Post Game thoughts!!!!

[notredomer23]

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!!!!!

Quarterbacks-B+. Jimmy clausen looked very sharp at times. It very well could have been 3 touchdowns had their been no rain and Floyd held onto it. He looked very sharp, and did not get sacked again. Good job sir

Runningbacks-B. We ran the ball fairly successfully against a good Michigan rush defense. Hughes might be making himself a household name soon. Aldridge looked sharp at times, lack luster at others. Not much Allen to comment on.

Wide Receivers-A. Cant get much better. Golden Tate for heisman, it now has to be considered.

Offensive line-A. We run blocked well and pass blocked well. I am very very impressed and this team is going places.

Tight Ends-No comment. Not much to see


DLine-C+ Better than last week, but still to many missed tackles(John Ryan)

Linebackers-B-We didnt see much LB, but when we did they looked pretty good. probably would have been a C+ if it wasnt for Smith's TD

Secondary- a very high B. The first half was decent, but the second half was great. Bruton and McCarthy are the fucking men and everyone should know it.

Special Teams-A+. I love you Mike Annello. Nuff said.

Bring on Michigan State!!!

[daytonirish]

Not even worried about giving grades, for one rason. This team is going to get better every gameand God Bless usc but we KICK YOUR ASS THIS YEAR>

[IrishinTN]

Not even worried about giving grades, for one rason. This team is going to get better every gameand God Bless usc but we KICK YOUR ASS THIS YEAR>

Lord,do I hope so.

[SpanishElite]

Michigan played like crap. We took advantage of their mistakes is all you can ask for. We missed some tackles on defense... and will have to really work hard on stoping the spread offensives that are coming up. Congrats to the Irish. They played great.

[mlcspinner]

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!!!!!

Quarterbacks-B+. Jimmy clausen looked very sharp at times. It very well could have been 3 touchdowns had their been no rain and Floyd held onto it. He looked very sharp, and did not get sacked again. Good job sir

Runningbacks-B. We ran the ball fairly successfully against a good Michigan rush defense. Hughes might be making himself a household name soon. Aldridge looked sharp at times, lack luster at others. Not much Allen to comment on.

Wide Receivers-A. Cant get much better. Golden Tate for heisman, it now has to be considered.

Offensive line-A. We run blocked well and pass blocked well. I am very very impressed and this team is going places.

Tight Ends-No comment. Not much to see


DLine-C+ Better than last week, but still to many missed tackles(John Ryan)

Linebackers-B-We didnt see much LB, but when we did they looked pretty good. probably would have been a C+ if it wasnt for Smith's TD

Secondary- a very high B. The first half was decent, but the second half was great. Bruton and McCarthy are the fucking men and everyone should know it.

Special Teams-A+. I love you Mike Annello. Nuff said.

Bring on Michigan State!!!


nuff said !

[FloydsFlair]

Yer i think you summed up pretty well the team today ND23, can't give enough praise to Anello, Bruton and McCarthy, absolutely terrfic, we capitalized on there mistakes but we made them make mistakes. Hughes was good, love the extra yardage he gets after contact, was impressed with Floyd, jumped on the Aldridge fumble. All in all we are 2-0........oh boy does that sounds GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDD

[Flyin_Irish]

We didn't play a perfect game, but we capatalized on their mistakes while limiting our own and that's how you win games. Considering our schedule, if we just play mostly mistake free football, I'm pretty confident we could win 11 games. COULD. I'm not going to predict 11 wins, but it wouldn't totally shock me.

[Guff]

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!!!!!

Quarterbacks-B+. Jimmy clausen looked very sharp at times. It very well could have been 3 touchdowns had their been no rain and Floyd held onto it. He looked very sharp, and did not get sacked again. Good job sir

Runningbacks-B. We ran the ball fairly successfully against a good Michigan rush defense. Hughes might be making himself a household name soon. Aldridge looked sharp at times, lack luster at others. Not much Allen to comment on.

Wide Receivers-A. Cant get much better. Golden Tate for heisman, it now has to be considered.

Offensive line-A. We run blocked well and pass blocked well. I am very very impressed and this team is going places.

Tight Ends-No comment. Not much to see


DLine-C+ Better than last week, but still to many missed tackles(John Ryan)

Linebackers-B-We didnt see much LB, but when we did they looked pretty good. probably would have been a C+ if it wasnt for Smith's TD

Secondary- a very high B. The first half was decent, but the second half was great. Bruton and McCarthy are the fucking men and everyone should know it.

Special Teams-A+. I love you Mike Annello. Nuff said.

Bring on Michigan State!!!


Generally agree, but I don't think you can give an A+ for ST having had a punt partially blocked. Solid A, two TO that resulted in TDs. One partially blocked punt and a bad snap that made Maust hurry his punt and kick it into the endzone rather than being able to pooch it.

[Griff Cannon]

Do we need to start a rascal fund for Charlie? I have dislocated my knees 3 times and that is a tremendous amount of pain. Hopefully the adrenaline from the win will dull the pain for a few days.

Team played very well in all aspects of the game if there was a weakness I would put it on defense today in the form of some missed tackles, and a few blitzes which lead to good runs for Mi.

I think I was most excited about the db's awareness of where the sideline was when making tackles, there were 4-5 occasions they could have leveled a player out of bounds which would have resulted in a penalty. Something I would have been ready for last year which didn't happen this year.

[notredomer23]

Generally agree, but I don't think you can give an A+ for ST having had a punt partially blocked. Solid A, two TO that resulted in TDs. One partially blocked punt and a bad snap that made Maust hurry his punt and kick it into the endzone rather than being able to pooch it.

I hear ya man, but having played in the rain last night, and being a WR and punter, I know how tough it is to punt in the rain. Its still a solid A. I somewhat agree.


One more thing. EMOTION. This team showed it. I am happy this team got flagged for exsessive celebration.

[domerdude]

I really enjoyed watching this game from the begining, anyone care to guess why? The capatlization on turnovers was the key for us, everyone played with a purpose today... Here are a few things I liked...

Sergio Brown- Way to keep your head in the game. After two defensive interference penalties he keeps fighting for a loose ball- way to go 31, play with intensity and you will not be kept down.

Jimmy- Good decisions for the most part, he threw the ball away "most of the time" but you showed confidence in your receivers trusting them to make the plays. You are the leader and looked like it.

Golden- Su f*cking perb!!!!! You continue to play like that and you will be invited to New York in December. Make the plays that you should and some more that you shouldn't. His nickname could be grass cuz he is all over the field.

Offensive Line- Some penetration allowed but the fact that your quarterback had the time to make a decision with the ball was great. He also has not been sacked in two games. Come a long way from the 58 sacks last year.

Safeties- I dont like it nessecarily when a safety leads the team in tackles but it seems to be a trend for us. Bruton and Mccarthy are lights out. Kudos awarded.

Charlie Weis- Your the man, Joe pa woulda been in the booth, You stayed on the field on your feet and supported your team to a win over michigan. Quick recovery to you sir and god bless.

Me- I am freaking happy. Bring on Sparty.

[NDFan4Life]

I was (and still am) very impressed with the way they played. Yeah, I voted that Mich. would win, but I'm sure glad they didn't. Lou's pep talk must've pushed them over the edge.

Great job, guys!

[NDGirlzRock]

we won!!!

next victim!!!

[dahooligan]

ok here are some negatives

Clausen - still locks onto his targets. 2 int's too many. i hate the way he scrambles lol, and he needs to learn to step up in the pocket

TE's - where the hell are the TE's? damn Ragone's acl

Defense - still can't tackle. gave up too many big plays and run defense is still pretty bad



hats off to Golden Tate though. this guy has really developed into a solid WR, very fun to watch also

[NotreDameNate]

:rofl: That's it, that's all I have to say. So HAPPY!

[untitledproject]

Golden Covered Game balls to:

Mike 'The Ball Hawk' Anello - Kid is living the dream.
Jimmah! - Minus the really stupid first INT he threw, he did a good job on his reads and scrambles.
THE OFFENSIVE LINE - 2 weeks in a row without coughing up a sack.
Bruton - Need I say more.
SPECIAL TEAM BABY! - Collective unit.

[SpanishElite]

ok here are some negatives
Clausen - still locks onto his targets. 2 int's too many. i hate the way he scrambles lol, and he needs to learn to step up in the pocket

TE's - where the hell are the TE's? damn Ragone's acl

Defense - still can't tackle. gave up too many big plays and run defense is still pretty bad

hats off to Golden Tate though. this guy has really developed into a solid WR, very fun to watch also

Im with you Holligan, the TE had no impact. But we didnt see alot of the TE flat with the QB rolling out off the zone play. Maybe because of the footing with the weather. It is going to be important to get SOME production from that position.

Defense does have to tackle better. Its tough being spread out so wide and making plays on the inside running game. But we are going to have to get better at it.

Another thing is the 3rd conversions. We were 3/12 this week after last week were we had a terrible percentage. We are going to have to stay on the field and convert some 3rd downs if we want to have consistency in our offense.

[IrishinTN]

Well, as far as the TE's, I don't think it was for lack of tring. Rudolph did drop that middle screen in the rain and Yeatman was wide open once and Jimmy never saw him. Probably a couple more missed opportinites with them. No doubt they'll work on it.

[dahooligan]

forgot to mention, but instead of going for it on 4th and 1 late in the game we should have kicked a field goal and get walker some confidence

[jcamp]

Just nit-picking :

More pressure on the QB. With all the blitzes ND does you would think they could get a couple more sacks. With that said, Michigan and San Diego both utilized quick passes and 3 step drops.

John Ryan, I hate putting a ND player down, but he just seems to miss to many tackles. Who is his backup?

Why don’t we ever throw anything down the middle. Both Utah and Miami had great success throwing between the LB’s and Safeties. The slant to Golden is a perfect example.

Just some thoughts. Any news on how Charlie is doing??

[rontdtarchala]

what a game very exciting... I am so proud of those young men... everyone celebrate tonight and then lets get on sparty in the am... now lets talk straight here... we ran well at times all three did well... don't anyone pass out when I say this but our line did one hell of a job... sometimes the rb's have to man up and knock the snot out of the first defender... the line still needs to improve though so don't get to freeky... te's need to improve big time... front 7....... are you kidding me!!! I can officially say I hate burrito boy... someone needed to kill that little prick... anelo... I f.....g love you~!!!!!!... way to many passes completed...
now as far as sparty goes... I think we can kick their arses to be honest... I'm sure everyone watched them today... yes it was raining ahhhh I believe we played in the rain also... they had one guy that did well and he is not a scat back kind of guy... if our d cowboys up we should kick their arses....
what a victory congrats men....what a game...

[IrishR#1]

This might have been the best game I've ever been to. Better than UCLA-ND. This team impressed me so much. We hustled. Flat out hustled. A lot of those fumbles should have been picked up by Michigan, but we outhustled them. This is not the 2007 team. Not anything close.

Clausen really impressed me again. I left a little early to get out of the rain, so I didn't see his last pick, but before that, he played well. 10 for 21 is good with the monsoon that came through the stadium.

Hughes. Behind Anello and Tate, he was the best player. That stiffarm he has is great. He is pretty elusive for his size. I wanted Aldridge to get that TD so badly. He has to score this season. Allen didn't do anything, which only shows how good our running back depth is. We can not play our starting running back and still have a solid running game.

Golden Tate. Talk about improving over a spring. He can't be stopped. It is beyond amazing. He's truly jawdropping. If the voters are smart, he's an All-American. Kamara was another non-factor. He's a goal line receiver. Floyd is a great receiver. He can only be stopped if interfered with. Grimes really didn't do anything either. The tight ends were used as a blockers.

This offensive line is great. The tackles have improved so much. That weight Young put on has helped. He's a better run blocker and a better pass blocker, and he will improve every game. He reminds me of Jake Long. The guards had some bad plays, but Stewart and Olsen are tough.

Pat Kuntz looks insane. Without his helmet on, he is probably one of the scariest looking people on the face of the Earth. The D-line played pretty well. That's the same for the whole defense. Bruton was clearly the best player, but besides him, no one stood out, but no one besides John Ryan played poorly in my eyes.

You can tell Polian has improved this special teams unit. Mike Anello is unbelievable. He can't be stopped. He is always right in the returner's face the second he touches the ball. We will force so many special teams turnovers with him getting so close to the returner. On the muffed punt return, it was clear that the receiver dropped it because he was thinking about how he could get by Anello.

Top 5 players IMO

1. Tate
2. Anello
3. Hughes
4. Bruton
5. Young

[NDgrandson]

Just nit-picking :

More pressure on the QB. With all the blitzes ND does you would think they could get a couple more sacks. With that said, Michigan and San Diego both utilized quick passes and 3 step drops.

John Ryan, I hate putting a ND player down, but he just seems to miss to many tackles. Who is his backup?

Why don’t we ever throw anything down the middle. Both Utah and Miami had great success throwing between the LB’s and Safeties. The slant to Golden is a perfect example.

Just some thoughts. Any news on how Charlie is doing??


He took down CW pretty well.

[bandolero]

How about Trevor Robinson stepping up in the 4th quarter when we were running out the clock? The O-Line did not skip a beat. That's a very promising sign.

[dahooligan]

He took down CW pretty well.

about the only tackle he made today

[Irish#1]

I was (and still am) very impressed with the way they played. Yeah, I voted that Mich. would win, but I'm sure glad they didn't. Lou's pep talk must've pushed them over the edge.

Great job, guys!


Lou's pep talk had everyone geeked up. Even Mark May said he was ready to suit up after hearing Lou Talk. He is the master motivator.

Overall, the Irish played pretty good. While there were a numer of areas that were great and alreay discussed, I really liked how the Irish was able to run against a pretty good D.

[Griff Cannon]

I can officially say I hate burrito boy... someone needed to kill that little prick...

.

burrito boy?

btw, anyone know where I can get a photo of Hughes' stiff arm that thing was amazing

[IrishR#1]

burrito boy?

Sam "White Cholo" McGuffie

[rontdtarchala]

his nickname was flying burrito due to he's from tx and he jumped over a defender at least I think that's why

[domerdude]

He looked pretty good, unfortunately. But nd still won.

[NDgrandson]

Reps to the first one to post the playing time of all the freshman. We had a lot of FR on the field today. That is a good thing.

I still have not seen Kallen Wade on the field. When will it happen?

[Coyote King]

Exciting win. I think confidence is the main thing the team has needed, and I hope this did it for them. Michigan made several mistakes, we did a good job taking advantage. My big takeaways: TE is a concern, was glad to see Aldridge make a few good runs, Tate is the man, Defense still giving up way too much, I liked the energy of the team. I feel much better than last week, but still concerned that they aren't where I hoped they would be by now. Hope they prove me wrong.

[robertsgolf]

Love the special teams play.
Keep throwing it deep.
Let J. Ryan's back up play.
Bruton is the MAN

[IrishR#1]

Our starting lineup v. Michigan State should look like this:

QB-Clausen
RB-Hughes
WR-Kamara
WR-Tate
WR-Floyd
TE-Rudolph
LT-Turk
LG-Olsen
C-Wenger
RG-Stewart
RT-Young

DE-Ethan Johnson
DT-Kuntz
DT-Ian Williams
DE-Neal
LB-Brian Smith
LB-Crum
LB-Harrison Smith
CB-McNeil
CB-Lambert
S-McCarthy
S-Bruton

Keep Ryan off of the field. Nothing against him, but he is not starting material, and I am not confident when he is out there.

[SpanishElite]

Im with you Irish. E. Johnson from what I have seen is playing alot more DT (3 tech) than he is playing defense end. The only issue with that lineup is we are VERY light in the front seven. With E. Johnson, Neal and H. Smith we have tons of speed but I think we might get mashed up front. And MSU ran the ball a ton against FAU and have a very big, very physical OL.

[grirsh]

The team look good, the olny thing that worries me is that we had the ball a total of six times and came away with no points. While this did not factor into the game because of Mich turnovers, we can not rely on that every week and expect to win.

[IrishR#1]

I wouldn't mind seeing someone like Toryan start, but this is a speed defense. We can tackle pretty well, and size isn't a big factor for this team. I think that if we can get to Ringer, we can bring him down.

I like our chances for next week and the rest of the season. I'm pumped up right now.

[sreepointer]

I think this win will help them with confidence. There wasn't much to take away from the second half due to the weather, but they did captitalize when they needed to. In the first half, the offense looked ok. They need to be able to run the ball better, but Michigan D isn't bad and they did ok, but we need to see improvent. The deep threat on offense will help, with Tate and Floyd, we just need to be able to put it all together at once. Lucky to be 2-0, I am happy at the progress, but we need to continue to improve, we need to understand it is a young team.

[NDFan4Life]

I don't consider this as "just a win" as others have suggested. I think this is a great win! Anytime you prove the so-called experts (Mark "Douche bag" May, etc.) wrong, it's a great win.

[notredomer23]

I would also like to give Pat Kuntz props. He played very very well, its just a certain some one on that someone on that line that ruins it for the rest of the line

[notredomer23]

I don't consider this as "just a win" as others have suggested. I think this is a great win! Anytime you prove the so-called experts (Mark "Douche bag" May, etc.) wrong, it's a great win.

I agree. I am in no ways comparing us to OSU in 2002, but if you look at their schedule, minus the cupcakes the played, almost all their games were close and competitive and they still went to the NC. All I want to see is wins. I dont care if it is by 1 or by 50, just win baby

[goshenirish82]

I agree you Ryan needs to get off the field he is a major weakness on the line. Also I would like to see Jimmy play for 4 quarters without the rain and all of that junk. He looked amazing before the rain started.

GO IRISH!

[mlcspinner]

this is a Huge win for the Irish. This team won all three phases of the game

game ball goes to the entire team.

[NDisNCin2010]

way to go ND!

[notredomer23]

What I love is how Michigan writers are saying how they completely outplayed us in every spectrum of the game!!! LMAO

[mlcspinner]

What I love is how Michigan writers are saying how they completely outplayed us in every spectrum of the game!!! LMAO



??????

maybe they were watching last years game :rofl:

[notredomer23]

??????

maybe they were watching last years game :rofl:

They said how they outgained us 380 to 260....Hmmm well its sorta hard to gain yards when your first two touchdowns gain a total of 25 yards and your team has about a 100 yards of penalties....lol

[goirish41]

Our starting lineup v. Michigan State should look like this:

QB-Clausen
RB-Hughes
WR-Kamara
WR-Tate
WR-Floyd
TE-Rudolph
LT-Turk
LG-Olsen
C-Wenger
RG-Stewart
RT-Young

DE-Ethan Johnson
DT-Kuntz
DT-Ian Williams
DE-Neal
LB-Brian Smith
LB-Crum
LB-Harrison Smith
CB-McNeil
CB-Lambert
S-McCarthy
S-Bruton

Keep Ryan off of the field. Nothing against him, but he is not starting material, and I am not confident when he is out there.

No Sergio?

[notredomer23]

No Sergio?

Nowhere to put him in IMO. He will definitly get his minutes. He's a player. He will definitely have a solid impact in every single game this year

[ND_Ownz!]

Sergio and G Gray too!

[goirish41]

Golden Tate is going to be a special, special player for ND. He's the only other guy on the team who appears to play as hard as Mike Annello. If the coaches can get them to all play like that, this team is going to be freakin amazing.

[Griff Cannon]

Sam "White Cholo" McGuffie

aahhhhahahahaha burrito boy, thats funny.

I really like going over to the Mi boards and reading their excuses for loosing. They kept saying Mi beat Mi not ND. I mean I could be mistaken but when Anello flys down the field and pulls the ball out of returners hands I think that was ND [/sarcasm]

[daytonirish]

First let me say a greatw in. But the thing that impressed me the most was the improvement this team made from week 1 to week 2. As we keep improving every week I think we have a great year. Not ready to give ND23 props just yet. But he may be right about our overall record.

[piyachi]

Ok so here goes:

QB - (B+) Jimmy played well and avoided several near-sacks, turning the ball over once in a game that was all about ball-control. He is part of the reasons we still have ZERO sacks this year. He is the leader on offense, and by the end of the year he will be better than Quinn at the same phase, so color me excited.

RB - (A-) Hard to get a handle on where we are as a rushing team. Yes we got decent YPC against probably the 2nd best defensive front we play this year. BUT we still couldn't dominate enough to put together one long grinding drive. Maybe the MSU game will be a better indicator. Glad James got some carries, and I wonder why Armando saw next to no time... Maybe we are just trying too hard to get all three on the field? At some point it has to come down to 1a and 1b and the rest being backups.

WR - (A) - Golden Tate. I... there aren't words for how far he has come as a player. He already was fast and had good hands last year - now he is a receiver. Offensive mvp. Floyd looked decent but he has to use that focus that he has to haul in some of those balls that are floating around him. True he was interfered with every single time, but twice he had an opportunity to come down with a touchdown catch and didn't finish with it. I only criticize because he has SO much potential - another player that will really look good by the end of the season. Duval... I hope that whatever is holding him back gets fixed. We all know he can play, but right now he is only playing himself into the 3rd receiver role.

TE - (B) - I was going to go lower, but the blocking was redeeming. Kyle has the tools, but so far only a few are making an impact. Yeatman didn't have the ball sent his way but I didn't notice him missing any blocks...

FB - (A+) - Never thought I would get a chance to say it. THANK YOU ASAPH! He laid the groundwork for some of our best offensive plays. The Hughes touchdown jog was thanks to Asaph sealing that edge like a mofo. Kudos to him for a good game.

OL - (A+) - Again... biggest 180 turn I have seen from a unit. This unit didn't allow A SINGLE SACK against a pretty stellar defense. Not only that but we ran the ball decently. I would like to tell anyone that was clamoring for Latinas head last year to shut up. Even now our line is a relatively young unit and their pass pro is simply outstanding. I heard that Robinson started at LG? Also want to thank Haywood for not rushing left every single time this game, haha.

Coaching - (B+) There was some good and some bad but ultimately Haywood is at least a decent playcaller. The balls of the long pass to Golden was Miles-esque. Just one big middle finger to their secondary.

Defense:

DE - (C+) This is a unit that is in transition so they are bound to get better by the end of the year. That being said, we didn't seal the edge well and made McGuffie look like an all-star, and a lot of that comes from DE play. I was glad that Ethan Johnson is making it onto the field, even if he doesn't stick out yet. Brown has stepped it up, but is still not ruining any offensive linemans day. Kuntz is definitely our best guy on the DL.

NT/DT - (C) - Again a solid day but nothing spectacular against a pretty crappy Michigan (sucks!) OL. The penalty on Ian Williams was just a dumb play, it happens. They ran mostly to the outside so at the least they didn't feel like they could run successfully up the gut.

LB - (A-) - Hard to find any fault with either Crum or Smith. Crum made some nice plays early but I didn't see much from him in the 2nd half. Brian Smith is such an instinctively good player, and may end up better than all the other higher-ranked recruits. He just always seems to have a hand on the ball.

CB - (B) - Overall the unit played a pretty good game. McNeil is superb - If he teams up with Walls in 09, we should have an excellent duo. Lambert did ok - I wish he would be a more physical tackler, but he reads the plays well. Gray with the pick... glad to see it. Sergio Brown gets put in coverage situations he doesn't belong in, but he is another good-tackler smart player. Blanton got some face time - he is a guy that needs time but will clearly be a star.

S - (A+) Bruton - defensive MVP. 15 tackles 1 FF 1 INT?? I'll take that any day. McCarthy also seems to be in on every play. I hesitate to say it, but he may be a better defensive player in his senior year than Zibby. He saved a couple big plays in that game, but he doesn't have flashy stuff. A great tandem to go with Bruton.

Coaching - (C) - Was going to go C- but we made some decent adjustments over halftime. Our blitzes are not working. Credit the two QBs we have faced for finding ways to beat the blitzers but all they accomplished in that game was opening up rushing lanes. The people who said just sit back and let their offense implode were on the money for this game. BUT all that being said, we have to worry about ND. So point is - let's just make the blitz MEAN something but the time we play SC.

Special teams (A+) - They won the game for us. 3 for 3 on stellar turn-arounds from 07. If Weis ever gets a statue like Holtz' Anello should be the walk-on pictured next to him. Bruton is the perfect example of why Beamer plays his best guys on special teams. The messed up punt - fault only the rain. Maust did well considering the conditions. Giving up the fake punt was just embarrassing but again, not a back-breaker by any means.


So whew, this is a much better team than the one that faced SDSU. We capitalized on turnovers, made few of our own and won in field position and penalties. Speaking of that the officiating was decent, and it's rare that ND gets good officiating so thank you refs. Any admiration that I already had for Weis...now goes through the roof. The man stood and coached most of a game with a torn acl/mcl.... simply badass. We may have lost the yards-time of possesion battle but I'll take that loss any day when you win by 18 points. It's a great day....

[SanDiegoIrishFan]

I was impressed by the o-line, the Special Teams, and the aggressiveness of the D. Significant improvement over last week and I think they will continue to get better as the season goes on.

[rontdtarchala]

Good read amigo... guys... if you have the game recorded do me a favor... if you want to see a lb become a star, go to the first pass break up by b smith... loooooook at the fricken look he gave mo afterward... it f.....g gave me chills... he gets it ladies and gentlemen... that is a young man on his way to the upper levels...

[Sureal]

Where's them flippin Fire Weis threads?

[JDubbs]

The most encouraging thing to see, as others have stated, is that they improved from week 1 to week 2. The hardest thing to do in sports is to keep getting better and improving daily......if Weis and the staff can keep these guys from inflating themselves.....by season's end, this could be a top 15 team.

I am exciting because I think we are playing to the strengths of our teams. Clausen is deadly with a play fake right now. The kid has very quickly mastered his steps and his moxy coming off of the play action.....he fooled me a couple of times, had me watching the RB coming off.

[NDisNCin2010]

Good read amigo... guys... if you have the game recorded do me a favor... if you want to see a lb become a star, go to the first pass break up by b smith... loooooook at the fricken look he gave mo afterward... it f.....g gave me chills... he gets it ladies and gentlemen... that is a young man on his way to the upper levels...

i'm with you on this RonTD...am i a little fucked up or is B Smith quite possibly the best player on the team? ok maybe not the best-but i believe the most valuable...he seems to be the heart and soul of the D...i think this guy is an All-American by time he leaves ND, playing under CB and Tenuta...am i overstating this? what im trying to say is i fricking love way that kid plays!
also-is it me or has K Neal has been pretty quiet this year...? was expecting breakout year from him...

[NotreDameNate]

i'm with you on this RonTD...am i a little fucked up or is B Smith quite possibly the best player on the team? ok maybe not the best-but i believe the most valuable...he seems to be the heart and soul of the D...i think this guy is an All-American.

Crazy thing is too, is that we were realy close to not having this fine young man at the University of Notre Dame. Anyone that likes B. Smith needs to thank Corwin Brown for getting him to ND.

[daytonirish]

As far as sacks and blitzes go, right now it's still early to get to worried. Both of the two games we have played neither QB took a snap from center while being under him. Both teams have played from the shot-gun. It is going to be extremely hard to get great pressure on a qb that is lined up 5 yards from the center.

[sonomairishfan]

i was impressed by the Irish performance on Saturday.

Offense- Impressive play calling. Keep them on their toes with the deep ball and mashed them up front with impressive run blocking. The field was a mess and the Irish used their size. I enjoyed watching the o-line. JC looked good before the rains came. I can understand why his numbers dropped in the second half. Hughes is a beast with great YAC. Aldridge looked good on some runs and looked easy to tackle on others. The WR's are something to behold. Tate is really, really fast with hands. His improvement on running routes is amazing. Kamara still needs to show a bit of something, his TD was nice. Floyd is going to be an All-America numerous times. His routes are crisp and his speed and size impress.

Defense-The run defense worried me, but I think the RB at Michigan is going to be very special. LB's were solid and the secondary is turning into a very good unit. What impressed me most is the way the defense dictated the flow yet again. They were aggressive and physical. The confidence is building on this unit. Keep Kuntz in the middle of the line please. That kid is an animal.

Special Teams- The most improved area on the team in my book. Coverage is great. I am glad there was no need for a FG attempt. I won't even mention the crazy 5' 9" bowling ball.

My favorite aspect of this team is the emotion and the swagger. I noticed that the team was shoving Michigan players away from them and not being intimidated. They are starting to play nasty on both sides of the ball. It is great to see them play with a chip on their shoulder. And for once it looked like the team was having FUN while playing. The fans even seemed louder than usual in this one. Overall it seemed to be a special day in South Bend.

[IrishGrizz]

Where's them flippin Fire Weis threads?

Lets as 55 forever, eric navy and jrzink. :nanana: :rofl:

[stonebreakerwasgod]

ND had to win the turnover battle to win, and we did. Our offense ran out the clock in the fourth, thus limiting the stats....great job tho. Next week will be huge for us.

[dahooligan]

glad to see gary gray get an int in his first game i believe

[SpanishElite]

glad to see gary gray get an int in his first game i believe

Yup it was. Good to see number 4 out there doing well. I think he is one of NDs most talent young players that no one knows. But they soon will! Can you imagine him, Walls, McNeil and Lambert?? Wow. But at least Walls, McNeil and Gray (and Blanton) next year! Yikes!

[SanDiegoIrishFan]

Yeah - I really like Gary as an athlete. He may lack experience, but he has tremendous upside. I bet that int will make him work even harder becuase he has tasted a small amount of the success that will come.

[NotreDameNate]

Barring injury or transferring we will enjoy these young men alot. That will be nice to have some lock down corners for now and in the future.

[IrishR#1]

it me or has K Neal has been pretty quiet this year...? was expecting breakout year from him...

He did have that nice interception against SDSU. He's in the process of changing back to DE, so he will start to play better later in the year.

[SanDiegoIrishFan]

I think you might see more of Neal next week when we face a non-spread offense.

[rontdtarchala]

yeah we will see what the d is made of this week going against a more traditional type o

[irish_bobcat]

Some closing thoughts on the Michigan game. Jimmy looks good but you can still tell that he will make some mistakes. He is going to improve game by game and he should be a great QB come the end of the season. I would like to see more production in the running game. We ar doing a good job running the ball behind the tackles but we are struggling running the ball down the middle. Hopefully the running game will pick up with opposing defenses expecting us to pass. The O-Line is doing a great job so far. No sacks, that pretty much sums it up. Defense is bending but they are not breaking. They are creating turnovers. I am concerned with the opposition have success in the running game. We will be facing a couple of good RBs this season and when need to get this fixed immediately. My last thought is that Mike Anello is the man. That kid seems to be all over the place.