well
 
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grover said:
Appreciate the respectful post. IMO, you're underestimating Beck and our WRs. If ND tries to play single-high man against our offense, they're going to be roasted. You're also overestimating the ability of your new QB -- who was rumored to have accuracy issues during camp -- to avoid turnovers while generating first downs against a good defense. Even a great RB is going to get stopped if everyone knows he's getting the ball and we're able to load the box, which we should be.

We roll.
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I'm not underestimating anyone. Beck can cook, only when he has time. We will need to manufacture pressure (which won't be an easy task against your very good OL) - the data shows he's a very different QB under pressure.

Your portal WRs were create depth, and you have a lot of young talent at the position that is unproven. They might be amazing, I really don't know since they haven't played.

And I'm certainly not overestimating our QB. I called him a gun-slinger because he's known to let it rip, good or bad. I expect mistakes - how many, no one knows. Stacking the box would benefit him, making the coverage easier to read. I think we'll see more zone blitzes, trying to confuse him.
 
ND08Fan said:
First, thanks for letting me join and chime in on this Sunday's game from a Notre Dame perspective. Yes, there are some ND fans (not unlike any fanbase) that think we shouldn't have a problem beating Miami on Sunday. I've read similar posts from Miami fans on this message board - we're all fans and support our guys - that's who we are and what makes this fun: tribalism.

Second, I'll tell you the mindset of educated ND Fans and where we're coming from - why there's reason for us to be confident in certain areas and why we're hoping for the best in others. I've seen some other posts here that give grades/analysis by position group, which is how my mind works as well, but I won't compare our position groups to your opposing groups (EX: ND RBs vs. Miami DL/LBs). I think all positions rooms are interconnected in the success of collective group - it's not quite that binary to me. Forgive me, this will be heavy on Notre Dame insight. I know a decent amount about Miami, but obviously my Notre Dame intel is far greater.

Finally, I have no idea what's going to happen on Sunday night. I believe it'll be a good game, and probably pretty low scoring. I do know this Notre Dame team is not going to be intimidated by the environment (except maybe CJ since it's his first start). Freeman is the real deal and this is a team full of players who played at A&M last year in front of 107k (I was there) and made it to all the way to the national championship game last year (I was there as well). That's really good experience to draw on.

RB: We believe this to be the most talented and deepest RB room in America. Jeremiyah Love is a different caliber of player, one we haven't seen in South Bend in a long time. We also believe his #2, Jadarian Price, is an NFL-caliber back. I think we'll see some different looks from ND's offense this year with both on the field, and possibly splitting out Love into the slot to force 1:1 coverage with a LB or Safety. That's a matchup we would like very much. This is an A++ room, no doubt.

OL: There were a lot of people considering the Notre Dame OL as the preseason favorite for the Joe Moore award this year. I think they'd be a contender if Charles Jagusah was healthy all year, but even then, I have questions. They return a lot from last year, but we also struggled in run block and pass pro against the better teams we played. Does Bain switch sides? I'd guess he'd have more success against our LT, Anthonie Knapp, who is undersized for the position. RT, Aamil Wagner, is much larger and has been mentioned in All-America conversations. There's lots more to say on this Miami DL/ND OL matchup. Overall: I think ND's floor in this room is a B+, but could be an A-. Need to see more.

WR/TE: We believe we've upgraded the WR room since last year, pretty significantly. I don't know that we have the 'homerun hitter' we've been missing for a long time, but I think this is a very solid group. Greathouse showed he can be depended on in the playoff and we added Malachi Fields from UVA and Will Pauling from Wisconsin. There's a good amount of young talent as well. Eli Raridon at TE could be a matchup nightmare and should be CJ Carr's best friend. 6'7"/250 and can move. It'll be interesting to see this matchup with an overhauled Miami secondary. Overall, I give this group a B+.

QB: Honestly, who knows ... CJ has a lot of talent and the ceiling is high, but he's obviously young. Having your first game on the road against a good Miami team is a tough spot. He's a gun-slinger and rumor is he presses. With that comes some amazing throws, but also silly mistakes. My hope is the game plan and Miami-specific installs limit those and he throws less than 2 INTs on Sunday. I tend to think he'll get a lot better throughout the year and I certainly wish he'd get 2 or 3 cupcakes before Miami. Hopefully it's a B.

DL: Not having Jordan Bothelo for Miami hurts. He sets the edge really well and is extremely valuable in the run game. Luckily, there's depth at DE, and ND will run this by committee. A name to keep an eye on is, Bryce Young. He's true sophomore and he's 6'7"/275. We're pretty high on him and expect a lot of production this year. The interior DL was our concern pre-camp, but we might be okay here. We've heard really good things about Jason Onye at DT (long story with him over the years). So, here's an area we're 'hoping' is solid - we'll have to see. This is another area ND will run by committee to keep a less talented IDL fresh. Edge: A- / IDL: B.

LB: We're really good here. Not going to blow you away like Saban's LBs or Georgia's LBs when they've been really good, but probably the best LB group ND has had since the 90s? Might be. No super stars (hopefully 'yet'), but we have four really good ones (Drayk Bowen is the highest PFF returning starter at LB in college football). We blitz them a lot to pressure the QB, which we absolutely need to do to win this game. Beck is outstanding when he has time, but he was one of the worst in the Power 4 last year when pressured. We have the ability to do this because of our secondary (see below). Overall: A- (could be A)

Secondary: Here's a group we're pretty confident in. Leonard Moore is a pre-season first team All-American and the #1 PFF ranked CB in America. Opposite him, is Christian Gray, who's a very good college corner. Sometimes he gets picked on because Moore has taken away half the field. Miami has young talent, and these guys have to do their job, so the DL and LBs can focus on stopping the run. Adon Shuler, at Safety, is a guy we like a lot. He's going to be more of a roamer in the outfield this year, whereas last year he played a lot of underneath. We run a 4-2-5 with a lot of pressure and we brought in Devonta Smith, Alabama's starting nickel from last year to play the slot position. Expect to see him on blitzes as well. Overall: this group is an A.

As you can tell - this comes down to QB play for us. There's a lot to like about this team and as long as they stop the run and take care of the ball on Sunday, we'll have a great opportunity to win. Miami has some dudes. As I said before, I expect a low scoring game and it likely coming down to the 4th quarter. Sorry for the long post - couldn't get to everything, but happy to interact.
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Allow me to retort:

RB: Right now Love is projected to be something he has not yet been. A bell cow back. Right now hes been a trick pony, change of pace guy who lives and dies by the big play. This is either an indictment on your O line or on Love himself. I expect he will be more consistent if healthy after a year in the weight room but hes yet to put it altogether and carry a RB room. Price is nice but so was Josh Adams.

O line: lost most of its quality depth and one of the better starters for this game. Sus in pass pro and was most effective on the qb power last season. Let's see how well they do opening up holes if the QB dive is less of a threat and your RSFr QB is a tad slow on his reads.

Wr/TE: I like your group not gonna say much here. You lack a home run guy but you may not need one and Carr probably won't have that much time to hit him anyways. I expect some seam and left sideline fades for Raridon. Hopefully we don't get any of our safeties ejected for targeting him. Our DB room is sus til proven otherwise so this is where you guys can make the biggest move. Problem is we completely turned over the DB room, we have a top notch pass rush, and you have a RSFr QB.

DL: Big and lumbering on the edge and small inside. Not a good match up for you guys. We ran on everyone we faced last season and this year's line is bigger and better. This could end up being the biggest mismatch in the game. It looks to shape up well for Miami.

LB: Media is really bullish on you guys here. You less so. If the LBs play to the medias expectations they could cover up the interior weakness. If they are more of a good group instead of great it might end up not being enough.

DBs: Moore is the goods based on most metrics. Gray more shaky. You guys gave up a lot in the air against all of the good offenses you faced last season. I like the nickel add from Bammer, we got ourselves our own Alabama nickel kinda, he might help elevate your room. Not sure what you had there last season. Safeties less highly touted than the CBs but I mean you guys had solid numbers last season and you took the ball away in key moments so you can have your flowers. We don't need to toast you all night just get what we need when it counts. Beck and Dawson are very capable of scheming and executing those types of plays. Riley and Brohm are some of the top pass game guys and Id put Dawson right in there with them.

Everyone is talking about the run game for these two teams. I think either teams success through the air wil be the necessary catalyst for success on the ground. I think if Carr is limited we stop the run. I think if our Wr corps cant separate you guys will be able to crowd the box and the Miami offense will struggle.

Obviously I believe Miami's offense will have succes against your defense. I believe ND is going to find it harder to be balanced enough to win this game on the road with the young gunslinger.
 
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Hetherman’s number one job is to force the ND offense onto Carr’s shoulders. He has the roster to do it; if Carr beats you thru the air, so be it. Recognizing the ND defense is very good, Canes just have too many offensive weapons to be contained, Canes will move the ball, Canes will score. I don’t see ND keeping up, and the more they need to rely on Carr, the higher the probability bad things will happen (strip sacks, fumbles, picks, etc). The heat and atmosphere make it exponentially riskier to hand the keys to Carr.
 
Observations from Penn St v ND semifinal:

1) Penn St absolutely bullied ND in the trenches on both sides of the ball
2) ND was elite in pass coverage
3) Allar struggled under pressure. Relied heavily on RB/TE and were creative there
4) Penn St had some lapses in coverage that cost them

I expect Sunday to be a similar type game. My biggest X factor is Lofton, he will need to be a Swiss Army knife - over the middle, in the screen game, and even in the backfield.
 
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Don’t think you’ve hit on it yet but what do you expect with y’all’s new DC with our old friend golden gone? Same scheme or he wanting to change some things

@ND08Fan @NDfan
 
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