When Weis first signed on as our coach at Notre Dame I didn’t really know much about him. As time progressed his candor in both press interviews and his book has allowed me a glimpse into what makes the man tick. After learning of his background with Parcells and Bellicheck and his success on the very elite level of the NFL I was encouraged that we would have a decided coaching advantage in every game we played under his tenure, a remarkable change from what I was used to. I was, however, misguided as to the extent that coaching can improve a team. Saturday night was living proof of this. I am still baffled how a USC team with less offensive talent could put up more points and with more ease than they did last year against our improved defense. I knew that we wouldn’t score as many points, USC’s defense is vastly improved this year over last (when injuries just plagued their secondary), but I really thought we had a better shot at stopping them with Bush et. al. gone and a better defense.
We were not poorly prepared for the game Saturday night. The comments of Weis, Quinn, Zibi, etc. after the game are evident of that. Although I’m still uncertain as to what our exact goal was on defense, the consistent success we had at the end of the first half was evidence that Minter did have a game plan that worked, albeit only temporarily. What was readily more apparent to me was the talent gap between USC’s receivers and our secondary. Trust me, I hate to admit it. I think it is almost allowing defeat through an excuse. But Dwayne Jarrett and any member of our secondary will only be mentioned in the same sentence to impart the unavoidable knowledge of what came to be Saturday night. Jarrett is in a class of his own. This talent gap was also evident on the USC defensive side of the ball where their speed really gave us a lot of problems. The thing I struggle with is as follows: for me, talent gaps are evident in players not being able to make one-on-one plays. What I saw a lot of times Saturday was USC receivers making catches wide open. It’s tough to say how much blame should be based on talent vs. coaching but it is very likely a bit of both.
Like I said after Michigan, I thought losses like this (large point differentials) were a thing of the past. To me, they hurt so much because it just gives the nay sayers more ammunition. The anti-ND sentiment will be prevalent throughout the media this week with many “experts” saying how ND is over-rated and not in the same class as many of the top teams in the country. In my opinion, that is true, but it has been that way since the beginning of the season. Remember, these are the same idiots that ranked us pre-season number two. It is through their own mistake that they have the circumstance to be able to criticize us this way. At the beginning of the year I thought we were a three or four loss football team. As it turns out, we only played two (maybe three) quality opponents. But you are never as bad or as good as anyone says you are. Writers love to spin stories and they will do so in absence of knowledge or logic. The general opinion after the game was that USC beat us badly. The truth is that we didn’t take advantage when we had the opportunities and the game should have been much closer than it was. This wasn't like the Michigan loss where we gave them everything we could. In this game we played fairly solid football. It is just that we have to play flawless to win against a team like this because of the talent gap. We couldn't string it together on a consistent basis. Last year we did, this year we didn't. Quinn is an excellent football player, not to mention QB, but he can't do it all.
Give USC credit, they played well. Pete Carroll, as much as I hate him, is as good of a college football coach as the NCAA has seen in some time. He is masterful at getting his players prepared for games, motivating, and recruiting. Weis should take some notes from him as we have come out really flat in many of our big games during his tenure. Carroll’s halftime adjustments are also excellent. That said, we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we created. Had we done that the game would have been closer and the outcome much more in doubt. I’ve come to realize that good football coaches can only put players in the position to make the play. They can’t make it for them. That’s were talent manifests itself.
Before I get into some general comments on the game, I’d like to point out the fact that USC has little class. They are embarrassing to the university with their actions at the pep rally and after plays on the field. Only people who are around class and can recognize the difference know this. Pete Carroll, for all of his worth as a college coach, cares more about winning than winning the right way. Don’t get me wrong, Carroll, at least in the public eye, conducts himself with class. But I have to figure he isn’t always like this behind closed doors since this behavior doesn’t trickle down to his players. Further evidence of their lack of class was the “Quinn rhymes with Brokeback” sign and scream of “The Four Horsemen were gay” on college gameday. I even heard a story of a ND fan getting strangled by a USC fan in the stands. No kidding, charges were filed. I don't write this to take solace in the fact that we have that and they don't. I write it because the University of Notre Dame football program has high visibility and with that comes a responsibility to conduct ourselves with good behavior. I write it because we must understand what many other big college football programs don't. The visibility of Weis and the football program means we have a tremendous asset. We can sell the things we want to sell and represent the ideals that the university stands for to the public at large. Other programs don't always realize the responsibility that comes with this power. I implore you as representatives of the university, do not act like what I have described above. Treat our opponents with respect and class. Celebrate with our team, alumni, and university, never against the opponent. Represent the university the way it should be represented and with the class it deserves.
On to the football stuff…
On the offensive side of the ball we lined up in more formations and with different personnel packages than I had seen all year. I have to reason that USC felt the same way. The problem is, none of it really seemed to work effectively and consistently. Weis definitely had a very specific game plan against USC. Unfortunately for him, instead of playing mostly zone defense, Carroll employed tight man-to-man coverage which we really couldn’t shake. Their secondary blanketed our receivers for much of the game and even when Quinn had time there was rarely someone open. No matter what Weis tried, they adjusted and their speed compensated for any slight lapses they had. Even though that is all true, we still moved the ball, we just couldn’t get touchdowns inside of the red zone.
Brady had a decent game putting up more total offense against USC than any other player has all season. He had tons of very critical dropped passes that our receivers should have caught. I think he did the most with what he had considering there were so many few open receivers. He did miss a couple of throws that, had he completed, would have been excellent plays. He also showed some pretty good speed on that one run. He didn’t look like a Heisman Trophy contender since he didn’t make plays when we needed them but he could have used some help in that department. Brady is inconsistently clutch. Against quality opposition he doesn’t consistently make the big plays when we need them. However, that is as much a function of the talent around him as it is his play alone. He also spent a good deal of the game on his back. Go and watch the Michigan game, see how many times they even got close to Troy Smith. It’s tough for a QB to do it all (even though that is the perception about Smith).
Rhema had a really inconsistent game. His two long balls were beautiful catches but he dropped so many critical passes that it really killed drives for us. Samardjiza had a less than decent game. His inability to separate himself from their secondary was quite evident. He also lacked physical play.
I thought Freeman played very well all things considered. He had the one drop but his blocking was above average and, for the most part, he performed when needed in the passing game.
I hate to say this but I think Bob Morton is the worst offensive lineman in the country.
I think, in general, the offensive line played pretty well in terms of giving Quinn time. They didn’t protect him all that well (he was hit often) but we couldn’t get anyone open so it became a difficult task. They also did fairly well in the running game when our draw plays weren’t all that predictable.In some instances Weis got too cute with the running play calls. Overall, I thought the offensive line played well enough for us to win.The lack of separation our receivers created was our biggest downfall on offense. The three false starts by Harris were inexcusable.
I don’t understand why we didn’t go to no-huddle when we couldn’t move the ball. We waited until it was too late in the game. It would really have negated a lot of the defensive strategy of Carroll and allowed Quinn to focus on fewer decisions seeing how he was running for his life a bit.
I was extremely disappointed with our lack of execution on our fourth down attempts.
This just in…David Grimes and George West are quick, really quick.
Under Chow USC began what I can best describe as a timing passing game. Like Mike Williams before him, Dwayne Jarrett is a tough, physical, athletic receiver that suits this type of gameplan. Whether it be in play action or short drops, USC wants to take advantage of a precise passing game that relies on timing between the quarterback and his receivers. They don’t utilize the shotgun, rarely employ five step drops and almost never use seven step drops. The advantage of this is it effectively negates the opposing defenses ability to get pressure on the QB. It is also very effective when coupled with an effective running game and play action. Finally, it makes an offensive lineman’s job, relatively speaking, easier. The downside is that it requires a very astute QB and talented skill position players. The way to stop it, to me, is force teams into third and long situations and play press, bump-and-run coverage to disrupt the timing in the passing game. We didn’t seem to try and do that. Weis mentioned that we did in his post game interview but it didn't seem to be happening. On top of that, I thought that a real key to this game would be to get pressure on Booty and we didn’t seem to blitz much at all to try and do that. Even when we did, we didn't get there. Like Leinart before him, Booty isn’t tough and is easy to rattle. We should have had a more determined effort to knock him around. When we consistently stopped them that is what we were doing, getting pressure on him and forcing him into non-ideal, less than manageable situations.
I thought our front four played a very physical game. They really pursued well down the line of scrimmage. They didn’t get to Booty often but that is as much a function of the three step drop passing game as it is their success rushing the passer.
Our linebackers were absent for much of the game. They were pushed all over the field. Where USC has fast linebackers that are physical and can take on offensive lineman, we are ineffective in shedding blocks at the second level. It really showed up in this game. The reads weren't there and we don't understand how to take on a block with the inside shoulder and force a play back inside.
I thought Mike Richardson had one heck of a game. He really played well minus one play.
Obviously the secondary, in general, played poorly. They couldn’t cover Jarrett but most of the time it looked like one-on-one coverage and I hope that it was because of mental errors, not because Minter left them alone on islands. If that were the case I would hope we were blitzing and I didn’t see a lot of it.
I was thoroughly frustrated with USC’s ability to convert short yardage situations on the ground In many cases, that is pure determination. We needed to want it more.
I thought our kickoff team had one of its worse performances of the season. Minus the one punt, we had good punt coverage. Our return game was average at best.
In all honesty I hope we don’t go to a BCS bowl. I think the outcome will be mostly the same against another superiorly athletic team. Our receivers won't be able to separate from their secondary and our defense won't be able to pressure the QB without sending the house and leaving an inept secondary in one-on-one matchups. That is the bottom line of this game and I don’t want to be embarrassed again. Additionally, I think this type of thing will get worse before it gets better. Our recruiting in the sophomore and junior classes was atrocious, both in numbers and in talent, a true testament to Willingham’s gallant laziness and excellent golf game. The talent may be there with Weis’ first two full recruiting classes but it still has to be developed out of its infancy. Next year will likely be a very rough year.
I have spoken very highly of our assistant coaches. However, at this point, I’m leery of whether or not Minter, Oliver, Polian, and Latina are cutting it. Oliver has defensive line talent, Abiamiri, Laws, and Landri will all play on Sundays. But we can’t get pressure with the front four alone. I really don’t understand this at all. Polian hasn’t shown consistent improvement in our special teams and this is an area we desperately need to improve in. Latina can’t seem to teach our offensive line the meaning of run blocking. Minter, I don’t know what is going on with him. Our blitzes don't pay off getting to the QB and pressuring him nearly as often as they should. But all of these coaches had significant strengths and impressive resumes. For some reason, they aren’t producing I only hope that it isn't the head coach's relationship with them. It looks like some of them aren’t that impressive on the recruiting trail either. Weis needs to learn. He needs to adapt. Whatever his psychological ploys are for getting the team ready to play in big games, they aren't working. If his assistants aren't performing, he needs to get rid of them. That is one of the things that sunk Willingham. Maybe it is a difference between the pro's and college. I don't know. Weis has still only lost (minus MSU last year) to teams ranked in the top 5 but he really needed this win as a clause on his resume. He has been owned in big games.
Oh yea, if anyone wants a new Heisman Trophy candidate, Darren McFadden is your man.
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