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This past Saturday I had the pain pleasure of joining thousands of other Irish fans in witnessing the much-discussed victory over San Diego State University. Let me first say that I am generally in the ilk of people who say that "an ugly win is better than a hard-fought loss". I'm ready to move on but there are a few glaring problems that are bugging me.
"Pound the Ball"
Charlie Weis promised we'd pound the ball against SDSU. Well, he didn't lie like some people around here are saying. He tried. Even though Armando Allen isn't a prototypical thunder runningback, they generally stayed within the tackle box and ran a lot of north-south running plays.
We learned one thing- the offensive line is improved but far from dominating. They rarely made the mistakes that killed us so often last year but should have easily overpowered a depleted and already mediocre Aztec defensive line. My point is this: We tried to pound the ball, it just didn't work.
In 2005, this offense quickly became one of the most proficient squads in the nation... but not because we pounded the ball. Darius Walker wasn't successful because we dominated the trenches, he was successful because the passing game was successful.
Normally you hear the phrase "run the ball to set up the pass". That's all fine and great if you can successfully run the ball. However this team is set up to pass the ball and pass it well. Guys like Duvall Kamara and David Grimes should be running quick slants and outs to set up fades and posts to Michael Floyd and Golden Tate. That's just what works. We saw glimpses of it last year and as soon as we started focusing on those routes with those players last weekend, we owned the game.
Maybe it's the dreaded west coast offense or maybe its just a darn good one, I don't care. The point is, it worked for Charlie three years ago, and I see no reason it shouldn't work now.
"Crank Me Up"
I hate it. I LOATHE it. Do we really need to chant a cheap phrase to pump up our defense? Has our fan base become so complacent that they need some GAP-approved trend to stand up and make noise? Unfortunately I think the answer is most definitely yes, but do we really need to rip off Purdue's "Boiler Up chant?
Sitting in section five (directly behind Notre Dame's band), I had to stare across the field to see the entire freshman class of the student section begging to do this MTV-style cheer at every moment the defense was on the field. What's worse is that it seemed to work.
The defense definitely responded to it and by the end of the game I even found myself doing a fist pump that used to mean "honk your horn" on a highway. So I guess it works, and if it ain't broke don't fix it, right?
Maybe I'm just refusing to adapt to the times, but I still prefer to going hoarse by screaming "OOOOOOOOOOH" and jumping up and down.
Jimmy Clausen
Jimmy Clausen = Rex Grossman
Yeah, I said it.
He's a gunslinger at heart but I'm seriously starting to wonder if he has the decision-making skills to succeed at a higher level. He has talent. He has the faith of his team. He just doesn't have the results.
I'm sick of sitting on a couch or in the stadium screaming, "Michael Floyd!!! Michael Floyd is one-on-one and the safety doesn't even care!!! What the @#!% are you looking at Jimmy!?!?" Then I realize he was staring at David Grimes the entire time praying that he'd get open.
I will give him this though, neither interception was completely on him (probably 60% was on Kamara) and he had much better pocket presence.
The Haters
This came up on the boards earlier today and I'm getting sick of it.
Are there ND haters out there? Yes. Do all ESPN analysts not named Holtz hate Notre Dame? No.
Actually, by most definitions of an ND hater that I've seen lately.. roughly 20% of the people on this message board became one on Saturday.
I've never been more embarrassed to be a part of a particular fan base than I was when I finally got home from the game. I've seen negative game day reactions before, but that was disturbing.
Whatever happened to loving the team unconditionally? I was upset with certain things but then I realized that they were mistakes, not problems. It's being able to make this distinction that makes you an intelligent fan (or sports writer.. looking at you Lisa Horne).
See, there's a difference between a mistake and a problem. A dropped pass by Kamara is a mistake. It happens. It sucks, but it happens. A problem is poor recruiting or paying our players.
Know the difference.
Now this also goes into knowing what writers/analysts are haters and which ones aren't. A lot of writers actually know a ton more than we do about football, and all they are doing is telling us the truth. Just because the truth hurts doesn't mean we need to rip them apart.
That being said, sometimes I really really hate the truth.
Notes From Other Games:
Notes From Other Sports:
