NU vs ND
rcze...@juno.com
First I'd like to say that dpolking's post is great (right on brother!).
I concur, win or lose - Go Big Red!!!!
Now, for my prediction. I think our boys will astound and amaze. The talk
of lack of enthusiasm will be diminished.
Let's look at the facts. Opener against TCU, several starters out
(including the running back, probably the most important position on
offense after the quarterback). Not to take anything away from the
offensive line because I believe that the game is won or lost in the
trenches, but without a running back the offense sputters.
Then the next game. The starting running back is in, but a little rusty
(he got a lot better as the game went on). However, Crouch was coming off
the flu (see above comment about probably THE most important position on
the offense). 330 yards rushing, 35 points (7 from the D). Not too
shabby.
The defense played very well in both games. There are a lot of new faces
on this side of ball. They are getting the job done.
Special teams looked okay too. The punting once again is awesome. Losing
Stella has hurt a little on kickoff and punt returns. Let's let the new
guys get some more experience before we take away their scholarships.
The way I see it the team is poised to make it all come together this
weekend.
Once again, Go Big Red.
Rob Czeranko
Bapi Gupta
For those with short memories the 1997 and 1998 seasons started a lot like
this season has with spread "losses" in the games preceding Washington.
1997
Aug 30 Akron (-55 ) 59 - 14 2 9 0
Sep 13 Central Florida (-43') 38 - 24 5 6 0
Sep 20 at Washington (+ 2') 27 - 14 8 4 0
1998
Aug 29 Louisiana Tech (-34') 56 - 27 6 6 0
Sep 5 Alabama - Birmingham (-45 ) 38 - 7 4 7 0
Sep 12 at California (-23 ) 24 - 3 5 6 0
Sep 26 Washington (-13') 55 - 7 6 6 0
I'd take a repeat of the 1997 season this year and while the 1998 was a
little tough, who was complaining about the result of game 4?
Maybe I'm just plain wrong, but I've never been worried about our chances
of winning this Notre Dame game. Having played two games already and
being at home gives us two huge advantages. Personally, I'm most worried
about Colorado...
For my number stat of the week, I found that of the 7 teams that played in
the "classic" week, the winners of those games not only all won again the
next week, but 5/6 covered the spread. (Nebraska was the only spread
loser and Georgia Tech's game against The Citadel did not have a spread.)
Now I'm not about to get into the ethics or usefulness of gambling
spreads, but in general, it does say that 5/6 teams were better than
expected in week 2. (If the team lost in week 1, this isn't necessarily
the case.)
Most teams look bad in week one and it just makes people paranoid. I
really doubt Notre Dame's going to make it through this game without some
first game mental and execution mistakes.
When I'm at the games, sometimes I forget to watch the backs and receivers
since I'm often focusing just on what's going on at the line of scrimmage.
Nebraska played much better, in my opinion, on the lines in week two. The
defense didn't have to do much to look good against TCU, but that Troy
State QB is pretty good. For awhile, the game reminded me of when Central
Florida came to Lincoln with Daunte Culpepper. They gave up some yards to
him in the first half (that first TD pass was pure athleticism on his
part), but really shut him down in the second half.
Where did Lannie Hopkins come from? He was a monster last Saturday.
DeJuan Groce is very solid and plays smart. I can see him turning into
the next Mike Minter or Mike Brown, giving leadership to the defense.
I'd like to him alternate with Ben Cornelson on punt returns and let Keyou
Craver focus on playing cornerback. TJ Hollowell and Barrett Ruud have a
nose for the ball and seem to be in on every play. The interior line play
of Jon Clanton and Casey Nelson is much improved over last year. They
really drop of when Patrick Kabongo subs in - he's been manhandled badly.
It's almost like he's too tall and get taken out of plays by blocking at
his hips. If Jason Lohr and Demoine Adams continue to improve, we'll have
the kind of pass rush we missed badly last year. Mark Vedral is the
wildcard. He lost contain on Printers when TCU scored its TD but at other
times he's looked great.
Offensively, I'm really impressed with the receivers. I really thought
losing Newcombe and Davison would be a bigger problem than anticipated but
Wilson Thomas has really stepped up. Wistrom and Golliday both look good
too. So far I haven't seen much improvement in Crouch's passing. It's
not so much the mechanics, but his vision and judgment. Sometimes he has
all day to pass and his final choice is to throw into double coverage. I
don't think I've ever seen Crouch throw a ball away when no one was open.
He tends to force the pass even if it's not there and rush himself even
when there's no pressure. On the positive side, Crouch looks great
running option with Diedrick. At least Diedrick can keep up with Crouch
on his sprint outs. The timing seems much better. The offensive line
held up better last week, but that's probably due to TCU having a better
defense in the opener. In the opener we got killed by blitzes and could
have offset them with some screens and misdirection. I would have liked
to see a little more of that in game two, but what I saw looked good. I
have no doubt a whole bunch of the playbook hasn't been shown.
People worry that Notre Dame will have film from our first two games to
size us up. Anyone around here think the coaches have spent a few minutes
looking over Notre Dame's Fiesta Bowl loss?
Bring 'em on!
Bapi