Has anyone had a chance to watch any Notre Dame games?

BFANLC

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Got a chance to watch the USC and Pitt vs Notre Dame games recently online. From what I can tell their two major offensive players are 6 and 80. They tend to try and find a size mismatch with 80 and exploit it all game. If Sunseri or Blue get stuck on him there will be issues. They also like to spread the field close to the goal line and run qb sneaks. Defensively they don't blitz much prefering to play a safe defense and not give up big plays. Their lb don't generally crowd the box but are close and quick enough to make plays on the run game. Once it gets close to the goal line though they will pack it in and be hard to run it in on. They tend to run blitz in from the ends which opens up a tb or te for play action.
It also seemed that when affected their qb wasn't as accurate. Affected not just sacked. They get more rush oriented towards the end of the game and can wear the opposing teams down. Their special teams are ok, about like ours, not spectacular though I think Bama has a better punter.

All that being said it looks like Bama has a real good shot of beating them. Thoughts?
 

GrayTide

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Good analysis. #80 on Belue is a huge mismatch, he will need help. Gholson is pretty accurate throwing on the run, but isn't when he says in the pocket. He is a very good runner when the pocket breaks down, we may have to resort to a lot of zone coverage. Our best bet is to run right at Teo much like we I did Georgi's Jarvis Jones. CNS will have a plan. I hope we run right at them early and control the clock and pick our spots passing.
 

selmaborntidefan

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I've watched the edited versions of the OU and USC games.

1) Don't be misled by the low rushing stats for those two teams. For starters, both of them throw a lot more often than they run. Also, both had SINGLE backs - we have a pair that we can run to bounce off of them with Lacy or dart with Yeldon. No, we're not going to rush for what we did with UGA, but we shouldn't need to, either.

2) Gholson is a freshman who is hit or miss. I concur with you regarding 80 - my first thought exactly was, "Belue is going to be riding the pine or with help."

3) Our O-line is a ton better than either OU or USC.

4) Landry Jones is a head case, and USC had a backup QB playing. McCarron has that Tebow ability to forget you've had a bad game and then unload a bomb (he did it twice when we were as good as dead in the aTm game - only bad play calling lost that one at the end).

5) USC's defenders cannot tackle worth a flip. Notre Dame got yard after yard on them from channeling their inner Mark Ingram.

6) The key to the game is going to be turnovers. We had three close games all year long - we turned it over seven times in those games and - key point here - five prior to the fourth quarter.

7) Unlike USC or OU, we have a double threat. The emergence of Amari Cooper prevents things like that goal line stand against USC. And I don't mean to impugn what was a great stand, but they won't be able to penetrate our O-line from the sides like that - and should I point out that would have left them vulnerable to our specialty, the screen?
 
If put half a defense on ND, they struggle mightily. Sure they've won, gotta give them that but I really believe it has to do more with luck than skill. If Matt Barkley plays in that last game they don't win. Here we are though. Only reason they have the scoring D lead is because of the SECCG. They don't play one. I watched Pitt and ND. They reminded me of a team that's hanging on by a thread. I don't think a piece of thread can hold and elephant up though.
 

RollTide1224

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Good analysis. #80 on Belue is a huge mismatch, he will need help. Gholson is pretty accurate throwing on the run, but isn't when he says in the pocket. He is a very good runner when the pocket breaks down, we may have to resort to a lot of zone coverage. Our best bet is to run right at Teo much like we I did Georgi's Jarvis Jones. CNS will have a plan. I hope we run right at them early and control the clock and pick our spots passing.
Agreed. My main hope for the offensive gameplan is that we make them show they can stop the run before we go away from it. I think we might have learned this lesson in the SECCG.

I've watched a few of there games and Gholson got better throughout the year. He isn't Johnny Football but he is a very good scrambler and actually has a really powerful arm. I don't think he has had an interception in 7 games or so. I think we can stop their run game and focus on Eiffert pretty well. My concern will be when the pocket breaks down that we might lose a receiver.

They actually move the ball pretty well as an offense but have had problems in the redzone. If we can keep them to field goals as they have for much of the year I like our chances with our red zone efficiency on offense.

Because of the limited ability of their offense I think us avoiding turnovers will be critical (as it is in most games). If we are able to take care of the ball and force a turnover from them I think our chances of winning are incredibly high.
 

TideEngineer08

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Selma's point number 6 will be the key to the game, IMO. If Alabama controls the ball, we win going away. If we turn it over, it's a tossup.

I've watched some Notre Dame this year. I don't think they're as good as Georgia, Florida, LSU or Texas A&M, but they're good enough. We just have to protect the football and finish drives.
 

IradMax

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Having watched most of their games, I think the defense is legit the offense has holes and the QB can run around and keep plays alive. An advantage for us is Simms running the scout team, he is a lot like Gholston.
 

rgw

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Notre Dame's defense is as good as advertised. They have a relative weakness in the defensive backfield but it has held up far better than our own relative weakness on defense (also the backfield). They don't allow many yards after contact and are darn near impossible to score on in the redzone. That combination is a recipe for consistent success. I wish I could have seen more of the Pitt game because Pitt had some solid success attacking them on the ground. They don't blitz a lot but their front 3 gets a good push into the pocket despite being a 2-gapping front.

Offensively, they don't have a lot of playmakers but they have a tough mix to deal with for 60 minutes. Their best two pass catchers are probably their back (Riddick) and tight-end (Eifert). They will split each out wide which creates some formational issues. Riddick is not a decoy when split wide, they will throw it at him quite a bit for some good yardage. Riddick and Eifert are still factors when in more traditional alignment given their positions. Their WRs haven't been gamebreakers but they have the ability to make possession catches. Finally, they have a QB who can extend plays which can hurt a defense greatly when blitzing 5+ defenders. Their strength is on the offensive line and it really allows them to play methodical.
 

selmaborntidefan

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Don't read too much into the Pitt game - it was the week after the emotional win at Norman. It's really no different than our loss to aTm following an emotional win at Baton Rouge.

They have some vulnerabilities - their D is legit. Now - since they haven't yet seen SEC speed, I don't know. The closest thing is the Stanford game.

One more thing: they DO adjust well from the two games I've seen. Not GREAT, but thus far adequately. Have they been lucky? To a point. But they didn't get lucky to win 12 games.

My point on turnovers is this - they are not going to be able to drive the ball REPEATEDLY upon us for scores. But if we give them a short field all bets are off. We are going to be able to move at will between the 20s (or close to at will). But they're good inside the red zone.
 

selmaborntidefan

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Notre Dame's defense is as good as advertised. They have a relative weakness in the defensive backfield but it has held up far better than our own relative weakness on defense (also the backfield). They don't allow many yards after contact and are darn near impossible to score on in the redzone. That combination is a recipe for consistent success. I wish I could have seen more of the Pitt game because Pitt had some solid success attacking them on the ground. They don't blitz a lot but their front 3 gets a good push into the pocket despite being a 2-gapping front.

Offensively, they don't have a lot of playmakers but they have a tough mix to deal with for 60 minutes. Their best two pass catchers are probably their back (Riddick) and tight-end (Eifert). They will split each out wide which creates some formational issues. Riddick is not a decoy when split wide, they will throw it at him quite a bit for some good yardage. Riddick and Eifert are still factors when in more traditional alignment given their positions. Their WRs haven't been gamebreakers but they have the ability to make possession catches. Finally, they have a QB who can extend plays which can hurt a defense greatly when blitzing 5+ defenders. Their strength is on the offensive line and it really allows them to play methodical.
The Pitt game is on You Tube. Can't link from here.
 

CrimsonEyeshade

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What I like most about Notre Dame is that they know what they do well and try to put themselves in those positions. They play very hard down to down. And they find ways to get their playmakers the ball at key times. Should be a sporty encounter. But if we both play well, we should win by 10 to 14 points.
 

FriendlyIrish

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When we turn the ball over, we seriously struggle (as with any team). Pitt we turned it over three times. Not to mention, when Pitt actually had the opportunity to win with the missed field goal, our RB (Cierre Wood, number 20, rushed for over 1000 yds last season) fumbled the ball on the goal line the drive before while diving in. We have speed guy we put in sometimes as well at RB who always tries to get outside. If you watch Miami game, you will see him (George Atkinson III, also returns kicks for us).

I agree with most of the analysis on our O. We spread it around to our receivers, but no one seriously to cause big matchups except for Eifert (TE). We also have our best wide receiver coming back for the NC, Davaris Daniels. He was out the last 3 games due to injury.

If we can't stop the run -- game over for ND.
 

selmaborntidefan

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This reminds me of what Coach Stalling used to say: run, stop the run, and win the turnover battle and you win the game.
 

CRMSNtide

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Something i found interesting when looking at stats-
ND- 6th in the nation in defense, 286.83 yards per game and 4.55 per a play.
Michigan- 11th in the nation in defense, 311.17 per a game and 4.72 per a play.

Just goes to show how misleading it can be, Michigan has a good defense if you look at the numbers, but any Alabama fan can tell you Michigan got ran over like a stampede when they faced an elite Alabama squad that can run and pass.

I do think ND has good defense, but i think the question is, will they hold up against a team like Alabama?
No team on their schedule has prepared them for us.
 

rgw

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Stanford prepared ND for us to a degree but Alabama has much more talent on the perimeter than Stanford.
 

TommyMac

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Their D is stout up the middle, but I think we can run outside on them, especially late.

I think we're better in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

We definitely have a speed advantage as expected.

We should be able to hurt them with screens, EL and TJ in space will be a major problem for them.

If AJ is on early, it will be a long night for them.

Even though our D isn't as good as 2011, it will be much better than anything they've seen and should force them into some mistakes.

All in all, if we play our game and don't shoot ourselves in the foot, I think we notch #15 by a fairly comfortable margin.
 

RollTide1224

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Stanford prepared ND for us to a degree but Alabama has much more talent on the perimeter than Stanford.
Stanford was also using Nunez when they played ND. He wasn't very good any of the games I saw him play. Hogan, the guy they used against Oregon seemed to be much more solid. Can't say that that version of Stanford is as quality as our offense.
 

gamersfuel

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i've watched a good bit of their games. and one thing that stood out is those guys play "hard" the full 60 minutes. they dont take plays off and fire off the line. reminds me of the intensity of our guys
 

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