Next Week

Dunno 'bout you guys but ND is starting to worry me. Especially with our defense.

I've been saying since the beginning of the game they've been kicking MSU's asses in the trenches.

Next week is gonna be a doozie!

Yup. Very worried. Golson seems capable and has held up to the MSU pressure. Our defense is not on the level of MSU's.

I felt like that early in the game, but now that it is over, I'm not too terrified.

He had a couple big plays, specifically the long hail mary caught for a TD (with the PI flag). After that, he was pretty pedestrian. His completion percentage was less than 50% (14-for-132 for 178 yards and 1 TD).

How terrible did MSU's offense look tonight?

Awuful. God awful.

They had just 237 yards!

Yeah, well ND only had 63 more yards than that (an even 300).

Not scary at all.

That being said, I'm always nervous about this game, and you can multiply that by two when it's in South Bend (too much stupid shit has happened there through the years.)

MSU's offense is horrible. They beat two bad teams. Boise isn't Boise from past years. They have Bell and nothing else.

fishgoblue22 wrote:

MSU's offense is horrible. They beat two bad teams. Boise isn't Boise from past years. They have Bell and nothing else.

With you 100% on that one. Notre Dame's to be commended on a road victory, sure, but
neither team was terribly impressive...and MSU's offense is downright trash. Or to be as
complimentary as I can, one-dimensional.

Yes, funky things have happened to us in South Bend, but we'll see.

Ok. I'm being debbbie downer then.

I saw a Notre Dame defense that even we are going to have trouble scoring on. If they can shut down Bell they can shut down Fitz and T'eo is a BITCH! That MAN (and I mean MAN) could play for me any day!

And the admin spoke of Golson's pedestian % but I seem to recall several drops. Or maybe at least 4 or 5. Of course that does happen every game and you have to figure it in but I always figure ND's gonna catchh each and every ball they can get their hands on. (And even some (bleepidy bleep TIPPED ones!)

So I'm worried. And, trust me, I don't usually act like this.

UM 31 ND 24. That's my prefiction. DR will go off again. Kelly hasn't figured out how to stop him. Completely different from stopping Bell.

Unfortunately MSU has figured out how to stop him.

IMO both defenses looked pretty good last night. There was a lot of pressure on the qb's. Pressure that we can only dream of at this point. ND's weakness on D is in the secondary. Their front 7 looked pretty damn good. This has not been good for us in the past. Kelly said they wanted to stop the run and they did just that. I think they are more than equipped to bottle up Denard and Fitz.

I wonder if they remember that embarrassing come from behind loss last year in AA? Rhetorical.

I'm worried and ND usually does not worry me.

Notre Dame's secondary is awful. They are young and have been decimated by injuries. MSU just didn't have the passing game to exploit it. But the fact ND's defense was able to shut down Bell as well as they did is cause for concern. They're naturally going to load the box and force Denard to beat them with his arm. And when Denard throws, well, it's always an adventure.

From what I saw of Golson, he seems the most dangerous when he runs to the side, throwing on the run, like on their first touchdown. He wasn't that good on the little dink passes to his tight ends. That might just be inconsistency because he's a freshman.

Playing in South Bend, you always worry about the flukey things that happen there. I won't list them all again. I think everyone is aware of the stupid shit that has gone against us there at the worst possible times over the years. I think the best thing we can hope for is the never ending hype machine building ND's ego (Return to Glory, for the 22nd time), so they are too confident or too excited to face the task at hand. Going 3-0 anywhere else is nothing. But you go 3-0 at Notre Dame, you've done something special.

I would be worried about this game even if ND had lost last night. They have a history of putting it all together against us and then falling back to reality the next week. 8 times out of 10, this game is decided late in the 4th quarter. It's nerve wrecking, it's stressful and you feel like you have aged ten years just watching it.

But I wouldn't have it any other way!

WolverineHistorian wrote:

It's nerve wrecking, it's stressful and you feel like you have aged ten years just watching it.

So exactly how old do you feel?

2ndComingOfBo wrote:

WolverineHistorian wrote:

It's nerve wrecking, it's stressful and you feel like you have aged ten years just watching it.

So exactly how old do you feel?

After the last 3 contests with them, about as old as one could feel. In the Rip Van Winkle category. I eventually feel my normal age again within a day or two.

I guess this shouldn't be restricted to ND, though. Close, nerve wrecking games always do a number on me. For instance, I went to the triple overtime win against MSU in 2004 (Braylonfest) and when Sparty's last ditch effort fell incomplete and the whole stadium started going nuts, I had to sit down because I felt like I was going to pass out.

I attach this behavior more with ND because the games come down to the wire more often than anyone else we face.

One aspect of ND's weak secondary (as WH points out about it) we might be able to exploit after all is---a la 2011's game---the long jump ball. From what I've seen of him, young Mr. Funchess is every bit the ball hawker Junior Hemingway was. Of course, the underlying assumption is that DR's mobility will buy him the time to throw them---with some semblance of accuracy (read: within 10 yards of his deep target)---against that unexpectedly-strong ND front seven.

This from an ESPN article I read this morning....

- ND ranks No. 8 nationally in scoring defense (10 points per game), No. 18 in total defense (288.7 yards) and No. 10 in sacks (3.7 per game).

- Manti T'eo is a legitimate All-America candidate, and he's playing behind what might be Notre Dame's best defensive front in several years.

- ND ranks 67th in rushing (155.7 yards) and passing (233 yards), 72nd in total offense (388.7 yards) and 61st in scoring offense (30 points).

- ND went 1-for-14 on third down against Sparty.

- After being plagued by turnovers and miscues last season, Notre Dame had only two turnovers in its first three games.



I predict that Denard will be passing a lot this game.

Denard throwing could be a good thing because the ND secondary is weak and our receivers are really starting to develop. Funchess, Gardner, Roundtree and the rest of the WR/TE crew will be key to moving the ball.

Denard throwing a lot could be bad because... well, his best weapon is his running ability. I'm almost at a point where I am hoping for broken plays because Denard is a freak when it comes to broken plays. He makes things happen and can scramble and get up-field better than anyone I've ever seen.

I think the ND defensive points per game stat is interesting. If we can hold onto the ball and not let their D score and make them rely on their sophomore QB I think we have a good shot at walking out of South Bend with a win.

Remember, Michigan has won the past three meetings by a combined 12 points. I have a feeling it's gonna be a nail biter again.

The old saying, "I paid for the whole seat but only used the edge" should definitely apply this weekend.