It’s tough to really get into the X’s and O’s of Saturday’s season finale, but here are some thoughts about an actual football game instead of another post speculating about who might be coaching next season.
- As much as I agree with the decision to let Stanford score in the final minute – Stanford could have killed the clock if they wanted – it was very tough to watch the Irish defense have to lay down against Stanford. It’s really disheartening that its come to letting Stanford score a touchdown just to have a chance to force overtime.
- The OL was improved this year, but it’s hard to justify giving up two sacks on the final drive with max protect against a four man rush.
- If this was Jimmy Clausen’s last game at Notre Dame, he’ll leave with a nice stat line – 23 of 30 for 340 yards and 5 touchdowns. Sadly, the game was very representative of his career at Notre Dame – some great offense that ended up not being enough because of poor defense. Clausen ended the season with 3,722 yards with a 68% completion percentage and 28 touchdowns to just 4 interceptions.
- Golden Tate is ridiculous. Not sure what else to say about him. He’s the second most explosive player to ever play for Notre Dame behind Rocket Ismail as far as I’m concerned. If he doesn’t win the Biletnikoff Award, it will be a bigger injustice than Ty Detmer winning the Heisman over Rocket. In all honesty, Tate deserves to be in New York for the Heisman presentation, but Notre Dame’s November nose dive will make that almost impossible. It’s a shame too. In a year when no one has distanced themselves in the Heisman race, I can’t think of too many players who have been more impressive than Tate.
- Robert Hughes ran the ball well and should have gotten more carries. Sadly, that could be said about an Irish running back most games this season. Hughes averaged 5.7 yards per carry but only carried the rock 13 times. Hughes was a show string away from breaking a long touchdown too.
- Theo Riddick averaged 5.8 yards a carry, but only had 6 carries. Riddick ended the season with 160 yards on 29 carries – a 5.5 yards per carry average.
- Loved the Clausen to Floyd bomb out of the wildcat formation. The first thought that came into my head after watching it was why didn’t we see more plays like that out of the wildcat before now. Other than one failed attempt against Washington, Notre Dame didn’t get Clausen the ball with a chance to throw in the wildcat this year.
- Toby Gerhart is an incredible back, but it was tough to watch him bulldoze through the Irish defense for over 7 yards a carry. Gerhart’s 3 touchdowns gave him 26 for the season. Notre Dame has run for 24 touchdowns as team… in the past two seasons combined.
- The kick coverage and return units were a major weakness. Notre Dame’s plan to play keep away on kickoffs to avoid a big return back fired with excellent field position for Stanford all night. Notre Dame meanwhile averaged just 17.7 yards per return. There weren’t any missed lanes for return men either, there just weren’t any lanes to run through.
- Sergio Brown played the best game of his career with two well timed blitzes that resulted in a sack and a tackle for loss. Brown’s blitzes have been largely ineffective for the past two years, but Saturday he played very well.
- Ben Turk had another good week punting. After really struggling earlier this season, Turk averaged 43 yards a punt and boomed a 53 yarder. Two of his three punts landed inside the Stanford 20 as well.
- Hats off to David Ruffer again. For a kid who wasn’t expected to kick field goals this year, he’s done really well. It’s also a bit ironic that with three scholarship kickers on the team, a walkon has handled all of the place kicking the last three weeks mainly due to injuries (Tausch, Walker). Ruffer finished the season 5 for 5 on fields.
- Manti Te’o finished with 10 tackles and was all over the field again this week. Hopefully Te’o can move over to middle linebacker next season if he chooses not to go on his mission because he has All American written all over him.
- Darius Fleming showed some more flashes of being a real pass rushing threat off the edge this week. Another off-season should do him well.
- Stanford gained 496 yards on Saturday marking the seventh time this season the defense yielded over 400 yards to an opposing offense. Only USC gained more yards (501) against Notre Dame this season.
- Notre Dame lost the time of possession battle 24:44 to 35:16.
Some good points here. I agree that Tate should be considered for the Heisman and Hughes should have definitely seen more carries. Riddick will be great, but the fumble at the beginning of the game was costly, especially after a turnover on defense. It is unfortunate that the Heisman doesn’t go to the best player in the nation, but goes to the best player on the best team. Tebow and McCoy aren’t even coming close to the season’s that they had last year, but if the Irish were 10-2 you could almost count Clausen and Tate as locks to New York.
I don’t necessarily like when ND runs the wildcat though. I think ND actually does better when Clausen sits in the pocket and throws because I feel that is when they are most effective.
I have been severely disappointed in the tight end Mike Ragone. Coming out of high school he was very heavily recruited and has not played well and made timely drops, they need Rudolph back a 100%.
-Let me know what you guys think… and if you want check out my blog loganweeks.com/wordpress
now we play the waiting game.
C-Dog’s comment about the “new slavery” in the SEC where black athletes win games but leave without a degree is spot on. Let’s hope if Charlie leaves, whoever replaces him, maintains his dedication to making sure all of his athletes graduate with a great degree.This is the major reason I always hope guys like Charlie succeed. It amazes me that the ND critics covering football don’t see the hypocrisy in building up programs where this sort of abuse takes place. Oh yea, I forgot, it’s Charlie Weiss who is arrogant and doesn’t get the college game. That’s why we are supposed to be delighted when he gets fired.
The thing a lot of people fail to realize is that in order to achieve those high
academic rates, players must sometimes sacrifice practice time for studing or tutoring.
When you are missing starters from practice here and there it’s difficult to build contenuity. Classroom work alwas comes first at ND as it should.
Under CW, you rarely heard of players missing games because they didn’t make grades.
Good riddance and please fire the lion’s share of the rest of the coaching staff. Tenuta’s firing is as important as Weis’s, in my opinion.
However, I do wish Charlie Weis and his family the best in all their endeavors. He’s a good man who is just not right for college coaching.
I do not feel the same way about Tenuta. I have heard many times over that he treats his players like crap and is m.o. is to point fingers in the midst of profanity-laced tirades. All the while he absolutely sucks at what he does for a living. But I’ll try to be nicer going forward… 🙂
NY Daily News reporting now that Swarbrick has decided to “go in a different direction” and Charlie is indeed fired.
ESPN just confirmed this report also…
I am a Stanford fan and I only watched one ND game all season. It was obvious which team should have won the game and that was ND. Where dd the luck of the Irish go? -it was missing on Saturday. I looked at the schedule/results and it ia apparent the Luck has been missing all year.
Yes — we have had bad luck all year. The officiating has been pretty bad. The worst call of the year was in Pittsburgh, in my view, but the calls against Michigan were pretty poor, too.
The playing has been pretty bad, too. To take a couple of sacks in the final minute was really outrageous. And, it happened more than once this year. We don’t seem to learn. The defensive front has been weak – almost as weak as the secondary.
In the end, we need to make our own luck. And, that takes a different approach.
Flipping through the TV channels this past week, I stopped to watch Tim Tebow take the field for the final time at the Swamp. Him and his fellow Gators
have won just about everything there is in college football these past few years.
SEC Championships, Nation Championships, Heisman Trophys, perfect season.
Tebow was hugging his coach, shaking hands, waving to fans. The crowd went wild. The band played, players ran onto the field, jumping up and down. Confetti and stremers rained down. Very festive. Looked like a lot of fun.
Then the thought occured to me. Could one imagine this happining at Notre Dame? It’s been so long. 20 years past.
You can win a national championship at Florida, or Alabama, or Texas and that would be great for those involved.
But to win a football national championship at the University of Notre Dame. There could be no better place. It’s the highest peak on the highest mountian. The Champion of Champions. The ultimate in college football achevement. As players and coaches, you are immediately inshrined in the richest of traditions and gridiron lore. A permenant and premire place in a storied history acknowledged by fans world wide, never to be forgotten.
To win one at Florida is great. To win one at ND is forever.
Perhaps there is a young, hungery coach out there who invisions the same possibilities. Yes, the price is high. Eternal Glory never comes cheap. But only a place like Notre Dame can offer that kind of a payoff.
My grandfather had a wonderful saying: you cannot make chicken salad out of chicken sh!t. With respect to the Irish defense, truer words haven’t been spoken. They plain stunk this year. There are some individuals that are decent, but the defensive line surrendered, the secondary was weak, the formations were predictable and they became progressively worse as the season wore on.
I know folks are drooling over Jimmy. He had a good year and had us in a position to win every game. It’s unfortunate that we lost 6 of those games. He has to take some of the heat for losing six games. Do you think Tebow would ever have lost six games at Florida? Sure, they have a better defense, but Tebow would have gone bonkers if they’d lost five games in a season. He never would have taken two sacks in the final minute. He needs another year to fine-tune his strengths and work on his weaknesses.
As for the next coach, I’ll say this again: we need an experienced college football head coach who has demonstrated an ability to win. This year, fortunately, we have a few options and we’re lucky that this is the case. Kirk Ferentz, at Iowa, has done very well over the last several years. Take a look at his bowl record and you’ll see he’s well qualified (but expensive). Brian Kelly at Cincinnati has won nearly everywhere he has coached. I think both guys would come to South Bend. People talk about Urban Meyer, but he’s not leaving Florida and, even if he did, we’d have to wait till January to have him.
And, then there is Bob Stoops. He’s a great coach. Whether he would leave the relative security of Norman for Notre Dame is an open question. It would be nice. He’s defensive-minded, which is what we sorely need, but he’s produced some great offensive talent. It’ll be an interesting couple of weeks.
Charlie leaves South Bend in a better place than he found it. We have good offensive talent at skill positions, but we have weak offensive and defensive lines. . . . There’s a lot of opportunity for the new coach.
Evan,
Can’t you see, you’re being too negative by stating the obvious. Sure you’re logic is sound. But who cares about that. Don’t hurt people’s feelings by bringing up good points like that! We’re supposed to be happy that we’re 6-6. You see, Evan, a true ND fan enjoys sitting back and watching his team lose. So long as we’re not “negative,” you see. We just need to be happy losers, waiting for Santa Claus and later the Easter Bunny to makes us feel all fuzzy and warm about ourselves and ND football.
now your being an ass. sorry for seeing some good in this team with no real head coach. maybe i will focus on all things negative in life and state the obvious to appease the likes of you. so here’s a start, there is no santa claus or easter bunny kids! your parents lied to you!
nepachris,
Why are you taking this personally? Don’t bring my parents into any of this. That’s what a true ass does! So are you admitting you’re one of those “fans”?! Look, as far as I’m concerned, what good can be said about CW or this team so pales in comparison to what went wrong this season and for the last 3 that I don’t see the validity of your point. What’s the use of settling for mediocrity? I’m sure there are Cubs fans out there every year (for the last 100 years) who always find the bright side of being lovable losers. Is that what you want for ND football? If so, stop calling yourself a fan. Lie I said, I found very little to get excited about after losing 4 in a row in a year that was supposed to end with a BCS bowl. But then again I have standards. If you like where we’re at, then go cheer for BC!
i take it personally because you stated “I’m not saying you’re one of them, although I could be led to believe that based on some of your comments.”
“Don’t bring my parents into any of this. That’s what a true ass does!” read what i said. it was not directed at your parents.
who said anything about settling for mediocrity? i have standards as well, suprising, huh? i had expectations for this team as well this year, but that all went out the window with navy. my point is we all knew a coaching change was coming after that, so why bitch and moan about a lame duck coach and all the negativity that was already swarming these kids for 3 weeks. i chose to enjoy watching this team and some of the players that are gone after this season. that is not settling. that is just how i chose to find some good in a dismal season. what is wrong with that? with all the crap we have to put up with in everyday life, i see nd football as an escape from it all on saturdays. i cannot and will not focus on all things negative surrounding this program right now, esp. considering that it will not change things. i hope you understand that because no matter how much bitching we do, we are not the ones in charge.
I can’t get over how certain people think that there’s anything positive about a season that was supposed to be one that ended in a BCS bowl? Anybody who thinks it was “fun” watching this team go 6-6 is in no position to question the loyalty of anybody on this board! In fact, I would question the loyalty of any ND fan who settles for mediocrity, which is what this program was under CW the last 3 seasons. One is not being negative when one points out the obvious, such as, this team under-performed, has a putrid D, lacks fundamentals, isn’t tough, etc. That’s calling a spade a spade. But I guess some ND “fans” accept mediocrity and don’t want their delicate sensitivities offended by the truth.
SteelFanRob,
I definitely agree with what you are saying. I am not happy about a 6-6 season and I don’t think we should accept a bowl bid. Bowls are for teams with winning records (we shouldn’t have gone last year either). There are so many things that need improvement for this football team and I think a new coach is a start, now what we do with that opportunity is up to Swarbrick and Jenkins.
I will say that there is ONE thing and ONLY ONE thing I enjoyed about this football team and that is GOLDEN TATE. 0-12, 12-0, 6-6, record doesn’t matter when I’m watching this guy do his thing. I appreciate everything about his style of play. I agree with Frank, it will be a huge injustice if he does not win the Biletnikoff Award. He is as talented a player as I’ve seen in a long while.
GO IRISH!
palk21,
GT is awesome! no doubt!!! I agree too about not going to a bowl. Last year? OK, may be. This year? NO WAY! Concentrate on getting a new coach and staff and keeping (adding?) recruits. Am I being too negative?
No kidding. A bowl game should be least of our concerns. We have recruits that, in all fairness, Charlie fought for and they’re damn good according to all these rankings (that everyone and their grandmother releases). As a program, the focus needs to be placed soley on our future, not some bowl game that we don’t deserve to play in. There may be a slight step back with a new coach (obviously), but let’s not make matters worse by letting recruits fall by the wayside because we wanted one last meaningless horrah for this season.
what i said as far as calling out “fans” was not directed towards you steel. it was about the occasional poster throwing in his 2 cents that make no sense, esp. the weis haters. he brought this team back from a ty death sentence in terms of recruiting and talent. was he a good coach? no, he could not get it done on the feild, but you cannot deny the grad rates, all scholarships filled, and the team unity when they walked arm in arm with him.
as far as what i said about the team being exciting, golden tate, manti teo, jimmy clausen, and michael floyd were all exciting to watch. you even agreed with that. i am not accepting mediocrity. i merely accepted weis’ fate and enjoyed the rest of the season after the navy loss. i am disappointed too in the way things turned out and as a result weis has been fired and i truly believe we are 1 great hire away from being dominant again.
nepachris,
I didn’t take it personally. I’m just making an argument about certain kinds of “fans.” I’m not saying you’re one of them, although I could be led to believe that based on some of your comments. I don’t really believe that there are “Weis haters.” Most of us just want to move on and get a winner in S. Bend. I agree with you, though, about being a great coach away from a return to glory! GO IRISH!
Since it’s official, I sure hope the administration realizes how important this next hire is for the future of Notre Dame football. Everyone has been saying it (as it’s true)…we have the talent to beat anyone, we just need to right coach to implement this talent in a successful, championship way. Unfortunately, Weis only knew what to do with an All-American QB and All-American WRs and forgot about the other 19 players that help win championships. I can only look forward to what transpire this week in regards to Notre Dame’s next leader.
We are like the Yankees, with all of our resources, we should not be at this point, but we are, as much as I aspired (And truly believed) that we would be in a BCS bowl, we are not. I enjoyed guys like Clausen and Tate at the peak of their greatness, and the overwhelmingly bright prospects of Teo.
The thing that keeps jumping out to me is the 3rd and 2 call with 6 mins to go……… It was a typical play call at a important time of the game that summed up CW’s career at ND. And yes a defense would have helped, but a quick out to floyd(which was successful all year including saturday night) would have solved everything and at minimum would have taken another 3 mins off the clock and would have forced Stanford to throw the ball.
Evan
Thanks Shaz,
I appreciate the compliment. I’m excited about this team moving forward. I don’t know who we’re going to get, but I’m sure it’ll be a good one. For starters, whether or not you think ND is the most appealing position in College football, It’s definitely the top place looking for a coach. I think we have a lot of talent, and I’m just excited to see the direction a new coach will take us in.
This game might mark the end of the regular season, but now it’s on to something that excites me almost as much: offseason. This is where the team makes gains to move forward.
Shazam,
I’m vaklempt. Seriously, though same to you. A well put post and my very sentiments to the diehards. We’ve been here to talk about it as objectively as possible even while we stand by Old Notre Dame.
I’ll say two things and be gone for a while.
1. It is unfortunate that Charlie Weis didn’t learn fast enough. Had he started somewhere else, he might have made it. But the Stanford game has been the last 5 years. Great offensive skill players and an ignored offensive line and defense. Lesson: Take care of the boring fundamentals before playing with the fun stuff. This year’s offensive line was twice as good as last year, but only 1/2 as good as everyone hoped. And even if one or two get picked in the NFL, they’ll be at a severe learning curve disadvantage. This year’s defense was a waste of talent and athleticism. Notre Dame’s next coach will be making several young men feel bad and may even tale walk-ons who haven’t picked up bad habits yet. But I also feel for Weis. Had he just a little more humility in the first year, he might have seen the rest coming and fixed it before getting steamrolled. The 3-9 season that under an experienced coach would have been a horrible 6-6 season, killed off his chance to rebuild fast enough. But I do wish him well. Brady Quinn needs him. I do however, hope that some coaches stay. Bryant Young, maybe Verducci, maybe Ianello for recruiting. Whatever needs to happen, the new staff has to understand that ND is both a challenge and the most amzing place, if you have the leadership to tame the beast.
Which brings me to point:
2. Don’t listen to the women at ESPN saying Notre Dame isn’t among the best places to play football. I’ve never heard so many so called sports fans and journalists who really should be watching soaps, or talking about girlie things with Joy Bahar and Barbara Walters. Whatever happened to men actually talking about sport, as in the game? So much crap is about who said what and how somebody feels. And it’s ironic that all the talk about Notre Dame slams us, but if we really weren’t the most relavant, there’d be no talk to begin with. I also say this. While the SEC after relucantly allowing minorities into sports in the late 60s through mid 70s, has put a nice face on the new slavery, Notre Dame educates ALL it’s athletes. That alone makes Notre Dame a most coveted place to play. Compate the slave at Alabama who after senior year is discarded and left to work in a gas station, with Mark Green, a VP, Tim Brown, a successful business man, Alan Page a Minnesota Supreme Court Justice. No once the reality of this new economy sinks in, Notre Dame will be more relavant than ever. So next coach, don’t listen to ESPN. Notre Dame faithful are very reluctant to turn on the coach. Everyone stood behind Willingham until his coaches started telling folks who would listen that they didn’t believe they could win. Willingham can blame Kent Baer’s big mouth as much as anything for him getting fired. And Weis was kept because he did believe even though he couldn’t translate his greatness as a coordinator into being the head of the program. The next guy can count on us, especially here not to rant and rave as long as the fundamental elements get put in place. And we will be patient as long as the direction looks to be heading true north. Pick someone with the right philosphy and we’ll stick with him.
Go Irish!!!
Great post sir, that needed to be said. Charlie Weis is not a bad coach, he was just in the wrong position to succeed. I really hope he goes to Cleveland and just sparks that offense up and rebuilds his image. I can’t imagine all of the attention that comes with the ND job, but I am more impressed that he dealt with it despite the bad record.
Best of luck Charlie.
Coaching makes all the difference in the world. I feel like the Irish will rise from this like a Phoenix from the ashes. It is always darkest right before dawn and my friends it doesn’t get much darker than it is right now. College football is cyclical and our turn on the upswing has come. I wonder if the seniors will vote to even go to a bowl game depending on where and who it is against. My gut says they have had enough and just want to get on to bigger and better things, but maybe they want one more chance to play together. We’ll see.
Go Irish!!
It will be very interesting to see what personnel changes are made next year. Fleming and Filer, probably two of the top 4 athletes on defense, used as nothing more than role players? I’ve got to think more than a few players are licking their chops about a coaching change.
I have visited this site weekly and have not posted many responses. I do have to say that I enjoyed reading a majority of posts. It’s difficult to be an Irish fan at times, but I know that deep down we all love bleed blue and gold. JDH, I agree with you in that I wish all our young men the best of wishes, no matter what they choose to do. I pray that all their lives are blessed with success and great fortune. I also wish the best for our coaching staff. They are all good men who want the best for your players. So hears to all my fellow ND fans…another year under out belts and another year to look foward to. Cheer Cheer ole NOTRE DAME!
Brian Smith was HORRIBLE. I remember in high school football, with my head coach screaming to our LBs, USE YOUR INSIDE FOREARM WHEN TAKING ON THE BLOCKER!
Time, after time, after time, after time, Brian Smith got BLOWN UP by their FB, leading to huge gains because he kept on using his outside shoulder/forearm. It is amazing to me, and either speaks to how awesome Manti is, or how bad Brian Smith is, that the opposing team would run at your Sr linebacker and away from your Freshman linebacker.
The fact that these coaches could not coach Brian Smith to do this (maybe they didn’t even notice!!??) is just one more reason for them to go.
Brian – I couldn’t agree more! Stanford was running a pretty basic single lead, and on some of those runs Manti was coming over to clean it up, only to have Brian Smith NOT TAKE ON THE BLOCK WITH HIS INSIDE SHOULDER, KEEPING HIS OUTSIDE ARM FREE TO TURN IT IN!!! Clearly, Brian is not expected to make those tackles, but he is expected to feed that runner right to Manti to clean it up. I hate to be negative here, but I can’t wait to see him go.
The only thing that bothers me is the comment that it was tough watching the defense lay down on Stanford’s last play. Any team would have done that, it was the only thing that could have been done in that situation. Stanford was actually stupid for not taking a knee.
Mark, I said as much in the post. I fully agreed with the decision.
That being said, it was beyond said seeing Notre Dame have to lay down against Stanford just to have a chance to tie the game. That’s what Notre Dame football has come to.
If the problem was we had to do it against a certain team, then I agree.
Thanks Shazam- same to you bro. I have also really enjoyed talking with you guys. Sometimes we disagree, give eachother a hard time, but always come back to center and realize we’re on the same side. And we’ve done a good job of putting douchebags in their place who have little/no business on this site. My thoughts and prayers are with the young men on this team. I wish them all the best, regardless of whether they stay or go, how they performed on the field etc. They are all outstanding young people who sacrifice alot and that demands our respect.
GO IRISH!
Another year in the books. Not what we all exspected, but that’s college football. I still believe that the talent is here, even on defense. Find the right guy, who knows how to push the right buttons at the right time, and anything can happen.
As I have said before, win or lose, this is my team and I stand behind them. True Irish fans take the good with the bad.
To the guys who have been here since the start, good guys like JDH, C-Dog, STEELFANROB, McSweeny, Bill Meehan, Teo, DocBinge79, & Nepachris, I enjoyed sharing points of views, your ideals, your opinions, and your knowledge of football and al things ND.
Some “fans” only show up when things are going good, or like now, when the team is down. But you guys are true ND fans. The best. You tell it like it is, and stand firm behind your team and I enjoyed sharing the season with you.
“Here’s to a long life and a merry one
A quick death and an easy one
A good coach and an honest one
A cold beer and another one!”
-Irish Saying-
Make the present good, and the past will take care of itself.
— Knute Rockne
Well done Shazamrock…your post made my day.
Shaz,
Thanks for the thoughts. Perhaps next year we’ll all be on the same page, agreeing on what an awesome turnaround under the new coach, thinking about a great match up in a first-tier bowl game. Keep the faith, bro!
I am in the Executive MBA program in Chicago and I have turned my basement into a ND shrine. I just found this site a year ago. I have wanted Weis gone since game two in year one. Ya the Michigan game where Weis said “we dominated them” if you want an apology for a win your not going to get it here. I bleed ND I always have and I always will; however, I don’t want to see an ND grad destroy what ND is. Period end of statement.
John
well said shazamrock. sorry i have been MIA. after the navy loss, it became too negative on the boards. we all knew what was coming, so i decided to just enjoy the rest of the season with no worries. even with all of the losses, this team was fun to watch this year. some “fans” lost sight of that. so anyway, onward and upward to the next “savior” of nd football. as if we needed to be saved! reminds me of patton “saving” the airborne guys at bastogne!
Saturday’s game underlined who the new coach needs to be–someone who is a proven college winner, and most importantly a DEFENSE BUILDER! Defense wins Championships and watching ND reduced to letting teams score for free on the goal line made me wince.
We need to get a man who builds from the line on both sides and is known as a Defense builder.
Great post – “Very tough to watch ND lay down ang give up the TD in the last mins”…. They’ve been doing just that all season(except once vs Washington). Good riddance to Tenuta
I disagree. The ND defense is not very good, and I am sure that they are emotionaly defeated as well. Basically ex-coach Weis quit on the D. You don’t do that. You make stanford run it and you put a hat on someone and try to stop them. Stratigically its a good call, however for the emotionall back bone of the players you just affirmed at least from the defensive point of view that you told them ” you aren’t good enought” I want “my” offense out there.
Bad coaching..,.. that is why charlie got fired.
the offense was fun to watch. it was nice to see charlie let it all hang out instead of playing not to lose. charlie’s mantra was ‘we were in a position to win the game at the end.’ which is fine in the nfl because most teams win by 10 pts or less, but we should have been blowing teams out!
please bring in a defensive guy. im sick of getting embarrassed on d.
a heck of a game. The Gerhart TD pass was a gutsy call by Harbaugh on a 4th down. If McCarthy had turned around, good chance it would have been an interception since the ball was underthrown….. but it was a TD and they went on to win.
Well the season is over and I finished my predictions with two errors. I said Michigan State would win and I predicted we would beat Washington. Yes, I count the Washington game as a miss because Hugh’s knee was down at the 1 and 1/2 yard line. I hope we get Peterson, Fitgerald, Edsall, Harbaugh, or someone that has the mentality it takes to win in college. This is college I don’t care what the players do in the NFL look at “the Rocket”, Tony Rice, I could go on for days. Point is college is a different game than the NFL and the type of players that win in college are not necessarly pro players. Clausen is Awesome in college or pro; however, a quick freshman at Michigan extends the play just long enough to count. Michigan will get going the Irish will not as long as Weis in on the sideline.
Peace,
John
Harbaugh? Please. Please not Harbaugh. He may be a nice guy, but I want someone who has been around the block a bit. He’s too new.