Notre Dame's Weaknesses
Let's break down a bit of Notre Dame film from last year. Since Charlie Weis is the vaunted offensive genius who led the Irish to the Worst Offense in History, last year, we'll look at the offensive "effort" against the Cardinal of Stanford.
First of all, I don't know how John Latina still has a job. His offensive lines have gotten worse every year, even when they returned a lot of talent. Take a look at the regression by Sam Young, and you'll see what I mean. In case you don't believe me, here are some examples of the All-Star recruits of the Notre Dame offensive line getting completely owned by Stanford(!), of all teams.
Another item of note is the fact that Jimmy Clausen may just not be quite ready, but either way, there is no way he should have been starting for anyone last year, much less a team that has the QB tradition of Joe Montana and Brady Quinn. He was quite fond in 2007 of taking sacks by "scrambling" for 5-10 yard losses, when he was under little pressure and should have just thrown it away. On the rare occasion that he got good protection, he still managed to miss wide open guys, or threw passes that required superhuman effort for wideouts to catch. Another thing Clausen too often (not pictured) did was not trust his arm, and throw to the checkdown option even when his first read was open (and often widely so).
And of course, there is the lack of speed at the Irish skill positions. Slow running backs aren't too much of a liability when they can do all the things that Mike Hart could for Michigan. When you're just mediocre AND you get run down from behind by a Stanford linebacker, that's a problem. This category of videos is also good for showing why Stanford lost to Notre Dame: the scheme was good, but players didn't always execute right, and that led to several big plays.
This past weekend, we saw Notre Dame face off against San Diego State, and it appeared that few of their issues from last year have been resolved. Clausen was much improved, but it's time to find out whether he can be so poised when he is getting killed on every other play.
First of all, I don't know how John Latina still has a job. His offensive lines have gotten worse every year, even when they returned a lot of talent. Take a look at the regression by Sam Young, and you'll see what I mean. In case you don't believe me, here are some examples of the All-Star recruits of the Notre Dame offensive line getting completely owned by Stanford(!), of all teams.
Another item of note is the fact that Jimmy Clausen may just not be quite ready, but either way, there is no way he should have been starting for anyone last year, much less a team that has the QB tradition of Joe Montana and Brady Quinn. He was quite fond in 2007 of taking sacks by "scrambling" for 5-10 yard losses, when he was under little pressure and should have just thrown it away. On the rare occasion that he got good protection, he still managed to miss wide open guys, or threw passes that required superhuman effort for wideouts to catch. Another thing Clausen too often (not pictured) did was not trust his arm, and throw to the checkdown option even when his first read was open (and often widely so).
And of course, there is the lack of speed at the Irish skill positions. Slow running backs aren't too much of a liability when they can do all the things that Mike Hart could for Michigan. When you're just mediocre AND you get run down from behind by a Stanford linebacker, that's a problem. This category of videos is also good for showing why Stanford lost to Notre Dame: the scheme was good, but players didn't always execute right, and that led to several big plays.
This past weekend, we saw Notre Dame face off against San Diego State, and it appeared that few of their issues from last year have been resolved. Clausen was much improved, but it's time to find out whether he can be so poised when he is getting killed on every other play.
Labels: coaching, lolweis, notre dame hate
This entry was posted by Tim, on
Tuesday, September 09, 2008.
You can leave your response.
9/13/2008 03:01:00 AM
wow incase you cant tell postioins those running the RBs down would be the secondary. (CBs, and safetys) Wow at least I know this isnt a credibal sourc.lol. Ann Arbors a whore.
9/13/2008 10:16:00 AM
Um, you're an idiot.
That is all.
9/13/2008 01:31:00 PM
Really? Please just watch that video and let me know if its a linebacker or a DB... Thats all I wanna know.
9/13/2008 08:36:00 PM
Let's see, in the first video, a safety forces him back towards a linebacker (who nonetheless is significantly faster than him), who makes the tackle.
On the second play, a corner comes all the way across the field, without an angle, and runs him down.
In the third play, he builds up a head of steam, and still gets taken down from behind by a defensive tackle.
In the last play, he's run down by a nickel back.
Got any more brain busters?