It's odd and a little frustrating that the large number of turnovers in each of the three games so far makes it hard to get a handle on just how good/bad this team is, and what is/is not working. How about a nice boring but error-free football game against a boring Purdue next week?
Mike81 | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 2:34 pm | #

Relating to previous discussions: Click on Blue & Gold and read Pagna's piece on the running game (it's free). I'm smiling a bit because when one of the best coaches that ever set foot on the field backs up some of my thoughts, it's a good day. I wish I could take credit but I can't. Needless to say, I doubt if Weis can spell "sequencing."
Domerplayer | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 2:52 pm | #

when can we expect a pick 6 update?
pick6 | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 3:12 pm | #

I'm on it!
Jay | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 3:13 pm | #

Domerplayer,

Remember one thing Weis supposedly scored a 1600 on the SAT, I believe he can spell it, just doesnt believe in it/
Doug | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 3:17 pm | #

Who was that group? Men at Work?
Sean F | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 3:46 pm | #

Good catch, Sean. It was Men at Work.
Jeff | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 4:13 pm | #

Doug, "Supposedly" is the operative word.

My son scored 1560 and graduated with a degree in finance from ND. My son is an idiot but he loves his mother.
Domerplayer | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 4:17 pm | #

Penalties were NOT minor last week in East Lansing. Young’s 15 yarder killed a drive. (BTW, what did he do, I could never find it). Lambert’s pass interference put the Spartans on the two. Aldridge’s illegal procedure lost us first and goal from the two. He was not even involved in the pass play.
JC has not to stop the picks in the end zone and red zone. We could have won that game very easily except for the mistakes. I was happy to see/hear that CW called out some of the problems my name or position he his Sunday press conference.
Man I want J. Tiller to remember ND with a bad taste in his month. Go IRISH.
Subway Alumni | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 4:27 pm | #

For cryin out loud.
Got not not
by not my
Geez.
Subway Alumni | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 4:29 pm | #

whomever loses the oct 25 game with Washington, will they end up losing their job? the game will have so much external focus and pressure, all for the wrong reasons. it will take on a life of its own. losing it could be publicly devastating, and could then ratchet up alumni focus and pressure. Ty is almost gone, unless a miracle occurs, and Charlie is safe, unless ND finds $10M laying around.

But this game will be huge, close to career defining.
jose belocki | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 4:40 pm | #

Finally, a voice of reason...aside from the professional media outlets that exclusively cover ND, your Blog is almost always spot on. That website, NDNation, is virtually unreadable, due to the fact that the clowns out there have a forum to spew their venom. The whole thing is poisonous to the entire ND tradition. Their thing is like what Muhammed Ali was to sports. We are going down that road where illogical ramblings of an insane madman are embraced as insightful or thought-provoking. Attempting to inject oneself into the whole equation, after every fumble, botched snap, interception, etc., is counterproductive and turning the reputations/perceptions of all ND fans into Mariotti-like hair pullers. I am beginning to understand why the ND faithful and Notre Dame itself, is so loathed. If everyone tuned into your site, the word would be a much better place. Keep up the good work!
Dick Hertz | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 4:41 pm | #

Facts: Notre Dame had one of the worst offensive units last year. After three games (two teams in the bottom quartile and one in the bottom half) our offense is still in the bottom ten. Defense is ranked 68th after playing three teams struggling offensively. Arguably the talent is there (but young). Conclusions: The talent or the coaching has been over rated. I'm not looking for a national championship, but the performance so far has been unacceptable. Discussions about major vs minor mistakes and relative improvement on last year, quite frankly is putting lipstick on a pig.
valpodoc | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 4:47 pm | #

jose belocki,

WA will only be career defining if we lose. Otherwise, the media and everyone else will quickly forget l(like last time we beat them).
JM | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 5:33 pm | #

valpodoc

This is right on. I think the talent is there unless the scouting agencies have a bias against (or for) ND even after they rate players ND signs. The other teams that rate good talent do well on the field unless they are poorly coached like FSU. The only thing left is the coaching. Unless something changes, I think we will still be saying in 5 years that the team is young, a player got hurt, we have too high of admission standards or insert your own excuse. They are just underperforming. Period.
GB | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 7:38 pm | #

I really don't understand some of these comments. ND lost a game on the road to the 3rd best team on the schedule (according to Sagarin) and they are being accused of underperforming. I'm not happy about the loss either, but I think the team is moving in the right direction. I believe eight of or nine touchdowns scored this season were scored by freshman or sophomores, this is still a young team.

By the way, if you throw out results from games against the Championship Subdivision teams (aka 1-AA), ND's offense is ranked 76th in scoring and the defense is ranked 30th. Certainly not where we need to be, but not a disaster given what we are building from last season.
Jeff | Email | Homepage | 09.23.08 - 8:48 pm | #

Jeff,

You're absolutely right, but I believe that people's expectations were raised after beating Michigan. And you know ND fans...we feel we should be on top of the heap every year. There is also a frustration about the running game, or lack thereof. It just doesn't feel right watching a Notre Dame team that can't run the ball. And an average running attack would have won the game against Michigan State.
ND Alum | Email | Homepage | 09.24.08 - 9:37 am | #

Wow, Jeff, is there really that much difference based on cutting out the cupcake* games? Where did you find that data?

*After Appalachian St... I'm hesitant to ever use that phrase.

While that makes me feel slightly more optimistic, I still want to see us simply go in & DOMINATE an opponent. It might be a cliche, but those who say "we need to play a 'complete game,' all 3 phases working together" have it right. I said before the season that I had a gut feeling about our defense, that they'd be much improved. I'd say they're out-performing the O at this point, but whether or not we can really trust them in a tight spot... the jury's still out. Special Teams play has been better for certain, but not across the board. The Offense has been similar - you can tell they're better (see zero sacks, 1st two games), but they've shot themselves in the foot far too often.

Let's go out & make Purdue our "break-out game." It doesn't have to be perfect, but I want us to take this one w/out it ever feeling like it's in doubt past the 1st qtr. Like UM, only w/out so many "unforced errors" from the opponent. I'd love to see us play a methodical running/short-passing game on O, force a slew of 3-&-outs & couple turnovers on D, and win the field position battle on ST.

Go Irish!
baIrish | Email | Homepage | 09.24.08 - 9:49 am | #

**The "like UM" comment only referred to the "never really in doubt" bit, not the Offensive or Defensive play, as they were no where near dominant, methodical, etc.
baIrish | Email | Homepage | 09.24.08 - 9:53 am | #

Jeff, I concur with your post and the two responses by Subway Alumni and ND Alum.

Far too many of the people who respond to an excellent analysis like the one you prepared just jump on it to bad mouth everything the team is doing. They have nothing constructive to say.

Perhaps that is because they don't really know what they are talking about.
tednict | Email | Homepage | 09.24.08 - 9:59 am | #

Thanks guys, it is nice to hear some voices of reason out there. I am not happy with the current state of ND football, but I do see a light at the end of the tunnel and I don't think that another coach will get us there any sooner than Weis. We'll see how the season plays out, but if this young team continues to improve and is back in the upper echelon next season, I will be satisfied for now.

baIrish - I compiled the data myself from a database I have. The data gets more interesting if you throw out games against non-BCS teams, but it isn't meaningful yet as the average team has played only 1.5 games against BCS opposition. Looking at BCS-only games, ND's offense is ranked 34th and the defense is ranked 25th (out of 61).
Jeff | Email | Homepage | 09.24.08 - 10:30 am | #